Federalism in India

1. Federalism is a form of government in which political power is divided among various

units.
2. The structure of the original federal design of 1950 was derived from the British
Government of India Act, 1935.
3. Federalism is a fundamental feature of the Indian Constitution, according to which the
Union of India is eternal and unbreakable.
4. While exercising the powers, both the Centre and the States must work together.

Federal Process in India: Phase of Development

1. Due to security risks, India first implemented centralized economic planning following
independence.
2. The first phase of the political process of federalism lasted from the time of independence
to the mid-1960s. Nehru took democracy seriously enough to involve many states in an
effort to keep them aware of the status of the nation and the globe, as well as to solicit
their opinions in an attempt to develop a national consensus.
3. The second phase of Indian federalism started with the fourth general elections (1967),
which decreased the Congress party's overwhelming power in the national Parliament to
a bare majority and saw over half of the states move out of Congress control and into the
hands of opposition parties.
4. The third phase began with coalition administrations at the Centre in the 1980s. Regional
parties, such as Tamil Nadu's (DMK) and Bihar's (RJD), have pushed their interests more
openly with minority governments .

Structure and characteristics of the Indian Federation

1. According to the Ambdedkar, indian constitution article 1 mentions “India, that is

Bharat, shall be a union of States,”. It was not federal due to the below reasons
a. Indian federalism was not due to the agreement of the states
 b. The states of India have no power to leave the union.
2. Federalism is the supremacy of a written and inflexible constitution. The Constitution
states clearly that no organ of state may violate its range of jurisdiction.
3. Power is divided between the Centre and the States under federalism. There are three lists
in India: Union, State, and Concurrent which provide the area of their powers.
4. The presence of an independent judiciary to serve as the Constitution's protector. The
Indian constitution grants the Supreme Court to resolve disputes between the Centre and
the states, as well as to protect the interests of the states.
5. The Indian Parliament is a bicameral legislature, with two Houses (lok sabha and rajya
sabha)
6. The federal government has three kinds of sharing the power
a. Vertical power sharing
b. Horizontal power sharing
c. transversal power sharing
7. The framers of the Constitution included non-federal features such as single citizenship, a
single judiciary, a strong center, and the President's nomination of the Governor.

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Asymmetries in the Federal Structure

1. "Asymmetric federalism" is defined as federalism based on uneven powers and

interactions between the components that comprise a federation in the political,
administrative, and budgetary arrangements.
2. In India, Even though the constitution gives almost equal powers to the states, the centre
dominates in the workings of federal systems in political, administrative, and budgetary
domains.
3. Unlike traditional federations such as the United States, the Indian Federation is not a
'indestructible union of indestructible states'. Only the union is unbreakable; the states are
not.(as an example of telangana division from andhra pradesh)
4. four kinds of asymmetries exists in india
 a. States in India are represented in the RajyaSabha based on population rather than
formal equality as in the United States of America.
b. There are distinct differences in tribal administration, intra-state regional
disparities, law and order situation, and allocation of legislative assembly seats
example (maharashtra, goa etc)
c. The third type of asymmetry in Indian federalism is related to a specific type of
federating entity known as the Union Territories.
d. Fourth type of asymmetry is Special asymmetries exist in the states of Jammu and
Kashmir, Nagaland, and Mizoram. The state of Jammu and Kashmir has the
highest degree of asymmetricality in the Indian constitution. It was governed by
Article 370.

Indian Federalism in the Age of Globalization

1. The overseas market has trumped the political liberty of liberal democratic republics.
2. States have been engaged in a vigorous race for foreign direct investment and SEZ
development models.
3. With the deterioration of the welfare state, newly manufactured tensions arising from
disparities in regional development, and expanding inequalities as a result of
globalization, the situation remains unresolved.
4. With the liberal democratic state's political autonomy compromised in favor of the
market, local governments are becoming increasingly vulnerable to direct infiltration by
global and corporate power structures.
5. The withdrawal of the few welfare measures, as well as the lack of social security, have
resulted in widespread opposition to globalization, spearheaded by different types of
grass-roots political movement.
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The Parliamentary form of Government

The parliamentary system of government, which is also known as the Cabinet Government, is
based on a close relationship between the executive and legislature.

Features of the parliamentary system

1. The Prime Minister along with the Council of Ministers form the executive and the
Parliament is the legislature. The PM and the ministers are elected from the members of
parliament, implying that the executive emerges from the legislature.
2. The executive is responsible to the legislature. There is a collective responsibility, that is,
each minister’s responsibility is the responsibility of the whole Council.
3. There are two executives – the real executive and the titular executive. The nominal
executive is the head of state (president or monarch) while the real executive is the Prime
Minister, who is the head of government.
4. A prerequisite of this form of government is that cabinet proceedings are secret and not
meant to be divulged to the public.
5. The leader of this form of government is the Prime Minister. Generally, the leader of the
party that wins a majority in the lower house is appointed as the PM.
6. Most parliamentary democracies follow bicameral legislatures.
7. The term of the government depends on its majority support in the lower house. If the
government does not win a vote of no confidence, the council of ministers has to resign.
Elections will be held and a new government is formed.