Indian Federalism

Indian Federalism: Structure, Process and Agency takes a comprehensive look at Indian Federalism, offering a jargon free and accessible critical analysis of its origin and development, innovative structural elements, federal functioning and effectiveness, and its resilience in the face of many challenges.Federalism in India is a relative success story as a model of governance of a complex multi-ethnic country. This book provides a detailed examination of the structures of Indian federalism with particular focus on the core structures such as tiers of government, constitutional distribution of powers, parliamentary second chamber, Supreme Court, Finance Commission (fiscal federalism and, federal asymmetry), and Inter-State Council. Each discussion is preceded by the constitutional designs, and functions. The issues covered in this book are territorial accommodation of ethnic identity; power-sharing; centripetalism and state autonomy; changing political economy from a command economy to a market driven one; special significance of the major transformation in the party systems for federalism; and the new meaning of centre-state relations in the shifting patty systems and the political economy. This book will be of interest to advanced undergraduates and postgraduates as a core text on Indian federalism, and a necessary reference for the students and researchers of comparative federalism, and Indian politics, globally speaking.

Harihar Bhattacharyya formerly a Professor of Political Science at the University of Burdwan, West Bengal, India. Previously he taught at Delhi University, the Heidelberg University (South Asia Institute), Hull University (UK), and the Institute of Federalism, Fribourg where he was a Visiting Research Professor (1998-99) for one year to draft a book on a comparative study of Indian and Swiss federalism. Widely globally travelled, Bhattacharyya also takes part in ethnic conflict resolution and constitution making for transitional states. Recent publications include Asymmetric Federalism in India: Ethnicity, Development and Governance (2022); Federalism in Asia: India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Nepal and Myanmar, 2nd ed. (2021); and Radical Political and Governance in India’s North East: The Case of Tripura (2018). He is also a recipient of the Publius Distinguished Scholar Award (2025).