Details — Federalism

Book: Democratic Politics II (Class 10)
Chapter: 2 — Federalism

1. Link to Power-sharing and Belgium / Sri Lanka

Vertical division among levels of government is a major form of power-sharing. Belgium (1993): regional governments got constitutional powers no longer dependent on the centre → shift from unitary to federal. Sri Lanka remains, for practical purposes, unitary; Tamil leaders want it to become federal.

Though only 25 of 193 countries are federal, their citizens are about 40% of world population; most large countries are federations.

2. What Is Federalism?

Federalism: A system of government in which power is divided between a central authority and various constituent units of the country.

Usually two levels:

Government for the entire country — few subjects of common national interest
Provincial/state governments — much of day-to-day administration

Both enjoy power independent of the other.

Dual objectives

Safeguard and promote unity of the country
Accommodate regional diversity

Ideal federal system needs: mutual trust + agreement to live together (agreed rules of power-sharing that each side abides by).

Jurisdiction: Area over which someone has legal authority (geographical boundaries or kinds of subjects).

3. Federal vs Unitary

Federal	Unitary
Central government cannot order state government on state subjects	Central government can pass orders to provincial/local units
State has powers of its own; not answerable to centre for those	Sub-units subordinate to centre (or only one level)
Both separately answerable to the people	Centre dominates

4. Two Routes of Federation Formation

Type	How formed	Examples	Power balance
Coming together	Independent States join to form bigger unit; pool sovereignty, retain identity, increase security	USA, Switzerland, Australia	Constituent States usually equal and strong vis-à-vis federal government
Holding together	Large country divides power between States and national government	India, Spain, Belgium	Centre tends to be more powerful; units often unequal; some may have special powers

5. Key Features of Federalism

Two or more levels (tiers) of government.
Same citizens; each tier has own jurisdiction in legislation, taxation, administration.
Jurisdictions specified in the constitution — existence of each tier constitutionally guaranteed.
Fundamental constitutional provisions cannot be changed by one level alone; need consent of both levels.
Courts interpret constitution and powers; highest court acts as umpire in disputes.
Sources of revenue clearly specified → financial autonomy.

6. What Makes India a Federal Country?

After Independence and Partition, princely states joined. Constitution declared India a Union of States. It did not use the word “federation,” but is based on principles of federalism. All key features above apply.

Tiers

Originally two-tier: Union (Central) Government + State Governments
Later third tier: Panchayats and Municipalities

Three-fold distribution of legislative powers

List	Subjects (examples from book)	Who makes laws
Union List	National importance: defence, foreign affairs, banking, communications, currency	Union alone (need for uniform policy)
State List	State/local importance: police, trade, commerce, agriculture, irrigation	State alone
Concurrent List	Common interest: education, forest, trade unions, marriage, adoption, succession	Both; if conflict, Union law prevails

Residuary subjects (not in lists; e.g. computer software after Constitution): Union Government legislates.

Unequal units & special status

Holding-together federations often give unequal powers. Some States have special status under Article 371 (e.g. Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram) due to peculiar social and historical circumstances—especially protection of indigenous land rights, culture, preferential employment. Non-permanent residents cannot buy land/house in such contexts as described.

Union Territories (e.g. Chandigarh, Lakshadweep, Delhi): too small to be States / not merged; enjoy very little power; Centre has special powers.

Changing the arrangement

Parliament cannot alone change this power-sharing. Change needs:

Both Houses of Parliament with at least two-thirds majority, and
Ratification by legislatures of at least half of the total States.

Judiciary & revenue

High Courts and Supreme Court decide disputes about division of powers. Union and States raise resources by levying taxes for their responsibilities.

7. How Federalism Is Practised in India

Constitutional provisions are necessary but not sufficient. Real success comes from democratic politics: respect for diversity and desire to live together.

A. Linguistic States

First major test. Map of India changed greatly from 1947 to 2019—old States vanished, new ones created, boundaries/names changed.

