Geography of Federalism – UGC NET Geography – Notes

Introduction

• According to Livingstone, geographical federalism emanates when the centrifugal forces & the centripetal forces within a country are in perfect balance. If the centripetal forces are greater, the unitary form of govt. and if centrifugal forces are more, confederation is the consequence.
• Geographical federation means the inherent & genetic causes – the physiographic, socio-cultural, economic forces – and processes creating the balance between the unifying and diversifying forces. Thus, geographical federalism is the expression of Unity in Diversity.
• Political federalism is superimposed by statutory provisions. Thus, it has top to bottom flow, but, geographical federalism has a bottom to top flow and such federal structure is everlasting

Political federalism has 4 criteria:

1. Supremacy of constitution.
2. Written constitution
3. Independent Judiciary
4. Division/separation of power

Federalism

• Federalism is a political institution where the population of a geographical unit comes together for a certain political objective.
• Federalism is a system of government in which powers have been divided between the center and its constituent parts such as states or provinces. It is an institutional mechanism to accommodate two sets of politics, one at the centre or national level and second at the regional or provincial level.
• It is also said that a federation is an institutional form of political organization.

Political federation has a basis in the following:

• Two sets of governments
• Separation of power
• Division of power
• Written constitution
• Rigid constitution
• Bicameralism at the federal level with one chamber representing the state.
• Federal government and federating units have separate agencies to exercise their power.

• Federation is one form of political administration (other being unitary form).
• Federalism is needed when a political area develops two kinds of politico-administrative objectives:
  • Common Objectives: The common objectives involve the subjects of core national interests such as defence, currency, communication, etc. The execution of common objectives is the responsibility of the central government.
  • Regional interests: In the federal system, there is a hierarchy of government i.e. Central Government, Provincial Government, and local governments. The execution of works related to regional interests are done by Provincial and local governments.

Livingstone has theorized the geographical basis of federalism based on two factors:

• Centripetal forces: These forces are similar to common objectives.
• Centrifugal forces: These forces are similar to regional interests.
• The nature of political administration depends upon the two factors:
  • If Centripetal forces in a geographical unit are greater than centrifugal forces, then it gives rise to unitary form of government. E.g. China.
  • If Centripetal forces in a geographical unit is less than centrifugal forces, then it gives rise to Confederation (here states have the power to secede from the union. E.g. CIS UAE, etc.)