Federalism Class 10 Notes Civics Chapter 2

Last Updated : 16 Apr, 2025

Class 10th Federalism Notes provide you with a clear understanding of the theory and practice of federalism in India, as well as the role of local governments as the third tier of Indian federalism. You can refer to the federalism class 10 notes provided in this article for a comprehensive understanding of the chapter and its important concepts such as the basics of federalism, what are the constitutional provisions for federalism in India, how federalism is practiced in India, and last we will learn about the most important outcome of federalism in India i.e. local self-government, the third tier of federalism.

For easy access to the students, There are CBSE Class 10 Social Science Notes which consist of the four subjects: Geography, History, Political Science, and Economics, in a single source.

Table of Content

Class	10
Subject	Social Science (Civics)
Number of Chapters	5
Content-Type	Text and Images
Academic Year	2023-24
Medium	English
Available Materials	Chapter Wise
Other Materials	NCERT Solutions

These Class 10th Civics Chapter 2 Notes are relevant and important according to the latest CBSE syllabus and exam pattern. You can refer to these topic-wise notes of civics to excel in your exam.

Class 10th Federalism Notes — What is Federalism?

What is Federalism?

Federalism is a system of government in which the power to govern the country is shared between the central authority/government and various constituent units of the country.

Generally, a federal nation has two levels of government. One is the central government which makes laws on matters which is of common national interests such as security, economy, etc. Second is state/provincial level government which makes laws for day-to-day governance and which suits the demands of people living in that particular region. Hence each province can have its own set of laws

The domain in which they can make laws are kept independent of each other to avoid conflict and balance power among them.

Difference Between Unitary System and Federal System

Unitary Government	Federal Government
A single level of government has sub-units that are subordinate to the Central Government.	Two or more levels of government with independent power.
The central government can order the provincial government to do something.	The central government can't order the provincial government to do something.
The supreme is the central government and the administrative divisions exercise only powers that the central government has given to them.	The provincial government is not answerable to the central government. Both are separately answerable to the public.

Key Features of Federalism

Some of the important key features of federalism are the ones mentioned below:

Two or more levels/tiers of government.
Different levels of government rule the same citizens but they have their jurisdiction in terms of legislation, taxation, and administration.
The jurisdictions of various levels of government are defined by the constitution to guarantee their existence and authority so that they can't intrude into each other's domain.
Central government can’t change fundamental provisions of the constitution, especially those which are related to federalism as per its discretion. Such changes require the assent of state governments.
In case of a dispute between central authority and state authority, the highest court has the power to interpret their respective power as per the constitution.
Both central and state authority has defined sources of taxes to ensure financial autonomy for smooth functioning.
The federal system has two objectives first to safeguard and promote the unity of the country; second to accommodate regional diversity.

Features of Federalism Class 10 Notes — Features of Federalism

Different Routes Through Which Federations Can Be Formed

Two aspects are very crucial for the institutions and also the practice of federalism: firstly, it is the mutual trust between the government of different levels and also an agreement for living together. Two kinds of routes through which federalism is formed are:

Coming together federation

In this, small independent units come together to form a bigger unit pooling their sovereignty and retaining their identity. This is done to increase their security of existence. In this, the constituent states have equal power and are strong about the federal government. Examples include USA, Switzerland, Australia

Holding together federation

In this, a larger country decides to divide its power among constituent states. The central government is more powerful than the state governments. Very often constituent units have unequal power as some are granted special powers.

What Makes India a Federal Country?

India is an example of a holding together a federation. The constitution of India in Article 1 describes India as a union of states. The word federation is not mentioned in the constitution but the Indian Union is based on the principle of federalism in the following manner:

The constitution of India originally provides two tiers of government and later third tier was added by amending the constitution in 1992. In this manner, India satisfies the condition of having two or more levels of government.
The matters on which central and state governments can make laws are classified into three lists. These lists are

Union List

Union list includes matters of national interest which need uniform laws across the country. Examples include defense, foreign affairs, banking, communication, etc. Only the central government can make laws on the subjects mentioned in this list.

State List

State list includes matters of local and provincial importance for example police, commerce, trade, and agriculture. State governments can make laws on these matters according to their needs.

Concurrent List

The concurrent list includes matters which are of common interest to both center and the state. Both center and state can make laws on the subjects mentioned in this list. In case of conflict between the state and the center, the law made by the center would prevail.

Any other matter which has been left out of these three lists or appears in future circumstances is referred to as the residuary subject. The central government has been vested power to make laws on residuary subjects.

In holding together federation powers may be unequally divided among states. The same happens in India; for example, Jammu Kashmir used to have special status and even has a separate constitution; now this special status has been revoked. Union territories don't have the status of a full-fledged state they are directly under the control of the center. North Eastern and Himalayan states have also special status to foster development. This sharing of power is safeguarded by the constitution as any amendment affecting the provision of federalism is done by passing the bill with a two-thirds majority by both houses of parliament and later passed by at least half of the states. In case of any dispute regarding is solved by higher judiciary i.e. High courts and the supreme court.

Read More: What Makes India a Federal Country?

How Federalism is Practiced?

The success of federalism is merely not decided by constitutional provisions but by respecting diversity and willingness to live together. This has evolved over the period with various incidents that happened in the country.

Linguistic States

After the independence of India in 1947, there was a demand for the reorganization of states based on language in the country, especially in the southern parts.

The central government feared that the creation of states based on language would destroy the integrity of the country but it didn't happen. After the long-term protests, Andhra Pradesh was carved out of Madras for Telugu-speaking people, and later on Kerala and Karnataka, and several other states were created. The creation of linguistic states has strengthened our integrity and also made administration easier.

