Forms of power-sharing

The idea of power-sharing has emerged in opposition to the notions of undivided political power. For a long time it
was believed that all power of a government must reside in one person or group of persons located at one place. It
was felt that if the power to decide is dispersed, it would not be possible to take quick decisions and to enforce them.
But these notions have changed with the emergence of democracy. One basic principle of democracy is that people
are the source of all political power. In a democracy, people rule themselves through institutions of self-government.
In a good democratic government, due respect is given to diverse groups and views that exist in a society. Everyone
has a voice in the shaping of public policies. Therefore, it follows that in a democracy political power should be
distributed among as many citizens as possible. In modern democracies, power sharing arrangements can take many
forms. Let us look at some of the most common arrangements that we have or will come across : 1. Power is shared
among different organs of government, such as the legislature, executive and judiciary. Let us call this horizontal
distribution of power because it allows different organs of government placed at the same level to exercise different
powers. Such a separation ensures that none of the organs can exercise unlimited power. Each organ checks the
others. This results in a balance of power among various institutions. Last year, we studied that in a democracy, even
though ministers and government officials exercise power, they are responsible to the Parliament or State
Assemblies. Similarly, although judges are appointed by the executive, they Madhya Pradesh Judiciary (Mains) Exam
: Essay Topics [Page 2 of 99] can check the functioning of executive or laws made by the legislatures. This
arrangement is called a system of checks and balances. 2. Power can be shared among governments at different
levels – a general government for the entire country and governments at the provincial or regional level. Such a
general government for the entire countr y is usually called federal government. In India, we refer to it as the Central
or Union Government. The governments at the provincial or regional level are called by different names in different
countries. In India, we call them State Governments. This system is not followed in all countries. There are many
countries where there are no provincial or state governments. But in those countries like ours, where there are
different levels of government, the constitution clearly lays down the powers of different levels of government. This is
what they did in Belgium, but was refused in Sri Lanka. This is called federal division of power. The same principle
can be extended to levels of government lower than the State government, such as the municipality and panchayat.
Let us call division of powers involving higher and lower levels of government vertical division of power. We shall
study these at some length in the next chapter. 3. Power may also be shared among different social groups such as
the religious and linguistic groups. ‘Community government’ in Belgium is a good example of this arrangement. In
some countries there are constitutional and legal arrangements whereby socially weaker sections and women are
represented in the legislatures and administration. Last year, we studied the system of ‘reserved constituencies’ in
assemblies and the parliament of our country. This type of arrangement is meant to give space in the government
and administration to diverse social groups who otherwise would feel alienated from the government. This method is
used to give minority communities a fair share in power. In Unit II, we shall look at various ways of accommodating
social diversities. 4. Power sharing arrangements can also be seen in the way political parties, pressure groups and
movements control or influence those in power. In a democracy, the citizens must have freedom to choose among
various contenders for power. In contemporary democracies, this takes the form of competition among different
parties. Such competition ensures that power does not remain in one hand. In the long run, power is shared among
different political parties that represent different ideologies and social groups. Sometimes this kind of sharing can be
direct, when two or more parties form an alliance to contest elections. If their alliance is elected, they form a coalition
government and thus share power. In a democracy, we find interest groups such as those of traders, businessmen,
industrialists, farmers and industrial workers. They also will have a share in governmental power, either through
participation in governmental committees or bringing influence on the decision-making process. In Unit III, we shall
study the working of political parties, pressure groups and social movements. Madhya Pradesh Judiciary (Mains)
Exam : Essay Topics [Page 3 of 99] What is Federalism: • Federalism is a system of government in which the power
is divided between a central authority and various constituent units of the country. Usually, a federation has two levels
of government. One is the government for the entire country that is usually responsible for a few subjects of common
national interest. The others are governments at the level of provinces or states that look after much of the day-to-day
administering of their state. Both these levels of governments enjoy their power independent of the other. • In this
sense, federations are contrasted with unitary governments. Under the unitary system, either there is only one level
of government or the sub-units are subordinate to the central government. The central government can pass on
orders to the provincial or the local government. But in a federal system, the central government cannot order the
state government to do something. State government has powers of its own for which it is not answerable to the
central government. Both these governments are separately answerable to the people. The Key Features of
Federalism : 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 jurisdictions of the respective levels or tiers of government are specified in the constitution. So 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. The highest court acts as an umpire if disputes arise between different levels of government in the
exercise of their respective powers. 6. Sources of revenue for each level of government are clearly specified to
ensure its financial autonomy. 7. The federal system thus has dual objectives: to safeguard and promote unity of the
country, while at the same time accommodate regional diversity. Therefore, two aspects are crucial for the institutions
and practice of federalism. Governments at different levels should agree to some rules of power-sharing. They should
also trust that each would abide by its part of the agreement. An ideal federal system has both aspects : mutual trust
and agreement to live together. • The exact balance of power between the central and the state government varies
from one federation to another. This balance depends mainly on the historical context in which the federation was
formed. There are two kinds of routes through which federations have been formed. 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. This type of ‘coming together’ federations include the USA, Switzerland and
Australia. Madhya Pradesh Judiciary (Mains) Exam : Essay Topics [Page 4 of 99] In this first category of federations,
all the constituent States usually have equal power and are strong vis-à-vis the federal government. 2. The second
route is where a large country decides to divide its power between the constituent States and the national
government. India, Spain and Belgium are examples of this kind of ‘holding together’ federations. 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. What makes India a federal country?
