H.

P NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY,

SHIMLA

Assignment of Political Science on

Federal Government

Submitted To
Dr. Ved Prakash Sharma
Assistant Prof. of Pol. Science

Submitted By
Aanand Singh
Roll no. –1020181918
BA.LLB(Hons.) –I SEMESTER

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Every project big or small is successful largely due to the effort of a number of wonderful people
who have always given their valuable advice or lent a helping hand. I sincerely appreciate the
inspiration; support and guidance of all those people who have been instrumental in making this
project a success.

I, Aanand singh, the student of H.P. National Law University (Shimla), am extremely grateful
to H.P. National Law University (Shimla) for the confidence bestowed in me and entrusting my
assignment of Political Science.

I also extend my gratitude to my Project Guide, Dr. Ved Prakash Sharma, Lecturer in Political
Science, who assisted me in compiling the project.

I would also like to thank all the faculty members of H.P. National Law University (Shimla) for
their critical advice and guidance without which this project would not have been possible.

Last but not the least I place a deep sense of gratitude to my family members and my friends who
have been constant source of inspiration during the preparation of this project work.

INDEX
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1.INTRODUCTION PAGE (1-5)
2.BASIC FEATURES OF FEDERALISM PAGE(6-7)
3.FEDERALISM IN INDIA PAGE(8-9)
4.CONCLUSION PAGE(10)

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Introduction
“The Distribution of power is an essential feature of federalism. The object for
which a federal State is formed involves a division of authority between the
National government and the separate states, the tendency of federalism to limit
on every side the action of the government and to split up the strength of the
state among co-ordinate and independent authorities is especially noticeable,
because it forms the essential distinction between a federal system and a unitary
system of Government.”
Federalism, it is universally acknowledged, has many virtues. Federal governance
promotes efficiency, both economic and political. Federalism is considered efficient
from the political angle as well because of the facility it provides for a heterogeneous
population to come together under the banner of one nation and acquire strength
from unity while allowing the constituents to retain their identity and autonomy over
a wide area of public life. A well designed, and more important, well functioning
system of federal governance, by virtue of its manifold benefits, plays a key role in
promoting the stability and prosperity of nations as the heights attained in
development by the leading federations of the world – USA, Canada, Australia and
Switzerland – demonstrate. On the other hand, unless carefully crafted, federal
systems do not endure as evidenced by the disintegration of many of the federal
formations that came into being in the last century, such as Soviet Russia,
Yugoslavia, Czechslovakia and Rhodesia. The art of federalism lies in designing
institutions with appropriate assignment of powers and functions among different
orders of government and rules to regulate their relationship especially in the fiscal
arena that can strike the right balance among different objectives and resolve
tensions.

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The definition of federalism as given in the discussion at the Berne conference of
2011 hosted by the World Bank, U.S. Institute for Peace, and the Swiss Federal
Department of Foreign Affairs is as follows,

Federalism refers to a system of somewhat autonomous units (the “constituent

units”) brought together under one unified system (the “federal government”).
Typically, the federal government has limited functions that are thought to be
important to all the constituent units and which the separate constituents would not
be able easily to perform on their own – this means that a vertical allocation of
responsibilities must occur between the federal level and the constituent level. At
the same time, there are usually aspects of autonomy for the constituent units which
should be protected from interference by other constituent units – an allocation of
responsibilities horizontally. The essential elements of a federal system thus are:

 constituent units
 federal government
 allocation of responsibilities vertically
 allocation of responsibilities horizontally

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The basic features of a federal government
Chief essentials for a constitution to be federal are:

1. Dispersion of powers between the center and the unit states forming federation
among a number of co-ordinate bodies, controlled by constitution.

2. Rigidity – neither the center nor the state has power to amend the provision of
constitution relating separation of powers.