Language Policy

India is a diverse country in terms of language, culture, religion, caste, and ethnicity. About 40 percents are Hindi speakers and the rest non-Hindi speakers. Hence our constitution makers decided not to declare any language as the official language of the country.

The constitution prescribes the use of Hindi and English by the central government for official purposes and state governments may use Hindi or English or any other local language for their official business. Critics thought that this step favored the English elites but it was done so that non -Hindi speakers don't feel excluded. However, the Government of India promotes the use of Hindi but promotion doesn't mean an imposition.

Besides Government of India recognizes 21 languages in the eighth schedule of the constitution and more can be added in the future by constitutional amendments. This is done to protect the interest of non-Hindi speakers of the country. addition of language in construction allows any candidate to attempt exams conducted by the central government in any of the 21 languages listed in the constitution.

Center-State Relation

Federalism can also be strengthened by restructuring center-state relations. Although the Constitution provides for sharing of power between the center and state but in reality, it depends on how political parties follow these arrangements.

For a long time after independence same party ruled at the center and state levels. This made state governments a subsidiary unit of the central government and hence state governments didn't exercise their autonomous power.

After 1990 with the rise in regional-level politics large number of regional political parties originated and won the elections to rule the states. This led to the demand for power-sharing among the center and state. This demand for power sharing resulted in friction between central and state governments as the central government was hesitant and overridden state demand arbitrarily. This conflict was later resolved by the Supreme Court by preventing central government monopoly.

With the rise in regional political parties, there came a trend of coalition government as no single party could win the majority in the state assembly and even at the central legislature. Considering the need for each other, political parties started having mutual respect. This mutual respect strengthened federalism in India.

Decentralisation in India

India is a vast country in terms of population and diversity. The majority of its population resides in rural areas. Hence it was not easy to administer two tiers of government. Although Mahatma Gandhi suggested building democracy based on village panchayat it was not adopted then. Later the need for village panchayat was understood and the first village panchayat was created in Rajasthan in 1952 and later followed by several other states. Not all states adopted this third tier of government and those who adopted were not regulated by law. Hence by the 73rd Constitutional Amendment in 1992 it was made compulsory for all states to create village panchayats in each district and conduct the regular election at an interval of 5 years.

Decentralization refers to taking away some powers of central and state government and transferring them to local government.

The main idea behind decentralization was to resolve basic issues at the local level. As people have the best knowledge about problems and resources of their locality so they have ideas on how to solve the issues and how to allocate resources in a manner that satisfies their needs in the best possible manner. It also gives an advantage to the remotest people to participate in decision-making directly as their decision would directly impact their lives.

Decentralisation in India Class 10 Notes — Decentralisation in India

Constitutional Provisions for Effective Decentralization

Constitution mandated holding elections regularly for local government bodies.
Provision for reservation of seats for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and other backward castes in local bodies election.
At least one-third of seats are reserved for women.
The state election commission is an independent body created in each state to conduct these elections.
State governments need to share power and revenue with local bodies.
Organization of the Third Tier of Government - The third tier of government is called Panchayati Raj for the rural body and the Municipal Committee for the urban local body.

Read More: Decentralisation in India

Panchayati Raj System

The local government at the rural level is called Panchayati Raj. It is also divided into three levels.

The first level: The first level is Gram Panchayat. It is created at the level of individual villages or groups of villages. It consists of several ward members called Panch and a president called Sarpanch. They are directly elected by the adult population of their wards and village.

Gram Panchayat is the decision-making body of the village which works under the supervision of the gram sabha. Gram sabha comprises all the voters of the Gram panchayat. Gram sabha meets twice or thrice a year to review the performance of the gram panchayat and also approves its budget. In this way, it is ensured that elected representatives are answerable to the voters.

Second Level: Few gram panchayats form a group which is called Panchayat samiti/Mandal at the block level. It comprises members who are elected from constituent gram panchayats. It also includes a government officer called a Block development officer(BDO).

Third Level: This level exists at the district level and is called Zilla Parishad. It comprises members elected from constituent panchayat samiti/block samiti. It also includes members of Loksabha and Members of the Legislative assembly from that area and has a government official called District Magistrate or collector.

Municipalities

Parallel to the rural level local government there exists an urban local body for urban areas. These are referred to as municipal committees for smaller towns and municipal corporations for larger cities. These bodies comprise elected members from different wards and an elected head. The elected head is called municipal chairman in the case of municipal chairman and mayor in the case of mayor. It also includes a government official called the Municipal Executive officer or Municipal Commissioner.

This new system of local government is one of the largest experiments in democracy and can be conducted in any part of the world. The constitutional status of the local government has helped in the deepening of democracy in our country and also increased the participation of women and the representation of their voices in a democracy.

Conclusion

The whole chapter is summarised in the following points

Federalism refers to the sharing of power between central and state governments and each having its domain of subject on which they can make laws. It is done to balance power among them.
Features of federalism include two or more levels of government, each having a list of subjects to rule upon, and their autonomy is safeguarded by the Constitution.
Federation is of two types first, coming together federation e.g. USA, and second, holding together federation e.g. India.
In India, the matters on which central and states government can make laws are divided into three lists central list, state list, and concurrent list.
Federalism is practised in India by creating linguistic states, adopting language policy, and restructuring centre-state relations.
In India, some of the powers of central and state level government were taken away and transferred to local level government to resolve basic problems at the local level and ensure the participation of people in democracy. This is called decentralization.

Gender, Religion and Caste: Class-10 Chapter-3 Civics Notes

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