Topic: Indian Constitution—historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.
2. Is cooperative federalism better suited to India than competitive federalism? Critically analyse. (250 words)
Difficulty level: Moderate.
Reference: Insights on India
Why the question:
The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 2 and mentioned as part of Mission-2022 Secure timetable.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about which form of federalism – competitive or cooperative that suits India better.
Directive word:
Critically analyze – When asked to analyse, you must examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them in a summary. When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, one needs to look at the good and bad of the topic and give a balanced judgment on the topic.Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by defining cooperative federalism and competitive federalism.
Body:
First, explain the differences between both. Discuss how the spirit of competitive federalism is seen in the various inter state ranking metric derived such as for ease of business, environmental pollution etc. Discuss how the spirit of cooperation is being enhanced by sharing experiential learnings etc
Next, Discuss the pros and cons of one over the other – competitive federalism requires States to reform their programmes and provide goods and services that they can self-fund, disciplines the states, accelerates growth. Discuss the advantages that cooperative federalism offers.
Conclusion:
Conclude by giving a balanced opinion.
