INDIAN SCHOOL AL WADI AL KABIR

Class: X Department: Social Science Sub: CIVICS

Chapter-2 Topic: FEDERALISM Year: 2024-25

Q.B No :2

1 Define ‘Federalism’.
Ans:
• Federalism is a system of government in which the power is divided between a central
authority and various constituent units of the country.
2 Distinguish between Unitary and Federal form of government?
Ans:
Unitary Government
• Either there is only one level of government or the sub-units are subordinate to the
Central government
• The Central government can pass orders to the sub-units.
• Example: United Kingdom, France, Japan.
Federal Government
• Usually there are two levels of government-one at the Central level and the other at the
State level. Both governments enjoy their power independent of the other.
• The Central government cannot pass orders to the State government and it has powers of
its own for which it is not answerable to the Central government.
• Example: United States, India, Australia
3 Explain the key features of Federalism.
Ans:
• There are two or more levels of government.
• Different tiers of the government govern the same citizens, but each tier has its own
jurisdiction in specific matters of legislation, taxation and administration.
• The Jurisdictions of the respective levels of the government are specified in the
Constitution.
• The fundamental provisions of the Constitution cannot be unilaterally changed by one
level of the government and such changes require the consent of both the levels of
government.
• The Supreme court acts as an umpire if disputes arise between different levels of
government in the exercise of their respective powers.
• Sources of revenue for each level of government are clearly specified in the Constitution to
ensure its financial autonomy.
• Dual objectives of Federal system are:
a) To safeguard and promote the unity of the country
b) Accommodate regional diversity

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 4 “There are two kinds of routes through which federations have been formed". Which are they?
OR
“The exact balance of power between the Central and the State government varies from one
federation to another”. Explain
Ans:
There are two kinds of routes through which federations have been formed. They are:
Coming Together Federation
• This route involves independent states coming together on their own to form a bigger
unit, so that by pooling sovereignty and retaining identity, they can increase their security.
• All the constituent states have equal power and are strong.
• Example: USA, Switzerland and Australia.
Holding Together Federation
• In this route a large country divides its power between the constituent States and the
Central government.
• Central government is more powerful in relation to the states
• Constituent units of the federation have unequal powers and sometimes some units are
granted with special powers
• Example: India, Spain and Belgium
5 Explain the distribution of legislative powers between the Union government and the State
governments in India.
OR
“The Constitution provides a three-fold distribution of legislative powers between the Union
government and the State governments”. Explain
OR
Explain List System
Ans:
The Indian Union is based on the principle of “Holding together Federation”
Three-fold distribution of legislative powers between the Union government and the State
governments are as follows:
Union List
It includes subjects of national importance which needs a uniform policy throughout the country.
It has 97 subjects and only the Union Government can make laws relating to these subjects.
Defence, Foreign affairs, Railways, Banking etc. are important Union List subjects
State List
It includes subjects of state and local importance such as Police, Trade and Commerce, Agriculture
and Irrigation. I t has 66 subjects and the State legislature alone can make laws on these subjects
Concurrent List
It includes subjects of common interest to both the Union government as well as the State
government such as Education, Forest, Marriage, adoption and succession. Both the Union as
well as the State governments can make laws on these subjects. But in case of a conflict between
the Central and the State laws, Central laws only prevails.
Residuary Subjects
Apart from the above-mentioned subjects there are many new subjects like computer technology,
hardware, software etc. which came up after the Constitution was made. According to our
Constitution, the Union Government has the power to make laws on these ‘Residuary Subjects’.
6 “All the States in the Indian Union do not have identical powers”. Justify
Ans:
• All the States in the Indian Union do not have identical powers

