Class 10 Civics Chapter 2 Federalism Notes

Class 10 Civics Chapter 2 Federalism Notes are available here. These notes are prepared by the subject experts of our team.

Class 10 Civics Chapter 2 Federalism Notes

One of the key changes made in the Constitution of Belgium was to reduce the power of the Central Government and give these powers to the regional governments.
The change that took place in 1993 was that the regional governments were given constitutional powers that were no longer dependent on the central government.
Belgium shifted from a unitary to a federal form of government.
Sri Lanka continues to be, for all practical purposes, a unitary system where the national government has all the powers.
Tamil leaders want Sri Lanka to become a federal system.
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 for the entire country and others at the level of provinces or states.
Both levels of governments in a federation enjoy their power independent of the other.
Federations are contrasted with unitary governments, where sub-units are subordinate to the central government.
In a federal system, the central government cannot order the state government to do something.
State governments have powers of their own and are not answerable to the central government; both levels of government are separately answerable to the people.

Key Features Of Federal System

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, ensuring the existence and authority of each tier 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 levels of government.
Courts have the power to interpret the constitution and the powers of different levels of government, with the highest court acting as an umpire in disputes.
Sources of revenue for each level of government are clearly specified to ensure financial autonomy.
The federal system aims to safeguard and promote unity while accommodating regional diversity, requiring mutual trust and agreement on power-sharing.

Formation Of Federations

1. The balance of power between central and state governments varies among federations and depends on the historical context of their formation.

2. Federations can be formed through two main routes:

‘Coming together’ Federations: Independent states join together to form a larger unit, pooling sovereignty while retaining identity for increased security. Examples include the USA, Switzerland, and Australia. In these federations, constituent states typically have equal power and are strong relative to the federal government.
‘Holding together’ Federations: A large country divides power between constituent states and the national government. Examples include India, Spain, and Belgium. In these federations, the central government is generally more powerful, and constituent units may have unequal powers, with some units granted special powers.

3. Jurisdiction: Refers to the area over which someone has legal authority, defined either by geographical boundaries or specific subjects.

What makes India a federal country?

1. India, like small countries such as Belgium and Sri Lanka, faces challenges in managing diversity due to its vast size and varied languages, religions, and regions.

2. Constitutional Basis:

India is declared as a Union of States, based on the principles of federalism, though the term “federation” is not used.
The Indian Constitution initially established a two-tier system of government: the Union Government (Central Government) and State Governments.
A third tier, Panchayats and Municipalities, was later added to the federal structure.

3. Distribution of Powers: The Constitution outlines a three-fold distribution of legislative powers:

Union List: Subjects of national importance (e.g., defense, foreign affairs, banking, communications, currency). Only the Union Government can make laws on these subjects.
State List: Subjects of State and local importance (e.g., police, trade, commerce, agriculture, irrigation). Only State Governments can make laws on these subjects.
Concurrent List: Subjects of common interest (e.g., education, forests, trade unions, marriage, adoption, succession). Both Union and State Governments can make laws on these subjects. In case of conflict, Union laws prevail.

4. Residuary Subjects: The Union Government has the power to legislate on subjects not listed in any of the three constitutional lists, including new subjects like computer software that emerged after the Constitution was made.

5. Unequal Powers Among States:

In federations formed by “holding together,” constituent units often do not have equal power. This is true for the Indian Union, where not all states have identical powers.
Some states enjoy a special status due to their unique social and historical circumstances.

6. States with Special Powers:

States like Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, and Mizoram have special powers under Article 371 of the Constitution of India.
These special powers are related to the protection of land rights for indigenous peoples, their culture, and preferential employment in government services.
Non-permanent residents of these states cannot buy land or houses there.
Similar special provisions exist for some other states in India as well.

7. Union Territories:

Some units in the Indian Union, like Chandigarh, Lakshadweep, and Delhi, are called Union Territories.
These areas are too small to become independent states and could not be merged with existing states.
Union Territories enjoy very little power compared to states, and the Central Government has special powers in administering these areas.

8. Power Sharing:

The sharing of power between the Union Government and the State Governments is fundamental to the structure of the Indian Constitution.
Changes to this power-sharing arrangement cannot be made easily or unilaterally by the Parliament.
Any change requires a two-thirds majority in both Houses of Parliament and must be ratified by the legislatures of at least half of the total states.

9. Role of Judiciary:

The judiciary, including the High Courts and the Supreme Court, oversees the implementation of constitutional provisions and procedures.
It resolves disputes concerning the division of powers between the Union and State Governments.

10. Resource Allocation:

The Union and State Governments have the authority to raise resources by levying taxes to fulfill their governmental responsibilities and assignments.

How is federalism practised?

Linguistic States

The creation of linguistic States was the first and a major test for democratic politics in our country.
If you look at the political map of India from 1947 to 2019, you will be surprised by the extent of the changes.
Many old States have vanished and many new States have been created.
Areas, boundaries, and names of the States have been changed.
In 1947, the boundaries of several old States of India were changed to create new States 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, such as Nagaland, Uttarakhand, and Jharkhand.
Some national leaders feared that forming States on the basis of language would lead to the disintegration of the country.
The Central Government resisted linguistic States for some time.
The formation of linguistic States has actually made the country more united and has made administration easier.

