Fedralism

What is Fedralism?
Two tiers of government;
System of government in which the power is divided between a central authority and various constituent
units of the country.

Federation → 2 Levels

1. Central: Subjects of common interest

2. State: Day-to-Day administering

In a Unitary Government, the sub-units are subordinate to the central gov.

Federal Government, state gov. has its own powers for which it is not answerable to the central gov.
Key Features:

1. 2 or 2+ Levels

2. Each Level → Own Judistriction

3. Judistriction of each level: specified in constitution.

4. Changes to the constitution require consent of both levels.

5. Court have power to

a. Interpret the constitution

b. Interpret the powers of levels of gov.

6. Each level has its own financial autonomy

7. Dual Objectives

a. Safeguard & Promote unity of the country

b. Accommodate regional diversity

Both levels of gov. must agree to power-sharing, and trust each other.
Types of Federations

1. ‘Coming Together’ Federations

a. Independent states coming together on their own to form a bigger unit.

b. Constituent States have EQUAL power.

c. USA, Switzerland, Australia

d. Culture-Wise Hard

2. ‘Holding Together’ Federations

a. Large country decides to divide power b/w constituent states + nat. gov.

b. Constituent States have UNEQUAL power; Central tends to be more strong + Some units →
Special Powers

Fedralism 1
 c. India, Spain, Belgium

What makes India a federal country?

Union Gov. → State Gov. → Panchayat + Municipality

Lists

1. Union List

a. Subjects of National Importance

Defence, Foreign Affairs, Banking, Communications, Currency

b. Desc. made by Union Gov. alone

2. State List

a. State and Local Importance

Police, Trade, Commerce, Agriculture, Irrigation

3. Concurrent List

a. Education, Forest, Trade Unions, Marriage, Adoption, Succession

Residuary Subjects {Computer Software; Things which were made after our constitution was made} →
Union Gov.

Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram → Constitution of India (Article 371) ← Peculiar Social
and Historical Circumstances
Protection of land rights of indigenous peoples, their culture and preference to employment.

Indian’s who are not permanent residents cannot buy land in border states.
Union Territories
Too small to be considered a state + cannot be merged with any state
Power by Union Gov.
For Gov. to change its power-sharing arrangements:

1. Passed by both houses of parliament with atleast two-thirds majority.

2. Has to be consented by atleast half the state legislatures.

Union, State Governments → can levy taxes → for governmental responsibilities.

How is federalism practiced?

Linguistic States
States created and destroyed ← Language, (Culture, Ethnicity, Geography: {Nagaland, Uttarakhand,
Jharkhand})
Thought lingustic states would lead to problems, but made the country more united.

Language Policy
No National Language
Official Language → Hindi (40% Indians)
21 Oth Languages → Scheduled Languages
Can opt to give exams in any of these languages.

Fedralism 2
 States → Own official language

(1965) Use of English was to stop

TN, wanted to use English → Movement became violent
⬆ Central agreed to use English also as a official language
Centre-State Relations
For a long time → Both central and state had same governing party ← States had NO rights as
autonomous federal units
Central would misuse its powers to dismiss states assemblies of rival parties
(1990)
Change + Coalition Government

⬆ Culture of power sharing and respect for the autonomy of state governments
+ Supreme court made it difficult for central to dismiss state govs.

Decentralization in India
Many states are internally diverse
→ Local Government: Third Tier of Government

Decentralization: When power is taken away from the Central and State governments and given to the
local government.
Large no. of issues to be settled at a local level
→ Habit of democratic participation
(1992) Amend to Constitution to support Decentralization

1. Regular Elections to Local Bodies

2. Reserved Seats for SC, ST, OBC

3. 1/3rd Seats for Women

4. INDEPENDENT → State Election Commission

5. Req. to share some power and revenue with local bodies.

Rural Local Government → Panchayati Raj / Gram Panchayat

Gram Sabha
President (Sarpanch) + Members (Panch)
2/3 per year to approve annual budget + review performance
Few Gram Panchayats = Panchayat Samti / Block / Mandal

All Panchayat Samti / Mandal = Zilla Parishad ← Elected Members {MLAs, Lok Sabha Members, Other
District Officials}
Zilla Parishad Chairperson ← Political head
Urban Areas: Municipalities
Big Town → Municipal Corporations
Municipal Chairperson → Mayor

36 Lakh Elected Representatives all across India.

Fedralism 3
 Still many problems exist (see pg. 26)

Fedralism 4