Social Science (087) — CBSE Class 10 board question

In a federal system, power is divided between a central authority and various constituent units (states/provinces). Both levels of government enjoy independent powers guaranteed by the Constitution, and neither can override the other.

In a unitary system, either there is only one level of government, or the sub-units are subordinate to the central government. The central government can pass orders to provincial or local governments and even withdraw their powers.

Key contrast: In federalism, the state government has powers of its own and is not answerable to the central government. In a unitary system, the central government has supreme authority. For example, Sri Lanka is unitary — the national government holds all powers — whereas Belgium shifted to a federal system in 1993, giving constitutional powers to regional governments independent of the centre.

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

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• Examiners expect a clear definition of both systems followed by the contrast — not just one side.
• The key distinction is constitutional guarantee of powers vs. subordination to centre.
• Use the Belgium/Sri Lanka example from the textbook — it directly supports the answer and shows you've read the source.
• At 3 marks, write 3 distinct points: define federal, define unitary, state the contrast (with example). Don't write more than ~80 words in the model answer section.