Federation

Federalism / Federal form of Government / Federation

Word federation is derived from Latin word Foedus which means an agreement. So Etymological Meanings of Federation is that “form of government in which two or more sovereign and independent states sacrifice their sovereignty and join together to form an integrated new state”.

In this form of government authority is transferred to central government and to those units (provinces of states) included in federal government. Affairs related to national level like defense, foreign affair, communication, tax and finance etc. are in the hands of central government while local and regional matters like education, health, local government, agriculture etc are controlled by local governments. So there is “Dual Form of Government” in federalism and both these governments are sovereign and independent under their jurisdiction.  

Supreme Court of federal state has authority to settle disputes between provinces or units and central government along with it also has authority to maintain writ of state under the constitution. In this form of government “Bicameral Legislative”, “Rigid and Written Constitution” and “Writ of Judiciary” is mandatory. This form of government is implemented in Pakistan, India, Australia, USA, Germany and Canada. Units are called as provinces in Pakistan and India while states in USA and Canteen in Switzerland.

According to Montesquieu, “It is method in which many similar states unanimously accepted the membership of a larger state which they all agreed to formulate”

Methods of Establishment of Federation

Federation is formed by following two methods

Integration or Centralization

In this way few independent or sovereign states joined together for common objectives or against any foreign enemy. This unification is voluntarily basis. Objectives may be strong defense, trade development, economic progress etc. e.g. USA and Australia

Decentralization

In this way a big unitary form of government disintegrated into different units which resulted into federal form of government. There are two possible causes of such division. First, it becomes difficult to run affairs of the state under one central government due to larger geographical size and population of state. Second, there are huge differences among civilizations, cultures, and individual interests of populations, so that there should be only solution of division of individual state and formation of many federal states. e.g. Formation of Canada, Russia, India and Pakistan    

Characteristics of Federal Form of Government

1.      Duel form of Government and distribution of Powers: which means important national issues are dealt at federal level while local and regional matters are dealt at provincial or state level. The distribution of power can be done by four methods;

a.      The authorities of central government are written in constitution while remaining all other go to states or provinces. e.g. USA

b.      The authorities of Local government are written in constitution while remaining all others go to central or federal government. e.g. Canada

c.       The authorities of central government, regional government and common authorizes are written in constitution while remaining all other go to central government or provinces. e.g. India

d.      The authorities of central government and common authorities are written in constitution while remaining all other go to states or provinces or federal units. e.g. Pakistan

2.      Supremacy of Constitution: The division of responsibilities and authorities are conducted through constitution and any change in their duties occurred through amendments in constitution. Judiciary is considered as responsible for the protection of constitution. Central and provincial government cannot make any law against federal constitution. Federation has written and rigid form of Constitution. USA constitution is rigid which means difficult to amend.

3.      Independent Judiciary: Supreme Court is responsible for resolution of issues between provinces and central government. Even this court has authority to ban or vain any law of central or provincial government which is against constitution of the state.

4.      Bi-Cameral Legislature: Federal system is composed of bicameral. i.e. lower house and upper house. In lower house various units of federation are given representation according to their population. While equal representation is given to various units of federation for the protection of rights and interest of these units.

5.      Dual Citizenship: in USA and Canada a person should be a citizen of both the state government and central government and he or she must have to obey and loyal to the laws of both the government. 

6.      Voluntarily formation: federation is formed through mutual consensus of their public like in USA and Australia

Advantages of federal form of Government:

Suitable for larger countries: Gettal says, “a representative government in a larger area is not possible without federalism”. Canada, USA, Australia and India are large geographical areas and are well managed due to federalism.

Strong and Stable Government: in this system of government small and weak states can also become strong and stable due to mutual cooperation and enable to fight against common enemy. So these states can get an honorable status in international community. This unity also resulted into internal and external prestige of a nation. In Second World War small states could be easily defeated. As USA composed of fifty states and become a stable and strong nation in the world.  

