Federalism in India offers a comprehensive neo-institutional analysis of the Indian federal system with a global comparative perspective.



Beginning as a variant of the Commonwealth parliamentary federal model, India has adopted some unique features of its own as well as charted a course that, in some respects, makes it notably different from Commonwealth countries such as Canada and Australia. To understand and analyse the Indian federal system, this book examines the origins and footprints of the federal form of government in North America, Western Europe, Asia and Africa. It goes on to discuss its origins in history and contemporary politics. It further examines the core institutional sites of federalism such as political federalism, fiscal federalism, ancillary federal features including federal structures, federal infrastructures, federal ecosystem and judicial federalism. This book underlines the value of federalism for complex and diverse societies like India as a condition for the success of democracy and the unity of the nation.