Social Science (087) — AI-generated practice question

Dual Objectives of Federalism:
The federal system has two objectives: (i) to safeguard and promote the unity of the country, and (ii) to accommodate regional diversity.

How Features Help Achieve These Objectives:

1. Constitutional Guarantees: The existence and authority of each tier of government is constitutionally guaranteed. Neither level can unilaterally change jurisdictions. In India, the Union, State, and Concurrent Lists clearly distribute powers between Centre and States, ensuring no level dominates arbitrarily.

1. Financial Autonomy: Sources of revenue for each level are clearly specified. This ensures State governments can function independently without depending on the Centre, making them genuine partners in governance.

1. Example — Linguistic States: Creation of States like Nagaland, Uttarakhand, and Jharkhand accommodated regional and cultural diversity while keeping India united.

1. Example — Language Policy: Recognising 22 Scheduled Languages and allowing States to use their own official languages respects diversity without breaking national unity.

1. Centre-State Relations: After 1990, rise of regional parties and coalition governments strengthened State autonomy; Supreme Court judgements prevented arbitrary dismissal of State governments.

Source: Chapter 2 — Federalism, "What is federalism?" and "How is federalism practised?"

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• The examiner expects you to name both objectives first, then link features to them with Indian examples.
• Financial autonomy and constitutional guarantees are explicitly listed as key features in the textbook — always mention both.
• Use specific Indian examples (linguistic states, language policy, Centre-State relations post-1990) — vague answers lose marks.
• 5 marks = ~5 distinct points; do not write a lengthy essay. Each point should be one to two sentences.