Federalism | CBSE Class 10 Political Science Notes

This note covers federalism, federal and unitary government, routes to federation, India's constitutional division of powers, linguistic States, language policy, Centre-State relations, decentralisation, rural and urban local government, and participation in local decision-making.

What is federalism, and how does it differ from a unitary system?

Definition: Federalism is a system of government in which power is divided between a central authority and the constituent units of a country. These units include States or provinces.

Vertical power-sharing means sharing power among different levels of government. Usually, a federation has two levels. The government for the entire country is usually responsible for a few matters of common national interest. State or provincial governments attend to much of their State's day-to-day administration.

Both levels enjoy powers independently of each other. A State government has its own powers for which it is not answerable to the Central Government. Both governments are separately answerable to the people.

What distinguishes the two systems?

Belgium illustrates the difference. Regional governments existed earlier, but the Central Government could withdraw the powers it had given them. In 1993, regional governments received constitutional powers independent of the Centre. Belgium thereby changed from a unitary to a federal system.

Sri Lanka continues, for all practical purposes, to have a unitary system in which the national government has all the powers. Tamil leaders want a federal system. The existence of provinces alone therefore does not establish federalism.

The world map marks federal countries in red, including India, Australia, Brazil, Canada and the United States of America. It illustrates the spread of federal arrangements across different continents.

Reference: NCERT Class 10, page 14

What features make a system genuinely federal?

Jurisdiction is the area within which someone has legal authority. It may be defined by geographical boundaries or by subjects. Federalism gives different governments jurisdiction over specific matters while they govern the same citizens.

What are the seven key features?

1. There are two or more tiers, meaning levels, of government.
2. Each tier has its own jurisdiction in legislation, taxation and administration. These mean making laws, levying taxes and carrying out government responsibilities.
3. The Constitution, which specifies the governing arrangements, guarantees the existence and authority of each tier.
4. Fundamental constitutional provisions cannot be changed unilaterally, meaning by one level acting alone. Changes require the consent of both levels.
5. Courts interpret the Constitution and the powers of different governments. The highest court acts as an umpire when disputes arise over their respective powers.
6. Sources of revenue, or government income, are clearly specified for each level to ensure financial autonomy, meaning independence in financial matters.
7. The system seeks both to safeguard and promote national unity and to accommodate regional diversity.

These features protect power-sharing from depending merely on a central government's willingness to let other governments act. Constitutional guarantees, defined responsibilities, revenue arrangements and judicial interpretation give the different tiers an established position.

Why do agreement and trust matter?

Different governments should agree to the rules of power-sharing. They should also trust that each will fulfil its part of the agreement. An ideal federal system combines mutual trust with agreement to live together.

The twin objectives belong together: protecting the unity of the country and accommodating its regional differences. Federalism therefore concerns how governments share power as well as how people with different regional identities live within one political system.

How do coming-together and holding-together federations differ?

The balance between Central and State power varies from one federation to another. It depends mainly on the historical setting in which the federation developed. There are two routes: independent States may unite, or a large country may divide power among its governments.

What are the two routes?

Sovereignty here refers to the independent authority that States pool when forming a larger federation. Coming together does not require them to give up their distinct identities. Holding together does not require every constituent unit to receive identical powers.

India belongs to the holding-together category. Its stronger Centre and differences among the powers of constituent units fit this route. They do not, by themselves, make India a unitary country.

Note: Keep the qualifications: States in coming-together federations usually have equal power; in holding-together federations the Centre tends to be stronger, and units very often have unequal powers.

How does India's Constitution divide legislative powers?

India became independent after a painful and bloody partition. Several princely states then joined the country. The Constitution describes India as a Union of States. Although it does not use the word federation, the Indian Union rests on federal principles.

Originally, the Constitution provided two tiers: the Union Government, also called the Central Government, and State governments. Panchayats and Municipalities were later added as a third tier of local government. Each tier has a separate jurisdiction.

What do the three lists contain?

Legislative powers are powers to make laws. The Constitution distributes these between the Union and States through three lists. Classification depends on whether a matter is nationally important, locally important, or of common interest.

Union subjects require a uniform policy throughout the country. Concurrent subjects are of common interest to both levels, so a State's involvement in them is consistent with the constitutional distribution of power.

Residuary subjects fall outside all three lists. They include matters such as computer software that arose after the Constitution was made. The Union Government has the power to legislate on these subjects.

