Subodh Public School, Rambagh

Session – 2025-2026

Subject – Social Science

Chapter – 2 (Federalism)

Class – Flyers -2 (X)

Question - Answers:
(Question 1,2,4,6,7,9 and 14 to be completed in Social Science notebook)

Q1. Define Federalism. Compare and contrast the federal system of government with unitary system
of government.
Answer:
Federalism is a system of government in which power is divided between a central authority and
various constituent units of the country.

Difference between Unitary System and Federal System

Unitary System Federal System

There is only one level of government or the There are two or more levels (or
Sub-units are subordinate to the Central Government. tiers) of government.

The Central Government can pass on orders to the provincial or local The Central Government cannot
government. order the state government to do
something.

The central government is supreme, and the administrative divisions State Government has powers of its
exercise only powers that the central government has delegated to own for which it is not answerable
them. Their powers may be broadened and narrowed by the central to the central government.
government

Q2. Mention key features of federalism.

Answer: Some of the key features of federalism system are:

1. There are two or more levels (or tiers) of government.

2. Different tiers of government govern the same citizens, but each tier has its own
JURISDICTION in specific matters of legislation, taxation and administration.
3. The existence and authority of each tier of government is constitutionally guaranteed.
4. The fundamental provisions of the constitution cannot be unilaterally changed by one level of
 government. Such changes require the consent of both the levels of government.
5. Courts have the power to interpret the constitution and the powers of different levels of
government.
6. Sources of revenue for each level of government are clearly specified to ensure its financial
autonomy.
7. The federal system has dual objectives-i) To safeguard and promote the unity of the country
ii) Accommodate regional diversity.

Q3. Describe different routes for formation of federations in different countries and their impact Answer:

There are two kinds of routes through which federations have been formed.

Coming Together Federations:

1. 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.
2. This type of ‘coming together’ federations includes the USA, Switzerland and Australia.
3. In this first category of federations, all the constituent States usually have equal power and
are strong vis-à-vis the federal government.
Holding Together Federations:
4. The second route is where a large country decides to divide its power between the constituent
States and the national government.
5. India, Spain and Belgium are examples of this kind of ‘holding together’ federations.
6. In this second category, the central government tends to be more powerful vis-à-vis the
States. Very often different constituent units of the federation have unequal powers. Some
units are granted special powers.
Q.4 Explain the three fold distribution of Legislative powers between Union and the State
Government in India.
Answer:
Three-fold distribution of legislative powers between the Union Government and the State
Governments. The 3 lists are mentioned below:
A) Union List:
1. It includes subjects of national importance such as the defence of the country, foreign affairs,
banking, communications and currency.
2. The Union Government alone can make laws relating to the subjects mentioned in this list.
B) State List:
1. It contains subjects of State and local importance such as police, trade, commerce, agriculture
and irrigation.
2. The State Governments alone can make laws relating to the subjects mentioned in this list.
C) Concurrent List:
1. It includes subjects of common interest to both the Union Government as well as the State
Governments.
2. The list includes education, forest, trade unions, marriage, adoption and succession.
3. Both the Union as well as the State Governments can make laws on the subjects mentioned in
this list.
4. If their laws conflict with each other, the law made by the Union Government will be
considered.
D) Residuary Subjects: Subjects that do not fall in any of the three lists or subjects like computer
software that came up after the constitution was made, according to our constitution, the Union
Government has the power to legislate on these ‘residuary’ subjects.

Q5. “All the States in the Indian union do not have identical powers.” Explain.
Or
Describe special powers or provisions for some States in India.

Answer: Special Status to some states under holding together federation:

1. Most federations that are formed by ‘holding together’ do not give equal power to its
constituent units. Thus, all States in the Indian Union do not have identical powers. Some
States enjoy a special status.
2. 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.
3. These special powers are especially enjoyed in relation to the protection of land rights of
indigenous peoples, their culture and also preferential employment in government services.
4. Indians who are not permanent residents of this State cannot buy land or house here. Similar
special provisions exist for some other States of India as well. There are some units of the
Indian Union which enjoy very little power.

Q6. What makes India a federal country?

Answer: India is federal country with the following provisions of constitution:
1. Three-fold distribution of legislative powers between the Union and the State Governments.
A) Union List: It includes subjects of national importance
B) State List: It contains subjects of State and local importance.
C) Concurrent List: It includes subjects of common interest to both the Union Government as well as
the State Governments.
D) Residuary Subjects: Subjects that do not fall in any of the three lists are part of ‘residuary’ subjects.
2. Most federations that are formed by ‘holding together’ do not give equal power to its constituent
units. Thus, all States in the Indian Union do not have identical powers. Some States enjoy a special
status. Such as Assam, Mizoram etc.

3. There are areas which are too small to become an independent State but which could not be
merged with any of the existing States. These are called 4. as Union Territories.

4. The sharing of power between the Union Government and the State governments is basic to the
structure of the Constitution. The Parliament cannot on its own change this arrangement.
5. The judiciary plays an important role in overseeing the implementation of constitutional provisions
and procedures.

6. The Union and State governments have the power to raise resources by levying taxes in order to
carry on the government and the responsibilities assigned to each of them.

Q7. How the policy of Linguistic states has strengthened federalism in India? Or

Why were the linguistic states created? What are their advantages?

