Political Science Le.

2 Federalism
1. What is federalism?

Federalism is a system of government. in which the power is divided between a

central authority and various constituent units of the country.

2. What are the two levels of government in a Federation?

The Two levels of government in a federation are:

1. Government for the entire country that is responsible for a few subjects of
common national interests.

2. The other is the government at the level of provinces or states that look after
much of the day to day administering of their state.

3. Both these levels of government. are independent of each other.

3. What is ‘ Unitary’ form of government?

1. Unitary form of government is a government in which there is only one

level of government and the sub-units are subordinate to the central
government.

2. The central government can pass on orders to the provincial or local

government.

4. What are the key features of federalism?

1. There are two or more levels of government.

2. Each level or tiers of government has its own jurisdiction in specific matters
of legislation, taxation and administration which are specified in the
constitution.

3. The fundamental provisions of the constitution can’t be unilaterally changed

by one level of government. Such changes require consent of both the levels of
government.

4. Courts have the power to interpret the constitution and powers of different
levels of government. The highest court acts as an umpire if disputes arise
between different levels of government in the exercise of their respective
powers
5. Sources of revenue for each level of government are clearly specified to
ensure its financial autonomy.

6. The federal system thus has dual objectives, to safeguard and promote unity
of the country and accommodate regional diversity.

5. What are the two aspects which are crucial for the institutions and
practice of federalism?

1. The two aspects which are crucial for the institutions and practice of
federalism are mutual trust and agreement to live together.

2. Governments at different levels should agree to some rules of power sharing.

3. They should also trust that each would abide by its part of the agreement.

6. Write a note on the two kinds of routes through which federations have
been formed.

(or)

Differentiate ‘ Coming together’ federation and ‘Holding together’

federation.

Coming together Federation Holding Together Federation

1.The first route involves independent
states coming together on their to form
a bigger unit in order to increase their
security by pooling sovereignty and
retaining their identity.
1. It is the second route where a large
country decides to divide its power
between the constituent states and the
national government and is called
holding together federation .

2. Ex-USA, Switzerland, Australia 2. Ex- India, Spain and Belgium

3. All the constituent states usually 3. The Central government tends to be

have equal power and are strong. more powerful than the State.
Different constituent units have
unequal powers.
7. Examine the nature of federalism?

1.Balance of power between Central and State government varies from one
federation to another.

2.Balance depends on historical context in which federation was formed .

3.There are two kinds of routes through which federations have formed.

a. Coming together federation: In this type independent states come together

on their own and form a bigger unit so that they increase their security by
pooling sovereignty and retaining identity.

Ex- USA, Switzerland, Australia.

b.Holding together federation: In this type a large country divides, its power
between state and national government.

Ex- India, Spain, Belgium.

8.What is the basic nature of Indian federalism?

(or)

Indian federal system is quasi-federal. Explain.

1. The constitution of India declares India as union of states based on features of

federalism

2. Indian federalism has been formed on route of holding together federation

where power is shared between central and state governments.

3. Central government tends to be more powerful when compared to the states.

4. Hence, India’s constitution system is basically federal but with striking

unitary features i.e., Quasi-federal.

9.Describe list system of Indian Federtion?

(or)

What do you understand by three tier system of Indian federation?

(or)

What are the power sharing arrangements in our country?

The constitution of India declares India as Union of states based on the
principles of federalism. The constitution originally provides for two tier system
of government, Union or Central government representing the Union of India
and the State government. Later a third tier of federalism was added in the form
of Panchayats and Municipalities. These three tiers enjoy separate jurisdiction.

The constitution has provided the Union government and the State government
with three fold distribution of legislative powers in three lists:

a. Union list: It includes subjects of national importance such as defence,

foreign affairs, banking , communication and currency. They are included in
this list because we use a uniform policy on these matters throughout the
country. Union or Central government alone can make laws relating to these
subjects.

b. State list: It contains subjects of state importance such as police, trade,

commerce, agriculture and irrigation. State government alone can make laws
on these subjects.

c. Concurrent list: It includes subjects of common interest to both Union and

State governments such as education, forest, trade unions, marriage,
adoption and succession. Both the Central and State governments can make
laws on these subjects. In case of conflict in their laws, the law made by the
Central governemnt will prevail.

d. On the subjects like computer software etc, which do not fall in any of the
three lists, the Union government has power to make laws. These subjects are
called Residuary subjects and the power enjoyed by Central government on
these subjects is called Residuary power.

