KV ECR SAMASTIPUR

CH 2 FEDERALISM
DEMOCRATIC POLITICS
CLASS 10

URMIMALA RAY CHOUDHURY

TGT SOCIAL SCIENCE
 What is federalism

Federalism is a system of government in which the

power is shared between a central authority and
various constituent units of the country.
 UNITARY vs FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
•UNDER UNITARY SYSTEM
•Only one level of government.
•Or the sub units are subordinate to the central government.
•The Central Government can pass on orders to the provincial or the local
government.
•Countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, China.

•IN FEDERAL SYSTEM

•The Central Government cannot order the state government.
•State Government has power of its own.
•Both the government is separately answerable to the people.
•Countries like the USA, Canada, India, Russia.
 Features of Federalism
• Has two or more levels of Government.
• Each level has its own power or JURISDICTION.
• Jurisdiction is specified by the constitution, and the authority is
constitutionally guaranteed.
• Constitutional provision can be changed only with the consent of both
levels of Government.
• Court interprets the constitution and powers of different levels of
government. Supreme Court acts as an umpire if dispute arise between
different levels of government.
• Sources of revenue are clearly specified.
 OBJECTIVES OF FEDERALISM
Has dual objectives-
• To safeguard or promote the unity of the country.
• To accommodate regional diversity.

An ideal federalism has two aspects-

• Mutual trust.
• Agreement to live together.
 Routes of Federation
There are two kinds of routes through which federation have been
formed-
Coming Holding
Together Together
Independent states Large country decides to
coming together on divide power between
their own to form constitutional units and
bigger unit. Centre.
Centre is more
Increase security by powerful vis-à-vis the
pooling sovereignty and states.
retaining identity. Constituent units of
federation have unequal
All constituent states powers. Some units are
have equal power. granted special power.

USA, Switzerland India, Spain,

Australia. Belgium
 What makes India a Federal Country?
The Constitution clearly provided a three-fold distribution of legislative
powers between the Union Government and the State Governments.
CONCURRENT
UNION LIST STATE LIST LIST
Has subjects of
Has subjects of common interest
Has subjects of local and State both to centre
national importance. and state
importance
Both the Centre
State Govt. and State can
Union alone can alone can make frame laws.
make laws. laws.

Education,
Police, Trade, forest, trade
Defence, Banking, commerce, union, marriage,
Currency, Foreign agriculture, adoption.
Affairs. irrigation
Residuary Powers

• Subjects which do not fall under these three

lists.
• Union Government alone has the power to
make laws. E.g. Computer software
Union Territories
• Too small to become an independent State.
• Could not be merged with any of the existing States.
• Chandigarh, Ladakh, Delhi are called Union Territories.
• These territories do not have the powers of a State.
• The Central Government has special powers in running these
areas.
The Sharing of Power between the Union & the State
Government.

• It is the basic to the structure of the Constitution.

• It is not easy to make changes to this power sharing arrangements.
• Any change has to be passed by both the houses with 2/3rd majority.
• It has to be ratified by the legislatures of at least half of the total
states.
• The judiciary plays an important role in settling disputes.
• The Union and the State governments levy taxes to carry on their
responsibilities.
 How is Federalism Practiced?
Success of federalism in India can be attributed to the nature of democratic politics
in our country. This ensured respect for diversity and desire for living together.
LINGUISTIC STATES
• Creation of linguistic state was the first major test for democratic politics in our
country.
• Evolution of states over a period of time (1947-2019).
• This was done to ensure that people who spoke the same language lived in the same
state.
• Some states were also created to recognize differences based on culture, ethnicity
or geography. Example, Nagaland, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand.
• Some national leaders thought that formation of states on linguistic line would lead
to disintegration of the country.
• But this has united the country.
LANGUAGE POLICY.
• Our Constitution did not give the status of national language to any one language.
• Hindi was identified as the official language, but spoken by 40% of population.
• 22 languages are recognized as Scheduled Languages by the Constitution.
• A candidate in an examination conducted for the Central Government positions may
opt any of these languages.
• States too have their own official languages.
• According to the Constitution, the use of English for official purposes was to stop in
1965.
• Many non-Hindi speakers demanded the use of English.
• In Tamil Nadu, this movement took a violent form.
• The Central Government agreed to continue the use of English along with Hindi for
official purposes.
• Critics think that this favoured the English- speaking elite.
• Promotion of Hindi continues to be the official policy of the Government of India.
CENTRE-STATE RELATIONS
• Restructuring the Centre-State relation is one more way that has strengthened
the federal structure.
• For a long time, the same party ruled both at the Centre and in most of the
States.
• State governments did not exercise their rights as autonomous federal units.
• The Central Government would often misuse the Constitution to dismiss the
State Governments.
• All this changed significantly after 1990 with the rise of regional political parties
in many states.
• This was also the beginning of the era of COALITION GOVERNMENTS at the
Centre.
• This led to a new culture of power sharing and respect for the autonomy of
State Governments.
• A major judgement by the Supreme Court made it difficult for the Central
Government to dismiss the State Governments arbitrarily.
 Decentralisation in India
• States in India are as large as independent countries
of Europe.
• In terms of population, Uttar Pradesh is bigger than
Russia, Maharashtra is as big as Germany.
• States are internally very diverse.
• Large number of problem and issues can be settled at
local level.
Decentralisation- When power is taken away
from Central and State Governments and given to
local government, it is called decentralisation.
Basic Idea Behind Decentralisation…..
• Solving large number of problems in localities.
• People have better knowledge of problems in localities.
• Better ideas on where to spend money and how to manage
things efficiently.
• Peoples participation in decision making.
• To realize one important principle of democracy, namely,
local self government.
1992 brought in effective Decentralisation
• Steps taken by the Constitution:-
• It is mandatory to hold regular elections to local governments.
• Reservations of seats for SC, ST and BCS.
• 1/3rd seats reserved for women.
• State Election Commission conducts election.
• State government share some power and revenue with local bodies.
 Panchayati Raj – Rural Local Self Government
Village District
Block Level
level Level
Base Level Apex body
Intermediate
level
Gram
Panchayat Zila Parishad
Panchayat
Samiti/ Mandal
Headed by Formed by elected
Sarpanch members and have
Elected by all the members of Lok Sabha
Panchayat and MLA of the district
members
Works under the Headed by
supervision of
the
Gram Sabha
Chairperson
Urban Local Government
Munici
pal
Corpor
ation
BIG CITIES
Municipalities
Headed by
Mayor
TOWNS
Headed by Municipal Chairperson
Nagar Panchayat
In transition from rural to urban
Difficulties of Local Government

• Gram Sabhas are not held regularly.

• Most State Governments have not transferred significant powers to
the local governments.
• They don’t have adequate resources.
• We are still a long way from realizing the ideal self-government.