Answer:

1. The creation of linguistic States was the first and a major test for democratic politics in India.
2. From 1947 to 2019, many old States have vanished and many new States have been created.
Areas, boundaries and names of the States have been changed.
3. This was done to ensure that people who spoke the same language lived in the same State.
4. Some States were created not on the basis of language but to recognise differences based on
culture, ethnicity or geography. These include States like Nagaland, Uttarakhand and
Jharkhand.
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.
But the experience has shown that the formation of linguistic States has actually made the
country, more united. It has also made administration easier.

Q8. Write a brief note on the language policy adopted in India.

Answer:

1. Our Constitution did not give the status of national language to any one language. Hindi was
identified as the official language. But Hindi is the mother tongue of only about 40 per cent of
Indians.
2. Besides Hindi, there are 21 other languages recognised as Scheduled Languages by the
Constitution. A candidate in an examination conducted for the Central Government positions
may opt to take the examination in any of these languages.
3. States too have their own official languages. Much of the government work takes place in the
official language of the concerned State.
4. According to the Constitution, the use of English for official purposes was to stop in 1965.
However, many non Hindi speaking States demanded that the use of English continue. In
Tamil Nadu, this movement took a violent form.
5. The Central Government responded by agreeing to continue the use of English along with
Hindi for official purposes.
Q9. Explain how Centre- State relationship has strengthened federalism in India?

The relations between Center and the States have strengthened the federalism in India as mentioned
below:

1. For a long time, the same party ruled both at the Centre and in most of the States. This meant
that the State governments did not exercise their rights as autonomous federal units.
2. As and when the ruling party at the State level was different, the parties that ruled at the
Centre tried to undermine the power of the States.
3. All this changed significantly after 1990. This period saw the rise of regional political parties in
many States of the country.
4. This was also the beginning of the era of COALITION GOVERNMENTS 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.
5. This led to a new culture of power sharing and respect for the autonomy of State
Governments. This trend was supported by a major judgment of the Supreme Court that made
it difficult for the Central Government to dismiss state governments in an arbitrary manner.
Q10. What is decentralisation? Examine its significance and importance.

Or What is the rationale for decentralisation of power?

Or What is the basic idea behind decentralisation?

Answer:

When power is taken away from Central and State governments and given to local
government, it is called decentralisation.

The need, importance or basic idea behind decentralisation is:

1. A vast country like India cannot be run only through two-tiers or level of government. States
in India are as large as independent countries of Europe and are internally very diverse.
2. There is thus a need for power sharing within these States. Thus, resulted a third-tier of
government, called local government.
3. The basic idea behind decentralisation 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.
4. They also have better ideas on where to spend money and how to manage things more
efficiently.
5. 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 government is the
best way to realise one important principle of democracy, namely local self-government.
6. The need for decentralisation was recognised in our Constitution. Since then, there have been
several attempts to decentralize power to the level of villages and towns.
Q11. Mention the steps taken by the government to make the third tier of democracy more powerful
and effective.

Answer: A major step towards decentralisation was taken in 1992. The Constitution was amended to
make the third-tier of democracy more powerful and effective.

1. Now it is constitutionally mandatory to hold regular elections to local government bodies.

2. Seats are reserved in the elected bodies and the executive heads of these institutions for the
Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.
3. At least one-third of all positions are reserved for women.
4. An independent institution called the State Election Commission has been created in each
State to conduct panchayats and municipal elections.
5. The State governments are required to share some powers and revenue with local
government bodies. The nature of sharing varies from State to State.

Q12. Explain the structure of Rural Local Government of India.

Or
What is Panchayati Raj? What is the importance?

1. Rural local government is popularly known as Panchayati Raj.

2. Each village, or a group of villages in some States, has a Gram Panchayats. This is a council
consisting of several ward members, often called panch, and a President or Sarpanch.
3. They are directly elected by all the adult population living in a village or ward. Gram
Panchayat is the decision-making body for the entire village.
4. The Panchayat works under the overall supervision of the Gram Sabha. All the voters in the
village are its members. It has to meet at least twice or thrice in a year to approve the annual
budget of the gram panchayat and to review the performance of the Gram Panchayat.
5. A few Gram Panchayats are grouped together to form a Panchayat
Samiti or Block or Mandal. The member of Panchayat Samiti representative is elected by all
the Panchayat members in that area.
6. 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.
Q13. Which are the local bodies in the urban areas? What is their composition?

Answer: The local bodies in Urban areas are Municipalities and Municipal Corporations.

1. As Gram Panchayat is for rural areas, similarly we have Municipalities for urban areas.
2. Big cities are constituted into Municipal Corporations.
3. Both Municipalities and Municipal Corporations are controlled by elected bodies consisting of
people’s representatives.
4. The Municipal Chairperson is the political head of the Municipality.
5. In a Municipal Corporation such an officer is called the Mayor.

Q14. “Local self-governments have made a significant impact on Indian democracy. At the same time
there are many difficulties. Explain.

Or

In spite of the fact that decentralisation has deepened the democracy in the country there are
certainshort comings in the system. Analyse the statement.

Benefits:
4. This new system of local government is the largest experiment in democracy conducted
anywhere in the world.
5. Constitutional status for local government has helped to deepen democracy in our country.
6. It has also increased women’s representation and voice in our democracy.
Problems:
5. At the same time, there are many difficulties.
6. While elections are held regularly and enthusiastically, Gram Sabhas are not held regularly.
7. Most state governments have not transferred significant powers to the local governments.
8. Nor have they given adequate resources.

We are thus still a long way from realising the ideal of self-government.