YARDSTICKS OF FEDERALISM: RELEVANCE FOR PAKISTAN

Abstract

Federalism is considered as a panacea of war and assurance of peace within and between the states. It
provides for unity with diversity and has been successfully practiced in several parts of the world,
uniting together people of geographically proximate political units while maintaining their separate
identities. A segment of political leaders and scholars even advocated creation of word federation for
perpetual peace in the world. This paper discuess the theries of federalism and mainly evaluates the
essentials or yardsticks of a true federation, as presented by Duchacek. Federal arrangements suits
mainly the states, having large area, and heterogeneous and large population. There exist diversity
and variations among the models of federalism practiced by around two dozens federal states in the
world and none of them can be termed as an ideal or perfect type as the people and leaders have
adopted federal systems keeping in view their own needs and socio-political conditions. The paper also
dvelves into the relevance of these yardsticks for Pakistan.