{"id":341558,"date":"2025-06-27T21:18:39","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T15:48:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=341558"},"modified":"2025-06-27T21:18:39","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T15:48:39","slug":"psir-power-50-day-22-capsule-federalism-practice-qs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/psir-power-50-day-22-capsule-federalism-practice-qs\/","title":{"rendered":"PSIR Power 50 \u2013 Day 22 Capsule: Federalism+ Practice Qs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hello aspirants,<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s revision capsule of PSIR optional preparation covers <strong>Federalism<\/strong>. PYQs are given in the grid itself. There are <strong>three 20-markers, four 15-markers, and six 10-markers<\/strong> from this topic in last 12 years.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>1.\u2003FEDERALISM AS A DYNAMIC THEORY<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td><strong>Key Ideas<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Principal Scholars \/ Texts<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Foundational maxim<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><em>\u201cSelf-rule + shared-rule\u201d<\/em><\/td>\n<td><strong>Daniel J. Elazar<\/strong> (classic definition)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Unity of polity, plurality of society<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Co-existence of many identities in one Republic<\/td>\n<td><strong>Rasheeduddin Khan<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Nation-building lens<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Institutionalised multiculturalism; \u201cgrand design of living-together\u201d<\/td>\n<td><strong>Granville Austin<\/strong> (\u201csocial revolution, unity &amp; democracy\u201d triad)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>State-building lens<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>(i) Formation\/reorganisation of States (homogeneity + viability)\u2002(ii) Non-central distribution of competences\u2002(iii) Shared-rule mechanisms (Inter-State Council, Finance Comm., GST Council etc.)<\/td>\n<td><strong>B. R. Ambedkar<\/strong>, <strong>Sarkaria Commission<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>Colonial precursors<\/strong>: Government of India Act 1935, Simon Commission 1929, Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms 1918<br \/>\n<strong>Nationalist demand<\/strong>: <em>\u201cPurna Swaraj = maximum de-centralisation\u201d<\/em> \u2014 <strong>M. K. Gandhi<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>2.\u2003INDIA\u2019S \u201cPARLIAMENTARY-FEDERAL\u201d HYBRID<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>British-Parliamentary End<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>American-Federal End<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Cabinet responsibility, parliamentary conventions, doctrine of <em>sovereignty of Parliament<\/em><\/td>\n<td>Written Constitution, judicial review, rigid amendment procedure, dual polity<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><em>Terminology &amp; characterisations<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>K. C. Wheare<\/strong> \u2013 \u201cQuasi-federal or a unitary state with subsidiary federal features.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ian Copland<\/strong> \u2013 \u201cParamountcy federation.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ivor Jennings<\/strong> \u2013 \u201cFederation in normalcy, unitary in emergency.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong>K. Santhanam<\/strong> \u2013 \u201cCautious federalism.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Ambedkar\u2019s dictum<\/strong> (C.A.D. 1949): <em>\u201cThe Constitution is federal in normal times but becomes unitary in emergencies.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>3.\u2003WHY USE THE TERM \u201cUNION\u201d (Art. 1)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Indestructible Union; destructible States<\/strong> \u2013 States cannot secede.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Reorganisation power<\/strong> \u2013 Art. 3 allows Parliament (with SRC 1955 guidance) to change boundaries.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Unequal Rajya Sabha representation<\/strong> \u2013 proportional, not the U.S. model of equality.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Single citizenship<\/strong> \u2013 fosters one civic-political nation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>All-India Services<\/strong> (Art. 312) \u2013 common administrative spine, emphasising national interest.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>4.