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Class 10 Civics: Federalism, 8 practice questions with answers

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These are 8 practice questions on Chapter 2, Federalism, of the NCERT Class 10 Political Science textbook, Democratic Politics II. Each has a worked answer and the textbook page it comes from. They ask you to work with the chapter's numbers on federations and languages, test whether a change to the federal arrangement would pass, decide which units have fewer powers, sort real reasons for decentralisation from false ones, trace who elects whom in panchayati raj, link events to the three tests of Indian federalism, judge three assertion-and-reason pairs, and weigh how far local government has come. Try each one on paper before you open the answer.

These questions are our own, drafted with AI help. Every fact was checked against the textbook page it cites, but no practising teacher has reviewed them yet. If you find a mistake, please tell us.

How this chapter is examined

In CBSE's Social Science paper for 2026-27, Political Science carries 20 of the 80 marks, shared by five chapters, this one among them (curriculum, page 2). CBSE gives no separate figure for Federalism, and it has no map item. The curriculum's learning outcomes for it are to infer how federalism is practised in India and to analyse the policies and politics that strengthened it (page 5). The paper has 1-mark multiple-choice questions (including assertion and reason), 2, 3 and 5-mark answers, and 4-mark case studies (page 10).

What the chapter says you need

Facts from the NCERT textbook (Democratic Politics II, Class X, Chapter 2, printed pages 13 to 28):

The chapter's numbers

Question 1. (a) The world has 193 countries, and 25 of them are federations, but their citizens are 40 per cent of the world's people. Roughly what share of countries is that, and what does the comparison tell you about federations? (b) The table of Scheduled Languages gives Hindi 43.63 per cent. What is the smallest number of the largest languages in the table that together make up more than half of Indians? (c) What share of Indians gave English as their mother tongue in 2011, and what share spoke it as an extra language?

Answer: (a) about 13 per cent of countries hold 40 per cent of the people: federations tend to be large countries; (b) two languages, Hindi and Bengali, 51.66 per cent; (c) 0.02 per cent and 11 per cent. (a) 25 ÷ 193 is about 0.13, so roughly one country in eight holds two people in five; the chapter adds that most of the world's large countries are federations (page 14). (b) Hindi alone is 43.63 per cent, under half; adding the next largest, Bengali at 8.03 per cent, gives 51.66 per cent (table, page 22). The chapter's point is that no single language is the mother tongue of a majority (page 22). (c) English was the mother tongue of just 0.02 per cent, and 11 per cent more had it as a second or third tongue (page 22). (The text on page 20 rounds Hindi to "about 40 per cent"; the 2011 table on page 22 gives 43.63, "about 44 per cent".)

Changing the federal arrangement

Question 2. A proposal would change how power is shared between the Union and the States. (a) In one House of Parliament, 300 of 450 members vote for it. Has it reached the majority it needs there? (b) If there were 28 States, at least how many State legislatures would have to ratify it? (c) Could Parliament simply pass the change on its own, by an ordinary vote?

Answer: (a) yes, exactly two-thirds; (b) 14; (c) no. (a) 300 ÷ 450 = 2/3, and the change needs at least a two-thirds majority in both Houses (page 17); one more "no" vote would leave it short. (b) After Parliament, at least half of all the State legislatures must ratify it: half of 28 is 14 (page 17). (c) The chapter says Parliament cannot change this arrangement on its own (page 17). (The vote and the number 28 are our own example; the rule is the chapter's.)

Not every unit is equal

Question 3. (a) Name two kinds of units in the Indian Union whose powers differ from those of an ordinary State, and give the chapter's examples. (b) For each, who gains or loses power, and why does the chapter say this happens? (c) Which kind of federation, by the way it was formed, is most likely to have such unequal units?

Answer: (a) States with special status, among them Mizoram, Nagaland, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, and Union Territories, such as Chandigarh, Lakshadweep and Delhi; (b) special-status States get extra protections, while in Union Territories the Central Government has special powers; (c) a "holding together" federation. (a) and (b) The special-status States have extra powers under Article 371 because of their social and historical circumstances, mainly to protect indigenous people's land rights and culture and to give preference in government jobs. Union Territories are areas too small to be States that could not be merged with existing ones; they lack a State's powers, and the Centre has special powers over how they are run (page 17). (c) Holding-together federations, like India, usually do not give their units equal power (pages 15 and 17).

