POLITICAL SCIENCE- II

UNIT-I
TYPES OF GOVERNMENT

TOPIC: 1.4
Federal form of Government: Merits and Demerits

Mr. Vivek Kumar Singh

Assistant Professor
DME Law School
v.singh@dme.ac.in

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 Suggested Readings
• Essential Reading:
– ‘Chapter 11 Forms of Government’ in J.C. Johari’s
‘Principles of Modern Political Analysis’ (2021)
• Additional Reading:
– “Federalism: International IDEA Constitution-
Building Primer” by Elliot Bulmer.
https://www.idea.int/sites/default/files/publications
/federalism-primer.pdf

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 Merits of Federal system
1. Small states can come together to form
powerful unions
• More safety and security
• Ex. Madhya Pradesh alone won’t have same
power as India
2. Combines advantages of national unity
and local autonomy

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 Merits of Federal system
3. Only system which allows uniformity or
diversity according to the desirability of the
conditions
• Ex. Uniformity is desirable in Atomic Energy
policy, but diversity in local government
4. Legislative and administrative innovation
• Units can try different approaches to new
problems of the technological age.
• Can work as a pilot study for others
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 Merits of Federal system
5. Provides a model for world government
• International administration can be made on
federal lines
6. Accommodates interest of vast countries
7. Prevents rise of a despotic central govt
8. Educates citizens in their civic duties
9. Relieves pressure from central legislature

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 Demerits of Federal system
1. Division of powers => Weak government
2. Unnecessarily complex and confusing
• Duplicity of legislature, administration,
taxation
• Expensive for tax payers
• Time-consuming
3. Rigidity in amendment=> Delay in solving
urgent problems

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 Demerits of Federal system
4. Fear of political disintegration (Ex USSR
1991)
5. Can’t pursue a vigorous foreign policy
6. Lack of uniformity among state in terms of
legislation and administration
7. States may become too competitive

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 Unitary Government
• Supreme legislative authority by one single
power
• Organised under a single central govt
• There may be local govt as well, but this is
created by the central govt
• Local govt is subordinate, has powers
delegated by the centre which can be taken
back at will

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 Unitary Government

• Federation gives autonomy to the units, while Unitary state

delegates to local govts for administrative economy and
efficiency

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 Merits of Unitary system
1. Effective, efficient and powerful central
govt=> successful in dealing with
emergencies
2. Flexible constitution=> can be easily
amended as per need
3. Uniformity of administration and legislation
4. Less expensive
5. Suits well for countries with homogeneity
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 Demerits of Unitary system
1. May become autocratic as power is
concentrated
2. Crushes local initiative by people
3. Local affairs ignored

• Better to have judicious blending of both

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 Next lecture
• Features of Confederal and Quasi-federal form

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