Federalism

Why this chapter matters for UPSC: This is NCERT's Chapter 2 in the rationalised Reprint 2026-27. It takes up the second form of power sharing from Chapter 1, the "vertical division of power among different levels of government", and builds the vocabulary every GS2 answer on federalism needs: the features of a federation, "coming together" and "holding together" federations, the three Lists, linguistic States, language policy, Centre-State relations, and the 1992 amendments that made local government "a new and third tier of Indian federalism".

Contemporary hook: On 17 April 2026 the Lok Sabha rejected the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, which would have raised the House from 543 to 850 seats (at most 815 for the States and up to 35 for the Union Territories). Of 528 members present and voting, 298 voted for it and 230 against, short of the two-thirds an amendment needs (352 votes; our arithmetic), and the Government withdrew the Delimitation Bill that went with it. Opposition members argued that an increase based on the 2011 Census would reduce the representation of the southern and north-eastern States. It is NCERT's point in practice: "The Parliament cannot on its own change this arrangement."

🧠 First Principles — Read This First

Two levels, each with powers of its own. "Federalism is a system of government in which the power is divided between a central authority and various constituent units of the country." "Both these levels of governments enjoy their power independent of the other." That is the test that separates a federation from a unitary state: "in a federal system, the central government cannot order the state government to do something."

The constitution is the rulebook; the courts are the referee. The powers of each tier are "specified in the constitution", its fundamental provisions "cannot be unilaterally changed by one level of government", and in disputes "The highest court acts as an umpire".

How a federation is born shapes its balance. Federations formed by "coming together" (the USA, Switzerland, Australia) keep their units strong. Federations formed by "holding together" (India, Spain, Belgium) have a centre that "tends to be more powerful vis-à-vis the States", and some units get special powers.

Rules are not enough. "Constitutional provisions are necessary for the success of federalism but these are not sufficient." NCERT credits India's record to "the nature of democratic politics in our country": linguistic States, a flexible language policy, coalition politics and a new third tier.

PART 1 — Quick Reference

Table 1: Federal and unitary systems

Source: NCERT, Democratic Politics II, Class X, ch. 2 "Federalism", Reprint 2026-27, pp. 14-15.

Table 2: NCERT's seven features of federalism, and where India's Constitution provides them

Source: NCERT ch. 2, pp. 15-17 (left column); Constitution of India, as on 11 November 2025 (right column, which is ours, not NCERT's).

Table 3: Two routes to a federation

Source: NCERT ch. 2, p. 15.

Table 4: The three Lists

Source: NCERT ch. 2, pp. 16-17; Constitution of India (as on 11 November 2025), Seventh Schedule. List I omits entries 33, 92 and 92C and adds 2A, 92A and 92B; List II omits 11, 19, 20, 29, 36, 52 and 55; List III adds 11A, 17A, 17B, 20A and 33A. The counts are ours; NCERT gives none.

Table 5: Special provisions for some States (Article 371 family)

Source: Constitution of India, Part XXI. NCERT places Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram under "(Article 371)"; their provisions are Articles 371B, 371A, 371H and 371G.

Table 6: NCERT's table of Scheduled Languages (Census 2011, % of speakers by mother tongue)

Source: NCERT ch. 2, p. 22, from the Census of India 2011.

Table 7: Local government before and after 1992

Source: NCERT ch. 2, pp. 24-25; Constitution of India, Part IX (inserted by the Constitution (Seventy-third Amendment) Act, 1992, in force from 24 April 1993) and Part IXA (Seventy-fourth Amendment Act, 1992, in force from 1 June 1993).

Table 8: The structure of local government

Source: NCERT ch. 2, p. 25. Under Article 243B(2) the intermediate level "may not be constituted in a State having a population not exceeding twenty lakhs".

Table 9: NCERT lines to read with care

Source: NCERT ch. 2, pp. 17, 19-20, 22, 25-26, 28; Constitution of India, footnotes to Article 3 and the First Schedule, Articles 243C and 243D; Ministry of Panchayati Raj, PIB, 11 March 2026.

PART 2 — Concepts & Narrative

What is federalism?

Chapter 1 ended with the forms of power sharing. This chapter takes the vertical one, "most commonly referred to as federalism". NCERT starts with the two countries of Chapter 1. In Belgium, "The change that took place in 1993 was that the regional governments were given constitutional powers that were no longer dependent on the central government. Thus, Belgium shifted from a unitary to a federal form of government." Sri Lanka, by contrast, remains a unitary system (Table 1).