How do the subject rules apply?

Application: Pokharan. Pokharan, where India conducted nuclear tests, lies in Rajasthan. Opposition from Rajasthan's government would not give it authority to prevent the Union's nuclear tests: defence belongs to the Union List.

Application: Sikkim's textbooks. Education belongs to the Concurrent List. Sikkim can act in this field; disagreement by the Union over a textbook's style or content is not itself a requirement for prior permission. If Union and State laws conflict, Union law prevails.

Application: State police. Consider Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa adopting different policies for their State police. Police is a State subject, so the Prime Minister cannot simply impose one binding order on the Chief Ministers in this example.

How are State powers protected despite unequal arrangements?

India's constituent units do not all have identical powers. Some States have special powers because of their particular social and historical circumstances. This is compatible with the holding-together form of federation.

What special arrangements exist?

Article 371, a constitutional provision, provides special arrangements associated with States such as Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram. These concern protection of indigenous peoples' land rights and culture, and preferential employment in government services. Indigenous peoples are the original inhabitants of an area.

Union Territories include Chandigarh, Lakshadweep and Delhi. These are areas too small to become independent States but which could not be merged with existing States. They do not have the powers of a State, and the Centre has special powers in running them.

How can the power-sharing arrangement be changed?

The Union-State division of power is basic to the constitutional structure. Parliament cannot change it on its own. The required parliamentary approval must be followed by approval from State legislatures, the State bodies that make laws.

1. A proposed change concerns the constitutional arrangement for sharing power between the Union and the States.
2. It must first pass both Houses of Parliament with at least a two-thirds majority.
3. It must then receive approval from the legislatures of at least half of all States.
4. This State approval is called ratification; it ensures that the Centre's decision alone is insufficient.

The judiciary, or system of courts, oversees constitutional provisions and procedures. High Courts and the Supreme Court decide disputes about the division of powers. Union and State governments can levy taxes to finance the responsibilities assigned to them.

Unequal powers and constitutional protection therefore need to be understood together. Federalism does not mean identical authority for every unit, but it does require that the basic division of authority has constitutional protection.

Why did linguistic States strengthen Indian federalism?

Constitutional provisions are necessary for successful federalism, but they are not sufficient. Democratic politics helped make respect for diversity, the spirit of federalism and the wish to live together shared ideals in India.

Linguistic States are States formed so that people speaking the same language live in the same State. Their creation was the first major test of India's democratic politics. Comparing India in 1947 with 2019 shows substantial changes in State names, boundaries and areas as old States disappeared and new ones emerged.

Did every new State follow language boundaries?

No. Some States were formed to recognise differences of culture, ethnicity or geography. Ethnicity here means a distinct community identity. Nagaland, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand are examples of State formation on grounds other than language.

Some national leaders feared that linguistic States would break up the country. The Centre resisted their creation for some time. Experience showed that linguistic States made India more united and made administration easier.

The map headed “India in 1947” includes labels such as Bombay, Madras and United Provinces. The coloured political map includes Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, illustrating changes in the country's political map.

Reference: NCERT Class 10, pages 18 and 19

What does the linguistic reorganisation example show?

The report of the States Reorganisation Commission, the body concerned with reorganising States, was implemented on 1 November 1956. Historian Ramachandra Guha discussed its significance in an article published on 1 November 2006.

His argument was that linguistic identity and Indian identity could coexist. People could be Kannada and Indian, Bengali and Indian, or Tamil and Indian. Although language-based States sometimes quarrel with one another, accommodating language identities helped strengthen Indian unity.

The practical lesson is that recognising diversity can support a shared national identity. Federalism works through political accommodation as well as through written constitutional rules.

How does India's language policy accommodate linguistic diversity?

The Constitution gives no language the status of national language. Hindi was identified as the official language, meaning a language used for government purposes. These two descriptions must not be treated as interchangeable.

Safeguards protect other languages. Hindi and 21 other languages are recognised as Scheduled Languages, meaning languages included in the Constitution's Eighth Schedule, its list of recognised languages. Candidates for examinations for Central Government positions may choose any of these languages.

States also have their own official languages. Much government work takes place in the concerned State's official language. Recognising different languages therefore operates at both Union and State levels.

Why did English continue after 1965?

Use of English for official purposes was to stop in 1965. Many non-Hindi-speaking States demanded its continuation, and the movement became violent in Tamil Nadu. The Centre agreed to continue English alongside Hindi for official purposes.