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, but it 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 22 other languages recognized as Scheduled Languages by the Constitution.
A candidate in an examination for Central Government positions may opt to take the examination in any of these languages.
States also have their own official languages, and much government work takes place in the official language of the concerned State.
Unlike Sri Lanka, the leaders of our country adopted a very cautious attitude in spreading the use of Hindi.
According to the Constitution, the use of English for official purposes was to stop in 1965, but many non-Hindi speaking States demanded that the use of English continue.
In Tamil Nadu, this movement took a violent form.
The Central Government responded by agreeing to continue the use of English along with Hindi for official purposes.
Many critics think this solution favored the English-speaking elite.
Promotion of Hindi continues to be the official policy of the Government of India.
Promotion does not mean that the Central Government can impose Hindi on States where people speak a different language.
The flexibility shown by Indian political leaders helped avoid the kind of situation that Sri Lanka finds itself in.

Centre-State relations

Restructuring the Centre-State relations is one more way in which federalism has been strengthened in practice.
How the constitutional arrangements for sharing power work in reality depends on how the ruling parties and leaders follow these arrangements.
For a long time, the same party ruled both at the Centre and in most of the States, meaning State Governments did not exercise their rights as autonomous federal units.
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.
The Central Government would often misuse the Constitution to dismiss State Governments controlled by rival parties, undermining the spirit of federalism.
After 1990, there was a significant change with the rise of regional political parties and the beginning of coalition governments at the Centre.
Since no single party had a clear majority in the Lok Sabha, major national parties had to form alliances with regional parties to govern.
This led to a new culture of power sharing and respect for the autonomy of State Governments.
A major judgment by the Supreme Court made it difficult for the Central Government to dismiss state governments arbitrarily.
Thus, federal power sharing is more effective today than it was in the early years after the Constitution came into force.

Decentralisation in India

Federal governments have two or more tiers of governments, but a vast country like India needs more than just two tiers.
States in India are as large as independent countries in Europe; for example, Uttar Pradesh is bigger than Russia, and Maharashtra is about as big as Germany.
Many of these States are internally very diverse, creating a need for power sharing within these States.
Federal power sharing in India needs another tier of government below the State governments, which is the rationale for decentralization.
The third tier of government, called local government, resulted from the need for decentralization.
Decentralization involves taking power away from Central and State governments and giving it to local government.
The basic idea behind decentralization is that many problems and issues are best settled at the local level, where people have better knowledge and ideas.
At the local level, people can directly participate in decision-making, which helps inculcate a habit of democratic participation.
Local government is the best way to realize the principle of local self-government.
The need for decentralization was recognized in our Constitution, leading to attempts to decentralize power to villages and towns.
Panchayats in villages and municipalities in urban areas were set up in all States but were directly under the control of State governments.
Elections to local governments were not held regularly, and local governments lacked powers and resources, resulting in very little effective decentralization.
A major step towards decentralization was taken in 1992 with an amendment to the Constitution to make the third tier of democracy more powerful and effective.
- It is constitutionally mandatory to hold regular elections to local government bodies.
- 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.
- An independent institution called the State Election Commission has been created in each State to conduct panchayat and municipal elections.
- The State governments are required to share some powers and revenue with local government bodies, though the nature of sharing varies from State to State.
Rural local government is popularly known as panchayati raj.
Each village, or a group of villages in some States, has a gram panchayat, a council consisting of several ward members (panch) and a president (sarpanch).
The gram panchayat is directly elected by all the adult population living in that ward or village and is the decision-making body for the entire village.
The gram panchayat works under the overall supervision of the gram sabha, which is composed of all the voters in the village.
The gram sabha must meet at least twice or thrice a year to approve the annual budget and review the performance of the gram panchayat.
The local government structure extends to the district level, with gram panchayats grouped together to form a panchayat samiti, block, or mandal.
The panchayat samiti or mandal is made up of representatives elected by the panchayat members in that area.
All panchayat samitis or mandals in a district together constitute the zilla (district) parishad, with most members elected, along with Lok Sabha members, MLAs, and other officials.
The zilla parishad chairperson is the political head of the zilla parishad.
Local government bodies also exist for urban areas, with municipalities set up in towns and municipal corporations in big cities.
Both municipalities and municipal corporations are controlled by elected bodies consisting of people’s representatives, with the municipal chairperson and mayor as their political heads, respectively.
This system of local government is the largest experiment in democracy conducted anywhere in the world, with about 36 lakh elected representatives in panchayats and municipalities.
Constitutional status for local government has helped deepen democracy and increase women’s representation and voice.
Despite regular elections, gram sabhas are not held regularly, and most state governments have not transferred significant powers or resources to local governments.
We are still a long way from realizing the ideal of self-government.