Students should refer to the below Federalism Class 10 notes prepared as per the latest curriculum issued by CBSE and NCERT. These notes and questions are really useful as they have been developed based on the most scoring topics and expected questions in upcoming examinations for Class 10. Federalism is an important topic in Science Class 10 which if understood properly can help students to get very good marks in class tests and exams.
Federalism Class 10 Notes and Questions PDF Download
Read the notes below which will help you to understand all important and difficult topics in this chapter. There are some topics in Federalism chapter which you should understand carefully as many questions can come from those parts. Our team of teachers have designed the revision notes so that its helpful for students to revise entire course prior to the class tests.
What is federalism?
1. Federalism is a system of government in which the power is divided between a central authority and various constituent units of the country.
2. Federalism has two levels of government:
a. One is the government for the entire country that is usually responsible for a new subject of common national interest.
b. The others are governments at the level of provinces or states that look after much of the day-to-day administering of their state.
3. Federations are contrasted with unitary governments.
4. Under the unitary system, either there is only one level of government or the sub-units are subordinate to the central.
5. In a federal system, the central government cannot order the state government to do something.
Features of Federalism
– There are two or more levels of Govt.
– Different tiers of Govt. 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 or tiers of Govt are specified in the constitution.
– Require the consent of both the levels of Govt.
– Courts have the power to interpret the constitution and the powers of different levels of Govt.
– An ideal federal system has both aspects : mutual trust and agreement to live together.
– The first route involves independent states coming together on their own to form a bigger unit.
– The second route is where a large country decides to divide its power between the constituent states and the national Govt.
Federalism in India
– The constitution originally provided for a two tier system of Govt the union Govt or what we call the Central Govt, representing the union of India and the state Govt. later, a third tier of federalism was added in the form of Panchayats and Municipalities.
– Constitution clearly provided a three fold distribution of legislative powers between the union Govt and the state Govt :
1. Union list :- Defence of the country foreign affairs, banking.
2. State List : Police, trade, commerce, agriculture.
3. Concurrent List : Education, Forest, Trade Union, Marriage.
4. Residuary Subject : Computer software
– Only Jammu & Kashmir has their own constitution.
Decentralization in India
– When power is taken away from central and State Govt. and given to local Govt. it is called decentralisation.
– The basic idea behind decentralisation is that there are a large number of problems and issues which are best settled at the local level.
– Local govt. get constitutional importance in democracy.
– And representation of women may also increased with this role played by women in democracy became more stronger.
Let us look at some of the key features of federalism:
(i) There are two or more levels (or tiers) of government.
(ii) Different tiers of government govern the same citizens, but each tier has its own JURISDICTION in a specific matter of legislation, taxation and administration.
(iii) The jurisdictions of the respective levels or tiers of government are specified in the Constitution.
(iv) The fundamental provisions of the Constitution cannot be unilaterally changed by one level of government.
(v) Courts have the power to interpret the Constitution and the powers of different levels of government.
(vi) Sources of revenue for each level of government are clearly specified to ensure its financial autonomy.
(vii) The federal system thus has dual objectives: to safeguard and promote the unity of the country, while at the same time accommodate regional diversities.
(viii) There are two kinds of routes through which federations have been formed.
a) The first 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. This is ‘coming together’ federations.
b) The second route is where a large country decides to divide its power between the constituent States and the national government. This is ‘holding together’ federations.
What makes India a federal country?
1. The constitution declared India as the Union of States.
2. The Constitution originally provided for a two-tier system of government, the Union Government or what we call the Central Government, representing the Union of India and the State government.
3. Later the third tier of federalism was added in the form of Panchayats and municipalities.
4. The Constitution contains three lists:
I) Union Lists includes subjects of national importance such as defence of the country, foreign affairs, banking, communications and currency.
II) State Lists contains subjects of States and local importance such as police, trade, commerce, agriculture and irrigation.
III) Concurrent List includes subjects of common interest to both the Union Governments, such as education, forest, trade unions, marriage, adoption and succession.
How is federalism practiced?
