COOPERATIVE AND COMPETITIVE FEDERALISM

 

Cooperative vs Competitive Federalism

Based on the relationship between the central and state government–the concept of federalism is divided into- Co-operative federalism and Competitive federalism.

  • In Cooperative federalism the Centre and states share a horizontal relationship, where they “cooperate” in the larger public interest.
    • It is an important tool to enable states’ participation in the formulation and implementation of national policies.
    • Union and the states are constitutionally obliged to cooperate with each other on the matters specified in Schedule VII of the constitution.
  • In Competitive federalism the relationship between the Central and state governments is vertical and between state governments is horizontal.
    • This idea of Competitive federalism gained significance in India post 1990s economic reforms.
    • In a free-market economy, the endowments of states, available resource base and their comparative advantages all foster a spirit of competition. Increasing globalisation, however, increased the existing inequalities and imbalances between states.
    • In Competitive federalism States need to compete among themselves and also with the Centre for benefits.
    • States compete with each other to attract funds and investment, which facilitates efficiency in administration and enhances developmental activities.
    • The investors prefer more developed states for investing their money. Union government devolves funds to the states on the basis of usage of previously allocated funds.
    • Healthy competition strives to improve physical and social infrastructure within the state.
  • Competitive federalism is not part of the basic structure of Indian constitution. It is the decision of executives.


Popular posts from this blog

ELEMENTS OF STATE

    The state has four essential elements. These are: (1) population, (2) territory, (3) government, (4) sovereignty   1. Population: The state is a human institution. So population is its primary element. There is no hard and fast rule about population. The ancient Greek writers like Plato and Aristotle favoured a small population. According to Plato, an ideal state should have a population of 5040. Aristotle laid down a general principle that the population of a state should be large enough to make it sufficient and small enough to make good government possible. It must be remembered that both of them were thinking in terms of small city-states. In modern times, Rousseau, prompted by considerations of direct democracy, fixed the number at 10,000. In modern times states vary greatly from the few thousands of Monaco or of San Marino to the crores of China or of India. The modern tendency is in favour of large states. All that can be said is that a large populatio...
Read more

Politcal science and other social science

Political Science and other Social Sciences All social sciences are closely related to one another insofar as each influences the other and is influenced by the other. Political Science as a social science, deals with the political aspect of man’s social life. However, it is closely related to other social sciences such as History, Economics, Sociology, Psychology, Ethics, etc. In recent times, the study of social sciences has assumed an interdisciplinary character in the sense that the researchers and students of one specialized social science works in coordination with those of other specialized social sciences.  Political Science and History John Seeley once remarked that, “History without Political Science has no fruit and Political Science without History has no root.” Seeley might have exaggerated the relationship between the two yet there is an intimate relationship between the two social sciences and they borrow heavily from each other. Political science deals with sta...
Read more

Scope of political science

A study of the State and Government: Political Science primarily studies the problems of the State and government. The state is defined as a group of people organised for law within definite territory. The State possesses four characteristics, viz. Population, territory, government and sovereignty. Government is an agent of the State. Political Science studies the activities of the State and explains the aims and objectives of the State and government.  A Study of Political Theory: Political theory is a major branch of Political Science. On the basis of the political ideas or thoughts of political thinkers, political theory formulates definitions or concepts like democracy, liberty, equality, grounds of political obligation, etc.   A Study of Political Institutions: The field of Political Science is rather vast. It includes the study of political institutions. This covers a study of constitutions and comparative government, explains their merits and demerits, their struct...
Read more