Reasons for decentralisation

Question 4. Which of these are reasons the chapter gives for decentralisation, and which are not?

  1. People understand the problems of their own locality better.
  2. Local people have better ideas about where money should be spent.
  3. It lets the Central Government stop paying for development.
  4. People can take part directly in decisions, which builds a habit of democratic participation.
  5. Once local governments exist, State governments are no longer needed.

Answer: reasons the chapter gives: 1, 2 and 4. Not given: 3 and 5. The chapter says many problems are best settled locally, because people know their localities, have better ideas on spending and managing things, and can participate directly, which builds democratic habits (page 24). It never says local government replaces State governments (5): it is a third tier below them, and States are meant to share powers and revenue with it (page 24). Nothing in the chapter says the Centre stops paying (3). (Statements 3 and 5 are our own distractors.)

Who elects whom

Question 5. In a village area, answer each with the chapter's facts. (a) Who elects the panch and the sarpanch? (b) Who are the members of the gram sabha, how often must it meet, and for what? (c) Who elects the members of the panchayat samiti? (d) Who, apart from elected members, sits in the zilla parishad?

Answer: (a) all the adult people of the ward or village, directly; (b) every voter of the village; at least twice or thrice a year, to approve the gram panchayat's budget and review its work; (c) all the panchayat members of that area; (d) the Lok Sabha members and MLAs of the district and some officials of other district-level bodies. (a) The ward members (panch) and the president (sarpanch) are directly elected by all the adults living in that ward or village (pages 24 to 25). (b) All the village's voters belong to the gram sabha, which supervises the panchayat and must meet two or three times a year for the budget and the review (page 25). (c) A few gram panchayats form a panchayat samiti, block or mandal, whose members are elected by all the panchayat members in the area (page 25). (d) Most zilla parishad members are elected, but the district's Lok Sabha members and MLAs and some other officials are members too (page 25).

The three tests of Indian federalism

Question 6. The chapter describes three ways federalism was tested and strengthened in practice: linguistic States, language policy and Centre-State relations. For each development below, name the test it belongs to and say what it did for federalism.

  1. Some leaders feared that States drawn on the basis of language would break the country apart.
  2. The Constitution set 1965 as the year for English to stop being used for official purposes, and non-Hindi-speaking States, Tamil Nadu among them, protested.
  3. After 1990, no single party won a clear majority in the Lok Sabha.
  4. A Supreme Court judgment made it hard for the Centre to dismiss State governments arbitrarily.

Answer:

Assertion and reason

Question 7. For each pair, choose: (A) both true, and R explains A; (B) both true, but R does not explain A; (C) A true, R false; (D) A false, R true.

  1. A: Belgium changed from a unitary to a federal system in 1993. R: That year its regional governments were given powers by the constitution that no longer depended on the central government.
  2. A: Municipal corporations are run by officials whom the State government appoints. R: In a municipal corporation, the political head is called the mayor.
  3. A: The chapter says linguistic States have made India more united. R: For a while the Centre was against forming States on the basis of language.

Answer: 1 (A); 2 (D); 3 (B). (1) Both are true, and R is the reason the chapter gives: earlier, the regions' powers could be withdrawn by the centre (page 14). (2) A is false: elected bodies of people's representatives control both municipalities and municipal corporations. R is true (page 25). (3) Both are true (page 20), but the Centre's early resistance does not explain why the States united the country.

How far has local government come?

Question 8. Using the chapter, give two signs that the third tier of government has strengthened democracy and two problems that remain. Then say whether the chapter thinks the ideal of self-government has been reached.

Answer: signs: about 36 lakh elected representatives, deeper democracy and more representation and voice for women; problems: gram sabhas are not held regularly, and most States have not handed over real powers or enough resources; no, the chapter says India is still a long way from that ideal. The chapter calls the new system the largest experiment in democracy anywhere, with about 36 lakh elected representatives, more than the population of many countries; constitutional status has deepened democracy and increased women's representation and voice (page 26). Elections are held regularly, but gram sabhas are not, and most State governments have transferred neither significant powers nor adequate resources, so self-government is still far off (page 26).

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Sources

All opened and read on 3 November 2026. Page numbers are the printed page numbers of the textbook.

The facts, figures and rules are from the textbook pages above. The questions, worked answers, the sums and the examples marked as ours are our own. This guide is general information; follow your teacher and the official CBSE notices.

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