{"id":3518,"date":"2026-08-11T22:11:33","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T16:41:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/notes\/constitutional-provisions-on-federalism\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T02:57:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T21:27:48","slug":"constitutional-provisions-on-federalism","status":"publish","type":"psir_note","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/notes\/constitutional-provisions-on-federalism\/","title":{"rendered":"Constitutional provisions on federalism"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PSIR Notes<\/a>\u203a<\/span>I-B Indian Government and Politics<\/a>\u203a<\/span>Constitutional provisions on federalism<\/span><\/div>\n
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Paper I \u00b7 Indian Government and Politics<\/div>\n

Constitutional provisions on federalism<\/h1>\n
Syllabus \u00b7 Paper I-B \u00b7 7<\/b> \u2014 Federalism : Constitutional provisions; changing nature of centre-state relations; integrationist tendencies and regional aspirations; inter-state disputes.<\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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<\/p>\n

What Federalism Is \u2014 Meaning & Theoretical Basis<\/h3>\n

Core idea<\/h4>\n

Term from Latin foedus<\/span> \u2014 contract \/ agreement. Federalism = constitutional<\/span> decentralisation, not mere administrative decentralisation.<\/p>\n

    \n
  • two or more levels of government \u00b7 powers constitutionally divided<\/li>\n
  • each level operates directly on citizens \u00b7 each autonomous within its own sphere<\/li>\n
  • judiciary as neutral arbiter<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Classic formulations<\/h4>\n
    \n

    “Federation is a system which consists of two sets of governments which are independent, coordinate and distinct.”<\/p>\n

    Kenneth Clinton Wheare<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \n

    “Federation is a political contrivance intended to reconcile national unity with the maintenance of State Rights.”<\/p>\n

    Albert Venn Dicey<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \n

    “The partition of legislative and executive power of the centre and units is the main criteria of federation.”<\/p>\n

    Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Self-rule & shared rule \u2014 Daniel J. Elazar<\/span><\/h4>\n

    Definition.<\/span> Self-rule<\/span> = autonomy of constituent units. Shared rule<\/span> = participation of units in common decision-making. Alfred Stepan<\/span>: federalism reconciles autonomy<\/span> with integration<\/span>.<\/p>\n

    \n\n\n\n\n\n
    Self-rule in India<\/th>\nShared rule in India<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
    State governments \u00b7 local governments \u00b7 special provisions (Art 371 series) \u00b7 tribal councils \u00b7 linguistic States<\/td>\nRajya Sabha \u00b7 Inter-State Council \u00b7 GST Council \u00b7 Finance Commission \u00b7 Zonal Councils \u00b7 NITI Aayog \u00b7 All India Services<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

    Federalism balances:<\/span> autonomy \u2194 integration \u00b7 diversity \u2194 unity \u00b7 local identity \u2194 national citizenship \u00b7 decentralisation \u2194 coordinated development.<\/p>\n

    Political-theory linkages<\/h4>\n
      \n
    • Aristotle<\/span> \u00b7 mixed regime \u2014 India blends central authority, regional representation, local participation; stability through balance, not uniformity.<\/li>\n
    • Thomas Hobbes<\/span> \u00b7 strong Centre reflects the concern with order (Partition, secession, communal tension, uneven development).<\/li>\n
    • John Rawls<\/span> \u00b7 distributive justice \u2014 Finance Commission transfers, grants-in-aid, special-category demands, backward-region development answer the concern for fairness.<\/li>\n
    • Robert Dahl<\/span> \u00b7 pluralism \u2014 regional parties, Panchayati Raj, autonomous councils, linguistic States as democratic pluralism.<\/li>\n
    • William H. Riker<\/span> \u00b7 federalism as a constitutional bargain<\/span>; the 21st century may be an “Age of Federalism.”<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Nation-building & state-building<\/h4>\n
      \n\n\n\n\n\n
      Nation-building dimension<\/th>\nState-building dimension<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
      secures cultural rights & regional identity \u00b7 gives minorities constitutional space \u00b7 avoids forced uniformity \u00b7 converts diversity into participation \u00b7 multicultural accommodation through formal institutions<\/td>\nformation of States & local administration (govt closer to people) \u00b7 noncentralised distribution (Union \/ State \/ Concurrent) \u00b7 shared-rule institutions (ISC, Zonal Councils, FC, GST Council, NITI, regulators)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

      Rasheeduddin Khan<\/span> \u2014 social basis is “unity of polity and plurality of society<\/span>.” State-formation logic captured by the phrase “homogeneity with viability<\/span>“: units socially coherent but administratively and economically viable.<\/p>\n

      Historical Roots<\/h3>\n

      Indian federalism is a colonial-constitutional inheritance, recast after Partition.<\/span> Montagu\u2013Chelmsford 1918 \u2192 Simon Commission 1929 \u2192 Government of India Act, 1935<\/span> \u2192 Constitution (federal scheme).<\/p>\n

      Colonial background<\/h4>\n

      Government of India Act, 1935<\/span><\/span> \u2014 the decisive imprint: provincial autonomy \u00b7 federal scheme \u00b7 distribution of legislative powers \u00b7 Union \/ Provincial \/ Concurrent fields \u00b7 financial arrangements \u00b7 emergency powers. Much of Centre-State relations carries the 1935 stamp.<\/p>\n

      National movement & decentralisation<\/h4>\n
        \n
      • Mahatma Gandhi<\/span> \u2014 village self-government, decentralised democracy, local participation, resistance to excessive central authority.<\/li>\n
      • Congress accepted linguistic aspirations in principle, especially after the Nagpur session, 1920<\/span>.<\/li>\n
      • Two roots: colonial administrative federalism + nationalist democratic decentralisation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Partition & the need for a strong Centre<\/h4>\n