Many critics think this solution favoured the English-speaking elite, meaning the influential English-speaking section of society. Promotion of Hindi remains official policy, but promotion does not allow the Centre to impose it on States whose people speak another language.

What do the 2011 language figures show?

The Census, the population enumeration, recorded more than 1,300 distinct mother tongues in 2011. A mother tongue is the language people identify as their own first language. Grouping these produced 121 major languages, of which 22 were Scheduled Languages.

Bhojpuri, Magadhi, Bundelkhandi, Chhattisgarhi and Rajasthani were among the languages grouped under Hindi. India is perhaps the world's most linguistically diverse country. No single language is the mother tongue of a majority of its population.

In 2011, Hindi was the mother tongue of 43.63 per cent of Indians, or about 44 per cent. It was therefore not the mother tongue of a majority of Indians.

How did Centre-State relations change after 1990?

Constitutional power-sharing works in practice according to how political parties and leaders follow it. For a long period, the same party governed at the Centre and in most States. State governments consequently did not exercise their rights as autonomous federal units.

Autonomy means the ability to exercise one's own powers. When rival parties governed States, parties ruling at the Centre tried to weaken those State governments. The Centre would often misuse constitutional powers to dismiss them, undermining the federal spirit.

What changed with coalition politics?

After 1990, regional parties rose in many States and an era of coalition governments began at the Centre. Regional parties are political parties whose rise here was rooted in particular States. Major national parties formed alliances with several parties, including regional ones.

A coalition government is formed by at least two political parties. Usually, coalition partners form an alliance and adopt a common programme. In the period described, no single party had a clear majority in the Lok Sabha, the parliamentary House referred to in forming the Central Government.

Coalition politics encouraged a culture of power-sharing and respect for State autonomy. A major Supreme Court judgement also made arbitrary dismissal of State governments by the Centre difficult. Federal power-sharing consequently became more effective than in the early constitutional years.

Cartoons: Centre-State relations (NCERT Class 10, page 21). “The States Plead for More Powers” shows figures holding bowls beside a container labelled “Powers of the States”. “Perils of Running a Coalition Government” shows a seated figure on a throne made of explosive cylinders beside a burning bowl labelled “Coalition Govt”.

The first cartoon raises the question of States approaching the Centre for powers. The second raises the difficulty of keeping coalition partners satisfied. Both concern political relationships through which formal power-sharing operates.

Why is decentralisation needed, and what changed in 1992?

Definition: Decentralisation means transferring power from Central and State governments to local government. It creates scope for decision-making below the State level.

India cannot be governed effectively through only Union and State governments. Many States are very large and internally diverse. Power-sharing is therefore also needed within States, through a third tier concerned with villages, towns and cities.

Why move decisions closer to people?

Many problems are best settled locally. People know their local problems better and have better ideas about spending money and managing affairs efficiently. They can also participate directly in decisions at this level.

Such participation helps develop democratic habits. Local self-government means people taking part in governing their own locality, an important democratic principle that local government helps realise.

Earlier, village panchayats and urban municipalities were directly controlled by State governments. Elections were irregular, and these bodies had no powers or resources of their own. Decentralisation was therefore very limited in effective terms.

What were the constitutional changes?

In 1992, the Constitution was amended, meaning formally changed, to make the third tier more powerful and effective. The changes covered elections, representation, supervision of elections, and sharing resources.

1. Regular elections to local government bodies became constitutionally mandatory.
2. Seats in elected bodies and positions of executive heads were reserved for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, the social groups named for representation through these reservations.
3. At least one-third of all positions were reserved for women.
4. Each State received an independent State Election Commission, the institution conducting panchayat and municipal elections.
5. State governments were required to share some powers and revenue with local bodies. The nature of this sharing varies from State to State.

These provisions strengthened the constitutional position of local bodies. They did not mean that every State transferred identical powers or that all practical difficulties disappeared.

How does rural local government work?

Panchayati raj is the system of rural local government. Each village, or a group of villages in some States, has a gram panchayat, the council that makes decisions for the village.

The council contains ward members, often called panch, and a president called the sarpanch. A ward is the local area represented by a ward member. The adult population of the relevant ward or village directly elects these representatives.

How does the gram sabha supervise the panchayat?