\u2003DISTRIBUTION OF COMPETENCES (Fern\u00e1ndez-Segado\u2019s 5-part grid applied to India)<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Category (Spanish label)<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Indian Illustration &amp; List Entry<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Comment<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Integral<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Defence, External Affairs, Currency (Union List)<\/td>\n<td>Parliament + Union Exec alone<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Exclusive but Limited<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>\u201cIndustries\u201d \u2014 Entry 24 (Union) vs. Entry 5 (State)<\/td>\n<td>Shared by slicing subject<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Shared<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Education, Forests, Marriage (Concurrent List)<\/td>\n<td>Union prevails on conflict<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Concurring<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Environment (E.P. Act 1986 vs. State Pollution Boards)<\/td>\n<td>Parallel facets, different emphases<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Indistinct \/ Overlapping<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Urban planning, Public health (CSS + State schemes)<\/td>\n<td>Practical overlap despite formal lists<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>Residuary powers<\/strong> \u2013 Entry 97: Parliament (Centre) holds them, though Sarkaria &amp; Punchhi Commissions urge concurrent relocation.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>5.\u2003ASYMMETRY &amp; MULTI-LEVELISM<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Special articles 370, 371, 371A-H, 5th &amp; 6th Schedules \u2192 J&amp;K (pre-2019), Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal etc. (<strong>R. Thakur<\/strong>, <strong>H. Verstappen<\/strong> on \u201casymmetrical federalism\u201d).<\/li>\n<li>District\/Autonomous Councils in NE (Sixth Schedule) \u2013 <strong>V. V. Rao\u2019s<\/strong> \u201csub-state federalism.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>73rd &amp; 74th Constitutional Amendments (PRIs &amp; ULBs) \u2013 deepen \u201cfederalism from below\u201d (<strong>George Mathew<\/strong>).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>6.\u2003CENTRE\u2013STATE FINANCIAL FEDERALISM<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>K. M. Munshi<\/strong> \u2013 emphasised unified economic fabric.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Finance Commission<\/strong> (Art. 280; from K.C. Neogy to latest 15th FC led by N. K. Singh) \u2013 vertical &amp; horizontal devolution.<\/li>\n<li><strong>GST Council<\/strong> (Art. 279A) \u2013 new shared-rule body; some hail as \u201ccooperative fiscal federalism,\u201d others (e.g., <strong>M. Govinda Rao<\/strong>) warn of central tilt.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>7.\u2003INSTITUTIONS OF \u201cSHARED RULE<\/strong><strong>\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Body<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Constitutional \/ Statutory Basis<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Key Thinkers \/ Reports<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Inter-State Council<\/td>\n<td>Art. 263, activated 1990 (V. P. Singh)<\/td>\n<td><strong>Sarkaria Commission<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Zonal Councils<\/td>\n<td>States Re-organisation Act 1956<\/td>\n<td><strong>R. G. Shah<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>National Development Council<\/td>\n<td>(executive resolution, 1952)<\/td>\n<td><strong>D. D. Basu<\/strong>: \u201ceconomic cabinet\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>GST Council<\/td>\n<td>Art. 279A (101st Amend.)<\/td>\n<td><strong>Arvind Subramanian<\/strong> report<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>8.\u2003WORKING PATTERN ACROSS THREE PHASES<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Phase<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Party System<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Federal Pattern (scholar tags)<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Key Events<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>1947-1967<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Congress dominance<\/td>\n<td><em>Co-operative<\/em> (C. S. Pandit)<\/td>\n<td>Formation of linguistic states (SRC)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>1967-1989<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Fragmentation, rise of regional parties<\/td>\n<td><em>Bargaining \/ Confrontational<\/em> (R. Kothari, Rajamannar Comm.)<\/td>\n<td>Frequent Art. 356, Emergency (1975-77)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>1990s-Now<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Coalition \/ Multi-party<\/td>\n<td><em>Co-operative\u2013Competitive<\/em> (M. P. Singh)<\/td>\n<td>S.R. Bommai (1994), GST, NITI Aayog<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>9.