Federalism Class 10 Social Science Notes and Questions

Federal System has dual objectives.

Mayor

The independent states which come together on their own to form a bigger unit so that they could increase their  security, while maintaining their sovereignty are called the ‘coming together federations.’ Examples-USA, Switzerland and Australia.

Subjects included in the union  list include defense of the country, foreign affairs, banking, etc.

Important aspects of federalism are

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 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.

Features of federalism:

(i)   There are two or  more  levels (or  tiers) of government. We have three levels in India.

(ii)  Different  tiers  of  government  govern  the same citizens, but each tier has its own jurisdiction in specific matters of legislation, taxation and administration.

(iii) The  jurisdictions  of  the  respective  levels or tiers of government are specified in the constitution.  Thus  the  existence and  authority of each tier of government is constitutionally guaranteed.

(iv) 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.

(v)  The high court and the Supreme court acts as an umpire if disputes arise between different levels of government in the exercise of their respective powers.

(vi) Sources  of  revenue  for  each  level  of government are clearly specified to ensure its financial autonomy.

(vii) The federal system thus has dual objectives: to safeguard and promote unity of the country, while at the same time accommodate regional diversity.

 Holding together federation :

(i)   Large countries  decide to  divide its power between states and the centre.

(ii) Central  government  tends  to  be more powerful.

(iii) Federating units have unequal power. (iv) India, Spain, Belgium are examples. Coming together federation :

(i)   Independent states coming together on their own to form a bigger unit.

(ii)  All the states have equal power and are strong. (iii) By pooling sovereignty and retaining identity, they increase their security. (iv) U.S.A, Switzerland, Australia are examples

Holding together federation :

(i)   Large countries  decide to  divide its power between states and the centre.

(ii) Central  government  tends  to  be more powerful.

(iii) Federating units have unequal power. (iv) India, Spain, Belgium are examples. Coming together federation :

(i)   Independent states coming together on their own to form a bigger unit.

(ii)  All the states have equal power and are strong. (iii) By pooling sovereignty and retaining identity, they increase their security.

(iv) U.S.A, Switzerland, Australia are examples

Difference between federal and unitary forms of government:

(i)   Unitary  government  has only one  level of government  whereas a  federal government  has two or more levels of government.

(ii) In unitary government, the sub-units are subordinate to the centre, whereas in a federation, central government cannot encroach on the rights of state governments.

(iii) In Unitary system, centre can order the sub- units with cannot happen in federation.

A federation is preferred because :

(i)   It helps in making administration  effective and efficient.

(ii)  It helps to accommodate all diverse groups.

In India, the Panchayati Raj functions as a system of governance in which gram panchayats are the basic units of local administration. The system has three levels: Gram Panchayat (village level), Block Samiti or  Panchayat Samiti (block level), and Zilla Parishad (district level).

Concurrent List

State  Reorganization   Commission   was formed in 1954, to recommend creation of states in India on linguistic basis.

In Belgium, there is the form of community government which is elected by the people belonging to any one language community, i.e. German, French or Dutch. This gives every group proper representation and they can voice their issues associated with the language, culture and its prospective education system.

Official language of India.

A major step towards decentralization and strengthening of the local self-government 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. Members of a panchayat are directly elected by the all the adults who are living in the panchayat.

(f )   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.

The various provisions of the constitutional amendment  of 1992, made the third  tier of our democracy more powerful. Its provisions include – (a)   Now it is constitutionally mandatory to hold regular elections to local government bodies.

(b)  Seats  are  reserved  in  the  elected  bodies and  the  executives 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.

(i)  The Jurisdictions of different arms of the government are defined.

(ii) Administrative interference is absent because there is financial autonomy.

(iii) Problems  are  solved  as  per   jurisdiction. The federal structure ensures ‘unity amongst the people’.

(i)  Reorganisation of states on linguistic basis. (ii)  Centre state relations are well defined.

(iii) Decentralisation at Panchayat level.

