Essential Conditions of Federation

There are conditions which would favour centripetal or centrifugal forces to create a federal State and preserve its existence, such as follows:

Geographical Contiguity

The States which seek to form a federation should be geographically near each other. Geographical contiguity is certainly a favourable and even a necessary condition for the success of a federal State. If the component units are situated far apart, it would weaken the State in so far as its military defence and national unity are concerned. It will hinder the growth of national unity and culture. It will hinder communication and intercourse between various parts of the federation. Distance also leads to difficulties of co-operation for other purposes. This is the reason why the British Commonwealth cannot become a federation. Moreover, some of the problems with which we in Pakistan were confronted arose due to the long distance between East and West Pakistan, which led to the secession of East Pakistan as Bangladesh.

Desire for Union

Usually a federation is formed by the adjacent States which seek to unite together into’ a single State in face of a common danger from a powerful neighbour. The need of common defence becomes a centripetal desire for union. Thus the U.S.A., came into being out of the thirteen Colonies which individually felt “too weak to defend themselves against Great Britain and France. The Swiss Confederation was the result of the same desire for protection against powerful neighbours.

Desire for local Independence

A mere desire for union would create a unitary State. It should be counterbalanced by an equally strong desire of the component units to preserve their local independence and autonomy. A federation comes into being only when, as Dicey puts it, the federating units seek union but not unity, that is to say, when they are willing to surrender part of their sovereignty but not the whole of it to the central government. They still want to retain supreme authority over matters of local interest and importance.

Common economic interests

Sometimes States form a federation for common economic interests. The federation of the German States in the 19th century was preceded by an economic union.

Community of cultural and other interests

Another factor which favours the formation of a federation is the community of culture, language, religion, customs, historical traditions, etc. The community of these interests make a people a nation. “The aim of federalism is to produce a unified nation, and complete unity demands that the boundaries of State and nationality coincide.” For instance, the federation of Pakistan is a result of the community of culture, religion and historical traditions. The present-day growing integration of the Arab States, e.g., U.A.R., is also due to their national unity of language, culture, historical traditions, etc”.

Equality among the component units

A condition which is essential for preserving and maintaining a federal union is the constitutional equality of all the component units, big or small, weak or strong. If the position of a component unit depends upon its relative strength, resources and size, it will weaken the federal unity, because the strong would be inclined to dominate the weaker members of the federation and take undue advantage of their weak position. It will also excite jealousy and rivalry among them. This was best illustrated by the dominating position of Prussia “in the German Empire. Hence the need is to treat all component members of a federation as equal in matters affecting the federation. This is usually done by giving them equal representation in one of the houses of the federal legislature, called the principle of parity.

Political Ability and Legalism

Federalism is a difficult form of government, for it is a compromise between two contrary tendencies towards unity and autonomy. If too much of unity is aimed at, it destroys the federal structure and autonomy of the component units; but if autonomy of the units is too much emphasised, federation ceases to exist and a confederation or union of several States comes into being. Hence, the continuance and preservation of a federation demand that the citizens must have greater political ability and respect for their constitution than those of a unitary State. They should be able to appreciate their double allegiance both to the central and the unit government. They should also have a developed sense of legalism, that is, a general willingness to accept the decisions of the law-courts, as they interpret the constitution.

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