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 • Some States such as Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram enjoy special
powers under certain provisions of the Constitution of India (Article 371) due to their
peculiar social and historical circumstances.
• These special powers are given in relation to the protection of land rights of indigenous
peoples, their culture and also preferential employment in government services. Indians
who are not permanent residents of this State cannot buy land or house here.
7 What are called Union Territories?
Ans:
• There are some units of the Indian Union which enjoy very little power. These are areas
which are too small to become an independent State but which could not be merged with
any of the existing States.
• Areas like Chandigarh, Lakshadweep, the capital city of Delhi etc. are called the Union
Territories. These territories do not have the powers of a State.
• The Central Government has special powers in running these areas.
8 “The creation of linguistic States was the first and a major test for democratic politics in our
country”. Justify the statement
Ans:
• In 1947, the boundaries of several old States of India 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 like Uttarakhand, Nagaland and Jharkhand were created not on language
basis but on the basis of Culture, Geography or Ethnicity.
• The Central government resisted linguistic states for some time because some national
leaders feared that it would lead to disintegration of the country.
• But the experience has shown that the formation of linguistic States has actually made the
country more united and also made administration easier.
9 Examine the language policy of India as an important aspect of our Constitution
OR
“The flexibility shown by Indian political leaders helped our country to avoid the kind of
situation that Sri Lanka finds itself in” Justify.
Ans:
• Our Constitution did not provide the status of National language to any one language.
Hindi was identified as the official language and to protect other languages, the
Constitution recognizes 21 other languages as Scheduled Languages and candidates
appearing for Central Government exams have the option to take the test in any of these
recognized languages.
• The controversy over the Hindi and English as the official language started when Indian
Constitution made the provision that the use of English for official purposes was to stop in
1965.
• However, many non-Hindi speaking states (Hindi is the mother tongue of only about 40
per cent of Indians) demanded that the use of English should continue and in Tamil Nadu
this movement took a violent form.
• The Central government responded by agreeing to continue the use of English along with
Hindi for official purposes.
• Thus, the flexibility shown by Indian political leaders helped India to avoid the tense
situation like that in Sri Lanka.

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 10 Explain the Centre-State relations of Indian federalism
OR
How far Federalism Strengthened the Center- State relations?
OR
What was the new culture of Power sharing developed in India after 1990?
Ans:
• The Centre-State relations of Indian Federalism are regulated by the provisions of Indian
Constitution but in reality, it depends on how ruling parties follow these provisions.
• Earlier when ruling party at the Centre and the State was different, the Union government
undermined the power of the states and misused the Constitution to dismiss the State
governments. This undermined the spirit of Federalism.
• A new culture of Power sharing developed after 1990 with the rise of Regional parties in
many States and this marked the beginning of the Coalition government.
• The era of Coalition government implies that if no single party gets a clear majority, then
the major National parties enter into an alliance with many parties including Regional
parties to form a government at the Centre.
• This led to a new culture of power sharing which respects the autonomy of the State
Governments and is more effective today than it was in the early years.
11 What is ‘Decentralization’? What is the basic idea behind it?
OR
What are the advantages of Local Self Government?
Ans:
• When power is taken away from the Central and the State governments and given to the
Local government, it is called ‘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 better knowledge of problems in their localities.
• They also have better ideas on where to spend money and how to manage things more
efficiently.
• Besides, 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 self-Governments are the training schools for Democracy
12 “The Constitution was amended to make the third-tier of Democracy more powerful and
effective". Explain
OR
“A major step towards Decentralization was taken in 1992”. Justify

Ans:
Steps taken by the constitution to make the third –tier of Democracy more powerful and effective
are:
• It is mandatory to conduct regular elections to the local government bodies.
• Seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward
Classes.
• At least one-third of all positions are reserved for women
• An independent institution called the State Election Commission has been created in each
State to conduct panchayat and municipal elections
• State government share some powers and revenue with the local bodies.

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 13 Briefly explain the structure of Rural local government
Ans:
Rural local government popularly known as Panchayati Raj has three level system.
a) Village level
• Each village or group of villages in some States has a Gram Panchayat and it is a council
consisting of ward members called the Panch and a President called the Sarpanch.
• They are directly elected by all the adult population living in that ward or village and it is
the decision-making body for the entire village
•The Panchayat works under the supervision of the Gram Sabha which has to meet at least
twice or thrice a year to review the performance of the Gram panchayat and also to check
the annual budget of the Panchayat.
b) Block level
• A few Panchayats are grouped together to form a Panchayat samiti or Block or Mandal.
• The members are elected by all the Panchayat members of that area and the elected head
is known as Pradhan or Block Development Officer (BDO)
c) District level
• All the panchayat samitis or mandals in a district together constitute the Zilla (district)
parishad. Most members of the Zilla parishad are elected.
• Members of the Lok Sabha and MLAs of that district and some other officials of other
district level bodies are also its members. Zilla parishad chairperson is the political head of
the Zilla parishad.
14 Briefly explain the structure of Urban local government
Ans:
• Municipalities are set up in towns and Municipal corporations are set up in big cities. Both
Municipalities and Municipal corporations are controlled by elected bodies consisting of
People’s representatives.
• Municipal chairperson is the political head of the Municipality.
• Mayor is the political head of the Municipal Corporation

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