The three-fold distribution  of legislative powers are :

(i)   Union list : Union lists consist of 97 subjects. It includes subjects of national importance such as defence of the country, foreign affairs, banking, communication and currency.

(ii)  State list : State list consists of 66 subjects. It contains subjects of state and local importance such as police, trade, commerce, agriculture and irrigation.

(iii) Concurrent  list : Concurrent  list consists of

47 subjects It includes subjects of common interest to both such as education, forest, trade unions, marriage, adoption and succession.

The creation of Linguistic States was the first and a major test for democratic politics in our country:

(a) Many old states as they were before independent, have been replaced with  new states with changed geographies and names. In 1947, the boundaries of several old states were changed in order to create new states. 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 differences based on culture, ethnicity or geography. These include States like Nagaland, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand.

(b)  Language policy :  A second test for Indian federation is the language policy. Our Constitution did  not  give the status of national  language to any one language. Hindi was identified as the official language. However, Hindi  is the mother tongue of only about 40 per cent of Indians. Therefore, many safeguards were put  to protect other languages. Besides Hindi, there are 21 other languages recognized as Scheduled Languages in the Constitution.

(c) Centre-State  relations: Restructuring  the Centre – State relations is one more way in which federalism has been strengthened in practice. This happened particularly after 1990 when there was a coalition government at the centre.

(d)  Decentralisation of power : The governmental power   has   been   decentralised   to   form   the third tier of government in the form of Panchayati Raj and municipal government.

Rural   local   government    is   known    as

Panchayati Raj.

(i)   Panchayati Raj is rural-based.

(ii)  Each village has a Gram Panchayat. (iii) It has Panchs and a Sarpanch.

(iv) He/she  is  directly  elected by  the  adult population in the village.

(v)  Panchayat works under the Gram Sabha.

(vi) All the voters meet at least twice or thrice in a year.

(viii) Few Gram Panchayat from The Panchayat Samiti or Block or Mandal.

The Constitution was amended in 1992 to make the third tier government which made democracy more powerful and effective.

(i)   Now it is mandatory to hold regular elections to local government bodies.

(ii)  At least 1/3rd  of all positions and seats are reserved for women.

(iii) An  independent   institution   called  State Election Commission has been created in each state to conduct panchayat and municipal elections.

(iv) The State Governments are required to share some powers and revenue with local government bodies. The nature of sharing varies from state to state.

(i) There  is  three-fold   distribution   of legislative powers :

(a)   Union list : Union lists consist of 97 subjects. It includes subjects of national importance such as defence of the country, foreign affairs, banking, communication and currency.

(b)  State list : State list consists of 66 subjects. It contains subjects of state and local importance such as police, trade, commerce, agriculture and irrigation.

(c)   Concurrent list : Concurrent list consists of 47 subjects. It includes subjects of common interest to both such as education, forest trade unions, marriage, adoption and succession.

(ii)  Union  Government  can make laws on  the subjects which are not covered under these lists. These subjects are put in residuary list.

Challenges before 1990 :

(i)   Political scene was dominated  by one party both at the Centre and in the States before 1990.

(ii)  As and when the ruling party at the state level asserted itself the centre enforced governors rule.

(iii) The Central Government would often misuse the constitution of dismiss the State Government that were controlled by rival parties.

After 1990 :

(i)  The central government was formed by a coalition of different parties.

(ii)  A number of regional parties have become powerful and play a crucial role at the Centre and States.

(iii) The era of “coalition” government  at the Centre has inculcated respect for federal autonomy and respect for state governments.

Gram Sabha : A body comprising of all adult members of a village or a group of villages.

Functions of Gram Sabha :

(i)   It elects the members of the Gram Panchayat. (ii)  The Gram Sabha supervises the work of the village panchayat.

(iii) It approves the annual budget of the panchayat. (iv) It  reviews the  performance  of  the  Gram Panchayat.

Impact  of local self government  on  Indian democracy :

(i)   Constitutional  status  for  local government has helped to deepen democracy.

