Question

‘Coming together federation’ is practiced in ____________.
A. India
B. Belgium
C. Spain
D. Switzerland

Answer 1

Hint: A system of government in which the power is divided between various constituent units of a country and a central authority is known as Federalism. Generally, two levels of government are there in a federation; one is the Central government and it is responsible for a few subjects of common national interest for the entire country. The others are the governments that ensure the day-to-day administering of their state at the level of provinces or states. Both these levels of governments enjoy their power independent of one another.

Complete answer:
The exact balance of power varies from one federation to another between the central and the state government. The historical context in which the federation was formed mainly decides this balance. There are two kinds of ways through which federations have been formed. The first way through which a federation can be formed is by the independent States coming together on their own to form a bigger unit so that by retaining identity and pooling sovereignty they can increase their security. USA, Switzerland, and Australia are included in this type of ‘coming together’ federations. All the constituent States in this category of federations usually have equal power and are strong in relation to the federal government.
A large country that decides to divide its power between the constituent States and the national government is the second way through which a federation can be formed. The ‘holding together’ federations in the world include India, Spain, and Belgium. The central government in this category tends to be more powerful in relation to the States. Unequal powers to different constituent units of the federation is a characteristic feature of this category of federations. Some units in these federations are granted special powers.

Thus, option (D) is correct.

Note: Other than federations, there is a different system of government called the unitary system. In this system either there is only one level of government or the central government is very powerful subordinating its other sub-units.