is it though? I guess it depends on the definition you use. The line between federation and confederation is rather thin, and I believe those terms were historically even used as synonyms. Switzerland is at least called Confoederatio Helvetica, but you could probably argue it's a federation due to the centralized government. But then we also have to keep in mind that the sovereignty and the power of the country stays with the people and the cantons, and not the central government due to it's direct democracy.