In a federal country, the constitution delineates the law-making powers of the central (union or federal) government and those of the states, provinces, or other subunits. It specifies which subjects or issues fall under the domain or jurisdiction of each level of government.
Example: Pakistan is a federal state, and food, nutrition, health are provincial subjects. This means that they are within the purview of law-making by the province and not the central government.
See also constitution in the primer on public law and regulation. Compare and contrast local governments.
Adapted from Bryan A. Garner (eds), Black’s law dictionary, 9th ed., West A. Thompson, 2009, ISBN: 978-0-314-19949-2