A federation usually has two levels: a government for the entire country, usually responsible for a few subjects of common national interest, and governments at the level of provinces or states, which look after much of the day-to-day administration of their state. NCERT's map adds scale: "Though only 25 of the world's 193 countries have federal political systems, their citizens make up 40 per cent of the world's population." The figures come from the Handbook of Federal Countries: 2002, so treat them as NCERT's 2002 snapshot.

The seven features and the trust behind them

NCERT lists seven key features (Table 2). The fourth carries the logic of the rest: fundamental provisions cannot be changed by one level alone, because "Such changes require the consent of both the levels of government".

Rules alone do not make a federation work. "An ideal federal system has both aspects : mutual trust and agreement to live together." Governments at different levels should agree to some rules of power-sharing, and should trust that each would abide by its part of the agreement.

Two routes: coming together and holding together

Federations form in two ways (Table 3): independent States "coming together" to form a bigger unit, or a large country "holding together" by dividing its power between the constituent States and the national government. The route shapes the balance, and India's route explains both its strong Centre and the special powers some States enjoy.

What makes India a federal 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 present text of Article 1(1) reads: "India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States."

The Constitution originally provided for a two-tier system, the Union Government and the State Governments. "Later, a third tier of federalism was added in the form of Panchayats and Municipalities." It divides legislative powers three ways, with residuary subjects such as computer software left to the Union (Table 4).

Not every State has identical powers. NCERT names Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram as enjoying special powers "due to their peculiar social and historical circumstances", especially for the protection of land rights, culture and preferential employment in government service. Their provisions sit in Articles 371A to 371H, not in Article 371 itself (Table 5). Some units, the Union Territories, are too small to be independent States and cannot be merged with an existing State. Areas like "Chandigarh, or Lakshadweep or the capital city of Delhi" are Union Territories, which "do not have the powers of a State. The Central Government has special powers in running these areas."

The sharing of power is basic to the Constitution: "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 oversees the arrangement: disputes about the division of powers go to "the High Courts and the Supreme Court". The Union and State governments can each raise resources by levying taxes.

The margin asks: "If agriculture and commerce are state subjects, why do we have ministers of agriculture and commerce in the Union cabinet?" One answer: the Union List and the Concurrent List also hold entries that touch these fields (inter-State trade, for instance), and the Union funds schemes in them, so the Union needs ministries even where the main legislative power is the States'.

How is federalism practised?

"Constitutional provisions are necessary for the success of federalism but these are not sufficient." NCERT says "The real success of federalism in India can be attributed to the nature of democratic politics in our country", and gives three examples.

Linguistic States. "The creation of linguistic States was the first and a major test for democratic politics in our country." The boundaries of several old States were redrawn so that people who spoke the same language lived in the same State. NCERT dates this to "1947"; the main reorganisation took effect on 1 November 1956, and Bombay was split in 1960 (Table 9). "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." Telangana, formed on 2 June 2014 under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, is a recent example of a State carved out of another. When the demand arose, "some national leaders feared that it would lead to the disintegration of the country. The Central Government resisted linguistic States for some time." Experience showed otherwise: "the formation of linguistic States has actually made the country more united. It has also made administration easier."

Language policy. "Our Constitution did not give the status of national language to any one language. Hindi was identified as the official language." Besides Hindi, "there are 21 other languages recognised as Scheduled Languages", and a candidate in an examination for Central Government positions may opt for any of them. Under the Constitution, "the use of English for official purposes was to stop in 1965". Many non-Hindi-speaking States demanded that it continue, and in Tamil Nadu the movement "took a violent form". The Central Government responded by agreeing "to continue the use of English along with Hindi". "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", but "Promotion does not mean that the Central Government can impose Hindi on States". NCERT's verdict: "The flexibility shown by Indian political leaders helped our country avoid the kind of situation that Sri Lanka finds itself in."

Centre-State relations. "For a long time, the same party ruled both at the Centre and in most of the States." State Governments did not exercise their rights as autonomous federal units, and when the parties differed, "the Central Government would often misuse the Constitution to dismiss the State Governments that were controlled by rival parties." "All this changed significantly after 1990." Regional parties rose, and since no single party got a clear majority in the Lok Sabha, national parties needed regional allies to form governments at the Centre, which led to "a new culture of power sharing and respect for the autonomy of State Governments". The 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." So "federal power sharing is more effective today than it was in the early years after the Constitution came into force."