10. Examine holding together nature of India federalism

(or)

What is the basic idea behind power sharing of Indian federalism?

1. Indian federalism is formed by holding together nature of federalism.

2. All the states in Indian Union don’t have identical powers.

3. Some states enjoy a special status like Jammu & Kashmir which has its own
constitution. Many provisions of Indian constitution aren’t applicable to this
state without approval of state assembly.

4. There are some units of the Indian union which are too small to become an
independent state and cannot be merged with existing states such units are
called Union Territories. These territories don’t have powers of a state.

5. Central government has special powers in running these states.

11. Most federations that are formed by holding together don’t give equal
power to its constituent units. Explain this by giving example from India.

1. Indian federalism is formed by holding together nature of federalism.

2. All the states in the Indian union don’t have identical powers.

3. Some states enjoy a special status like Jammu & Kashmir which has its
own constitution. Many provisions of the Indian constitution aren’t applicable
to this state without approval of state assembly.

4. Indians who aren’t permanent resident of this state can’t buy land or house
here.

5. There are some units of Indian Union which are too small to become an
independent state and couldn’t be merged with existing states. Such units are
called Union Territories. These territories don’t have powers of a state.

6. The Central government has special powers in running these states.

12. Sharing of power between Union and State governments can’t be

changed easily. Explain

(or)

How can power sharing arrangements between Centre and States be

modified?

1. It isn’t easy to make changes in the power sharing arrangement between

Union and State governments.

2. Parliament can’t on its own change this arrangement.

3. Any change to it has to be first passed by both houses of parliament with
atleast 2/3 majority. Then it has to be ratified by legislature of at least half of
total states.

13. Judiciary plays an important role in Indian federation.Explain?

(or)

In what ways judiciary is important to Indian federation?

1. The Judiciary with the supreme court at apex, plays an important role in
overseeing the implementation of constitutional provisions and procedures.

2. In case of any dispute about division of powers, the high courts and supreme
court make a decision.

3. Hence, judiciary is the ‘Guardian of Indian federalism’.

14. If agriculture and commerce are state subjects why do we have

ministers of agriculture and commerce in the union cabinet?

1. Because of wider aspect of these subjects regarding inter state trade.

2. A uniform policy has to be legislated . Hence constitution permits the

parliament to legislate these subjects in the interest of the public at large.

3. Agriculture and commerce are part of planning commission. So, we require

agriculture and commence ministers in union for policy making.

15. What are reasons for success of Indian federalism?

Real success of federalism in India can be attributed to:

1. Nature of democratic politics in our country.

2. Spirit of federalism

3. Respect for diversity.

4. Desire for living together.

16. Examine concept of linguistic state in India?

1. Creation of linguistic states was the first and a major test for democratic
politics in India.
2. In 1947 boundaries of several old states were changed to create new states to
ensure that people who spoke the same languages lived in same state.

3. Some states were created to recognize differences based on culture ethnicity

or geography like Nagaland, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand

17. List out significance of linguistic states.

Formation of linguistic states has actually made the country more united. It has
also made administration easier by providing equal and just treatment to all
languages.

18. Discuss language policy of Indian federalism?

Framing of language policy is a second test for Indian Federation. Language

policy safeguards languages of India. Under this policy :

1. Status of national language wasn’t given to anyone language.

2. Hindi was identified as the official language.

3. Besides Hindi,21 other languages are recognized as scheduled languages.

4. Other languages are recognized as the non scheduled languages.

5. States too were given right to have their own official languages.

19. Discuss controversy over Hindi and English as the official languages.

1. Controversy over Hindi as the official languages started when our

constitution made provision that use of English for official purposes was to stop
in 1965.

