Topic Federalism

An election is supposed to do something simple: give voters the power to decide who governs them. But what happens when the calendar on which that decision is made becomes more important than the mandate itself? That is the less…

India is approaching a constitutional decision that has been deferred for decades. A representative democracy has an obvious expectation: citizens should have broadly comparable political representation. Yet India is also a federation in which States are not merely administrative divisions.…

A rupee transferred from the Union to a State does more than move money between governments. It also answers a difficult question: what should determine a State’s share of a common national resource? Should a State receive more because it…

A fiscal transfer can be perfectly rational on paper and still fail the State that needs it. That is because not every fiscal problem looks alike. Some arise from persistent differences in income and revenue capacity. Others appear suddenly, after…

A percentage can remain unchanged while the amount it represents changes substantially. That is the problem hidden inside 41%. The Sixteenth Finance Commission has retained the States’ share in the divisible pool of Union taxes at 41% for 2026–31. On…

A State may have a large budget and still have surprisingly little freedom over how that money is used. That is because the problem facing Indian States is not simply the amount of revenue available to them. It is the…

The Governor occupies an unusual position in India’s constitutional architecture. As the constitutional head of a State, the Governor ordinarily operates within a parliamentary system in which executive authority is exercised through the elected Council of Ministers. Yet the same…

A Bill can be passed by an elected State legislature, sent to the Governor for assent, and then remain in constitutional limbo for years. Nothing has been rejected. Nothing has been approved. No election has reversed the government that passed…

A Constitution can be remarkably precise about who has power and surprisingly quiet about how that power must be exercised. That difference matters. A legislature may pass a law. A Governor may be required to consider it. A court may…

India’s Constitution divides governmental authority between the Union and the States. But the constitutional distribution of powers does not operate in a political vacuum. The institutions created by the Constitution are occupied by political actors, and those actors belong to…