The gram sabha consists of all voters in the village. The gram panchayat works under its overall supervision. The sabha has to meet at least twice or thrice a year to approve the panchayat's annual budget and review its performance.

A budget sets out the financial plan considered for the year. The gram sabha's role connects village decision-making with the wider body of voters, rather than restricting local democracy to the elected council alone.

How do village bodies connect to the district?

Zilla parishad means district council. Its membership includes Lok Sabha members and Members of the Legislative Assembly, abbreviated as MLAs, from the district, as well as some officials of other district bodies. Its chairperson is its political head.

The gram sabha and gram panchayat must therefore be distinguished: one includes all village voters; the other is the elected council. Similarly, the panchayat samiti and zilla parishad operate beyond an individual village.

How do urban local bodies work, and what limitations remain?

Urban areas also have local government. Municipalities are established in towns. Big cities have municipal corporations. Both are controlled by elected bodies made up of people's representatives.

The municipal chairperson is the political head of a municipality. In a municipal corporation, the corresponding political head is the mayor. These urban arrangements form part of the same broader movement towards local self-government.

What has local government achieved?

The local government system is the largest experiment in democracy conducted anywhere in the world. It includes about 36 lakh elected representatives in panchayats, municipalities and related bodies across India. A lakh means one hundred thousand.

Constitutional status for local bodies has helped deepen democracy. It has also increased women's representation and voice. The scale of representation brings democratic institutions into villages and towns as well as larger political units.

Why is self-government still incomplete?

Elections are held regularly and enthusiastically, but gram sabhas are not held regularly. Most State governments have not transferred significant powers to local governments or provided adequate resources. The ideal of self-government therefore remains far from fully realised.

The distinction between a constitutional requirement and its implementation matters. A requirement to share some powers and revenue does not itself establish that every local body has sufficient authority and money to discharge its responsibilities.

Local democracy must be assessed through participation between elections as well as through elected representation. The continuing problems with gram sabha meetings, powers and resources explain why constitutional recognition was a major step without being the completion of decentralisation.

How does the Porto Alegre example show participative democracy?

Participative democracy involves people directly taking part in public decisions. Porto Alegre, a city in Brazil, combined this with decentralisation by creating a parallel organisation alongside its municipal council.

The city's nearly 13 lakh inhabitants could participate in making its budget. It was divided into sectors, comparable to wards, with meetings open to anyone living in the relevant area. Other meetings addressed issues affecting the entire city.

How did the budget process operate?

1. Residents could attend meetings in their own sector to participate in discussion.
2. Any city resident could attend meetings about citywide issues.
3. These meetings discussed the city's budget and developed proposals.
4. Proposals went to the municipality, which took the final decision.

About 20,000 people participated in this decision-making exercise each year. The municipal authority retained the final decision while residents had a direct role in shaping proposals.

What difference did participation make?

The process ensured that money could not be spent only for the benefit of wealthy colonies. Buses began serving poor colonies, and builders could not evict slum-dwellers without resettling them.

A similar experiment took place in some areas of Kerala, where ordinary people participated in preparing a plan for the development of their locality. Both examples show how local participation can reach decisions about development and the use of public resources.

Porto Alegre links the reasons for decentralisation to a concrete process: residents discuss needs, proposals reach the municipal institution, and spending decisions become connected to participation by inhabitants.

Glossary

• Federalism — A system dividing government power between a central authority and the country's constituent units.
• Jurisdiction — The area of legal authority defined by geographical boundaries or particular subjects.
• Unitary system — A system with one government level or sub-units subordinate to the central government.
• Coming-together federation — A federation formed when independent States voluntarily unite while retaining their distinct identities.
• Holding-together federation — An arrangement in which a large country divides power between national and State governments.
• Union List — Subjects of national importance on which the Union Government alone can make laws.
• State List — Subjects of State and local importance on which State governments alone can make laws.
• Concurrent List — Subjects of common interest on which both Union and State governments can legislate.
• Residuary subjects — Matters outside all three legislative lists, on which the Union Government can legislate.
• Scheduled Languages — Languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
• Coalition government — Government formed by at least two political parties, usually sharing an alliance and common programme.
• Decentralisation — Transfer of power from Central and State governments to local government bodies.
• Gram sabha — The body of all village voters that supervises the gram panchayat.
• Gram panchayat — The elected village council consisting of ward members and a president called the sarpanch.
• Zilla parishad — The district local government body comprising the district's panchayat samitis or mandals.