\u2003STATE-AUTONOMY MOVEMENTS<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Region \/ Party<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Core Grievance<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Scholar Observations<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Punjab \u2013 <strong>Akali Dal<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Excessive central control, River-water dispute<\/td>\n<td><strong>Paul Wallace<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Tamil Nadu \u2013 <strong>DMK\/AIADMK<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Language, fiscal share, Rajamannar Committee (1969)<\/td>\n<td><strong>E. Sambararan<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>West Bengal \u2013 <strong>Left Front<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Land reform autonomy, Centre\u2019s plan-transfer bias<\/td>\n<td><strong>Partha Chatterjee<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Kashmir (pre-2019)<\/td>\n<td>Article 370 erosion<\/td>\n<td><strong>A. G. Noorani<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Roots identified by <strong>Yogendra Yadav<\/strong>\u2019s \u201csecond democratic upsurge\u201d &amp; <strong>Bidyut Chakraborty<\/strong>\u2019s \u201ccoalition by calculation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>10.\u2003COALITION POLITICS &amp; THE FEDERAL AXIS<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>J. P. Narayan<\/strong> \u2013 coalition is \u201cboth inevitable and desirable\u201d in plural societies.<\/li>\n<li><strong>T. T. Krishnamachari<\/strong> \u2013 federalism is \u201cever-changing.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong>B. Chakraborty<\/strong> \u2013 Indian coalitions still \u201cin search of design.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong>Structuralist view (M. P. Singh)<\/strong> \u2013 PM as \u201cmanager of CMs.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Decline of <strong>Article 356<\/strong> misuse post-<strong>S.R. Bommai<\/strong>; judicial review entrenched.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>11.\u2003MODERN TRENDS &amp; REFORMS<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Reform \/ Report<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Substance<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Sarkaria Commission<\/strong> (1983-87)<\/td>\n<td>247 recs. \u2192 ISC, restraint on 356, fiscal devolution norms<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Punchhi Commission<\/strong> (2007-10)<\/td>\n<td>Continuation; fixed governor tenure, local emergency limits<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Competitive Federalism<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>\u201cEase-of-Doing-Business\u201d state rankings \u2192 <strong>NITI Aayog<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>COVID-19 experience<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Re-tested fiscal autonomy; calls for GST compensation redesign<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>12.\u2003Key points<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Hybrid Heritage<\/strong> \u2013 British parliamentary plus U.S. federal bones (Coupland, Wheare).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Union Bias but Federal Spirit<\/strong> \u2013 Ambedkar\u2019s dual-mode logic.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Dynamic, not Static<\/strong> \u2013 T. T. Krishnamachari: concept keeps evolving.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Lists \u2260 Practice<\/strong> \u2013 Segado\u2019s competences show overlaps.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Asymmetry as Design<\/strong> \u2013 Articles 370-371 etc. accommodate diversity (Khan).<\/li>\n<li><strong>From Cooperative <\/strong><strong>\u2192<\/strong><strong> Bargaining <\/strong><strong>\u2192<\/strong><strong> Competitive<\/strong> \u2013 party system drives pattern (Kothari, Austin, Singh).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Judicial Guardrails<\/strong> \u2013 Bommai, Kesavananda, Minerva Mills secure core features.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Coalition Era<\/strong> \u2013 Regional parties now co-govern the Union; autonomy claims voiced inside cabinet, not on street.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Fiscal Federalism in Flux<\/strong> \u2013 GST unifies tax base, yet compensation rows deepen.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Balancing Act<\/strong> \u2013 Too much centralism threatens democracy; too much fragmentation threatens unity (Granville Austin\u2019s tripod).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Indian federalism is <em>process<\/em>, not <em>plateau<\/em>\u2014an ever-negotiated contract of <strong>self-rule with shared-rule<\/strong>, steered by a kaleidoscope of actors: Parliament, States, Panchayats, parties, courts, commissions and, above all, the people. It remains, in Ambedkar\u2019s prescient words, \u201ca flexible federation with a strong pivot,\u201d resilient enough to absorb the tremors of diversity yet elastic enough to let each region breathe.