Aspects of ideal federal system

Aspects of ideal federal system

• An ideal federal system has both aspects : mutual trust and agreement to live together

Balance of Power

• The exact balance of power between the central and the state government varies from one federation to another.
• This balance depends mainly on the historical context in which the federation was formed.
• There are two kinds of routes through which federations have been formed.

Kinds of Federation in terms of formation

Coming together federation :

• The first route involves independent States coming together on their own to form a bigger unit, so that by pooling sovereignty and retaining identity they can increase their security.
• Ex: USA, Switzerland and Australia.
• In this first category of federations, all the constituent States usually have equal power and are strong vis-à-vis the federal government.

Holding together federations.

• The second route is where a large country decides to divide its power between the constituent States and the national government.
• India, Spain and Belgium are examples of this kind of ‘holding together’ federations.
• In this second category, the central government tends to be more powerful vis-à-vis the States.
• Very often different constituent units of the federation have unequal powers.
• Some units are granted special powers.