LECTURE NOTE

POS 302: LECTURE 4, 5, & 6

Institutions of Federalism:

The institutions of federal system of administration are nothing more

than the three arms of government; executive, legislature, and judiciary.

These are studied because of their role in the federal system of

administration.
a. Executive:
• Real or Nominal,

• Single or Plural

• Cabinet system

• Political and permanent Executive

b. Legislature:
360 and,
109 members together with their functions.
c. Judiciary
BASIC CONDITIONS FOR
FEDERALISM
Conditions:
• There must be a constitutional division of legal authority within the federation;

• Each component of government must be independent within its own sphere of competence;

• The division of authority must be clearly laid out in a supreme constitution;

• The constitution must not be amendable by one level of government alone;

• There must be an umpire, usually a supreme court, to restore intergovernmental disputes over
the boundaries of their legal authority; and

• Each constituent government must operate directly on the people rather than indirectly
through the other tier.
The comparative study of federal Political
systems:
In this topic, five principal bases for the comparative study of federal political

systems will be discussed. These bases act as conceptual lenses or prisms

through which the political scientist can identify and explore both the similarities

and differences between distinct federal systems. The five bases are as follows:
a. Structure of the Federation:
• Westminster Model; based on representative or parliamentary model

• Republican /Presidential Model

• Hybrid Model
b. The Sociological Bases of Federation:
• Scholarly debates of federal origin
c. Political Economy
• The basis of ideology.

The political economy approach to the understanding of federal states is

predicated upon the dynamic relationship between the changing
structure of national, regional and local economies and the political
system(s) in which they operate.
d. Political Parties and Party Systems:

The main focus of the intellectual debate about the role of political parties in
federations has been how far their internal organisation and the structure of party
systems have impinged upon the operation and maintenance of federal systems.
This is an intricate relationship that requires close and careful examination since
it involves a whole host of factors that are interrelated in complex fashion.
e. Constitutional Reform and Judicial
Review:
QUESTION(S)