Many States created so people speaking the same language lived in the same State.
Some created for culture, ethnicity or geography (e.g. Nagaland, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand).

National leaders feared disintegration; Centre resisted for some time. Experience: linguistic States made the country more united and administration easier.

B. Language policy

Constitution did not give any language status of national language.
Hindi identified as official language (mother tongue of only about 40% in the policy discussion; Census 2011 table later notes Hindi about 43.63% / ~44%).
Safeguards for other languages; besides Hindi, 21 other Scheduled Languages (later text: 22 in Eighth Schedule including Hindi).
Candidates for Central exams may use any Scheduled Language; States have own official languages.

Unlike Sri Lanka, Indian leaders were cautious in spreading Hindi. English for official purposes was to stop in 1965, but non-Hindi States demanded continuation; in Tamil Nadu the movement took a violent form. Centre agreed to continue English along with Hindi. Critics say this favoured English-speaking elite. Promotion of Hindi continues but Centre cannot impose Hindi on States with different languages. Flexibility helped India avoid Sri Lanka-type situation.

C. Centre–State relations

For long, same party ruled Centre and most States → States did not act as autonomous units. When different parties ruled, Centre often tried to undermine States; Constitution misused to dismiss rival State Governments → undermined federal spirit.

After 1990: Rise of regional parties; era of coalition governments at Centre (no clear Lok Sabha majority → alliances including regional parties). New culture of power-sharing and respect for State autonomy. Supported by a major Supreme Court judgement making arbitrary dismissal of State governments difficult. Federal power-sharing more effective today than in early years.

Coalition government: Formed by at least two parties; usually a political alliance with a common programme.

8. Linguistic Diversity (Census 2011 highlights from book)

More than 1300 distinct mother tongues recorded; grouped into 121 major languages.
22 Scheduled Languages (Eighth Schedule); others non-Scheduled.
Hindi largest but not majority mother tongue (~44%; with second/third language still <50% in 2011).
English as mother tongue 0.02%; another 11% as second/third language.

9. Decentralisation and Local Government

States are large and internally diverse → need power-sharing within States → third tier.

Decentralisation: Power taken from Central and State governments and given to local government.

Why: Local problems best settled locally; people know problems and spending priorities; direct participation; habit of democratic participation; realises local self-government.

Earlier panchayats/municipalities existed but under State control; irregular elections; little own power/resources → little real decentralisation.

1992 Constitutional amendments — major step

Regular elections to local bodies constitutionally mandatory
Seats reserved for SCs, STs, OBCs in elected bodies and executive heads
At least one-third positions reserved for women
State Election Commission in each State for panchayat/municipal elections
States must share some powers and revenue with local bodies (nature varies by State)

Rural structure (Panchayati Raj)

Level	Body	Notes
Village	Gram panchayat	Ward members (panch) + sarpanch; directly elected; works under gram sabha
Gram sabha	All village voters	Meets at least 2–3 times a year; approve budget; review panchayat
Block/Mandal	Panchayat samiti	Group of gram panchayats; members elected by panchayat members
District	Zilla parishad	All samitis in district; mostly elected; also MPs, MLAs, officials; chairperson is political head

Urban

Towns: Municipalities (head: municipal chairperson)
Big cities: Municipal corporations (head: mayor)

Outcomes and limits

Largest democratic experiment: about 36 lakh elected local representatives. Constitutional status deepened democracy and increased women’s representation/voice. But: gram sabhas often irregular; many States have not transferred significant powers or adequate resources → still far from ideal self-government.

Additional Context (textbook box): Porto Alegre (Brazil) participatory budgeting; similar experiments in some areas of Kerala—ordinary people in local development planning.

10. Exam-Ready Contrasts

Belgium: became federal (1993 constitutional powers to regions); India: holding-together federation with strong Centre + third tier.
Sri Lanka: unitary in practice; India: flexible language policy avoided Sinhala-style majoritarianism on language.