KSLU Solved Question Papers
Political Science (Organisation and Institutions)
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 2
2022 Oct Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 2 Political Science (Organisation and Institutions) 2022 Oct Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2022 Oct examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2022 Oct examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2022 Oct examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 3 hours · Total marks 80 · 20 questions answered
Instructions printed on the paper
- N.B. (1) Answer all five Units. (2) One essay type question and short note/problems is compulsory from each Unit. (3) Figures to the right indicate marks. (4) Answer should be written either in English or Kannada completely.
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
Q1
Unit I
(a)Define federation. Explain the features, merits and demerits of Federal form of Government.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: a definition of federation (Garner, Dicey, Leacock); its features in brief; its merits, each explained (Bryce, Garner, Tocqueville); its demerits, each explained (Bryce, Dicey, Leacock); India's federation with one case (Union of India v. Mohit Minerals Pvt. Ltd.); and a conclusion.
Meaning
A federation is a state in which a written constitution divides power between a central government and the governments of the units. Each is supreme in its own sphere.
- Garner: "a system of central and local government combined under a common sovereignty, both the central and local organizations being supreme within definite spheres".
- Dicey: "a political contrivance intended to reconcile national unity and power with the maintenance of 'state rights.'"
- Leacock: neither level "is legally competent to destroy the other."
The United States, Switzerland, Canada, Australia and India are federations.
Features in brief
- A written constitution, since the terms are "a complicated contract" (Dicey).
- Supremacy of the constitution over both levels.
- Division of powers by the constitution.
- Rigidity: neither level can change the division alone.
- An independent judiciary to settle disputes between the levels.
- Dual government and representation of the units at the centre, usually in an upper House.
How powers are divided
Garner describes two methods. In the American method the central powers are "specifically enumerated", and the rest are reserved to the States. The Tenth Amendment, as Dicey quotes it, enacts: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." India follows the opposite plan: three Lists, with residuary power given to Parliament (article 248).
Federation and confederation
A confederation is a league of sovereign states joined by treaty, whose central body acts on the states and not on citizens; members may leave. A federation creates one sovereign state whose two levels both act directly on citizens. Garner insists federal government is "under a common sovereignty".
Merits
1. Unity with diversity. Bryce: federalism unites communities "into one nation under one national government without extinguishing their separate administrations, legislatures, and local patriotisms."
2. Suited to large countries. "Federalism supplies the best means of developing a new and vast country", letting each region make laws for its own conditions.
3. A check on despotism. It "prevents the rise of a despotic central government, absorbing other powers, and menacing the private liberties of the citizen."
4. Civic training. Local self-government "educates the citizen in his daily round of civic duty".
5. Room for experiment. States can "try experiments in legislation and administration which could not be safely tried in a large centralized country."
6. Failures are contained. "A nation so divided is like a ship built with water-tight compartments." A leak in one does not sink the ship.
7. Lighter load at the centre. The national legislature has "time to deliberate on those questions which most nearly touch the whole country."
Garner says federalism "excels all other forms of government" in combining national power with local autonomy. Tocqueville called it "one of the combinations most favorable to the prosperity and freedom of man."
Demerits
1. Weakness. Dicey: "Federal government means weak government." Bryce lists "weakness in the conduct of foreign affairs" and in home government.
2. Danger of secession. Bryce names "liability to dissolution by the secession or rebellion of States". The American Civil War proved it.
3. Lack of uniformity. Laws differ from State to State, and the centre may lack power to legislate where uniform law is needed.
4. Cost and delay. Bryce notes the "trouble, expense, and delay due to the complexity of a double system".
5. Conservatism. The rigid constitution comes to seem "immutable and, so to speak, sacred" (Dicey).
6. Legalism. "Federalism substitutes litigation for legislation" (Dicey).
7. Strain under modern conditions. Leacock judged in 1908: "Politically and on its external side it has proved itself strong, but economically and in its internal aspect it is proving itself weak".
| Merits | Demerits |
|---|---|
| Unity with diversity | Weakness |
| Suits vast countries | Danger of secession |
| Checks despotism | Lack of uniformity |
| Civic training, experiment | Cost and delay |
| Failures contained | Conservatism and legalism |
India's federation
India divides power by three Lists and has an independent Supreme Court, but keeps a strong centre. Its federalism is also cooperative. In Union of India v. Mohit Minerals Pvt. Ltd., decided on 19 May 2022, the question was whether the GST Council's recommendations bind the Union and the States. The Supreme Court held they are "not binding" and have only "persuasive value". It said "Indian federalism is a dialogue between cooperative and uncooperative federalism".
Conclusion. A federation divides power by a written, supreme and rigid constitution between a centre and units. It unites diverse peoples, checks despotism, trains citizens and allows experiment. But it can be weak, divided, costly, conservative and legalistic. India's federation, as Mohit Minerals shows, balances these through cooperation and contest.
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