Introduction To Federalism
Introduction To Federalism
Introduction To Federalism
Introduction to Federalism
If you have studied our constitution carefully, you will
see it calls India a “Union of States”. This statement is
what gives our country a federal structure. Let us learn
more about federalism and why we call India a quasi-
federal country.
What is Federalism?
Federalism is at its core a system where the dual
machinery of government functions. Generally, under
federalism, there are two levels of government. One is
a central authority which looks after the major affairs
of the country. The other is more of a local
government which looks after the day to day
functioning and activities of their particular region.
(Source:
Pinterest)
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Features of Federalism
a. Belgium
b. Spain
c. Nepal
d. Switzerland
Ans: The correct option is “D”. “Coming together”
federation is nothing but independent states coming
together on their own to form a bigger country.
Independent states pool their sovereignty but maintain
their independent status. USA, Switzerland and
Australia are examples of such type of federation.Q:
There are two or more tiers in a Unitary government.
True or False?
Concepts of Federalism
Federalism is a type of government in which the
power is divided between the national government and
other governmental units. It contrasts with a unitary
government, in which a central authority holds the
power, and a confederation, in which states, for
example, are clearly dominant.
While the Constitution addressed only the relationship
between the federal government and the states, the
American people are under multiple jurisdictions. A
person not only pays his or her federal income tax but
also may pay state and city income taxes as well.
Property taxes are collected by counties and are used
to provide law enforcement, build new schools, and
maintain local roads.
Throughout the 20th century, the power of the federal
government expanded considerably through legislation
and court decisions. While much recent political
debate has centered on returning power to the states,
the relationship between the federal government and
the states has been argued over for most of the history
of the United States.
The constitutional framework
Although the Constitution sets up a federal system,
nowhere does it define what federalism is. However,
the framers of the Constitution were determined to
create a strong national government and address the
shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation, which
allowed the states too much power. In terms of the
balance of power between the federal government and
the states, the Constitution clearly favors the federal
government.
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Dual federalism
Dual federalism looks at the federal system as a sort
of "layer cake," with each layer of government
performing the tasks that make the most sense for that
level.
The initial framing and ratification of the Constitution
reflected this theory. Even those people supporting a
stronger national government proposed that powers in
the federal government be distinct and limited, with
certain tasks enumerated for the national government
in the Constitution and the remaining tasks left to the
state governments. Because this theory leaves each
government supreme within its own sphere of
operations, it is also sometimes called dual
sovereignty.
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Cooperative federalism
The theory of cooperative federalism emerged during
the New Deal, when the power of the federal
government grew in response to the Great Depression.
It does not recognize a clear distinction between the
functions of the states and Washington, and it
emphasizes that there are many areas in which their
responsibilities overlap. For example, drug
enforcement involves federal agents, state troopers,
and local police. The federal government supplies
funds for education, but the state and local school
boards choose curriculum and set qualifications for
teachers. (Interestingly, attempts to set national
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Introduction
Federalism in India is a historical advancement. The Federal
configuration under the present constitution and its tangible
operations can be grasped only on the broad canvas of its
long expedition. This essay showcases Federalism in India in
a twofold modus: The history of Federalism in India and the
Federal Scheme under the present-day Constitution of India.
The term “federal” is derived from the Latin foedus, which
means, “covenant”. This embodies ideas of promise,
obligation, and undertaking; and consequently, the federal
idea draws on collaboration, reciprocity, and mutuality.
Federalism is a method of segregating powers so that the
central and local governments are each within a domain,
harmonizing and autonomous. To be lucid, federalism
postulates a constitutional apparatus for bringing unity in
diversity by toning the divergent forces of centripetal and
centrifugal trends in the country for the attainment of
conjoint national targets.
The significance of the Act of 1935 lies in the fact that the
provinces were endowed with a legal personality under a
national scheme, and that the character of the national
scheme was ultimately a federal system. This meant the
abolition of the principle of dyarchy at the provincial level
and its retention at the Centre.
The powers in the country are split amongst the three pillars
of democracy: the Legislature, the Executive, and the
Judiciary. All these three props are complementary and
supplementary to each other with an independent judiciary
which is the upholder of the supremacy of the constitution
and get to the bottom of disagreements flanked by center
and states or between 2 states. This guarantees a stringent
remedial system. But is that sufficient? The judiciary
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Over the past few years, Indian federalism has entered a new
phase. With a strong central government, for the most part,
Delhi has asserted its authority on issues like foreign affairs.
The fact that the BJP is in power at both the Centre and by
itself, or along with allies, in 19 states, lends greater
convergence in policy. But it also makes the Centre more
powerful in some ways. At the same time, with the
recommendation of the Fourteenth Finance Commission, states
have greater control over finances and resources which they
can allocate for service delivery. The rise of regional parties
has also given them greater political weight. Modi’s ‘Team
India’ vision rests on maintaining the right balance between
these two strands.
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Commonwealth of Australia
(pp. 9-33)
JOHN M. WILLIAMS and CLEMENT MACINTYRE
The constitutional distribution of powers and
responsibilities in the Australian federation has proved to
be exceptionally flexible. Originally conceived as a
decentralized federation with the bulk of powers
remaining in the hands of the states, in fact there has
been a steady accretion of power to the Commonwealth
government since shortly after federation in 1901.
Although formal amendment of the constitution has been
limited, changing interpretation by the High Court and the
exercise of financial control by the Commonwealth¹ have
resulted in growing power and responsibility being
exercised by the Commonwealth government.
The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia
came...