• India had emerged as an independent nation after a painful and bloody partition. Soon after Independence, several
princely states became a part of the country. The Constitution declared India as a Union of States. Although it did not
use the word federation, the Indian Union is based on the principles of federalism. • The Indian 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 governments. Later, a third tier of federalism was added in the form of
Panchayats and Municipalities. As in any federation, these different tiers enjoy separate jurisdiction. The Constitution
clearly provided a threefold distribution of legislative powers between the Union Government and the State
Governments. Thus, it contains three lists: 1) Union List includes subjects of national importance such as defence of
the country, foreign affairs, banking, communications and currency. They are included in this list because we need a
uniform policy on these matters throughout the country. The Union Government alone can make laws relating to the
subjects mentioned in the Union List. 2) State List contains subjects of State and local importance such as police,
trade, commerce, agriculture and irrigation. The State Governments alone can make laws relating to the subjects
mentioned in the State List. 3) Concurrent List includes subjects of common interest to both the Union Government
as well as the State Governments, such as education, forest, trade unions, marriage, adoption and succession. Both
the Union as well as the State Governments can make laws on the subjects mentioned in this list. If their laws conflict
with each other, the law made by the Union Government will prevail. • What about 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. • We noted above that
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. 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 especially enjoyed 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 Madhya Pradesh Judiciary (Mains) Exam :
Essay Topics [Page 5 of 99] 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. These are areas
which are too small to become an independent State but which could not be merged with any of the existing States.
These areas, like Chandigarh, or Lakshadweep or the capital city of Delhi, are called Union Territories. These
territories do not have the powers of a State. The Central Government has special powers in running these areas. •
This sharing of power between the Union Government and the State governments is basic to the structure of the
Constitution. It is not easy to make changes to this power sharing arrangement. The Parliament cannot on its own
change this arrangement. Any change to it has to be first passed by both the Houses of Parliament with at least two-
thirds majority. Then it has to be ratified by the legislatures of at least half of the total States. • The judiciary plays an
important role in overseeing the implementation of constitutional provisions and procedures. In case of any dispute
about the division of powers, the High Courts and the Supreme Court make a decision. 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. How is Federalism Practised? • Constitutional provisions are necessary for
the success of federalism but these are not sufficient. If the federal experiment has succeeded in India, it is not
merely because of the clearly laid out constitutional provisions. The real success of federalism in India can be
attributed to the nature of democratic politics in our country. This ensured that the spirit of federalism, respect for
diversity and desire for living together became shared ideals in our country. The major ways in which this happened :
1) Linguistic States: The creation of linguistic States was the first and a major test for democratic politics in our
country. If we look at the political map of India when it began its journey as a democracy in 1947 and that of 2019.
Many old States have vanished and many new States have been created. Areas, boundaries and names of the
States have been changed. 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 were created not on the basis of language but to recognize differences based on culture, ethnicity or
geography. These include States like Nagaland, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand. 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. The Central Government resisted linguistic States for some time. But the experience has shown that the
formation of linguistic States has actually made the country, more united. It has also made administration easier 2)
Language policy: A second test for Indian federation is the language policy. 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 Madhya Pradesh Judiciary (Mains) Exam : Essay Topics [Page 6 of 99] cent of Indians.
