Federalism

Defination

Vertical division of power among different levels of government is one of the major
forms of power sharing in modern democracies.

What is Federalism?

Belgium & Sri Lanka

• Belgium shifted from a unitary to a federal form of government.
• Sri Lanka continues to be, for all practical purposes, a unitary system where
the national government has all the powers.

Federalism

● Federalism is a system of government in which the power is divided between

a central authority and various constituent units of the country.
● Usually, a federation has two levels of government.
● One is the government for the entire country that is usually responsible for a
few subjects of common national interest.
● The others are governments at the level of provinces or states that look after
much of the day-to-day administering of their state.
● Both these levels of governments enjoy their power independent of the other.

Unitary System

● Federations are contrasted with unitary governments.

● Under the unitary system, either there is 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.

Key Feature of Federalism

1. There are two or more levels (or tiers) of government.

2. Different tiers of government govern the same citizens, but each tier has its
own Jurisdiction. in specific matters of legislation, taxation and administration.
3. The jurisdictions of the respective levels or tiers of government are specified
in the constitution. So the existence and authority of each tier of government
is constitutionally guaranteed.
4. The fundamental provisions of the constitution cannot be unilaterally changed
by one level of government.
5. Courts have the power to interpret the constitution and the powers of different
levels of government. The highest court acts as an umpire if disputes arise
between different levels of government in the exercise of their respective
powers.
6. Sources of revenue for each level of government are clearly specified to
ensure its financial autonomy.
7. The federal system thus has dual objectives -
1. To safeguard and promote unity of the country.
2. Accommodate regional diversity.
Two aspects are crucial for the institutions and practice of federalism.
• Governments at different levels should agree to some rules of power-sharing.
• They should also trust that each would abide by its part of the agreement.
Ideal Federal System

Mutual trust and agreement to live together.
The exact balance of power between the central and the state
government varies from one federation to another.

There are two kinds of routes through which federations have been formed.
1. Coming together federations
 a. Involves independent States coming together on their own to form a
bigger unit, so that by pooling sovereignty and retaining identity they
can increase their security.
b. USA, Switzerland and Australia.
c. All the constituent States usually have equal power and are strong vis-
à-vis the federal government.
2. Holding together federations
a. A large country decides to divide its power between the constituent
States and the national government.
b. India, Spain and Belgium are examples.
c. the central government tends to be more powerful vis-à-vis the States.
d. Very often different constituent units of the federation have unequal
powers. Some units are granted special powers.

What Makes India a Federal Country

Try to understand the topic


The Constitution declared India as a Union of States. Although it did not use the
word federation, the Indian Union is based on the principles of federalism.
FEATURES OF FEDERALISM: Do these features apply to the provisions of Indian
constitution?

What Makes a India Federal Country?

1. The Constitution originally provided for a two-tier system of government, the

Union Government or what we call the Central Government, representing the
Union of India and the State governments.
 Later, a third tier of federalism was added in the form of Panchayats and
Municipalities.
2. Each tier of government has its own jurisdiction, specified in constitution.
 The Constitution clearly provided a threefold distribution of legislative
powers between the Union Government and the State Governments.
 Union list State list Concurrent list
UNIOIN LIST:
● Includes subjects of national importance such as defence of the country,
foreign affairs, banking, communications and currency.
● They are included in this list because we need a uniform policy on these
matters throughout the country.
● The Union Government alone can make laws relating to the subjects
mentioned in the Union List.
STATE LIST:
● Contains subjects of State and local importance such as police, trade,
commerce, agriculture and irrigation.
● The State Governments alone can make laws relating to the subjects
mentioned in the state list.
CONCURRENT LIST:
● Includes subjects of common interest to both the Union government as
well as the State government, such as education, forest, trade unions,
marriage, adoption and succession.
● Both the Union as well as the State Governments can make laws on the
subjects mentioned in this list.
● If their laws conflict with each other, the law made by the Union
Government will prevail.
3. Residuary Subjects, All those subjects which do not fall in any of the list and
came up after the constitution was made.
 Example
o Computer Software
o Only Central Government Can Make Laws on Them
• Holding together Federalism, Do not give equal power to its constituent
units.

