Social Science (087) — AI-generated practice question

In a federal system, power is divided between the central and state governments by the Constitution. The state government has its own jurisdiction and powers guaranteed by the Constitution — it does not derive these powers from the central government. Therefore, the central government cannot order the state government to act in a particular way on matters within the state's jurisdiction.

Since both levels of government get their authority directly from the people through elections, and each is responsible for its own constitutionally assigned subjects, both are separately answerable to the people — not to each other.

Source: Federalism, "What is Federalism?" — Chapter 2

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• The key phrase from the textbook is: "State government has powers of its own for which it is not answerable to the central government. Both these governments are separately answerable to the people."
• Examiners expect you to contrast this with a unitary system, where sub-units are subordinate to the centre.
• Mention Constitution as the source of state power — this is what makes state authority independent, not a grant from the centre.
• Do not write more than ~75 words for a 3-mark answer.