Common errors and misconceptions

• Misconception: Provinces automatically make a country federal. Correct: Their constitutional powers matter; Sri Lanka remains, for all practical purposes, unitary despite having provinces.
• Misconception: Every federation gives every State identical powers. Correct: Holding-together federations very often have unequal constituent powers, and some units receive special powers.
• Misconception: Hindi is India's national language. Correct: No language received national-language status. Hindi was identified as the official language.
• Misconception: Parliament alone can change Union-State power-sharing. Correct: Approval by both Houses with at least a two-thirds majority must be followed by ratification by at least half the State legislatures.
• Misconception: States alone legislate on education. Correct: Education is in the Concurrent List. Both levels may legislate, and Union law prevails if their laws conflict.
• Misconception: Gram sabha and gram panchayat mean the same body. Correct: The sabha includes all village voters; the panchayat is the elected decision-making council.
• Misconception: Exactly one-third of local positions must be held by women. Correct: The reservation is for at least one-third of positions.
• Misconception: Regular local elections prove that decentralisation is complete. Correct: Irregular gram sabhas and inadequate transfers of powers and resources remain obstacles.

Exam-style questions with model answers

Q1. Before 1993, Belgium's Centre could withdraw powers granted to regional governments. In 1993, those governments received constitutional powers independent of the Centre. Identify the change of system and explain its basis. [2 marks]

1. Belgium changed from a unitary system to a federal system in 1993.
2. Regional powers gained constitutional protection and no longer depended on grants that the Central Government could withdraw.

Q2. Use these rules: defence belongs to the Union List, on which the Union alone legislates; police belongs to the State List, on which States alone legislate; education belongs to the Concurrent List, on which both legislate, with Union law prevailing in a conflict. Explain who has authority over nuclear tests at Pokharan in Rajasthan, State policing, and conflicting education laws. [3 marks]

1. Nuclear tests concern defence, a Union subject. Their location in Rajasthan does not give the State authority to prevent the Union from conducting them.
2. Police belongs to the State List. State governments exercise authority over this subject within the constitutional division of legislative powers.
3. Both Union and State governments may legislate on education. If the two laws conflict, the Union law prevails because education is a Concurrent List subject.

Q3. For changes to Union-State power-sharing, the rules require passage in both Houses of Parliament with at least a two-thirds majority, followed by ratification by legislatures of at least half the States. Explain three safeguards against a change made by the Centre alone. [3 marks]

1. Both Houses of Parliament must pass the proposed change, so approval confined to one parliamentary House does not satisfy the rule.
2. The parliamentary requirement is at least a two-thirds majority, setting a specified level of support for changing this arrangement.
3. Legislatures of at least half the States must then ratify it. This additional approval prevents Parliament from changing the Union-State power-sharing arrangement on its own.

Q4. The language policy recognises no national language; Hindi is official, Hindi plus 21 other languages are Scheduled Languages, States have their own official languages, and English continued alongside Hindi after non-Hindi-speaking States opposed its planned withdrawal in 1965. Explain four ways this accommodates diversity. [4 marks]

1. No language has national-language status, so identifying Hindi as official does not make it the national language.
2. Recognition covers Hindi and 21 other Scheduled Languages, acknowledging a range of languages within the constitutional arrangement.
3. States have their own official languages, allowing their government work to use the concerned State's language.
4. English continued alongside Hindi after opposition to its planned withdrawal in 1965. This response accommodated demands from non-Hindi-speaking States rather than ending English use as originally envisaged.

Q5. Before 1992, local bodies were under State control, elections were irregular, and they lacked their own powers and resources. The 1992 changes required regular elections; reservations in elected bodies and executive-head positions for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes; at least one-third of positions for women; independent State Election Commissions; and sharing some powers and revenue. Explain these five reforms. [5 marks]

1. Regular local elections became constitutionally mandatory. This addressed the earlier situation in which elections to these bodies were not held regularly.
2. Reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes covered elected bodies and their executive heads, providing places for these groups.
3. At least one-third of all positions were reserved for women. The requirement established a minimum share rather than an exact upper limit.
4. Independent State Election Commissions were created in each State to conduct panchayat and municipal elections, giving election supervision a designated institution.
5. States had to share some powers and revenue with local bodies. This addressed their earlier lack of independent authority and resources.

