What is federalism?

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

authority and various constituent units of the country.
● A federation has two levels of government. Both these levels of governments enjoy their
power independent of the other.
● One is the government for the entire country that is usually responsible for a few
subjects of common national interest.
● Governments at the level of provinces or states that look after much of the day-to-day
administering of their state.
Difference Between Unitary System and Federal System
Unitary System
1. There is only one level of government and other sub units .
2. sub-units are subordinate to the Central Government.
3. The Central Government can pass on orders to the provincial or local government.
.
Example - U.K , China etc .

Federal System
1. There are two or more levels (or tiers) of government.
2. The Central Government cannot order the state government to do something
3. State Government has powers of its own for which it is not answerable to the central
government
Example - USA , Switzerland etc

Key Features of Federalism

Some of the key features of federalism system are:

1. TWO LEVEL OF GOVT - There are two or more levels (or tiers) of government.
LIKE -
Centre Govt - Make laws for entire nation.
State Govt.- Make laws for specific state
2. SPECIFIC JURISDICTION - Different tiers of government govern the same citizens, but
each tier has its own JURISDICTION in specific matters of
- Legislation
- Taxation
- Administration.
3. WRITTEN CONSTITUTION - The existence and authority of each tier of government is
constitutionally guaranteed.
4. AMENDMENT - 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. INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY-
 Courts have the power to interpret the constitution and the powers of different levels of
government.
6. SOURCES OF INCOME - Sources of revenue for each level of government are clearly
specified to ensure its financial autonomy.
7. The federal system has dual objectives:
i) To safeguard and promote the unity of the country
ii) Accommodate regional diversity.

TYPES OF FEDERALISM -
● Different Routes Through Which Federations Can be Formed
● Two aspects are crucial for the institutions and practice of federalism: mutual trust
between the government of different levels and agreement to live together. There are
two kinds of routes through which federations have been formed.
COMING TOGETHER FEDERALISM
1. The first route involves independent States coming together on their own to form a
bigger unit.
2. This type of Federalism is formed for the purpose of security.
3. Usually both level of govt. enjoy equal power , means not interfere
Example - This kind of “coming together” federations is formed in the USA, Switzerland and
Australia.

HOLDING TOGETHER FEDERALISM

1. The second route is that a large country decides to divide its power between the
constituent States and the national government.
2. This type of Federalism is formed for the purpose of accommodating social diversity
and maintaining unity of nations.
3. Usually Centre govt. enjoys more powers than the State govt.
Example -This kind of “ holding together” federations is formed in India, Belgium and Spain.

What Makes India a Federal Country?

India is a federal country but as provision of Indian Constitution - article 1 states that India is
'Union of State' but some features of Federalism is practiced by Indian political system that's
why it is known as a Quasi-Federal country.

1.MORE THAN TWO LEVEL OF GOVT -

The Indian Constitution is a three-fold distribution of legislative powers between the Union
Government and the State Governments and Local government.
WRITTEN CONSTITUTION - The existence and authority of each tier of government is
constitutionally guaranteed.
INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY-
Courts have the power to interpret the constitution and the powers of different levels of
government
4. DIVISION OF POWERS / LEGISLATIVE POWERS-
● The 3 lists are mentioned below:
1) Union List:
● It includes subjects of national importance such as the defence of the country, foreign
affairs, banking, communications and currency.
● The Union Government alone can make laws relating to the subjects mentioned in this
list.
● It has 97 subjects

2) State List:
● It 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 this
list.
● It has 66 subjects.

3) Concurrent List:
● It includes subjects of common interest to both the Union Government as well as the
State Governments.
● The list includes 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 be considered.
● It has 47 subjects
By Deepak Chaudhary
PGT in Pol. Sci.
Residuary power -
● It contains the subjects which are not listed in the above three lists.
● Like Internet , Mobile , cyber crime etc
● Centre govt. is authorised to make the laws

How is Federalism Practised?

● The real success of federalism in India is attributed to its nature of democratic politics.
Have a look at some of the major ways in which federalism is practised in India.

