CBSE Class 10 Political Science Federalism Worksheet

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. Usually, a federation has two levels of government. One is the government for the entire country that is 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.

In contrast a unitary system of government has all the powers as in Sri Lanka. 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 orders to the provincial or the local government. But in a federal system, the central government cannot order the state government to do something. State government has powers of its own for which it is not answerable to the central government. Both these governments are separately answerable to the people.

The Indian Federation

Though the word ‘federation’ has not been used in the constitution of India, but the Indian Union was formed on the basis of federalism. The Indian Constitution originally provided for a two-tier system of government. The Union or the Central Government represents the Union of India and the State governments represent the provinces. Later, a third tier was added in the federation; with the formation of Panchayats and Municipalities.

Key Features of Federalism

Two aspects are important for practicing 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.
The exact balance of power between the central and the state government varies from one federation to another. This balance depends mainly on the historical context in which the federation was formed. The key features are as follows :

• 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 or tiers of government are specified in the constitution. So, the existence and 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.
• 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.
• The federal system thus has dual objectives: to safeguard and promote unity of the country, while at the same time accommodate regional diversity.

Routes to the formation of federations

(a) Coming together federations: This type of federation exists in the USA, Switzerland and Australia. Independent states came together on their own to form a bigger unit so that they could increase their security; while maintaining their sovereignty. In this type of federation, the constituent states have equal power and are stronger vis-à-vis the central government.
(b) Holding together federation: This type of federation exists in India, Spain, Belgium, etc. In this case, power is shared among various social groups to accommodate a huge diversity. In this type of federation, the central government is more powerful than the state government. Different constituents of the federation may have unequal powers. Some units are granted special powers, as in the case of Jammu & Kashmir in India.

WHAT MAKE INDIA A FEDERAL COUNTRY?

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. The Constitution provides for a threetier system of government. These different tiers enjoy separate jurisdiction. The Constitution clearly provided a three fold distribution of legislative powers between the Union Government and the State Governments. Thus, it contains three lists:

• the Union Government or the Central
• Government, representing the Union of India
• the State governments
• Panchayats and Municipalities.

List of Jurisdiction

• Union List : Union List includes subjects of national importance; such as defense 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.
• Concurrent List : Concurrent List includes subjects of common interest 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.
• State 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.
• Residuary List : Anything out of purview of above mentioned list is taken as residuary subject. Union Government has the power to legislate on these subjects.
• Special Status : Jammu and Kashmir has its own Constitution. Many provisions of the Indian Constitution are not applicable to this state without the approval of the State Assembly. Indians who are not permanent residents of this state cannot buy land or house here. Similar special provisions exist for some other states of India as well.ff Union Territories : There are some 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. The areas, like Chandigarh, or Lakshadweep or the capital city of Delhi, are called Union Territories. These territories do not have the powers of a state. The Central Government has special powers in running these areas.
• Power Sharing : Between the Union Government and the State governments there is power sharing which is 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-third majority. Then it has to be ratified by the legislatures of at least half of the total States.
• 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. The Union and State governments have the power to raise resources by levying taxes in order to execute the responsibilities assigned to each of them.

HOW IS FEDERALISM PRACTICED?

• Federalism has succeeded in India because of the nature of democratic politics in our country. It has ensured that the spirit of federalism, respect for diversity and desire for living together became shared ideals in our country. Let us look at some of the major ways in which this happened:
• Linguistic States : The creation of 'Linguistic States' was the first and a major test for democratic politics in our country. This was done to ensure that people who spoke the same language lived in the same state. Some states were created not on the basis of language but to recognize the differences based on culture, ethnicity or geography, e.g. Nagaland, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand.
• Language policy : Our Constitution did not give the status of national language to any one language. Hindi was identified as the official language. But Hindi is the mother tongue of only about 40 per cent of Indians. Therefore, there were many safeguards to protect other languages. Besides Hindi, there are 21 other languages recognized as Scheduled Languages by the Constitution. Hindi was not imposed on non-Hindi areas for most of the period after the independence.
• Centre-State relations : Restructuring the Centre-State relations is one more way in which federalism has been strengthened. How the constitutional arrangements for sharing power work in reality depends to a large extent on how the ruling parties and leaders follow these arrangements –
• –– Situation during Congress Monopoly : For a major period; after independence; same party was in power in both center and states in most parts of the country. In those days, the central government often undermined the rights of the state governments. Many states were brought under President’s rule at slight pretext of assertiveness from the state government. –– Situation in the Era of Coalition

Government : After 1989, the pattern of the central government shifted to multi-party coalition government at the center. As a result a new culture of power sharing and respect for the autonomy of State Governments has developed. It can be said that now the federalism is more developed in India.