1. Constitutional provisions are necessary for the success of federalism but these are not sufficient.
2. The real success of federalism in India can be attributed to the nature of democracy politics in our country.
Linguistic States:
1. The creation of linguistic states was the first and a major test for democratic politics in our country.
2. Many old States have vanished and many new States been created.
3. In 1947, the boundaries of several old states of India were changed in order to create new States.
4. This was done to ensure that people who spoke the same language lived in the same States.
5. When the demand for the formation of States on the basis of language was raised, some national leaders feared that it would lead to the disintegration of the country.
Language Policy:
1. The second test for Indian Federation is the language policy.
2. Our Constitution did not give the status of national language to any one language.
3. Hindi was identified as the official language.
4. According to the Constitution, the use of English for official purposes was to stop in 1965.
5. The central government responded by agreeing to continue the use of English along with Hindi for official purposes.
6. Promotion does not mean that the Central Government can impose Hindi on states where people speak a different language.
Centre-state relation:
1. Restructuring the centre-state relations is one more way in which federalism has been strengthened in practice.
2. In 1990 there was the rise of regional political parties in many States of the country.
3. This was also the beginning of the era of COALITION GOVERNMENT at the Centre.
4. Since no single party got a clear majority in the Lok Sabha, the major national parties had led to enter into an alliance with many parties.
5. This led to a new culture of power sharing and respect for the autonomy of State Government.
6. Thus, federal power sharing is more effective today than it was in the early years after the Constitution came into force.
Decentralization in India:
1. We noted above that federal government has two or more tiers of government.
2. But a vast country like India cannot be run only through these two-tiers.
3. Federal power sharing in India needs another tier of government
4. This resulted in a third-tier if the government called local government.
5. When power is taken away from Central and State government, it is called decentralisation.
6. As the local level, it is possible for the people to directly participate in decision making.
7. A major step towards decentralisation was taken in 1992.
8. The rural local government is popularly known by the name panchayati raj.
9. This is a council consisting of several ward members, often called panch, and a president or sarpanch.
10. They are directly elected by all the adult population living in that ward or village.
11. It is the decision-making body for the entire village.
12. All the panchayat Samiti or mandals in a district together constitute the Zilla Parishad.
13. Local government bodies exist for urban areas as well.
14. Big cities are constituted into municipal corporations.
15. This new system of local government is the largest experiment in democracy conducted anywhere in the world.
Question and Answers
Question: Point out one feature in the practice of federalism in India that is similar to and one feature that is different from that of Belgium.
Answer: In India, just like in Belgium, the central government has to share its powers with the regional governments. However, unlike India, Belgium has a community government in addition to the central and the state government.
Question: What is the main difference between a federal form of government and a unitary one? Explain with an example.
Answer: In a federal form of government, the central government shares its powers with the various constituent units of the country. For example, in India, power is divided between the government at the Centre and the various State governments. In a unitary form of government, all the power is exercised by only one government. For
example, in Sri Lanka, the national government has all the powers.
Question:
Fill in the blanks:
Since the United States is a ____________________ type of federation, all the constituent States have equal powers and States are _______________ vis-à-vis the federal government. But India is a _________________ type of federation and some States have more power than others. In India, the ___________________ government has more powers.
Answer: Since the United States is a coming together type of federation, all the constituent States have equal powers and States are strong vis-à-vis the federal government. But India is a holding together type of federation and some States have more power than others. In India, the Central government has more powers.
Question: Here are three reactions to the language policy followed in India. Give an argument and an example to support any of these positions.
Sangeeta: The policy of accommodation has strengthened national unity.
Arman: Language-based States have divided us by making everyone conscious of their language.
Harish: This policy has only helped to consolidate the dominance of English over all other languages.
Answer: Sangeeta’s reaction is better than those of the other two. Unlike Sri Lanka (where the language of the majority has been promoted), the Indian polity has given equality of status to all the major languages spoken in the country. This has led to the avoidance of social conflict on linguistic basis. The policy of accommodation has made administration of States easier. It has also ensured a larger participation in the government’s activities by people who speak various languages.