        Framing context: communal violence \u00b7 princely-state integration \u00b7 refugee crisis \u00b7 food scarcity \u00b7 security threats \u00b7 fear of “fissiparous tendencies.”<\/p>\n

        Result:<\/span> federal structure \u00b7 strong Union \u00b7 residuary powers with Centre \u00b7 emergency provisions \u00b7 power to reorganise States \u00b7 single citizenship \u00b7 All India Services. Aim \u2014 not to weaken States, but to preserve unity while giving regions constitutional space.<\/p>\n

        \n

        “The Constitution simply is unitary and federal depending on time and circumstances.”<\/p>\n

        Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

        Nature of Indian Federalism \u2014 A Hybrid System<\/h3>\n
        \n\n\n\n\n\n
        British influence<\/th>\nAmerican influence<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
        parliamentary government \u00b7 cabinet responsibility \u00b7 conventions \u00b7 executive-legislature fusion<\/td>\nwritten Constitution \u00b7 constitutional supremacy \u00b7 judicial review \u00b7 division of powers \u00b7 federal principles<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

        Hybrid output:<\/span> parliamentary in executive structure \u00b7 federal in distribution of powers \u00b7 unitary in emergencies \u00b7 cooperative in functioning \u00b7 competitive in development policy.<\/p>\n

        Union of States (Article 1<\/span>)<\/h4>\n

        Key line.<\/span> India is an indestructible Union of destructible States<\/span> \u2014 Union indestructible; no right to secede; States not parties to a compact like the USA; Parliament can create, merge, divide or alter boundaries.<\/p>\n

        Implications:<\/span> single citizenship \u00b7 no equal Rajya Sabha representation \u00b7 residuary powers with Union \u00b7 All India Services (Art 312) \u00b7 integrated judiciary \u00b7 common Election Commission \u00b7 CAG \u00b7 emergency powers.<\/p>\n

        Parliamentary federalism<\/h4>\n
        \n

        Federalism “is not a definite concept\u2026 it has been changing from time to time.”<\/p>\n

        Tiruvellore Thattai Krishnamachari<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

        Mahendra Prasad Singh<\/span> \u2014 Indian politics has a parliamentary axis<\/span> and a federal axis<\/span>. Single-party majority at the Centre strengthens the parliamentary axis; coalition politics gives weight to the federal axis.<\/p>\n

        Scholarly characterisations<\/h4>\n
        \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
        Scholar<\/th>\nCharacterisation<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
        Kenneth C. Wheare<\/span><\/td>\n“quasi-federal”; “a unitary state with subsidiary federal principles rather than a federal state with subsidiary unitary principles.”<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        W. H. Morris-Jones<\/span><\/td>\nbargaining federation \u2014 Centre as big brother, but States bargain, especially in coalitions.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Granville Austin<\/span><\/td>\ncooperative federalism; Constitution a “seamless web” of secularism, democracy, federalism; balance of social revolution, unity, democracy.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Durga Das Basu<\/span><\/td>\ncooperative federalism with strong unitary features.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Mahabir Prasad Jain<\/span><\/td>\ncooperative and coordinate; judiciary a major balancing role.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Ian Coupland<\/span><\/td>\nspecial character of India’s “paramountcy federation.”<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Ivor Jennings<\/span> & K. Santhanam<\/span><\/td>\nflexible federation \u2014 federal in normal times, unitary in extraordinary situations.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Alfred Stepan<\/span><\/td>\n“demos-enabling” \u2014 accommodates diversity, allows representation by population.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Elazar<\/span> & Ronald L. Watts<\/span><\/td>\nself-rule + shared rule; flexible and adaptive vs rigid federations.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Chanchal Kumar Sharma<\/span><\/td>\nunique but struggles with over-centralisation & insufficient State autonomy.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

        Federal features vs centralising features<\/h4>\n
        \n\n\n\n\n\n
        Federal features<\/th>\nCentralising features<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
        written & supreme Constitution \u00b7 division of powers \u00b7 Union + State governments \u00b7 independent judiciary & judicial review \u00b7 bicameralism \u00b7 rigid amendment of federal provisions \u00b7 State List \u00b7 elected State governments \u00b7 federalism as basic structure<\/span><\/td>\nlarger Union List \u00b7 residuary powers with Union \u00b7 Arts 249, 250, 252, 253 \u00b7 Art 254 override \u00b7 emergency Arts 352\u2013360 \u00b7 Art 356 \u00b7 Centre-appointed Governor \u00b7 power to alter boundaries \u00b7 single citizenship \u00b7 integrated judiciary \u00b7 All India Services \u00b7 fiscal dependence \u00b7 central agencies \u00b7 centrally sponsored schemes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

        Constitutional Distribution of Powers<\/h3>\n

        Legislative relations \u2014 Articles 245\u2013255<\/span>, Seventh Schedule<\/span><\/h4>\n
        \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
        List<\/th>\nSubjects<\/th>\nAuthority<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
        Union List<\/span><\/td>\ndefence, foreign affairs, currency, atomic energy, railways, communication, citizenship, inter-state trade, major taxation<\/td>\nParliament \u2014 exclusive<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        State List<\/span><\/td>\npolice, public order, public health, agriculture, local government, land, markets, state taxes<\/td>\nStates primary; Union entry via specific routes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Concurrent List<\/span><\/td>\neducation, forests, marriage, labour, criminal law & procedure, economic & social planning<\/td>\nboth; Union prevails (Art 254<\/span>)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Residuary<\/span><\/td>\nmatters not listed (Entry 97)<\/td>\nUnion \u2014 a major departure from classical federalism<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

        Administrative relations \u2014 Articles 256\u2013263<\/span><\/h4>\n