3. A written constitution

4. Domination of the constitution – neither of center nor state has power to nullify
the constitution

5. An independent body and unprejudiced authority

In Pradeep Jain v. Union of India, the Apex Court expressed as India is not a federal
State in the traditional sense of that term. It is not a compact of sovereign State which
have come together to form a federation by ceding undoubtedly federal features.

The basic idea that has to be agreed to with is that the Constitution of India is
supreme and the Central legislative body cannot make any changes to those laws
included to define the power sharing arrangements between the Center and the States
in the country. This makes the Constitution of India federal in its approach to power
sharing between the center and the sub-ordinate units of the country.

But then it also has to be noted that there is no clear distinction of the division of
power between the center and the states, this can be seen as evident from the fact
that there are provisions for the over-riding of the will of the states in cases where
there is the implementation of Art. 201 and Art. 356. Articles 356, 352 and 360 give
the power to the president to declare emergency, which can transform federal system
into a unitary system; however the provision is meant for temporary and can be used

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only under certain exceptional situations under certain restrictions created through
judicial intervention, there are many circumstances in which the central government
has used this power to dissolve the state governments of the opposite parties and to
remain in power at the centre.

It also has to be noted that in the introduction of the Concurrent list, there is
confusion as to which entity, i.e. the Center or the States have the last say in the
matter, though it is accepted that if the two entities are in direct opposition to each-
other, then the decision of the Union shall be considered to have more weight than
that of the State.

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 Nature Of Federalism In India

In spite of the fact that the Indian Constitution establishes a federal structure, it is
indeed very different then a true federation. The framers of the Constitution have
modified the true nature of Indian federation by incorporating certain unitary
features in it. These are :

 The Constitution of India has federal features but it does not claim to be a
federation. It calls India a “Union of States”. Article I of the Constitution
describes India as a ‘Union of States’, which implies two things: firstly , it is
not the result of an agreement among the States and secondly, the
States have no freedom to secede or separate from the Union. Besides, The
federation is a union because it is indestructible and helps to maintain the
unity of the country.

 The Centre appoints the Governors of the States who enjoys extensive
powers in special circumstances. Governor is the agent of the Centre in
the States. In the past he Governor has acted more as Centre’s representative
than as the head of the State. This enables the Union government to exercise
control over the State administration.

 Unequal representation in upper house: The equality of units in a

federation is best guaranteed by their equal representation in the Upper
House of the federal legislature (Parliament). However, this does not
happens in case of Indian States. They have unequal representation in the
Rajya Sabha.

 Appointment of important organisation heads: All important

appointments such as the Chief Election Commissioner ,the Comptroller
and Auditor General are made by the Union Government.

 Single citizenship: There is no provision for separate Constitutions for the

states. The States cannot propose amendments to, the Constitution.
Amendments can only be made by the Union Parliament.

 All India Services: In order to ensure uniformity of the administrative

system and to maintain minimum common administrative standards without
impairing the federal system, All India Services such as IAS and IPS have
been created which are kept under the control of the Union.
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 Emergency Provisions: During Financial Emergency, the Center exercises
full control over the State’s finances. In case of disturbances in any State or
part thereof, the Union Government is empowered to depute Central Force
in the State or to the disturbed part of the State.In all three types of
emergencies, Centre is empowered to excercise full control over the state
machinery.

 Parliament control over state: It can make laws to increase or decrease the
area of any State and may alter its name and boundaries. It may alter
subjects n the state list also.

 Unified Judiciary: Contray to the federal principle which has a dual system
of Courts, India has unified Judiciary with the Supreme Court at the apex.

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 CONCLUSION

Hence it can be concluded that the Constitution of India establishes a strong Centre
by showering all-important subjects to the Centre as per the Union List. The State
Governments have limited powers while largely being dependent on the
Centre. Especially, the States are dependent on the Centre financially. The States
have to work in close co-operation with the Centre.

This has led to the contention that the Indian constitution is federal in form but
unitary in spirit.

Constitutional experts call it ‘semi-federal’ or ‘quasi federal’ system. This is

unique to India.

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