Co-Operative And Competitive Federalism: Constitution’s Apple Of Discord

Shubham Sharma, Doctoral Researcher, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi

ABSTRACT

In the recent past, the phrases, Cooperative and Competitive Federalism entered the dominant discourse, especially in context of boosting economic progress of the states. Though, the suggestion of the highest echelons of the RBI that competitive federalism must be fostered is absolutely noble, is India, with all its diversified resources and the huge power differential between the states, ready for a paradigm shift from Co-operative to Competitive Federalism? How well has the system functioned on the outlines of Co-operative Federalism? Is Competitive Federalism the need of hour? Further, how well do these concepts bode with the principles enshrined in the Constitution of India? The quest for the answers makes it imperative to analyse the connotative content of both these concepts and identify their contours and the successive connexion. This article is an attempt to identify the significance of both the concepts and finding a middle ground which could pave a way for the economic prosperity in India and also comparing the these institutions with foreign federal powers. (Srikrishna, 2015)1