Q6. A gram panchayat is a village council with directly elected ward members and a president called the sarpanch. All village voters form the gram sabha, which supervises it, approves its annual budget and reviews performance, meeting at least twice or thrice yearly. Panchayat samitis group gram panchayats; a district's samitis form its zilla parishad. Explain five features of this rural structure. [5 marks]

1. The gram panchayat is the elected council at village level. Its members include ward representatives and the sarpanch, who is its president.
2. The gram sabha includes all village voters. It therefore differs from the smaller elected council and provides overall supervision of that council.
3. The gram sabha approves the annual budget and reviews performance. It has to meet at least twice or thrice in a year for this role.
4. A panchayat samiti groups gram panchayats together, connecting village councils within the rural local government structure above the village level.
5. All panchayat samitis within a district together constitute its zilla parishad. This extends the local government structure to the district level.

Q7. The 2011 figures give Hindi as the mother tongue of 43.63 per cent of Indians, Hindi including second- or third-language knowledge as less than 50 per cent, English mother-tongue speakers as 0.02 per cent, and another 11 per cent knowing English as a second or third language. Draw three conclusions without calculating new percentages. [3 marks]

1. Hindi's mother-tongue share, 43.63 per cent, is below half the population. It cannot be described as the mother tongue of most Indians.
2. Adding those who knew Hindi as a second or third language still left its total below 50 per cent in 2011.
3. English had a very small mother-tongue share of 0.02 per cent, while another 11 per cent knew it as a second or third language. These are different categories.

Q8. Porto Alegre's nearly 13 lakh residents could join sector or citywide budget meetings; about 20,000 participated yearly. Proposals went to the municipality for a final decision. Spending could not benefit only rich colonies; buses reached poor colonies and builders could not evict slum-dwellers without resettlement. Explain five features or outcomes of this experiment. [5 marks]

1. Residents participated directly in discussions of their city's budget through sector and citywide meetings. This connected local inhabitants with decisions about public spending.
2. About 20,000 people participated each year in a city of nearly 13 lakh residents. The first figure counts annual participants; the second describes the population able to participate.
3. The meetings developed proposals for the municipality, which retained the final decision. Public participation operated alongside the municipal decision-making institution.
4. Spending could not serve only rich colonies. Bus services reached poor colonies, showing how the process connected expenditure to needs beyond wealthy areas.
5. Builders could not evict slum-dwellers without resettling them. The experiment therefore also affected the treatment of residents facing displacement from their homes.

Key takeaways

• Federalism divides power among government levels whose authority is constitutionally guaranteed, combining national unity with accommodation of regional diversity.
• Coming-together federations usually have equally powerful States; holding-together federations tend to have a stronger Centre and very often unequal constituent powers.
• India's Union, State and Concurrent Lists allocate legislative subjects, while residuary law-making power belongs to the Union Government.
• Union-State power-sharing cannot be changed by Parliament alone; the required parliamentary approval must be followed by State ratification.
• Linguistic States, a flexible language policy and changed Centre-State relations helped strengthen federalism in democratic practice.
• The 1992 constitutional changes strengthened local elections, social representation, women's participation, election supervision, and the sharing of powers and revenue.
• Gram sabhas include all village voters, while gram panchayats are elected councils within a rural structure extending to districts.
• Local government has deepened democracy, but irregular gram sabhas and insufficient powers and resources remain obstacles to self-government.

Test yourself

What does jurisdiction mean?

It is the area of legal authority, defined through geographical boundaries or particular subjects.

Why can a country with provinces still be unitary?

Its provincial governments may remain subordinate to the Centre, without constitutionally independent powers of their own.

Who legislates on residuary subjects such as computer software?

The Union Government legislates on residuary subjects, which fall outside all three legislative lists.

What is the minimum reservation for women in local bodies?

At least one-third of all positions are reserved for women in local government bodies.

How does a gram sabha differ from a gram panchayat?

The gram sabha includes every village voter. The gram panchayat is the elected council working under its overall supervision.

Who heads a municipality and a municipal corporation politically?

A municipal chairperson heads a municipality; a mayor is the political head of a municipal corporation.

Why are regular local elections insufficient for full self-government?

Gram sabhas must also function, and local bodies need meaningful powers and adequate resources to fulfil their responsibilities.

Who took the final budget decision in Porto Alegre's experiment?

The municipality took the final decision after receiving proposals developed through the participatory meetings.