DECENTRALIZATION IN INDIA

It was felt that a vast and diverse country like India cannot be run only through two-tiers of government. As you know some of the Indian states are bigger than independent countries of Europe. Also these states are internally very diverse in terms of variety of dialects, eating habits and culture.
Hence, a need for creating a third tier of government was always being felt. ff When power is taken away from Central and State governments and given to local government, it is called decentralization. Decentralization is good because of the following reasons:

• 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 how to solve the problems and where to spend the resources.
• 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.

A major step towards decentralization was taken in 1992. The Constitution was amended to make the third-tier of democracy more powerful and effective. The local governing bodies were given constitutional status.

(a) Now it is constitutionally mandatory to hold regular elections to local government bodies.
(b) Seats are reserved in the elected bodies and the executive heads of these institutions for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.
(c) At least one-third of all positions are reserved for women.
(d) An independent institution called the State Election Commission has been created in each State to conduct panchayat and municipal elections.
(e) The State governments are required to share some powers and revenue with local government bodies. The nature of sharing varies from State to State. Rural local government is popularly known by the name Panchayati Raj.
(f) 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. The president of the panchayat is called sarpanch.
(g) Members of a panchayat are directly elected by all the adults who are living in the panchayat.
(h) The local government structure goes right up to the district level. 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 panchyat members in that area.(i) 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

In the same way local government bodies are formed for urban areas too. 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. The Mayor is the head of a municipal corporation.
This system of local government in India is the largest experiment in democracy in the world. There are now about 36 lakh elected representatives in the panchayats and municipalities etc., in India. It is clear that 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.

Important Words and Terms

Jurisdiction : The area over which one has legal authority.
Coalition Government : A government formed by coming together of two or more political parties. The partners in the coalition form a political alliance and adopt a common program.

FILL IN THE BLANK :

Question. First major test of democratic politics in our country was the creation of .......... .

Answer : linguistic states

Question. The .......... overseas the implementation of constitutional and procedures.

Answer : Judiciary

Question. Under the .......... system, either there is only one level of government or the sub-units are subordinate to the central government.

Answer : Unitary

Question. Holding together country decides to divide its power between the .......... and .......... .

Answer: the national government, constituent states

Question. .......... in India enjoys a special status. This state has its own constitution.

Answer : Jammu and Kashmir

Question. .......... list includes subjects of national importance such as defence of the country, foreign affairs etc.

Answer : Union

TRUE/FALSE :

Question. Second test for the Indian Federation was the language policy

Answer : True

Question. Decentralisation helps to build effective communication.

Answer : True

Question. 1980s was the era of coalition governments.

Answer : False

Question. Besides Hindi, India has 21 official languages.

Answer : True

Question. When the power is taken from the local and state government and given to central government, it is called decentralisation.

Answer : False

ASSERTION AND REASON :

DIRECTION : Mark the option which is most suitable :
(a) If both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion. 
(b) If both assertion and reason are true but reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.
(c) If assertion is true but reason is false.
(d) If both assertion and reason are false.

Question. Assertion : India is a federation.
Reason : Power resides with the central authority.

Answer : A

Question. Assertion : India has a federal system.
Reason : Under a unitary system, either there is only one level of government or the sub-units are subordinate to central government.

Answer : B

Question. Assertion : It is very simple to make the changes in the basic structure of the constitution.
Reason : Both the houses have power to amend the constitution independently.

Answer : D

Question. Assertion : A major step towards decentralization was taken in 1992 by amending the constitution.
Reason : Constitution was amended to make the third tier of democracy more powerful and effective.

Answer : A

Question. Assertion : Hindi is identified as the only official language of India.
Reason : It helped in creating supremacy of Hindi speaking people over others.

Answer : C

Question. Assertion : The subjects which are not included in Union List, State List and Concurrent List are considered as residuary subjects.
Reason : The subjects included that came after constitution was made and thus could not be classified.

Answer : A

Question. Assertion : Third-tier of government is local government.
Reason : It made democracy weak.

Answer : C

Question. Assertion : Coalition government is formed during dearth of coal in the country.
Reason : It helps in overcoming coal crisis.

Answer : D

Question. Assertion : Belgium and Spain has ‘holding together’ federation.
Reason : A big country divides power between constituent states and national government.

Answer : A

Question. Assertion : Zilla Parishad Chairperson is the political head of the zilla parishad.
Reason : Mayor is the head of municipalities.

Answer : B