Federalism — Class 11 Political Science

This chapter explains federalism and how it works in India, where boundaries, names and numbers of States have changed greatly since 1947. Federalism is an institutional mechanism to accommodate two sets of polities — one regional and one national — each autonomous in its own sphere, with a written constitution as the supreme source of both governments' powers and an independent judiciary to settle disputes. Real politics, culture and trust determine how a federation works; the chapter contrasts the break-up of the USSR and conflicts in Nigeria. The Indian Constitution describes India as a "Union of States", emphasises cooperation between centre and States, and divides powers through the Union List, State List and Concurrent List, with residuary powers to the Union. It creates a strong central government: Parliament can alter State boundaries, emergency provisions centralise power, the centre holds major financial powers, the Governor can reserve bills and recommend President's rule, and the all-India services are centrally controlled. It examines conflicts in India's federal system — centre-State relations, demands for autonomy, the role of Governors and Article 356 (President's rule), demands for new States and the linguistic reorganisation of States, and inter-State disputes over borders and river waters. It ends with special provisions for some States, including the former special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370.