Answer:
The main comparative difference between a federal state and a confederate state lies in the role of the sub-national entities of each. Thus, in a federation, it is the federal state that has sovereignty over sub-national entities, which cannot secede or nullify federal laws, that is, they are in a clear position of inferiority with respect to the federation. For their part, in confederation, sub-national entities remain sovereign, that is, with the full capacity to make decisions on their own, including the rights of secession and nullification; with which the confederate state is rather a central point of debate between the different sovereign states that make up the confederation.