Protocolos de encapsulado

All existing federations differ from one another in terms of economic and social diversities, in numbers of constituent unit(s), resources, scope of allocation of legislative, executive and financial responsibilities, allocation of taxing powers and so on. However, in spite of such differences, there are some features through which one can recognize the federal setup. Researchers such as Watts (2008: 22- 23 and 1996: 7), Dikshit (1971: 97-115), Sarita (2009: 14-20), and Wheare (1946: part III) agree that the main characteristics and principles of a federation which

can be seen in major federations like USA, Canada and Switzerland (but may not be present in some of the federations practically) are as follows.

The most significant feature of every federation is a two-fold sovereignty or the sharing of powers between the constituent unit(s) and the central government; for this Watts (1998) and Elazar (1987) use the phrase self-rule and shared rule respectively. In every federal setup there are two set of government, one for the whole federation and the other for each constituent unit(s), where each government can act directly on its citizens.

Every federation has a supreme written constitution under which a formal distribution of power takes place between the two sets of government. Each set of government enjoys constitutionally delegated powers in the spheres of legislation and execution. The constitution also ensures some areas of genuine autonomy as well as the allocation of revenue resources between the two sets of governments. Such distribution of powers is one of the most common features of all federations around the world. Further, in federal states, the supreme law of the land, the constitution, is often rigid and cannot be amended easily or unilaterally. Procedurally, there are ways of amending the constitution in various federations, but these require the consent of a significant portion of the constituent units. As Burgess (2006: 157) states:

Since the written constitution represents the birth certificate of every federation, those aspects that establish its fundamental federal character should not be unilaterally amended by just one order of government because that would render the other level of government subordinate to it. Because federalism is a compound polity consisting of one federal/central and various regional governments, there are always the chances of clash or conflict on issues such as the distribution of powers, control over resources and overlapping governmental functions. To avoid such clashes or overlapping of functions, every

federation has an umpire in the form of courts, provision for referendum or an upper house of parliament. This umpire, if it is in the form of courts, has some very important functions such as impartial constitutional interpretations, revision of the constitution to changing circumstances, and the resolution of inter- governmental conflicts (Watts, 1999: 10). If such an umpire is in the form of an upper house of the parliament than it must be given equal powers of legislation as compared to the lower house.

Federations are more democratic and participatory when compared to other forms of government. They are participatory because the legislative bodies both the federal/central and the regional units are directly elected by the vote of the citizens and responsible to them. In a federation the citizens have close contact with their respective representatives either at federal/central or at regional levels.

Additionally, there is a long list of characteristics of federations which are not common amongst all the federal systems. Some exist in one federation, while remaining absent in others. For instance, the prevailing literature maintains that the existence of multi-party system, bicameral legislatures, decentralization, a system of check and balances, rule of law, and tolerance are the main characteristics of a federation. It has also been argued by researchers that a multi- party system prevents dictatorship and authoritarianism. However, there are federations with multi-party system which have experienced authoritarianism, such as Pakistan. Equally, there are unitary systems with bicameral legislatures and federal structures with unicameral parliaments (Pakistan remained unicameral under the constitutions of 1956 and 1962). Again, people often mistake federalism to mean decentralization, but on the contrary, there are federations which are highly centralised and unitary systems where one can see much more decentralization. Thus, decentralization is not the yardstick with which to judge

whether a system is federal or not. Last but not the least, in a majority of federal and democratic systems, such as the USA, Australia, Switzerland, and Canada, we can find the characteristics of rule of law and tolerance. Rule of law and tolerance are the essence of federal democratic systems. In case of Pakistani federation, when it comes to Balochistan, the rule of law and tolerance is non-existent which we would see in chapter VI.

In this chapter, it has been argued that federalism is a broad concept in the realm of social sciences. There are many shades of opinion which make federalism a diversified form of government. However, modern scholarship has created a clear- cut distinction between a federation and other forms of governments such as con- federation and unitary, despite the fact that federations like Canada and Switzerland describe themselves as con-federation (Dikshit, 1971: 99). It is also worth noting that there are certain characteristics of federations which make it a unique and better way of state formation in a world which is hugely divided on ethnic, linguistic and religious lines. Human beings have always tried to live together in a social setting, but the conditions and terms of association, pose a fundamental question. The modern concept of federalism is a sophisticated and workable answer to the long-standing problematic questions of human association. In a federal union, a population of different ethnic, linguistic, regional and religious groups agrees to share the powers and responsibilities towards a common goal. Though, federalism is a superior form of government when compared to others such as con-federal and unitary; is still faces issues such as the division of powers between the two sets of government and representations in central institutions and control over natural resources. The superiority of federalism over con-federal and unitary systems is clear from the fact that, under the former, unilateral and arbitrary repossession of power is not possible because

of the entrenchment of ownership rights, while in the latter it is the other way around, and the possibility of unilateral repossession of powers cannot be ruled out (Breton, 2000: 1-16 and Federalist paper No. 9). Researchers argue that since federalism is democratic in nature and dynamic in character, it has the potential to resolve issues such as the division of powers and representation in central institutions through political dialogues and mutual consultations. However, when it (federation) came under an influence of undemocratic and authoritarian forces than it turned to be an illiberal federalism (Kymlicka and Adeney in HE et al, 2007) and give ways to dissent and ethno-nationalism. How does this work in practice in federation? This is the theme in chapter III.