Federalism in Asia by Bhattacharyya Harihar

Author:Bhattacharyya, Harihar.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Interdisciplinary Studies
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (CAM)
Published: 2010-02-17T16:00:00+00:00

6

Centre–State relations in Asian federations

Structure and processes

The study of Centre–State relations, or inter-governmental relations, as known in federations like Canada, constitutes a very important, operational aspect of federations. Going beyond the bounds of the legal-constitutionalism of federalism, the subject is linked to issues of identity, values of diversity and interests that the federal units are supposed to uphold and represent in terms of States’ rights, or autonomy in federations. Since a federation is a compound polity involving at least two levels of authority acting on the same citizens, and since the written constitutions cannot so neatly formally determine and demarcate the boundaries of jurisdiction of central and State/provincial, or Cantonal (as in Switzerland) authorities, some areas of overlap, interdependence, co-operation, and also conflict in respect of powers and functions, operationally speaking, are unavoidable. Inter-governmental relations cover wider areas of study in federalism than Centre– State relations because the former also cover the inter-state, or inter-regional, inter-provincial, relations. The latter aspect, quite important in its own right in the study of federalism, remains beyond the scope of the current study.1 As we will see later in Chapter 7 of this book, the party system, in particular, is a great determinant of not only inter-unit relations, but also Centre–State relations in federations. The formal constitutionally determined distribution of powers and functions, as we have discussed already in Chapter 4 of this book, is of course one of the most important factors that in a way predetermines the shape of relations that are likely to take between the Centre and the States. There is, in other words, a structurally in-built factor in this regard. All three federations under study are structurally centralized – although the extent of this centralization varies – a fact that is itself the result of the circumstances leading to their formation, including the special weight of leading political factors and so on. Second, all three federations seem to have an unfinished character, and have yet to be fully consolidated. This is more true for India, and Pakistan, to some extent, and for Malaysia until 1965 when it experienced disintegration by the secession/ separation of Singapore (which had joined the federation only in 1963!), but which had also expanded by inclusion of two units (namely Sabah and Sarawak) in 1963, which, however, stay with the federation with some additional special (unequal) rights. Third, the ethno-national identity issue is of crucial importance in examining the Centre–State relations (as well as inter-unit ones), an issue which works through the political parties, and which lies behind but acts as a very powerful influence shaping the Centre–State relations in Asian federations. Since each of the units in such federations are so distinct, socio-culturally speaking, being inhabited by distinct peoples, the relative deprivation of the resources and opportunities experienced by such units, in conditions of backwardness and lack of development, seems to exacerbate conflicts. Finally, democracy is another very important factor which performs its role in various ways in this respect. It allows, to begin

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