 All States in the Indian Union do not have identical powers.
 Some States enjoy a special status.


 Earlier Jammu and kashmir had its own constitution.

 Article 371 gives many special powers to some of the states.
o E.g - States In North East
Concept Union Territory
● Units of the Indian Union which enjoy very little power.
● These are areas which are too small to become an independent State but
which could not be merged with any of the existing States.
● These territories do not have the powers of a State.
● The Central Government has special powers in running these areas.
Example: Chandigarh, Lakshadweep and Delhi.
4. The fundamental provisions of the constitution cannot be unilaterally changed
by one level of government.
POWER SHARING:
• Basic to the structure of the Constitution.
• It is not easy to make changes to this power sharing arrangement.

 The Parliament cannot on its own change this arrangement.
 Any change to it has to be first passed by both the Houses of Parliament
with at least two-thirds majority.
 Then it has to be ratified by the legislatures of at least half of the total
States.
5. The judiciary plays an important role in overseeing the implementation of
constitutional provisions and procedures.
 • In case of any dispute about the division of powers, the High Courts and
the Supreme Court make a decision.
6. The Union and State governments have the power to raise resources by
levying taxes in order to carry on the government and the responsibilities
assigned to each of them.

How is Federalism Practised?

Federalism V/S Success of Federalism


● Constitutional provisions are necessary for the success of federalism, but
these are not sufficient.
● The real success of federalism in India can be attributed to the nature of
democratic politics in our country.
1. Linguistic States,
 People who spoke the same language lived in the same State.
 The creation of linguistic states was the first and a major test for
democratic politics in our country.

 Creation of LINGUISTIC STATES:

o Some States were created not on the basis of language but to recognise
differences based on culture, ethnicity or geography.
o These include States like Nagaland, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand.
o Some National Leaders Feared that Creation of linguistic state would
lead to the disintegration of the country.
▪ The Central Government resisted linguistic States for some time.
 o OUTCOMES:
▪ But the experience has shown that the formation of linguistic
states has actually made the country, more united.
▪ It has also made administration easier.
2. Language Policy,
 Our Constitution did not give the status of national language to any one
language.
 Is Hindi our NATIONAL LANGUAGE? (NO)
o Hindi was identified as the official language.
o Besides Hindi, there are 21 other languages recognised as Scheduled
Languages by the Constitution.
o A candidate in an examination conducted for the Central Government
positions may opt to take the examination in any of these languages.
o States too have their own official languages.
o Hindi V/S English
▪ The leaders of our country adopted a very cautious attitude in
spreading the use of Hindi. According to the Constitution, the
use of English for official purposes was to stop in 1965.
▪ Many non-Hindi speaking States demanded that the use of
English continue.
▪ In Tamil Nadu, this movement took a violent form.
▪ The Central Government responded by agreeing to continue the
use of English along with Hindi for official purposes.
o Accommodative Promotion of Hindi
▪ Promotion of Hindi continues to be the official policy of the
Government of India.
➢ RIGHT V/S WRONG:
 Promotion does not mean that the Central
Government can impose Hindi on States where
people speak a different language.

The flexibility shown by Indian political leaders

helped our country avoid the kind of situation that
Sri Lanka finds itself in.

3. Centre State Policy,

o Influences the practice of federalism in the country.

Constitutional arrangements for sharing power work in reality depends to a large

extent on how the ruling parties and leaders follow these arrangements.
 Centre - State relations and federalism

Before 1990s After 1990s
1. The same party ruled both at the 2. This period saw the rise of
Centre and in most of the States. regional political parties in many
States of the country.