NCERT's two cartoons, "The States Plead for More Powers" and "Perils of Running a Coalition Government" (by Kutty and Ajith Ninan), come with two questions: "Should the State go to the Centre with a begging bowl? How can the leader of a coalition keep the partners of government satisfied?" The margin voice protests, "Are you suggesting that regionalism is good for our democracy? Are you serious?"

Decentralisation in India

India has two tiers of government, but "a vast country like India cannot be run only through these two-tiers." NCERT notes that States in India are as large as independent countries of Europe. "When power is taken away from Central and State governments and given to local government, it is called decentralisation." The reasons: "a large number of problems and issues which are best settled at the local level"; people know their own areas better and have better ideas on where to spend money; and direct participation "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."

Before 1992 the attempts were weak. Panchayats and municipalities "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 decentralisation in effective terms."

"A major step towards decentralisation was taken in 1992. The Constitution was amended to make the third-tier of democracy more powerful and effective." NCERT's five changes are in Table 7: regular elections, reservation, one-third of positions for women, a State Election Commission in each State, and a share of powers and revenue. Read the reservation line with Article 243D (Table 9).

"Rural local government is popularly known by the name panchayati raj." Table 8 sets out its levels. The gram panchayat "works under the overall supervision of the gram sabha", which 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."

NCERT's margin asks why the Collector, not the zilla parishad chairperson, administers the district. One answer: the Collector is the State Government's officer in the district, while the zilla parishad governs only the subjects the State has devolved to it, which brings back NCERT's own complaint about limited transfer of powers.

The verdict: "This new system of local government is the largest experiment in democracy conducted anywhere in the world." Constitutional status "has helped to deepen democracy in our country. It has also increased women's representation and voice in our democracy." The 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."

What the pre-2023 edition said (removed in the rationalisation)

Nothing. The chapter was Chapter 2 in the 2020-21 edition too, with the same text, tables, cartoons and twelve exercises. The two slips flagged in Table 9 ("In 1947, the boundaries" and exercise 12's "two statements") were already in the old book and carried over.

Source: NCERT, Democratic Politics II, Class X, ch. 2, 2020-21 edition (reprint January 2020), as archived by the Wayback Machine, 9 October 2021.

PART 3 — UPSC Integration

Frames for Mains Answers

1. A federation with a strong Centre. Start with NCERT's holding-together model: the Centre "tends to be more powerful vis-à-vis the States". Evidence: the Union List and residuary powers (Article 248), Union law prevailing in the Concurrent List (Article 254(1)), Union Territories, and Article 368. Balance: the State List, ratification for federal provisions, courts as umpire, the 1994 Article 356 judgment.

2. Cooperative federalism and trust. NCERT's "mutual trust and agreement to live together". Institutions that force agreement: the GST Council's three-fourths rule (Article 279A(9)) and the Finance Commission's 41% share (Sixteenth Commission, 2026-31). Recent strain: the April 2026 defeat of the 131st Amendment Bill over the share of the southern and north-eastern States.

3. Linguistic States and unity. The fear of disintegration against NCERT's finding that linguistic States made the country "more united" and administration easier; language policy without a national language; the 1965 compromise and the critics' charge that it "favoured the English-speaking elite"; India against Sri Lanka.

4. The third tier: promise and gap. Parts IX and IXA, direct elections, State Election and Finance Commissions, women (one-third floor; 50% in 21 States and 2 UTs). Then NCERT's gap: gram sabhas not held regularly, powers and resources not transferred.

Exam Strategy

Prelims fact-traps:

• Article 1(1) says "Union of States"; the word "federation" is not used.
• Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram fall under Articles 371B, 371A, 371H and 371G.

Practice Questions

Questions 1-5 are the NCERT exercise MCQs. Practice (UPSC-pattern, not past papers): questions 6-9.

1. The distinguishing feature of a federal government is:
(a) National government gives some powers to the provincial governments.
(b) Power is distributed among the legislature, executive and judiciary.
(c) Elected officials exercise supreme power in the government.
(d) Governmental power is divided between different levels of government.

Answer: (d). (a) describes a grant by the centre, which it could take back; (b) is the horizontal separation of powers.

2. A few subjects in various Lists of the Indian Constitution are given here. Group them under the Union, State and Concurrent Lists: A. Defence; B. Police; C. Agriculture; D. Education; E. Banking; F. Forests; G. Communications; H. Trade; I. Marriages.