3. Kingdom of Belgium
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Kingdom of Belgium
(pp. 35-65)
HUGUES DUMONT, NICOLAS LAGASSE, MARC VAN
DER HULST and SÉBASTIEN VAN
DROOGHENBROECK
It is not easy to use simple language to describe
something that is not simple, and Belgian federalism is
far from simple. Built without preconceived ideas or an
overarching doctrine, it accumulates original –
sometimes labyrinthine – solutions as it goes along. In
this chapter we attempt to describe the distribution of
powers in Belgium as briefly as we can, without doing
violence to its richness and complexity – concentrating
on major characteristics rather than on an exhaustive
inventory of rules. After reviewing the evolution of
Belgian federalism along with its social and historical
context, our chapter examines the, principles that govern
the...
4. The Federal Republic of Brazil
The Federal Republic of Brazil
(pp. 67-90)
MARCELO PIANCASTELLI
This chapter provides an overview of the distribution of
powers and responsibilities in Brazil’s federal
Constitution, tracing its historical development and
describing how it works in practice. Brazil has a vast
territory and a complex federal system. Its economy, in
terms of gross domestic product (GDP) in U.S. dollars, is
among the ten largest in the world. Attempts to
implement a federal form of government can be traced
back to 1831. It was in 1891 that the first republican
federal constitution was promulgated. The present
Constitution has been in operation since 1988, when
democracy was re-established. It demonstrates a clear...
5. Canada
Canada
(pp. 92-122)
RICHARD SIMEON and MARTIN PAPILLON
The division of powers and responsibilities in Canada
reflects the country’s unique history, social and economic
makeup, and institutional design. Canada is one of the
world’s most decentralized federations. This is a result
both of the federal character of Canadian society and of
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(pp. 322-350)
RONALD L. WATTS
The essential characteristic of federations is that they are
composed of two (or more) orders of government
operating within a constitutional framework, with one
order providingshared rulethrough common institutions
for certain specified purposes and with the other order
(or orders) providing regional or localself-rulethrough the
governments of the constituent units for certain specified
purposes. Thus, as the foregoing chapters in this volume
make clear, a constitutional distribution of legislative and
executive authority, responsibilities, and finances among
the general and constituent unit governments constitutes
a fundamental, indeed defining, aspect in the design and
operation of all these...
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COOPERATIVE FEDERALISM IN
INDIA
The Federal character of the Indian Constitution is one of its
salient features, however the term ‘Federation’ has nowhere
been used in the Constitution.
Constitution has provided for a structure of governance which
is essentially federal in nature
It contains all the usual features of a federation, i.e. two
government, division of powers, written Constitution,
supremacy of Constitution, rigidity of Constitution,
independent judiciary and bicameralism. However, the Indian
Constitution also contains a large number of unitary or non-
federal features, i.e. a strong Centre, single Constitution, single
citizenship, flexibility of Constitution, integrated judiciary,
appointment of state governor by the Centre, all-India services,
emergency provisions, and so on.
Article 1, on the other hand, describes India as a ‘Union of
States’ which implies two things: one, Indian Federation is not
the result of an agreement by the states; and two, no state has
the right to secede from the federation. Hence, the Indian
Constitution has been variously described as ‘federal in form
but unitary in spirit’.
Within this basic framework of federalism, the Constitution
has given overriding powers to the Central government. States
must exercise their executive power in compliance with the
laws made by the Central government and must not impede on
the executive power of the Union. Governors are appointed by
the Central government to oversee the States. The Centre can
even take over the executive of the States on the issues of
national security or breakdown of constitutional machinery of
the State.Considering the overriding powers given to the
Central government, Indian federation has often been
described as 'quasi-federation', 'semi-federation', 'pragmatic
federation' or a 'federation with strong unitary features'.
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Federalism with the cultural and ethnic pluralism has given the
country’s political system great flexibility, and therefore the
capacity to withstand stress through accommodation.
However, continuation of the same requires not simply
federalism, but cooperative and constructive federalism.
A strong Centre is necessary for strong States and vice versa is
the essence of cooperative federalism
Indian federation should be seen in the context of its
democratic system of governance at the national, state and
local levels and the pluralities of its culture in terms of ethnic,
linguistic, religious and other diversities which cut through the
States. India is the largest democratic country as also the
largest federal and the largest pluralist country of the world.
While democracy provides freedom to everybody, federation
ensures that governance is distributed spatially and a strong
central government enables that the 'unity amidst diversity' is
maintained. It is through Federation that the country mobilizes
all its resources to maintain its harmony and integrity and
marches ahead to progress.
Development of Cooperative Federalism Post Independence
The changing dynamics and the varied experiences that the
Indian State has had like one party rule, the rise of regional
parties, the formation of coalition Governments, active role of
the Judiciary, have shaped the trajectory of federalism by
swinging the pendulum from cooperative to confrontationist
and vice versa.
It has been a trend in Indian political history that so long as the
central and state governments were ruled by the same political
party, the cooperative framework worked very well. But when
different political parties are in power in the centre and the
states and more recently when coalition governments are in
power there are signs of stresses and tensions in
intergovernmental relations between the Centre and the States.
Trend so far:
Cooperative in the 50s and 60s- First fifteen years after
independence were marked by a democratically elected regime
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the federal set up will not be complete. Both Centre and State
governments must attend to the task of preserving our
nationhood through constructive cooperative federalism which
requires a great deal of commitment.
The need to come together today is not only the consequence
of the new challenges facing the nation but that the same will
serve as an antidote to prevent such challenges from recurring
in future. Cooperative federalism alone strengthens the nation
from within by enabling it to withstand adversities and
challenges because of its inherent resilience and malleability.