Therefore, there were many safeguards to protect other languages. Besides Hindi, there are 21 other languages
recognized 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. States too have their own official
languages. Much of the government work takes place in the official language of the concerned State. Unlike Sri
Lanka, the leaders of our country adopted a very cautious attitude in spreading the use of Hindi. 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. The Central
Government responded by agreeing to continue the use of English along with Hindi for official purposes. Many critics
think that this solution favoured the English-speaking elite. Promotion of Hindi continues to be the official policy of the
Government of India. Promotion does not mean that the Central Government can impose Hindi on States where
people speak a different language. The flexibility shown by Indian political leaders helped our country avoid the kind
of situation that Sri Lanka finds itself in. 3) Centre-State relations : Restructuring the Centre-State relations is one
more way in which federalism has been strengthened in practice. How the constitutional arrangements for sharing
power work in reality depends to a large extent on how the ruling parties and leaders follow these arrangements. 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. 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. In those days, the Central Government
would often misuse the Constitution to dismiss the State governments that were controlled by rival parties. This
undermined the spirit of federalism. All this changed significantly after 1990. This period saw the rise of regional
political parties in many States of the country. 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. This led to a new culture of power sharing and respect for the autonomy of State Governments. This trend
was supported by a major judgement of the Supreme Court that made it difficult for the Central Government to
dismiss state governments in an arbitrary manner. Thus, federal power sharing is more effective today than it was in
the early years after the Constitution came into force. Decentralization in India • A vast country like India cannot be
run only through these two-tiers. States in India are as large as independent countries of Europe. In terms of
population, Uttar Pradesh is bigger than Russia, Maharashtra is about as big as Germany. Many of these States are
internally very diverse. There is thus a need for power sharing within these States. Federal power sharing in India
needs another Madhya Pradesh Judiciary (Mains) Exam : Essay Topics [Page 7 of 99] tier of government, below that
of the State governments. This is the rationale for decentralization of power. Thus, resulted a third-tier of government,
called local government • When power is taken away from Central and State governments and given to 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 government is the best way to realize one important principle of democracy, namely
local selfgovernment. • The need for decentralization was recognized in our Constitution. Since then, there have been
several attempts to decentralize power to the level of villages and towns. Panchayats in villages and municipalities in
urban areas were set up in all the States. But these were directly under the control of state governments. Elections to
these local governments were not held regularly. Local governments did not have any powers or resources of their
own. Thus, there was very little decentralization in effective terms. • A major step towards decentralization was taken
in 1992. The Constitution was amended to make the third-tier of democracy more powerful and effective. ─ Now it is
constitutionally mandatory to hold regular elections to local government bodies. ─ Seats are reserved in the elected
bodies and the executive heads of these institutions 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. ─ The
State governments are required to share some powers and revenue with local government bodies. The nature of
sharing varies from State to State. • Rural local government is popularly known by the name Panchayati raj. Each
village, or a group of villages in some States, has a gram Panchayat. This is a council consisting of several ward
members, often called panch, and a president or sarpanch. They are directly elected by all the adult population living
in that ward or village. It is the decision-making body for the entire village. 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. •
The local government structure goes right up to the district level. A few gram panchayats are grouped together to
form what is usually called a panchayat samiti or block or mandal. The members of this representative body are
elected by all the panchayat members in that area.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. Madhya Pradesh Judiciary (Mains) Exam : Essay Topics [Page
8 of 99] • Similarly, local government bodies exist for urban areas as well. Municipalities are set up in towns. Big cities
are constituted into municipal corporations. Both municipalities and municipal corporations are controlled by elected
bodies consisting of people’s representatives. Municipal chairperson is the political head of the municipality. In a
municipal corporation such an officer is called the mayor. • This new system of local government is the largest
experiment in democracy conducted anywhere in the world. There are now about 36 lakh elected representatives in
the panchayats and municipalities etc., all over the country. This number is bigger than the population of many
countries in the world. Constitutional status for local government has helped to deepen democracy in our country. It
has also increased women’s representation and voice in our democracy. At the same time, there are many
difficulties. While elections are held regularly and enthusiastically, gram sabhas are not held regularly. Most state
governments have not transferred significant powers to the local governments. Nor have they given adequate
resources. We are thus still a long way from realising the ideal of self-government. Emerging Challenges for 21st
Century Federalism • The new challenges facing 21st Century federalism have further necessitated the pre-existing
need for cooperative federalism, thereby making its practice as a form of governance all the more indispensable. 1)
Multi-Party System : The states today have acquired sufficient political weight of their own through a pluralized party
system enabling individual states to embark onto bilateral negotiations with the union bypassing the institutionalized
bodies of collective policy framing that have proved to be ineffective, thus lending a negotiator character to our
federalism. 2) International Treaties: India is making strides in the global sphere and the local governments that
promote shared partnership in development have come to be noticed today. Hence, whenever development
programs or any other interests of states are touched by international agreements, the well-conceived demands of
states should be met in order to promote truly cooperative, coordinative and multi-dimensional centre state relations.
3) Environmental factors: Environmental Challenges of global nature like climate change do not recognize state
frontiers. Pollution and conservation issues reflect the uncomfortable tension between decision making process of the
governments at the centre-state –local levels. Disaster Management transcends inter-state boundaries too. 4)
Terrorism : Terrorism, militancy, organized crimes, problem of internally displaced persons, refugees – all these
require that the country as a whole comes together and the institutional bodies under state governments help the
centre by collectively making available the necessary information and resources. 5) Voice of Separatism : The
increasing voices of autonomy and separatism have vitiated the political and social fabric of the federal structure.
