Federalism in U.S. and India: A Comparative Study

Abstract

This research work focus on the comparative study of federalism in India and in u. S. The paper analyses the form of state of the federal Indian union, which is typical in the “landscape” of comparative constitutional law. The trend towards centralization of function powers, both at federal and state levels, probably constitutes some sort of quasi-federalism. The constitution of India has not described India as federation. Dr. Ambedkar listed several features of the draft constitution which mitigated the rigidity and legalism of federalism in his historic speech in the constituent assembly in November 1949. The first U. S constitution, the articles of confederation, promoted a confederation of the states with very decentralized power concentrated at the state level and a weak central government. The articles were not successful and the 1787 constitutional convention convened to make changes in our governmental structure. Rather than tweaking the confederation structure, a third option was essentially invented–what we call today a federal system or federalism. The federal design divides power between multiple levels of government–often state and national. As defined, federalism is an institutional arrangement creating relatively autonomous levels of government each able to act directly on behalf of the people with granted authority.

Keywords: Constitution, India, U.S., Federalism