Abstract
Federalism is a form of governance in which the central authority works in cooperation with the regional administrations. The main objective behind the system is to maintain the unity and harmony among different level of governments. The unique form of government is distinguished by a parity connection between the two levels of government. It is therefore defined as a form of government in which power is divided between two equal levels of authority.
Introduction
Federalism is a constitutional system of splitting power among different levels of government, allowing federated entities to have extensive, legally guaranteed autonomy over certain policy areas while sharing power in line with agreed-upon principles over others. As a result, federalism mixes some self-governance with some shared government. Federal systems are typically linked with countries that are culturally diverse or have huge territories. The importance of understanding the deep concept of Federalism is not only important in political field but it’s equally important in the educational sectors. Therefore, best colleges for law and other related departments have incorporated such unit in their day-to-day lessons for engraving the concept of federalism into the young minds.
Federal Constitutional Provisions of the United States of America
The United States of America has been described as a country of many states. The US federal government is the largest government keeping in view of the governments of fifty states and thousands of smaller units. The first seventy-five years of American development has revolved around the constitutional conflicts with respect to the nature of American federalism. It is the American Civil war that paved the way for American federalism by ending slavery, defining national citizenship and limiting the power of the states in areas of civil rights and liberties. The American Civil war generally established the supremacy of the American Constitution and the central laws over the state laws and powers.
American Federalism was never a concept of static institutional arrangements of the US Constitution. American federalism is a result of dynamic process of economic, administrative and political aspect in the light of constitutional provisions. The US Constitution was written in the year 1787 and was ratified in 1788. It has been in force since 1789. The Supremacy of the people in electing their representatives has been recognized under Article 1 of the Constitution. The elected representatives create the Congress that consists of Senate and a House of Representatives. The position of the Congress at the beginning of the Constitution confirms its status as the First Branch of the Federal Government. The American Government can be considered as truly federal due to the presence of the following features in its Constitution:
- An enacted and written Constitution
- Separation of Power and Checks & Balances
- A rigid Constitution
- Presidential Form of Government.
- Senate as the powerful Upper Chamber
- Judicial Supremacy
In the Constitution of the United States of America, efforts have been made to keep the organs of the government separate from each other, but such Separation proved to be unsuccessful.
The doctrine of Separation of power has got high recognition and importance in the Constitution of America. In the Constitution, the legislative powers have been vested in the Congress (Article I); executive powers have been vested in the President (Article II), and judiciary powers have been vested in the Supreme Court and such inferior courts that the Congress may establish from time to time. (Article III). Therefore, these provisions of the Constitution give birth to the Rule that powers and authority vested in one branch of the government cannot be vested in other branches. One of the general rules inherent in the Constitution of America is that unless and until it is expressly mentioned in the Constitution, the legislature cannot exercise any powers of either Executive or Judiciary. The rule is similar in the case of the Executive and Judiciary. Therefore, America witnesses a watertight separation among different organs of the government.
It is to be noted that the functions and power of these organs of the government have been left to the States. However, the laws made by the Constitution and the laws made by the States are completely different from each other. The two legislatures flow in two different channels and enjoys two different authorities where the former possesses a higher and sacred authority than the latter.
Federal Constitutional Provisions of India
The Constitution of India provides for a strong centralized government. Therefore, it is not truly federal in nature. Though the framers of Indian Constitution provided for a federal set up, it has modified the concept of federal government by incorporating certain non-federal features in the Indian Constitution. Article 1 of the Constitution of India describes India as the “Union of States”. This implies two things: 1. India has not been formed as the result of the agreements among states. 2. The States have no right or freedom to separate itself from the Union. This federation has been considered as a unity which plays an important role in maintaining of the country.
The powers and functions of the governor makes it a representative of the Union. In other words, governor has been considered as the agent of the state. The imposition of rule of the Union over the State in National Emergency also developed the Indian state to move apart from the federal set up. In addition to this, all important appointments such as Chief Election Commissioner, The Comptroller and Auditor General are made by the Union government. Besides, India has a provision for single citizenship. There is neither any provision for dual citizenship nor any provision for creating sperate constitution for the states.
Conclusion
Therefore, the federal government of America witnesses a rigid Constitution to carry out the limited process of Amendment. The US Constitution clearly laid down that the Amendment of the Constitution will be carried out by a strict procedure where the bill of Constitutional Amendments should be adopted either a Special Convention, or by a constituent assembly or by the existing legislature with a special majority, or by the people through referendum. Whereas, in India, the federal principle promotes for the establishment of dual system of Courts. But India has unified Judiciary with the Supreme Court as the highest court. Therefore, The Constitution of India establishes a strong Centre and assigning limited government powers to the state.
It is also to be noted that while federalism has helped some nations to resolve conflicts or enhance governance, it may also intensify existing division, sometimes leading to deeper conflicts or state collapse. Therefore, educational institutions such as best colleges for law and other departments needs to properly analyse the concept by engaging several advantages and disadvantages in the modern realm.