Answer: Union List A, E, G; State List B, C, H; Concurrent List D, F, I (NCERT pp. 16-17).

3. Examine the following pairs that give the level of government in India and the powers of the government at that level to make laws on the subjects mentioned against each. Which of the following pairs is not correctly matched?
(a) State government – State List
(b) Central government – Union List
(c) Central and State governments – Concurrent List
(d) Local governments – Residuary powers

Answer: (d). Residuary powers belong to the Union.

4. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the lists: List I: 1. Union of India; 2. State; 3. Municipal Corporation; 4. Gram Panchayat. List II: A. Prime Minister; B. Sarpanch; C. Governor; D. Mayor. Codes (1 2 3 4):
(a) D A B C
(b) B C D A
(c) A C D B
(d) C D A B

Answer: (c).

5. Consider the following statements:
A. In a federation, the powers of the federal and provincial governments are clearly demarcated.
B. India is a federation because the powers of the Union and State Governments are specified in the Constitution and they have exclusive jurisdiction on their respective subjects.
C. Sri Lanka is a federation because the country is divided into provinces.
D. India is no longer a federation because some powers of the States have been devolved to the local government bodies.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) A, B and C
(b) A, C and D
(c) A and B only
(d) B and C only

Answer: (c). NCERT calls Sri Lanka "for all practical purposes, a unitary system"; local government is a third tier, not the end of federalism.

6. With reference to the Constitution of India, consider the following statements:
1. Subject to Article 246A, Parliament has exclusive power to make any law on a matter not enumerated in the Concurrent List or the State List.
2. As the general rule, where a State law on a Concurrent List subject is repugnant to a law made by Parliament, the State law prevails.
3. Education is a subject in the State List.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (a). Article 248(1); under Article 254(1) Parliament's law prevails, subject to clause (2); education is in the Concurrent List.

7. Consider the following statements:
1. Every constitutional amendment requires ratification by the Legislatures of at least half the States.
2. An amendment Bill must be passed in each House by a majority of the total membership and by two-thirds of the members present and voting.
3. The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 failed in the Lok Sabha in April 2026.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (b). Ratification is needed only for the provisions named in the proviso to Article 368(2).

8. With reference to Part IX of the Constitution, consider the following statements:
1. All the seats in a Panchayat are filled by direct election from territorial constituencies.
2. The State Election Commissioner is appointed by the Governor.
3. Every State must constitute Panchayats at the intermediate level.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (a). Article 243B(2) exempts a State with a population not exceeding twenty lakhs from the intermediate level.

9. "Constitutional provisions are necessary for the success of federalism but these are not sufficient." Discuss with reference to India. (150 words)

NCERT exercises (short answer): exercises 1-7 (maps, India and Belgium compared, federal vs unitary, local government before and after 1992, the language debate) draw on Tables 1, 3 and 7; exercise 6's blanks are "coming together", strong, "holding together" and central.

📦 Revision Capsule

Sources

• NCERT, Democratic Politics II, Textbook in Political Science for Class X, ch. 2 "Federalism", Reprint 2026-27 — ncert.nic.in PDF.
• NCERT, Democratic Politics II, ch. 2, 2020-21 edition (file jess402.pdf in the whole-book zip), as archived on 9 October 2021 — Wayback Machine.
• Constitution of India, as on 11 November 2025 (the Articles cited on this page, the Seventh Schedule and the footnotes giving commencement dates) — legislative.gov.in.
• "Lok Sabha Rejects Constitution (131st) Amendment Bill 2026 To Increase Seats; Centre Withdraws Delimitation Bill", LiveLaw, 17 April 2026 — livelaw.in.
• Ministry of Home Affairs, Union Home Minister's reply in the Lok Sabha on the Delimitation Bill, 2026, the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, PIB, 17 April 2026 — PIB 2253186.
• PRS Legislative Research, "Report of the 16th Finance Commission for 2026-31", report summary, 1 February 2026 — prsindia.org.
• Supreme Court of India, S.R. Bommai v. Union of India, 11 March 1994 — Indian Kanoon.
• Ministry of Panchayati Raj, "Participation of Women in Panchayats", PIB, 6 February 2024 — PIB 2003196.
• Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Sashakt Panchayat-Netri Abhiyan, PIB, 11 March 2026 — PIB 2238655.