2. Many non-Hindi speaking states demanded to continue use of English. This

movement took a violent form in Tamil Nadu.

3. Central government agreed to continue use of English along with Hindi for
official purpose.

4. Promotion of Hindi continues to be the official policy of the government of

India and it doesn’t mean that central government can impose Hindi on states
where people speak different languages.

5. This flexibility shown by our political leaders helped our country to avoid
situation like civil war that Sri Lanka finds in itself.
20 .Discuss Centre-State relationship in Indian federalism.

1. Restructing Centre-State relations is another way in which federalism has

been strengthened in practice.

2. Though Indian constitution has demarcated the powers of Union and State
governments, in the past central government has often misused the constitution
to dismiss the state government that were controlled by rival parties.

3. Even if the same party ruled at the state government, it didn’t exercise their
right as autonomous federal units.

4. Beginning of the era of coalition government at centre and rise of regional

political parties in many states after 1990, led to new culture of power sharing
and respect for autonomy of the state government.

5. Supreme court played a major role in improving autonomy of state

government by making at difficult for central government to dismiss state
government in an arbitrary manner.

21. Federal power sharing is more effective today than it was in early years.
Explain.

(or)

What was the new culture of power sharing that developed after 1990’s?

1. New culture of power sharing developed after 1990 with rise of regional
political parties and the era of coalition government.

2. Era of coalition government started when no single party got a clear majority
in Lok Sabha, the major national parties had to enter into alliance with many
parties including several regional parties to form a government at the centre.

3. This led to new culture of power sharing and respect for autonomy of state
government.

4. This was further supported by the supreme court ,that made it difficult for
central government to dismiss the state government in an arbitrary manner.

22. Why is there a need for power sharing within states?

States in India are as large as independent countries of Europe. In terms of

population, UP is bigger than Russia, Maharashtra is as big as Germany. Many
of these states are internally very diverse. Thus there is need for power sharing
within these states.

23. What resulted in formation of third tier government and what is it

called?

1. Power sharing in India needs another tier of government below that of state
government.

2. There is large number of problems and issues to be settled at the local level.

3. People have better knowledge of problems in their localities.

4. They also have better ideas where to spend money and how to manage things
more efficiently.

5. Moreover people can directly participate in decision making and help to

inculcate the habit of democratic participation.

6. This resulted in the formation of a third tier government called local

government.

24. What is decentralization of power?

When power is taken away from central and state government and given to
local government it is called decentralization.

25.Examine significance of decentralization of power.

(or)

Indian decentralization has strengthened India’s democracy. Explain

1. Decentralization of power helps in settlement of a large number of problems

and issues at the local level.

2. It provides a platform for direct participation of people on decision making

and inculcates habit of democratic participation

3. Decentralization in form of local self government is the best way to realize

principles of democracy.
26. There was very little decentralization in effective terms. Why ?

1.Though panchayats in villages and municipalities in urban area were set up in

all states to decentralize powers at local level, these were directly under the
control of state government.

2. Elections to these local governments weren’t held regularly.

3. Local government didn’t have any powers or resources of their own.

4. Thus, there was very little decentralization in effective terms.

27. What steps were taken by government to make third tier democracy
more powerful and effective?

(or)

Discuss constitution amendment of 1992 regarding decentralization of

powers.

(or)

List the attempts to Indian Constitution to decentralize powers.

A major step towards decentralization of power was taken in 1992.

1. Constitution was amended to make third tier of democracy more powerful

and effective.

2. It is constitutionally mandatory to hold regular elections to local government

bodies.

3. Seats are reserved in all elected bodies and executive heads of these
institutions for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other Backward
classes.

4. One third of all positions are reserved for women.

5. State Election Commission has been set up in each state to conduct panchayat
and municipal elections.

6. State governments are required to share some powers and revenue with local
government bodies.
28. Discuss structure and composition of rural local self government.

Rural local government is popularly known by the name of PanchayatiRaj. It

has a three tier system.

