2. What is federalism ?
• Federalism is a system of
government in which the power is
divided between a central authority
and various constituent units of
the country.
3. Levels of government in federation
• Usually a federation has two levels of
government :
* Government for the entire country that
is usually responsible for a few
subjects of common national interest.
* Government at the level of provinces or
states that look after much of the day-
to-day administering of their state.
4. Key features of federalism
• There are two or more levels (or tiers) of
government.
• Different tiers of government govern the same
citizens, but each tier has its own jurisdiction in
specific matters of legislation, taxation and
administration .
• The jurisdictions of the respective levels of
government are specified in the constitution. So
the existence and the authority of each tier of
government is constitutionally guaranteed.
• The fundamental provisions of the constitution
cannot be unilaterally changed by one level of
government. Such changes require the consent of
both the levels 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.
• Sources of revenue for each level of
government are clearly specified to
ensure its financial autonomy.
6. • The federal system thus has dual objectives :
• to safeguard and promote unity of the country ,
while at the same time accommodate regional
diversity.
• Therefore, 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. An ideal federal system has
both aspects : mutual trust and agreement to live
together.
7. Types of federations
• There are two kinds of routes through
which federations have been formed :
• Coming together federation : It involves
independent states coming together on their own
to form a bigger unit, so that by pooling
sovereignity and retaining identity they can
increase their security. Ex – USA, Switzerland and
Australia.
• Holding together federation : It is where a large
country decides to divide its power between the
constituent states and the national government. Ex
– India, Spain and Belgium .
8. Three list of the constitution
The constitution clearly provided a three fold distribution
of legislative powers between the union government and
the state governments. Thus, it contains three lists :
Union list : it includes subjects of national importance
such as defence of the country, foreign affairs, banking,
communications and currency.
State list : it contains subjects of State and local
importance such as police, trade, commerce, agriculture
and irrigation.
Concurrent list : it includes subjects of common interests
to both the union government as well as the state
governments Such as education, forest, trade unions,
marriage, adoption and succession.
9. Basis of creation of states in India
• The creationof linguistic states was the first and a major test for
democratic politics in India. This was done to ensure that people who
spoke the same language livedin the same state. Ex – Gujarat, west
Bengal and Bihar.
• Some states were created not on the basis of language but to recognize
differences based on culture, ethnicity or geography. Theseinclude states
likeNagaland. Uttarakhandand Jharkhand.
10. Language policy
• A second test for Indianfederationis the language policy. Our
constitutiondid not give the status of national language to any one
language. Hindi was identifiedas the official language. But it is the
mothertongue of onlyabout40 % of Indians.
• The central government said to continue the useof english along with
Hindi for official purposes.
11. Centre-state relations
• Restructuring the centre-staterelations is one more way in
which federalismhas been strengthened in practice.
• All this changed significantly after 1990. This period saw the
rise of regional political parties in many States of the country.
This was also the beginning of the era of coalition
government.
12. Third tier of government
• Federal power sharing in India needs another tierof government, belowthat of the
stategovernments. And it is calledas the local government.
• local government : It is the third-tier of government whichis
based on decentralizationof power.
• Ex - Urbangovernment : municipality
Rural government : panchayati raj government
13. Amending the constitution
• The constitution was amendedto makethe third-tierof government more powerful and
effective.
• Nowit is constitutionallymandatoryto holdregularelectionsto local government bodies.
• Seats are reserved in the elected bodies and the executive headsof these institutions for the
SCs, STs and OBCs.
• At least one-third of all positions are reservedfor women.
• An independent institutioncalled the StateElectionCommission has beencreatedin each
state to conduct panchayat and municipal elections .
14. Rural local government
• Rural local government is popularly known as
panchayati raj. This is a council consisting of
several ward members, often called panch,
and a president or sarpanch. It is the decision-
making body for the entire village.
• A few gram panchayats are grouped together
to form what is usually called a panchayat samiti
or block mandal.
• All the panchayat samiti or mandals in a
district together constitute the zilla (district)
parishad.
15. Urban local government
• There are two local governments in urban
areas :
• Municipalities : they are set up in towns and are
controlled by elected bodies consisting of people’s
representatives. Municipal chairperson is the
political head of the municipality.
• Municipal corporations : they are set up in big cities
and are controlled by elected bodies consisting of
people’s representatives. Mayor is the head of the
municipal corporation.
