ABSTRACT

The crucial role of political parties in federations has been squarely recognized in the existing writings on federalism. Federalism, like democracy, does not work on its own; it has to be worked. Very often political parties or ethnic movements make a federation difficult to govern. In multi-ethnic Asia, many political parties are based on ethnic groups; here federal restructuring has been claimed by ethnic groups (the diversity-claims) rooted in certain territories. Since federation building in Asia has entailed ethno-territorial reorganization, ethnic movements into political parties have factored into the making or unmaking of federalism. With this perspective, this chapter critically assesses the link between the role of political parties and federalism and their impact in sustaining or destroying federalism. It shows that a national level (‘integral’) political party, or parties in coalition in Malaysia and India, has been functional for the sustenance of federalism, while the absence of the same in Pakistan has persistently failed at it. Ideologically oriented to centralism rather than federalism, this remains a major challenge to the ruling Maoists/Marxists in Nepal in sustaining a federation.