Devolution vs. Federalism?

Question

Quick question for anyone who can answer it:

What is the difference between devolution (I hear that term thrown around a lot re: UK politics) and federalism. I get the impression that the UK is a highly centralized, unitary government, and devolution is akin to subsidiarity in that functions of the national government are "devolved" to the lowest level possible. But I was curious if this was right, and how some of the specifics of it compare with the federalist system of government we have here in the US.

Answer 1

 Wow. What a terrible response. Devolution is used in countries such as the UK and Spain in order to to decentralize from the otherwise unitary government. They basically grant a certain level of autonomy to different regions partially depending on the amount of responsibility these regions seek. In Federalism, the state governments all have the same amount of authority and they pass power up the ladder to the Federal government.