Federalism quiz

Which of the following is an example of a 'holding together' federation?

Subjects like defence, foreign affairs and banking are included in the:

Which of the following subjects is in the Concurrent List?

Who makes laws on residuary subjects such as computer software?

The constitutional amendment that made local self-government more powerful was made in:

At least what proportion of seats in local bodies is reserved for women?

The head of a municipal corporation is called the:

Who acts as the umpire in disputes between the Union and the States in India?

Which of the following is a Union Territory?

The decision-making body of all the voters of a village is called the:

State any two features of federalism. (2 marks)

Why was India created as a holding together federation? (2 marks)

What is the role of the judiciary in a federal system? (2 marks)

Why are some units in India called Union Territories? How are they governed? (2 marks)

How has the language policy helped strengthen Indian federalism? (2 marks)

What was the main change in Centre-State relations after 1990? (2 marks)

What is a State Election Commission? What is its role? (2 marks)

Why is decentralisation needed in a large country like India? (2 marks)

Name the three levels of panchayati raj institutions. (2 marks)

Why cannot the fundamental provisions of the Constitution be changed by the Union government alone? (2 marks)

A district has 600 gram panchayats, each with a sarpanch. If one-third of the posts of sarpanch are reserved for women, how many women sarpanches will there be at least? If women actually win 50 more seats than the reserved number, what percentage of sarpanches are women? (3 marks)

A municipal corporation has 120 wards. 15% are reserved for Scheduled Castes, 10% for Scheduled Tribes, and one-third of all seats are reserved for women. Calculate the number of seats reserved for SCs, STs and for women. (3 marks)

In a state assembly election, the ruling party at the Centre won 45 seats out of 120, while a regional party won 61 seats. Which party will form the state government? Calculate the percentage of seats won by each. What does this suggest about federal politics in India? (3 marks)

A state receives Rs 50,000 crore as its share of central taxes. If this is to be divided among 25 districts in proportion to population, and District A has 6% of the state population, calculate District A's share. Name the body that recommends the sharing of funds between the State and local bodies. (3 marks)

India's Constitution recognised 14 languages in 1950 and now recognises 22 in the Eighth Schedule. Calculate the percentage increase in the number of scheduled languages, and explain how this reflects the 'holding together' nature of Indian federalism. (3 marks)

Read the passage and answer the questions. Belgium shifted from a unitary to a federal form of government in 1993, giving more powers to regional governments. Spain is also a federation where regions have powers. India, Spain and Belgium are examples of holding together federations, where a large country decides to divide its power between the constituent states and the national government. (i) What is a holding together federation? (ii) How is it different from a coming together federation? (iii) Why do the states in a holding together federation often have unequal powers? (5 marks)

Read the passage and answer the questions. The Constitution of India declared Hindi as the official language. But the leaders of the country adopted a very cautious attitude in spreading the use of Hindi. Besides Hindi, there are 21 other languages recognised as Scheduled Languages. Candidates in central government examinations may write in any of these languages. (i) Why did the leaders not declare Hindi the national language? (ii) What happened to the use of English as an official language? (iii) How does this policy strengthen unity? (5 marks)

Read the passage and answer the questions. After the constitutional amendment of 1992, local bodies in India must hold regular elections, and seats are reserved for SCs, STs, OBCs and women. An independent State Election Commission conducts these elections, and state governments must share some powers and revenue with local bodies. (i) What is the third tier of government in India? (ii) State two changes brought about by the 1992 amendment. (iii) Why is local self-government considered good for democracy? (5 marks)

Read the passage and answer the questions. A village in Rajasthan holds a gram sabha meeting twice a year. All adult villagers are members. They review the work of the gram panchayat and approve the annual budget. The sarpanch, a woman elected from a reserved seat, has started a programme to repair the village water tank. (i) What is a gram sabha? (ii) Who is the sarpanch, and how is the post filled? (iii) How does reservation help women in local government? (5 marks)

Read the passage and answer the questions. Before 1990, the same party ruled at the Centre and in most states. State governments did not exercise their rights as autonomous federal units, and the Union government often misused the Constitution to dismiss state governments. After 1990, many regional parties came to power and coalition governments were formed at the Centre. (i) How did the rise of regional parties change Centre-State relations? (ii) What is a coalition government? (iii) How did a Supreme Court judgement make it difficult to dismiss state governments arbitrarily? (5 marks)

What is federalism? Describe the key features of federalism with examples from India. Draw a flowchart showing the levels of government in a federation. (6 marks)

Explain the division of powers between the Union and the State governments in India under the three lists. Give three subjects of each list and explain how conflicts over Concurrent List subjects are resolved. What are residuary subjects? (6 marks)

How is federalism practised in India? Explain the role of linguistic states, language policy and Centre-State relations in strengthening federalism. On an outline map of India, mark any four states formed on a linguistic or cultural basis. (6 marks)

What is decentralisation? Describe the structure of local government in rural and urban areas with a labelled flowchart. Explain the importance of the 1992 constitutional amendments. (6 marks)

Compare 'coming together' and 'holding together' federations, giving examples of each. Explain why India is called a federation even though the Constitution does not use the word. What features make Indian federalism unique? (6 marks)