Unitary System: Unitary system is a system of government in which either there is only one level of government or sub units are subordinate to the central government.
Distinguish between Federal form of government and Unitary form of government:-
Federal form of government
- Under the federal system there are two levels of government, one at the central level and other at the state level. Both levels have their areas of jurisdiction.
- In federal system a state government has power of its own for which it is not answerable to the central government.
- Central government cannot order the state government to do something.
- But in Unitary form of government either there is only one level of government or the sub-units are subordinate to the central government.
- On the other hand in unitary system the state government does not have power of its own.
- The central government can pass on orders to the local government.
The major key features of federalism.
- Two or more levels or government: Federalism is a system of government in which the government is divided between a central authority and its various constituent units. Usually, a federation has two levels of government. One is the government for the entire country, and the other governments at the state or provincial level.
- Same citizens separate jurisdiction:- Different tiers of government govern the same citizens, but each tier has its own jurisdiction in specific matters of legislation, taxation and administration.
- Superiority of constitution: The jurisdiction of the respective levels or tiers of government are specified in the constitution. So the existence and authority of each tier of government are constitutionally safeguarded.
- Rigid constitution: The fundamental provisions of the constitutions cannot be unilaterally changed by one level of government. Such changes require the consent of both the levels of government.
- Dual objective: The federal system thus has dual objectives: to safeguard and promote the unity of the country, while at the same time, accommodate the regional diversity.
There are two types of route thriugh which the federation have been made:
- Coming together federation:It is a type of federation in which independent states come together on their own to form a bigger unit, so that by pooling sovereignty and retaining identity they can increase their security.
- Holding together federation:It is a type of federation in which a large country decides to divide its power between the constituent states and the National government.
Distinguish between coming together federation and holding together federation.
Coming Together federations
- Under this independent states come together on their own to form a bigger unit.
- Under this, all constituent states usually have equal power.
- USA, Switzerland and Australia
- Under this, a large country decides to divide its power between the constituent states and the national government.
- Under this central government tend to be more powerful.
- India, Spain and Belgium.
What make india a federalism country?
India fulfills several principles that are essential for a federation. They are as follows:
- Existence of Union and State Government:- In the spirit of Federalism, there are two set of governing authority, in the Union and the in the states. For Example, the Central Government’s headquarter is in Delhi and that of Uttar Pradesh is in Lucknow.
- Division of Power:- Power has been divided between the Union and the State governments by the folloeing list:-
- It includes subjects of national importance. This list consists of 97 subjects. Most important among these are defence, atomic energy, foreign affairs, etc.
- The parliament is solely empowered to enact laws on subjects included in the Union List.
- State list contains subjects of state and local importance such as police, trade. It has altogether 66 subjects.
- The state legislature along can make laws relating to the subjects mentioned in the State List.
- It includes subjects of common interests to both the union government as well as the state government, such as, education, forests, trade unions, marriage, adoption and successions, press, etc.
- Residuary subjects are the leftover subjects which do not fall in any one of the three lists. One the residuary subjects only the union government can legislate e.g., computer software and internet.
- .Both the union as well as state governments can make laws on the concurrent List subjects. But in case of a conflict between the central and states laws, central law prevails.
- Constitution the Supreme Authority:- Like in all Federations, the Constitution clearly lays down the distribution of power between the Union and the State.
- Bicameral Legislature:- In the state there are two houses, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha . While the Lok Sabha has members who are directly elected by the citizens of the country, the Rajya Sabha has members who are indirectly elected.
- Separation of Powers:- India has a three tier government, where powers are divided between the Legislature, Executive and the Judiciary.
How is federalism practised in india?
- The creation of Linguistic state: It was the first and a major test for democratic politics in our country:- 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 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 recognise differences based on culture, ethnicityor geography. These include States like Nagaland, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand.
- 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. ButHindi 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 21 other languages recognised as Scheduled Languages Constitution.
- Centre-State relations : restructuring the Centre - State relations is one more way in which federalism has been strengthened in practice . since 1990 , COALITION GOVTS were at the Centre. Since no single party got a clear majority in the Lok Sabha, the major national parties had to enter into an alliance with many parties including several regional parties to form a government at the Centre .
Decentralization: When power is taken away from Central and State governments and given to local government it is called Decentralization.
What is the importance or need for decentralization?
- The basic idea behind decentralization is that there are a large number of problems and issues which are best settled at the local level. People have a better knowledge of problems in their localities. They also have better ideas on where to spend money, and how to manage things more efficiently.
- At the local level, it is possible for the people to directly participate in decision making. This helps to inculcate a habit of democratic participation. Local government is the best way to realist one important principle of democracy, namely the local self government.
Gram Panchayat: It is a council consisting of several ward members, often called panch and a president or a sarpanch.
Panchayat Samiti:A few gram panchayats are grouped together to form a panchayat Samiti or Block or a Mandal.
Mayor: A Mayor is an elected Chairperson of the Municipal Corporation.
Mention any four difficulties of local government in India.
- Most states have not transferred significant powers to the local governments.
- There is a shortage of resources.
- Elections are not held regularly.
- Gram sabha are not held regularly.
What is Gram Sabha? Mention its functions.
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Every adult of the village who is 18 years of age constitute the Gram
Sabha.
- It is the decision making body of the entire village.
- The village panchayat works under the supervision of the Gram Sabha.
- It approves the annual budget of the Gram Panchayat.
What is Panchayati Raj? What is its importance?
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Rural local government is known as the Panchayati Raj.
- It helps the people to directly participate in decision making.
- It helps in the decentralization of power.
- It reduces the burden of the central government.
LOoK THis ALsO
Why were the linguistic states created? What are their advantages?
The Linguistic states were created to ensure that the people who spoke the same language lived in the same state.
- It has made the country more united and stronger.
- It has also made administration easier.
List System: List System states the distribution of powers or subjects through the list like Union List for central/union level, state list for state level, etc. It is the specific feature of Indian federalism.
Union Territories: Union Territories are the areas which are run by the Union Central government. They are too small to become an independent state but could not be merged with any of the existing states. E.g., Chandigarh.
Coalition government: coalition government is a government formed by the coming together of more than two political parties, since no single party got a clear majority.
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