3. This meant that the State 4. This was also the beginning of the
governments did not exercise era of Coalition Government at
their rights as autonomous the Centre.
federal units.

5. The Central Government would 6. Since no single party got a clear

often misuse the Constitution to majority in the Lok Sabha, the
dismiss the State governments major national parties had to
that were controlled by rival enter into an alliance with many
parties. parties including several regional
parties to form a government at
the Centre.

7. This undermined the spirit of 8. This led to a new culture of power

federalism. sharing and respect for the
autonomy of State Governments.

Decentralisation in INDIA

Federal System → Two or more than two tiers of governments


Federal power sharing in India needs another tier of
government, below that of the State governments.
DECENTRALISATION:
❖ When power is taken away from Central and State governments and given
to local government.
The Rationale Behind DECENTRALISATION:
❖ There are a large number of problems and issues which are best settled at the
local level.
❖ People have better knowledge of problems in their localities.
 ❖ They also have better ideas on where to spend money and how to manage
things more efficiently.
❖ At the local level it is possible for the people to directly participate in decision
making.
❖ This helps to inculcate a habit of democratic participation.
❖ There were several attempts to decentralise power.
Not very much successful
 Panchayat and municipalities were set up in all the states but these were
directly under the control of state governments.
 Elections to these local governments were not held regularly.
 Local governments did not have any powers or resources of their own.
 Thus, there was very little decentralisation in effective terms.
➔ A major step towards decentralisation was taken in 1992.
 Constitutional Amendment (73rd and 74th) → WHY?
✓ Now it is constitutionally mandatory to hold regular elections to local
government bodies.
✓ Seats are reserved in the elected bodies and the executive heads of
these institutions for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and
Other Backward Classes.
✓ At least one-third of all positions are reserved for women.
✓ An independent institution called the State Election Commission has
been created in each State to conduct panchayat and municipal
elections.
✓ The State governments are required to share some powers and
revenue with local government bodies. The nature of sharing varies
from State to State.

Local Self Government

Local self-government

Rural local government Urban local government

OR OR
Panchayati Raj Municipalities
 Rural Local Government - 1

Gram Panchayat:
● Each village, or a group of villages in some States, has a gram panchayat.
● This is a council consisting of several ward members, often called panch, and a
president or sarpanch.
● They are directly elected by all the adult population living in that ward or
village.
● It is the decision-making body for the entire village.
● The panchayat works under the overall supervision of the gram Sabha.

Gram Sabha is a body consisting of all adult
voters in a gram panchayat.

It has to meet at least twice or thrice in a year to approve

the annual budget of the gram panchayat and to review the
performance of the gram panchayat.

Structure of Rural Local Government

● A few gram panchayats are grouped together to form

what is usually called a panchayat samiti or block or
mandal.
● The members of this representative body are elected
by all the panchayat members in that area.

● All the panchayat samitis or mandals in a district together constitute the zilla
(district) parishad.
● Most members of the zilla parishad are elected.
● Members of the Lok Sabha and MLAs of that district and some other officials
of other district level bodies are also its members.
● Zilla parishad chairperson is the political head of the zilla parishad.
 Urban Local Government

Local government bodies for urban areas:

● Municipalities are set up in towns.
● Big cities are constituted into Municipal Corporations.
● Both municipalities and municipal corporations are controlled by elected
bodies consisting of people’s representatives.
● Municipal Chairperson is the political head of the municipality
● In municipal corporation such an officer is called the Mayor.

Local Self Government – 2

Achievement:
● There are now about 36 lakh elected representatives in the panchayats and
municipalities etc., all over the country.
● Constitutional status for local government has helped to deepen democracy in
our country.
● It has also increased women’s representation and voice in our democracy.

Challenges:
1. While elections are held regularly and enthusiastically, gram sabhas are not
held regularly.
2. Most state governments have not transferred significant powers to the local
governments.
3. Nor have they given adequate resources.
4. We are thus still a long way from realising the ideal of self-government.