States are increasingly harbouring feelings of deprivation and alienation and have begun viewing all problems from a
narrow parochial outlook. This not only weakens the nation but also makes the land fertile for the growth of terrorism
and insurgency. Madhya Pradesh Judiciary (Mains) Exam : Essay Topics [Page 9 of 99] 6) Globalization:
Globalization has reinforced the need for concurrence between the geographical, climatic, environmental and
technological diversities inter as well as intra states so that they may link with global processes for viable and
sustainable development and growth. The experiences felt at the global level are also being felt at the local level.
Fault lines in the Indian model of Federalism: 1) Ambiguity in distribution of Subjects: ─ At the time of making of the
constitution there was no guiding principle that clarified the position as to why an item was placed in the Union,
concurrent or state lists. ─ And once the item was placed under a list, there has been little adherence to it. For
example, while health is an entry under state list, union government undertakes various initiatives in health. 2) Multi-
layered character of the Local Governments (LGs): ─ The 73rd and 74th amendments which were essentially meant
to deepen federalism in India, added three tiers of Panchayati Raj Institutions- Gram Sabha (village level), Mandal
Parishad (block level), Zila Parishad (district level). This turned Indian federation into a multi-level federal system with
a multi-level public ?nance. ─ Because the scale space of LGs was left ill-de?ned, it created multiple channels of
transfer arrangements, resulting in conflicting priorities and distorted outcomes. 3) Tussles between the agencies: ─
Conflict between agencies of central government and state government stress cohesive functioning of centre and
states. ─ For example, states often do not allow smooth functioning of central investigation agencies within their
states. ─ Institutions like the Supreme Court, RBI, CBI, Election Commission, and academic institutions are pillars of
the republic. Overbearing interference in their functioning can disturb their autonomy and create centralist tendencies.
─ Existence of emergency provisions in the constitution, though placed as a safeguard, if misused, can amount to
centralization of power. 4) Differences in the way some states and union territories relate to the Centre: ─ Some
Union Territories have legislature (Delhi and Pondicherry) while others don’t. ─ Unlike any other, Pondicherry despite
being a single administrative unit, is ‘non-contiguous’. ─ Delhi has three further exceptions: police, land and public
order are outside its purview. ─ ‘Special provisions’ empower some state Governors to discharge some special
responsibilities (Maharashtra, Gujarat, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh). ─ This creates a notable
asymmetry in the way Indian federalism works. ─ Another case in point is that of community resources like water.
Role given by the Constitution to the Centre in regard to inter-state rivers has not been made much use of to devise
effective conflict resolution mechanisms. How to strengthen federalism in India? 1) It is important to have a clear
division of power, functions, responsibilities and regulatory role of various levels of governments. Madhya Pradesh
Judiciary (Mains) Exam : Essay Topics [Page 10 of 99] 2) There is need to re-look and redistribute entries in the
Seventh Schedule. 3) Sarkaria Commission Recommendation: Union government must consult the states before
legislating on items in the concurrent list. 4) Punchhi Commission Recommendation: Greater flexibility to states in
relation to subjects in the state list and ‘transferred items’ in the concurrent list. 5) Lessons can be learnt from Kerala
which realized the operational difficulties in 73rd/74th amendments, and tried to disaggregate the subjects given
under schedules XI and XII into activities and sub-activities. 6) An activity mapping drive at the state level should be
carried out for all tiers of local government, and this democratic bottom-up planning exercise should be taken up as a
national goal. 7) Autonomy of institutions must not be compromised. 8) New mechanisms rather than tribunals should
be considered as solution to the problem of InterState River Water Disputes in India. Focus should shift from Conflict
Resolution to Enabling Cooperation. Conclusion The relation between the centre, the states and the local tiers lies at
the heart of India’s sense of nationhood and is the pre requisite for India’s progress. However, every centre-state and
inter-state relation has a political dispute at its heart. Such a dispute slowly ripens into an economic one and leads to
underdevelopment, poverty and birth of negative forces. Unless political disputes and stagnation in the economic field
is not addressed, integration and solidarity in the federal set up will not be complete. Both Centre and State
governments must attend to the task of preserving our nationhood through constructive cooperative federalism which
requires a great deal of commitment. The need to come together today is not only the consequence of the new
challenges facing the nation but that the same will serve as an antidote to prevent such challenges from recurring in
future. Cooperative federalism alone strengthens the nation from within by enabling it to withstand adversities and
challenges because of its inherent resilience and malleability