CBSE Political Science Subject Notes

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Political Science

Chapter– 2 Federalism

Federalism: Federalism is a system of government in which the power is divided between a central authority and various constituent units of the country. Unitary System: Unitary system is a system of government in which either there is only one level of government or sub units are subordinate to the central government. Jurisdiction: The area over which someone has legal authority, that area may be defined in terms of geographical units or in terms of geographical units or in terms of certain/specific matters, is known as Jurisdiction.
Tier system: Tier system is the system which signifies levels of government. It may be two levels or two tiers and three levels or three tier.
Coming Together Federation: It is a type of federation in which independent states come together on their own to form a bigger unit, so that by pooling sovereignty and retaining identity they can increase their security. Holding Together Federation: It is a type of federation in which a large country decides to divide its power between the constituent states and the National government. List System: List System states the distribution of powers or subjects through the list like Union List for central/union level, state list for state level, etc. It is the specific feature of Indian federalism Union List: It is the list given under the Jurisdiction of Union government. It includes the subjects or matter of national importance like defence, finance, external affairs, currency, etc. Union government alone can make laws on the Union List subjects.
State List: State List is given under the jurisdiction of State Government. It includes the subjects or matters of state and local importance. State government alone can make laws on the state list subjects.

Concurrent List: Concurrent list stands for the subjects of common interest to both the Union Government as well as the state government. For the concurrent list subjects both the Union as well as the state government can make laws. Residuary subjects: Residuary subjects are the leftover subjects which do not fall in any one of the three lists. One the residuary subjects only the union government can legislate e.g., computer software and internet. Union Territories: Union Territories are the areas which are run by the Union Central government. They are too small to become an independent state but could not be merged with any of the existing states. E.g., Chandigarh. Coalition government: coalition government is a government formed by the coming together of more than two political parties, since no single party got a clear majority. Decentralization: When power is taken away from Central and State governments and given to local government it is called Decentralization. This concept helps to inculcate a habit and culture of democratic participation even at the gross root level.

Q. 1  What is Gram Panchayat?

Ans. It is a council consisting of several ward members, often called panch and a president or a sarpanch.

Q. 2. .  What is a Panchayat Samiti?

Ans. A few gram panchayats are grouped together to form a panchayat Samiti or Block or a Mandal.

Q . 3.  Who is a Mayor?

Ans. A Mayor is an elected Chairperson of the Municipal Corporation.

Q. 4.  Mention any four features of the federalism.

Ans.
1. The power is divided between a central authority and its various constituent units.
2. Different tiers of government govern the same citizens.
3. The fundamental provisions of the government cannot be unilaterally changed by one level of government.
4. It has a dual objective, i.e., to safeguard and promote the unity of the country, and also to accommodate the regional diversity.

Q. 5 . Why were the linguistic states created? What are their advantages?

Ans. The Linguistic states were created to ensure that the people who spoke the same language lived in the same state.
1. It has made the country more united and stronger.
2. It has also made administration easier.