Federalism : Class X Civics Full Notes

For Federalism Quiz

https://seminaryclasses.blogspot.com/2020/12/federalism-quiz.html

For Federalism MCQ

https://seminaryclasses.blogspot.com/2020/05/class-x-sub-civ-mcq.html

#Topics :

1. What is federalism?

2. What makes India a federal country?

3. How is federalism practised?

4. Decentralisation in India.

1. What is federalism?

It is a system of government in which the power is divided between Central authority and various constituents units of the country.

# Difference between unitary and Federal government

* Unitary government

In this system either there is only one level of government or the sub-units are under the central government.

It means the central government can pass order to state or local government.

* Federal government

In this system there is always two or more levels of government and the state government is not answerable to the centre.

Both the governments are separately answerable to the people.

# features of federalism

1. There are the two or more levels (or tiers) of government.

2. Different levels of government govern the same citizen but has its own jurisdiction.

3. The jurisdiction of each level of government are clearly specified in the constitution.

4. The fundamental provision of the Constitution cannot be unilaterally changed by one level of government.

Such changes can be done after 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 solves the dispute between different levels of government in the exercise of their respective powers.

6. Sources of revenue for each level of government are clearly specified to ensure its financial independence.

* Jurisdiction - The area/subject over which someone has legal authority.

# Objectives of federalism

➡️ To safe and promote the unity of the country.

➡️ To adjust diversity within states.

# Ideal federal system

➡️ Agreement to live together

Government at different levels should agree to some rules of power sharing.

➡️ Mutual trust

They should also trust that each would abide by its part of the agreement.

# Types of Federation

a) Coming together Federation

b) Holding together Federation

A. Coming together Federation

i) This federation is formed when independent States come together to their own to form a bigger unit.

E.g:- USA, Switzerland and Australia.

ii) Under this Federation all the constituent States have equal power.

iii) Here state governments are as strong as Central government

B. Holding together Federation

i) This Federation is formed when a large country decides to divide its power between the constituent states and the national government.

E.g:- India, Spain and Belgium

ii) Under this Federation different constituents units often have unequal power.

E.g:- J&K and U.T.

iii) Under this system the central government tends to have more power.

Jammu & Kashmir

a. It has its own constitution.

b. Many provision of the Indian Constitution are not applicable to this state without approval of the state assembly.

c. Non-residents of this state cannot buy land or houses here.

2. What makes India a federal country?

India had emerged as an independent Nation after a painful and bloody partition.

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.

Here we will match all the features of federalism with the way government is run in India.

a) There were originally two tier system of government provided by the constitution.

The central government and the state governments. Later a third tier of federalism was added in the form of panchayats and municipalities.

b) The constitution clearly provided a three fold distribution of Legislative powers between the Union and the state governments . Thus it contains three lists:

i) Union List

• It Include subject of national importance on which there should be uniform policy throughout the country.

• The union government alone can make laws on the subjects mentioned in this list.

E.g:- Defence, Banking, Communication, Currency and Foreign Affairs etc.

ii) State List

• It contains subjects of state and local importance

• The state government alone can make laws on this list.

E.g:- Police, Trade, Agriculture and Irrigation etc.

iii) Concurrent list

• It includes subjects of common interest to both the union as well as state governments.

• Both the union as well as the state governments can make laws on the subject of this list. If their laws conflict with each other, the law made by the union government will prevail.

iv) Residuary Subjects

• The subjects that came up after the constitution was made are called Residuary subjects.

• According to our own constitution union government has the power to legislate on these subjects.

c) Power sharing is the fundamental provision of the constitution.

It cannot be changed easily, any changes to it has to be first passed by the both 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.

d) The Judiciary plays an important role in interpreting the constitution.

In case of any disputes about the division of powers, the High court and the Supreme court make a decision.

e) The Union and State Government have the power to raise resources by levying taxes.

Note:- All the features put together clearly shows that India is a federal country.

3. How is federalism practised?

The success of federalism

➡️ depends on the nature of Democratic politics.

* Ideals : respect for diversity, desire for living together, spirit of federalism.

a) Linguistic States

In 1947 many new states were created on the basis of language.

It was done to ensure that people who spoke the same language lived in the same States.

E.g:- Karnataka, Tamil Nadu etc.

Exception:- Some states were created to recognise differences based on culture, ethnicity, geography.

E.g:- Nagaland, Uttarakhand & Jharkhand.

# Fear of leaders

Some national leaders were afraid that States created on the basis of language would disintegrate the country.

But from the experiences we can conclude that formation of linguistic States has made the country more stronger and united.

b) Language Policy

We have adopted our language policy to strengthen federalism in the following ways:

• There is no national language organised by our constitution.

• There are 21 official languages recognised besides Hindi.

It means any candidate can give examination for Central Government position in any of these languages.

• States too have their own official languages.

Compromise over language

The use of English for official purpose was to stop in 1965 according to the constitution.

However many Hindi speaking States demanded the use of English to continue.

This led to violent protest in Tamil Nadu. The centre responded by agreeing to continue the use of English along with Hindi for official purposes.

C) Centre - State Relations

Case 1 : For a long time the same party ruled both at the centre and in most of the states. This meant that the state government did not enjoy their rights .

Case 2 : When the ruling party at the state level was different , the parties that ruled at the centre tried to undermine the power of the states. They would often dismiss the state government run by opposition parties.

Case 3 : After 1990

i ) It became difficult for a single party to get a clear majority in Lok Sabha on its own.

ii) The major national parties had to enter into alliance with several regional parties to form government at the centre .

iii) This led to a new culture of power sharing and respect for the the freedom of state governments .

4. Decentralisation in India

Definition :- When power is taken away from Central and state government and given to local government it is called decentralisation.

#Reason for decentralization

i). Large population of states

Some states in India are as large as independent countries of Europe .

eg:- UP is bigger than Russia in terms of population.

ii) Internal Diversity within states

Many of the states are internally very diverse .You'll find differences in customs, food habits , language within states .

iii) Best Settlement at local level

There are a large number of issues

which are best settled at the local level , because people have better knowledge of problems in their localities.

iv) Participation in Direct decision making

At the local level it is possible for the people to directly participate in decision making .

# Constitutional provision for decentralization

A major step towards decentralization was taken in 1992 when Constitution was amended 73rd times .

it was done to make the third level of government more powerful and effective.

Following are the constitutional provisions for decentralization :

i) Holding regular election to local government bodies is made mandatory.

ii) Seats are reserved for SC , ST and OBC and at least one third of the all positions are reserved for women .

iii) State Election Commission was created in each states to conduct election to local government.

iv) The state governments are required to share some power and revenue with local government bodies.

# Types of local government

a) Rural local government(Panchayati Raj)

➡️ village level ( Gram Panchayat)

✔️ Each village or group of villages in some States form a Gram Panchayat.

✔️ This is the Council consisting of several ward members ,they are called panch and President or Sarpanch.

✔️ They are directly elected by all the adult population called Gram Sabha.

# Works of Gram Sabha

it meet two or three times in a year to --

i) Approve the yearly budget.

ii) Review the performance of the gram panchayat

➡️ Block Level

✔️ A few gram panchayats are grouped together to form a Panchayat Samiti or block or Mandal.

✔️ The members of this represented body are elected by all the panchayat members in that area.

➡️ District Level

✔️ All the Panchayat Samiti or Mandal in a district together form the Zilla Parishad.

✔️ Most members of the Zilla Parishad are elected.

✔️ Members of Lok Sabha and MLA of that district and some other official of the district level bodies are also its members. head Zilla Parishad chairperson urban local government

b) Urban Local Government