(ii)  It has increased women’s representation and voice in our democracy.

Difficulties  :

(i)   Gram sabhas are not held regularly.

(ii)  Most state governments have not transferred significant powers to local government.

(iii) State government do not provide adequate resources to the gram sabhas.

Impact  of local self government  on  Indian democracy :

(i)   Constitutional  status  for  local government has helped to deepen democracy.

(ii)  It has increased women’s representation and voice in our democracy.

Difficulties  :

(i)   Gram sabhas are not held regularly.

(ii)  Most state governments have not transferred significant powers to local government.

(iii) State government do not provide adequate resources to the gram sabhas.

The central and state governments enjoy powers because their ‘Powers’ are clearly divided in Union list and State list. They exercise authority equally on  items  listed  is  the  concurrent  list. The two governments operate according to their jurisdiction.

Zilla Parishad

Much of the official work in Indian states is done in the language of the state.

Decentralization can be defined as systematic distribution of authority or power at every level of the government. In India it is the centre, the state and the village level.

Education comes under the concurrent list; so both the states and the centre can legislate on any aspect of education.

Panchayati Raj is the best example of decentralisation of power.

(i)   People can get most of their problems solved at the local level by participating in decision making. This is because people understand  the problems better and can find better solutions locally.

(iii) People can think and plan for themselves.

Despite the diversity the people of India are united because they have :

(i)   Right to equality.

(ii)  No discrimination on the basis of caste, creed region or religion.

(iii) SCs and STs have some seats reserved and do get representation.

(iv) They have right to freedom of religion and cultural and educational rights.

Gram Panchayat is a council consisting of several ward members  often called ‘Panch’ and a president called ‘Sarpanch’. It is the decision making body for the village.

The Panchayat works under the overall supervision of the ‘Gram Sabha’. All  the voters in the village are its members.

Yes, decentralisation reduces conflicts. It helps in the settlement of a large number of problems and issues at the local level.

(i) It provides a platform for the direct participation of people in decision making.

(ii)  Decentralisation  in  the  form  of  different tiers of government is the best way to realise the principles of Democracy.

Decentralization : When power is taken from central and state governments and is given to local government, it is called decentralization.

The Constitution was amended in 1992 to make the third tier government which made democracy more powerful and effective.

(i)   Now it is mandatory to hold regular elections to local government bodies.

(ii)  At least 1/3rd  of all positions and seats are reserved for women.

(iii) An  independent   institution   called  State Election Commission has been created in each state to conduct panchayat and municipal elections.

(iv) The State Governments are required to share some powers and revenue with local government bodies. The nature of sharing varies from state to state.

India  became a Union  of States because it consisted of both British-ruled territories as well as many princely states. Some sub-political units of India have a special status.

(i)   Jammu & Kashmir joined India on a special condition.

(ii) Some units were too small to become independent  states. They were made Union Territories.

(iii) States in the North-East have been given a special status as they have a large tribal population with a distinct history and culture.

Advantages of Decentralization are as follows :

(i)   Sharing of power between centre, states and local government reduces conflict.

(ii)  Large number  of problems  and  issues can be best settled at local level. People have better knowledge of problems in their localities.

(iii) People have better knowledge of local issues so solutions can be found.

(iv) They know better as where to spend money and how to manage things efficiently.
(v)  People at the local level participate directly in decision making.

The rationale behind decentralisation is as follows  :

(i)   Large number of problems and issues are best settled at the local level because people have better knowledge of their local problems.

(ii)  It helps in promoting direct participation of the people in governance.

Structure of Rural Local Government :

A few gram panchayats are grouped together to form a panchayat samiti or block or mandal. The members of this representative body are elected by all the panchayat samitis or mandals in a district which makes the Zilla Parishad.

Most members of the Zilla Parishad are elected members of Lok Sabha and MLA’s of that district and  some other  officials of other  district  level bodies.

The chairperson of Zilla Parishad is the political head.