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During an emergency, our political structure transforms from being 'Federal' to
  • a)
    Military
  • b)
    Quasi-federal
  • c)
    Unitary
  • d)
    Being only a Single Government
Correct answer is option 'C'. Can you explain this answer?
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Verified Answer
During an emergency, our political structure transforms from being 'F...
  • During an Emergency, the Central government becomes all-powerful, and the states go into the centre's total control. It converts the federal structure into a unitary one without a formal amendment of the Constitution.
  • This kind of transformation of the political system from federal during normal times to unitary during Emergency is a unique feature of the Indian Constitution.
  • Since the state governments exist even at the time of emergency, we cannot call it-single government.
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Most Upvoted Answer
During an emergency, our political structure transforms from being 'F...
Understanding the Shift from Federal to Unitary Structure
During an emergency, a federal political structure often transitions to a unitary system. This transformation is primarily due to the need for swift and decisive governance. Here’s a detailed explanation:
Nature of Federalism
- In a federal system, power is divided between central and regional authorities.
- Each level has its own jurisdiction, leading to potential delays in decision-making during crises.
Reasons for Unitary Transformation
- Centralized Authority: In emergencies, a unitary system allows the central government to assume greater control, facilitating quick responses.
- Streamlined Decision-Making: With power concentrated at the national level, decisions can be made rapidly without the need for extensive consultation with states or provinces.
Examples of Emergency Powers
- National Security: Governments often enact laws to maintain order and ensure national security, which may limit the functioning of regional governments.
- Public Health Crises: During health emergencies, the central government may impose regulations that override state laws to ensure a unified response.
The Impact of Unitary Governance
- Rapid Response: A unitary structure enables faster mobilization of resources and personnel.
- Coordination: Central control enhances coordination among various agencies to tackle the emergency effectively.
Conclusion
In conclusion, during emergencies, the need for efficiency and unity in governance necessitates a shift from a federal to a unitary system. This transformation underscores the importance of adaptable political frameworks in addressing crises effectively.
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There has been a significant trend worldwide towards regionalism in government, resulting in a widespread transfer of powers downwards towards regions and communities since 1990s. This process, which involves the creation of new political entities and bodies at a sub-national level and an increase in their content and powers, is known as devolution. Devolution has been characterized as being made up of three factors—political legitimacy, decentralization of authority and decentralization of resources. Political legitimacy here means a mass demand from below for the decentralization process, which is able to create a political force for it to take place. In many cases, decentralization is initiated by the upper tier of government without sufficient political mobilization for it at the grassroots level, and in such cases the decentralization process often does not fulfil its objectives.Q.Which among the following is the most logical, rational and critical inference that can be made from the above passage?

Direction: Read the following passage and answer the item that follows. Your answer to the item should be based on the passage only.Politics for Gandhiji, was but a part of man’s life, one that encircles men like the coil of a snake from which one cannot get out, no matter how much one tries. Though he thought that an increase in the power of the state can inflict the greatest harm to mankind by destroying individuality which lays at the root of the progress, yet he viewed political power as a means that enabled people to make their conditions better in every department of life. He wrote, “my work of social reform was no way less or subordinate to political work. The fact is, that whenI saw that to a certain extent my social work would be impossible without the help of political work, I took to the latter and only to the extent it served the former”. Political life is not stranger to other aspects of life. He used to say, “My life is one indivisible whole, and all my activities run into one another, and they all have their rise in my insatiable love of mankind”. Political activity of man is closely associated with other activities of man and all these activities, according to Gandhiji, influence each other. That is why he never separated politics from from other walks of man’s life. What he hated in politics was the concentration of power and the use of violence associated with political power. In his own words,” The state represents violence in a concentrated and organized form. The individual has a soul, but the state is soulless machine, it can never be weaned from violence to which it owes its very existence. What I would personally prefer, would be not a centralization of power in the hands of the State but an extension of the sense of trusteeship ….” Politics and for that matter the state, according to him was not an end, but a means that enabled men to make their lives better. An ideal state or political life is one in which men rule themselves. For Gandhiji there is no political power in the ideal state because in it there is no state. But as the ideal was not fully realized in life, Gandhiji contented himself with Thoureau’s classical statement- that government was best which governed the least. Q. Gandhiji contented himself with Thoreau’s classical statement because

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During an emergency, our political structure transforms from being 'Federal' toa) Militaryb) Quasi-federalc) Unitaryd) Being only a Single GovernmentCorrect answer is option 'C'. Can you explain this answer?
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