Question:easy

Identify the correct statement:

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Federalism divides power between levels of government. Dividing power among Legislature, Executive and Judiciary is a different doctrine altogether.
Updated On: Jul 17, 2026
  • Federalism implies a system of government which embodies a division of powers between a central and a number of regional authorities
  • Federalism implies a system of government which embodies a division of powers between Legislature, Executive and Judiciary
  • Federalism implies a system of Government which embodies Parliamentary supremacy
  • None of these
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The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

Three well known constitutional ideas are being mixed together here: federalism, separation of powers, and parliamentary supremacy. Keep them apart and the answer falls out at once.

  1. Federalism implies a system of government which embodies a division of powers between a central and a number of regional authorities: Correct. This is the definition. Power is split vertically between one national government and several regional ones, and both draw their authority from the Constitution.
  2. Federalism implies a system of government which embodies a division of powers between Legislature, Executive and Judiciary: Wrong. That is the separation of powers, Montesquieu's doctrine. It cuts horizontally across the organs of a single government. Federalism cuts vertically across levels of government. The two are entirely different axes, and a country can have one without the other.
  3. Federalism implies a system of Government which embodies Parliamentary supremacy: Wrong, and in fact contradictory. Where Parliament is supreme, as in the United Kingdom, it can make or repeal any law and courts cannot invalidate it. A federation cannot function on that footing, because the central legislature could simply legislate the regions out of existence. A federation needs the Constitution to be supreme so that neither level can trespass on the other.
  4. None of these: Wrong, since the first statement is accurate.

India shows the point in practice. The Seventh Schedule sets out the Union List, the State List and the Concurrent List, and Article 246 tells each legislature which list it may work from. If a law crosses the line, the courts can strike it down, which they could not do under parliamentary supremacy. A written constitution, a division of subjects, supremacy of the constitution, a rigid amendment procedure, and an independent judiciary are the usual markers of a federal system.

Let's summarize:

  • Federalism: power divided between centre and regions, a vertical split.
  • Separation of powers: power divided among legislature, executive and judiciary, a horizontal split.
  • Parliamentary supremacy: the legislature is unlimited, which a federation cannot allow.

So option (A) is the answer.

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