1.Gram Panchayat at the village level

a. Each village or group of villages has a gram panchayat.

b. This is a council consisting of several ward members called panch, and a

president or sarpanch.

c. They are directly elected by all adult population living in ward or village.

d. Panchayat works under supervision of gram sabha consisting of all adult

members of village.

e. It has to meet at least twice or thrice in a year to approve the annual budget of
gram panchayat and to review the performance of gram panchayat.

2 .Block Samiti or The panchayat samiti at the block level:

a. A few gram panchayat are grouped together to form a block or panchayat

samiti.

b. Members of this representative body are elected by all panchayat members in

that area.

3.Zill parishad at district level:

a. All the panchayat samiti or the block samiti in a district together constitute
zilla parishad.

b. Most members of zilla parishad are elected.

c. Members of Lok Sabha and MLAs of that district and some other officials of
other district level bodies are also its members.

d. Zilla parishad chair person is the political head of zilla parishad.

29. Examine composition and structure of urban local seldf govt.

1. Local government for Urban areas consists of municipalities for towns and
municipal corporations for big cities.
2. Both municipalities and municipal corporations are controlled by elected
bodies consisting of peoples representatives.

3. Municipal chair person is the political head of municipality

4. Mayor is the head of the municipal corporation.

30. Prime Minister runs the country. Chief Minister runs the state logically
then, Chairperson of zilla parishad should run the district. Why does
District Magistrate or Collector administer the district?

Because District Magistrate or Collector are representative of Union

Government. Under three tier system chair person of zilla parishad is
accountable to representatives of union government.

31. In what ways local government has deepened our democracy?

1. Constitutional status for local government has helped to deepen democracy

in our country.

2. It has also increased women’s representation and voice in our democracy/

3. There are now about 36 lakh elected representatives in panchyats,

municipalities etc. all over the country.

4. All these features strengthen the very aspect of democracy.

32. What were the difficulties faced by local governments.?

(or)

Why are we a still a long way in realizing the ideal of self government?

1. Gram Sabha’s aren’t held regularly.

2. Most state governments haven’t transferred significant powers to local

governments.

3. Local governments aren’t given adequate resources.

4. Hence, we are still a long way from realizing the ideal of self government.
33. Point out one feature in practice of federalism in India that is similar to
and one feature that is different from that of Belgium.

1. Feature of Indian federalism that is similar to that of Belgium is that like in

Belgium federalism, in India federalism also constitutional powers are given to
regional and local governments.

2. Feature that is different is that unlike Belgian federalism in Indian federalism

regional and local governments are dependent on central government for
finance and other matter of national importance.

34. State any two differences between local government before and after
the constitutional amendment in 1992.

Local government before 1992.

1. They were directly under control of state government.

2. Elections weren’t held regularly.

3. Elections were controlled by state government .

Local government after 1992

1. Local governments have got some powers of their own.

2. Elections are held regularly.

3. An independent state election commission is responsible to conduct elections.

35. The real success of federalism in India can be attributed to the nature
of democratic politics in our country. Explain.

1. Indian federalism is formed by holding together nature of federalism.

2. All the states in Indian Union don’t have identical powers.

3. Some states enjoy a special status like Jammu & Kashmir which has its own
constitution. Many provisions of Indian constitution aren’t applicable to this
state without approval of state assembly.

4. There are some units of the Indian union which are too small to become an
independent state and cannot be merged with existing states such units are
called Union Territories. These territories don’t have powers of a state.
5. Central government has special powers in running these states.

6. It isn’t easy to make changes in the power sharing arrangement between

Union and State governments.

7. Parliament can’t on its own change this arrangement.

8. Any change to it has to be first passed by both houses of parliament with

atleast 2/3 majority. Then it has to be ratified by legislature of at least half of
total states.

9. The Judiciary with the supreme court at apex, plays an important role in
overseeing the implementation of constitutional provisions and procedures.

10. In case of any dispute about division of powers, the high courts and supreme
court make a decision.

11. Hence, judiciary is the ‘Guardian of Indian federalism’.