An Assessment of Nepal’s Federalism in the Context of Policies and Practices

Abstract

Federalism is a system of governance where diverse ethnic and religious communities own the nation in a single defined political system. As a political institution, it denotes the distribution of political power between the levels of the state’s government. Intergovernmental relation is at the centre of this scholarly debate. Intergovernmental relations are an obvious instrument to maximize federalism and make it more functional while ensuring prompt and satisfying public delivery. Though the intergovernmental relations are practiced among the layers and mechanisms of the state, they are a part and parcel of the democratic exercise. This context makes the intergovernmental relations an evolving process because its results are enhanced political, administrative and fiscal maturity in a country. This paper aims to assess the effectiveness of the IGR in Nepal, and the discussions follow the extent of cooperation of three levels of government (Federal, Provincial and Local) for the smooth functioning of the country’s financial, administrative, and other works. This paper is based on secondary data sources and explores the gaps in strengthening federalism and intergovernmental relations and their implementation. The results of IGR in Nepal point to some pressing issues in the federal system's operation and the underlying gaps. Governance at all levels is impacted by the poor state of coordination of political actors, lawmakers, and civil servants. The relations between the three levels of government are not that warm. Major gaps are also there in the mobilization, deployment, transfer and promotion of civil servants. The officials hired in line with the Local Self-Governance Act 2055 in the local bodies are deprived of major opportunities. In Nepal’s context, the major components of intergovernmental coordination, collaboration and cooperation are compromised in one or the other way. As there are certain gaps in practicing intergovernmental relations in Nepal, the gaps demand a legal and policy framework to fulfill, but some political interests and politicians’ willingness have caused ineffective result in intergovernmental relations.