Linguistic States-The creation of linguistic States was the first and a major test for democratic
politics in India.
● The boundaries of states drawn based on language is called linguistic states.
● Indian leaders denied to redraw boundaries of states based on language due to fear of
further division of India.
● Potti Sriramalu started a protest for a separate state for telugu speaking people , he
expired due to hunger strike , it led to violence and forcibly govt to declare Andhra
Pradesh as telugu speaking state in Dec 1952.
● Govt established SRC - State Reorganisation Commission in 1953 to redraw boundaries
of Indian states based on language.
 ● It gave a report in 1956 and created 14 States and 6 U.Ts.
● Today India's states are formed based on Language , Culture , region and administrative
purpose
● Latest state is Telangana in 2014.
Language Policy - A second test for Indian federation is the language policy.
● India doesn't have any National language.
● Hindi was identified as the official language. Besides Hindi, there are 21 other languages
recognised as Scheduled Languages by the Constitution.
● States too have their own official languages and government work takes place in the
official language of the concerned State.
● Hindi was to be declared as the National language of India but due to stiff opposition of
South Indian leaders not declared.

Centre-State relations - Restructuring the Centre-State relations is one more way in which
federalism has been strengthened in practice.
1. There was no dispute between the Centre and State govt. till 1967 because Congress
was common ruling party on both level as Centre and State
2. In 1967 , there were 9 states under non-Congress party rule , they had some demands
like
- More autonomy
- More financial powers
- More legislative powers
- Oppose to President rule
3. Coalition govt. strengthened Indian Federalism , If no single party gets a clear majority in
the Lok Sabha, the major national parties can alliance with many parties including
several regional parties to form a government at the Centre. This led to a new culture of
power sharing and respect for the autonomy of State Governments.

Decentralisation in India
● When power is taken away from Central and State governments and given to the local
government, it is called decentralisation.
BENEFITS / NEEDS
● The basic idea behind decentralisation is that there are a large number of problems and
issues which are best settled at the local level.
● Local people can also directly participate in the decision making.
● It reduces the burden of Centre and State govt.
● It is based on the Principle of Democracy.
By Deepak Chaudhary
PGT in Pol Sci.
PROBLEMS OF LOCAL GOVT IN INDIAN BEFORE 73/74th AMENDMENT
1. No fixed Elections
2. No fixed sources of income
3. No fixed powers to resolve local problems
CONSTITUTION STATUS FOR LOCAL GOVT - 73rd / 74th amendment in 1992 &1993 - A
major step towards decentralisation was taken in 1992. The Constitution was amended to make
the third-tier of democracy more powerful and effective. Here are the key features of 3-tier
democracy:
1.REGULAR ELECTIONS
● It is constitutionally mandatory to hold regular elections to local government bodies, after
each 5 years.
2. RESERVATION
● ⅓ 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.
3. STATE ELECTION COMMISSION
● A State Election Commission has been created in each State to conduct panchayat and
municipal elections.
4.SOURCES OF REVENUE
● The State governments are required to share some powers and revenue with local
government bodies. The nature of sharing varies from State to State.
5. STATE FINANCE COMMISSION
● It has main responsibility to division of financial resources between State and Local govt.

STRUCTURE OF LOCAL GOVT IN INDIA

Panchayati Raj System
● Rural local government is popularly known as Panchayati Raj.
● 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 a village or ward. Gram
Panchayat is the decision-making body for the entire village.
GRAM SABHA - All the voters in the village are its members.
Function - The Panchayat works under the overall supervision of the Gram Sabha.
Meeting
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.

BLOCK SAMITI
● When Gram Panchayats are grouped together, they form a Panchayat Samiti or Block or
Mandal.
● The members of Panchayat Samiti representative are elected by all the Panchayat
members in that area.
ZILA PARISHAD
● All the Panchayat Samitis or Mandals in a district together constitute the Zilla (district)
Parishad.
● Members of the Lok Sabha, MLAs of the district, and some other officials of other
district-level bodies are the members of Zilla Parishad.