Economic Benefits:  Through federalism states can save their defensive and foreign office budget but also they can mutually benefit each other’s economic and human resources which resulted into their collective socio-economic benefit. Similarly division of labor by dividing authorities between central and provincial government resulted into more efficient government which ultimately lead to savior of finance.

Political Awareness of General Public: By dual representation people become more aware and conscious about the political decisions of their local and national leader. Similarly political parties guide people about their affairs which resulted into political awareness of public, which is essential for success of democracy.

Modern form of Government: with the increase in education and awareness level, people demand more and more autonomy of their decision making about their local matters. So federalism provides this opportunity to people and government to make a balance between rulers and ruled. Similarly all types of cultures, races, languages and civilizations can grow in federalism because government provides protection to their customs and traditions.

Prevention of Absolute Power: democracy is promoted because of division of authorities and responsibilities between centre and provinces. similarly due to supremacy of constitution and its written shape no government is allowed to interfere in the matters of each other. So chances of absoluteness or totalitarianism are negligible.

International Community: contemporary political thinkers believe that in order to avoid the world from war and conflict, propagation of peace and security, and for social welfare, it is mandatory to unify the whole world into one international state. So it can only be possible through federalism.

Disadvantages of Federation or Federal Form of Government or Federalism

1.      Complex System: Due to its complexity this system is not suitable in developing countries where awareness and education level of people is very low. So, on the one hand this is complex system due to distribution of authorities and on the other this system needs literate and political aware population.

2.      Because of rigidness of constitution, it is very difficult to amend according to changing circumstances of the world which resulted into slow in pace of national development.

3.      Because of dual nature of government it is very expensive. So, poor and small countries cannot afford this form of government.

4.      Central government is unable to develop a firm and strong internal and external policy on any affair because it has to consult with provincial government on every matter. The development of Kalabagh dam in Pakistan is one big example of such lack of cooperation between regional and central government of Pakistan.

5.      Similarly this form of government is unable to tackle emergency situations because central government should have consulted provincial government before taking any decision.

6.      It is dangerous form of government too because of weak and incompetent central government or lack of cohesion between central and provincial government may lead to separation of that part of country. Formation of Bangladesh, Separatist movements in India, and even in Switzerland in 1847 and in USA in 1861 are the incidence of failure of this system.

7.      Some selfish, mean, and self interested politician highlighted the local and regional issues in order to get their personal benefit. This leads to national disintegration Mahajar Qoumi Movement in Pakistan, SinduDesh “Punjab hamar Pani lay Gya” means Punjab took all of water of Sindh, are such political manifesto of political parties in Pakistan. Similarly in India Khalistan, Kashmir, Tamil Nado and many other secessionist movements are the outcome of weak central government and failure of federalism.

8.      Due to supremacy and absoluteness of Judiciary sometimes it may happen that extrajudicial powers of Supreme Court may lead to biased decision or decisions of dominant province. This leads to stress and strain between administration and judiciary. Failure of developing liaison between policy making and law making and its implementation may result into sever consequence. USA and Pakistan and India are facing such situation.

Requirements for Federation

1.      Voluntary Basis: All the units or provinces must be willing to participate in the formation of federation.

2.      There should be geographical contiguity among all the parts of federal units or provinces.

3.      There should be integration and cooperation among various units or provinces of states, who wanted to maintain their sovereignty and independence, instead of amalgamation.

4.      Political aware and educated public who have sense of tolerance and acceptance of other communities and they have courage to obey and follow law.

5.      All the units must have their common social, political, economic and development objectives.

6.      Delegation of authority and responsibility among units and central government along with democratic values are necessary for the successful implementation of this system.

7.      There should be same type of government institutions in both the central and provincial governments.

8.      There must be bicameral legislature.

9.      Judiciary must be at supreme level and above all authorities.

10.  The chances of success of federalism will be more if there is unanimous culture and civilization.

11.  Equal distribution of assets and resources resulted into national integration and equal development of all the units and central government.

12.  Last but not the least is that there should be a rigid and written constitution on the basis of which central and provincial matters could be resolved.