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Scholars Index<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong> R. Ambedkar\u2002|\u2002Granville Austin\u2002|\u2002D. D. Basu\u2002|\u2002S. R. Bommai\u2002|\u2002Bidyut Chakraborty\u2002|\u2002Partha Chatterjee\u2002|\u2002Lord Chelmsford\u2002|\u2002Ian Copland\u2002|\u2002Reginald Coupland\u2002|\u2002Daniel J. Elazar\u2002|\u2002Miguel Fern\u00e1ndez-Segado\u2002|\u2002M. K. Gandhi\u2002|\u2002Ivor Jennings\u2002|\u2002Rasheeduddin Khan\u2002|\u2002Rajni Kothari\u2002|\u2002T. T. Krishnamachari\u2002|\u2002George Mathew\u2002|\u2002Edwin Montagu\u2002|\u2002K. M. Munshi\u2002|\u2002J. P. Narayan\u2002|\u2002K. C. Neogy\u2002|\u2002A. G. Noorani\u2002|\u2002C. S. Pandit\u2002|\u2002M. M. Punchhi\u2002|\u2002P. V. Rajamannar\u2002|\u2002M. Govinda Rao\u2002|\u2002V. V. Rao\u2002|\u2002K. Santhanam\u2002|\u2002R. S. Sarkaria\u2002|\u2002E. Sambararan\u2002|\u2002R. G. Shah\u2002|\u2002John Simon\u2002|\u2002M. P. Singh\u2002|\u2002N. K. Singh\u2002|\u2002V. P. Singh\u2002|\u2002Arvind Subramanian\u2002|\u2002R. Thakur\u2002|\u2002H. Verstappen\u2002|\u2002Paul Wallace\u2002|\u2002K. C. Wheare\u2002|\u2002Yogendra Yadav<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong><u>\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Practice Questions <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Question 1<\/strong><strong>.<\/strong> <strong>Discuss mechanism for settling inter-state disputes. [2020\/10 m]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Question 2. <\/strong><strong>Discuss the composition and functions of the Inter-State Council. To what extent has this body been successful in achieving its objectives? [2022\/15 m]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Question 3. <\/strong><strong>Does the actual working of Indian federalism conform to the centralizing tendencies in Indian polity? Give reasons for your answer. [2023\/20m]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udccc <em>Model answers drop this evening on the Telegram channel:<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/psirbyamitpratap\"><strong>https:\/\/t.me\/psirbyamitpratap<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 keep notifications on.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>See you tomorrow on Day 23. Keep practicing!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u2014<strong>Amit Pratap Singh &amp; Team<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>A quick note on submissions of copies and mentorship<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>2025 Mains writers<\/strong>: <strong>Cohort 1 of O-AWFG<\/strong> started on <strong>12 June<\/strong> and <strong>ATS<\/strong> on <strong>15 June<\/strong>. The above practice set will serve as your <em>revision tool<\/em>, just <strong>do not miss booking your mentorship sessions<\/strong> for personalised feedback especially for starting tests. Come with your evaluated test copies.<\/li>\n<li><strong>2026 Mains writers &#8211; <\/strong>keep uploading through your usual dashboard. Act on the feedback and improve consistently.<\/li>\n<li>Alternate between mini-tests <strong>(O-AWFG)<\/strong> and full mocks <strong>(ATS)<\/strong> has been designed to tackle speed, content depth, and structured revision\u2014line-by-line evaluation pinpoints your weaknesses and errors. Follow your <strong>PSIR O-AWFG &amp; ATS <\/strong>schedule and use the model answers to enrich your content, as rankers recommended based on their own success.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Hello aspirants, Today\u2019s revision capsule of PSIR optional preparation covers Federalism. PYQs are given in the grid itself. There are three 20-markers, four 15-markers, and six 10-markers from this topic in last 12 years. &nbsp; \u00a0 1.\u2003FEDERALISM AS A DYNAMIC THEORY \u00a0 Key Ideas Principal Scholars \/ Texts Foundational maxim \u201cSelf-rule + shared-rule\u201d Daniel&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/psir-power-50-day-22-capsule-federalism-practice-qs\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">PSIR Power 50 \u2013 Day 22 Capsule: Federalism+ Practice Qs<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10394,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12128,9],"tags":[12012,12133],"class_list":["post-341558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-psir-optional","category-public","tag-psir-forumias","tag-psir-optional","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10394"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341558"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341558\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}