GOVERNMENT

Unitary
Federal
Governmen
Government
t

• Powers are vested in the national

• Powers are divided between the national
government and the regional
government and the regional governments by
governments (if at all exist)
the Constitution
• Derive their authority from the
• Both operate in their respective jurisdictions
national government.
independently

EG-Britain, France, Japan, China, EG-US, India, Switzerland, Australia,

Italy, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Canada, Russia, Brazil, Argentina
Spain
 Can be formed by 2
ways
Federation

Integratio Disintegrati
n on Latin word Word not mentioned
in the Constitution
“Foedus”
Militarily weak or A big unitary state is
economically converted into a
backward states federation by
(independent) come granting autonomy The Indian federal
together to form a to the provinces to Meaning- system is based on
big and a strong promote regional
union interest ‘treaty’ or the ‘Canadian
‘agreement’ model’
EG- USA (13 states
integrated EG- Canada, India
federation)
Q) In Federal form of Government Power

a) Power is Vested in National Government and State

government
b) Power is vested in State Governments Only
c) Power is vested in National government Only
d) None of these
Option D

A federal government, is one in which powers are

divided between the national government and the
regional governments by the Constitution itself and
both operate in their respective jurisdictions
independently
Why India adopted
Federal System ??
 2
Reasons

The large size of the country It’s socio-cultural diversity

 Article 1 -describes India as a ‘Union of
States’

‘Union of States’ has been preferred to

‘Federation of States’ to indicate two
things

Indian federation is NOT the result of The states have no right to

an agreement among the states like
secede from the federation
the American federation

The federation is union because it is

indestructible
 Strong
Integrated States Not
Judiciary
Centre Indestructibl
e

No Equality
of State UNITARY FEATURES Single
Representati Constitution
on

Single
Emergency Flexibility
Citizenshi
Provisions of the
p
Constitutio
n
CRITICAL EVALUATION
OF THE FEDERAL
SYSTEM
“Indian Union is a unitary
state with subsidiary federal
features rather than a federal
state with subsidiary unitary
features.
India is Quasi-judicial”
:- KC Wheare
“India has practically
functioned as a unitary
state though the Union
and the states have tried
to function formally and
legally as a federation.”
:- K Santhanam
Paul Appleby characterizes the
Indian system as “extremely federal”

Morris Jones termed it as

a “bargaining federalism”

Granville Austin called the Indian

federalism as a “cooperative
federalism”
In Bommai case (1994), the Supreme Court
laid down that the Constitution is federal and
characterised federalism as its ‘basic feature’
 Trends in the working of Indian political system reflects its federal
spirit

(i) Territorial disputes between states, for example, between Maharashtra

and Karnataka over Belgaum
(ii) Disputes between states over sharing of river water, for example,
between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over Cauvery Water
(iii) The emergence of regional parties and their coming to power in states
(iv) The creation of new states to fulfil the regional aspirations,EG- Mizoram,
Jharkhand
(v) Demand of the states for more financial grants from the Centre to meet
their developmental needs
(vi) Assertion of autonomy by the states and their resistance to the
interference from the Centre
Option-D