Yearly Archives: 2022

Notes of Ch 10 The Philosophy of the Constitution| Class 11th Political Science

What is meant by Philosophy of the Constitution?

We have three things in mind.

• First, we need to understand the conceptual structure of the constitution. What does this mean? It means that we must ask questions like what are the possible meanings of terms used in the constitution such as rights’, citizenship, minority or democracy?

• Furthermore, we must attempt to work out a coherent vision of society and polity conditional

upon an interpretation of the key concepts of the constitution. We must have a better grasp of the set of ideals embedded in the constitution.

• Our final point is that the Indian Constitution must be read in conjunction with the Constituent Assembly Debates in order to refine and raise to a higher theoretical plane, the justification of values embedded in the Constitution. A philosophical treatment of a value is incomplete if a detailed justification for it is not provided. When the framers of the Constitution chose to guide Indian society and polity by a set of values, there must have been a corresponding set of reasons. Many of them, though, may not have been fully explained.

Why in Need?

• A political philosophy approach to the constitution is needed not only to find out the moral content expressed in it and to evaluate its claims but possibly to use it to arbitrate between varying interpretations of the many core values in our polity.

Constitution as Means of Democratic Transformation

• Provide peaceful, democratic means to bring about social transformation. Moreover, for a hitherto colonized people, constitutions announce and embody the first real exercise of political self-determination.

• The Indian Constitution was designed to break the shackles of traditional social hierarchies and

to usher in a new era of freedom, equality and justice.

• Constitutions exist not only to limit people in power but to empower those who traditionally

have been deprived of it. Constitutions can give vulnerable people the power to achieve collective good.

What is the Political Philosophy of our Constitution?

• It is hard to describe this philosophy in one word.

• It resists any single label because it is liberal, democratic, egalitarian, secular, and federal, open to community values, sensitive to the needs of religious and linguistic minorities as well as historically disadvantaged groups, and committed to building a common national identity.

• In short, it is committed to freedom, equality, social justice, and some form of national unity.

• But underneath all this, there is a clear emphasis on peaceful and democratic measures for putting this philosophy into practice.

Individual freedom
• The first point to note about the Constitution is its commitment to individual freedom.

• Remember Rammohan Roy protested against curtailment of the freedom of the press by the

British colonial state.

• It is not surprising therefore that freedom of expression is an integral part of the Indian Constitution. So is the freedom from arbitrary arrest.

• The infamous Rowlatt Act, which the national movement opposed so vehemently, sought to deny this basic freedom.

Social Justice

Classical liberalism always privileges rights of the individuals over demands of social justice and community values.

The liberalism of the Indian Constitution differs from this version in two ways.

• First, it was always linked to social justice. The best example of this is the provision for

reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Constitution. The makers of the Constitution believed that the mere granting of the right to equality was not enough to overcome age-old injustices suffered by these groups or to give real meaning to their right to vote.

• Special constitutional measures were required to advance their interests. Therefore the constitution makers provided a number of special measures to protect the interests of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes such as the reservation of seats in legislatures. The Constitution also made it possible for the government to reserve public sector jobs for these

groups.

Respect for diversity and minority rights

• The Indian Constitution encourages equal respect between communities.

• This was not easy in our country, first because communities do not always have a relationship of

equality; they tend to have hierarchical relationships with one another (as in the case of caste).

• Second, when these communities do see each other as equals, they also tend to become rivals (as

in the case of religious communities).

• It was important to ensure that no one community systematically dominates others. This made

it mandatory for our Constitution to recognize community based rights.

• One such right is the right of religious communities to establish and run their own educational institutions.

• Such institutions may receive money from the government. This provision shows that the Indian

Constitution does not see religion merely as a private matter concerning the individual.

Secularism

• The term secular was not initially mentioned; the Indian Constitution has always been secular.

• The mainstream, western conception, of secularism means mutual exclusion of state and religion

in order to protect values such as individual freedom and citizenship rights of individuals.

• The term mutual exclusion means this: both religion and state must stay away from the internal affairs of one another. The state must not intervene in the domain of religion; religion likewise should not dictate state policy or influence the conduct of the state. In other words,

mutual exclusion means that religion and state must be strictly separated.

• To protect religious freedom of individuals, therefore, state must not help religious

organizations. But at the same time, state should not tell religious organisations how to manage their affairs.

Rights of Religious Groups
• The Indian Constitution grants rights to all religious communities such as the right to establish and maintain their educational institutions. Freedom of religion in India means the freedom of religion of both individuals and communities.

State’s Power of Intervention
• The state simply had to interfere in the affairs of religion.

• The state could also help religious communities by giving aid to educational institutions run by them.

• The state may help or hinder religious communities depending on which mode of action promotes values such as freedom and equality.

Procedural Achievements

• First, the Indian Constitution reflects a faith in political deliberation. We know that many groups and interests were not adequately represented in the Constituent Assembly. But the debates in the Assembly amply show that the makers of the Constitution wanted to be as inclusive in their approach as possible. This open-ended approach indicates the willingness of people to modify their existing preferences, in short, to justify outcomes by reference not to self-interest but to reasons. It also shows a willingness to recognize creative value in difference and disagreement.

• Second, it reflects a spirit of compromise and accommodation. These words, compromise and accommodation, should not always be seen with disapproval. Not all compromises are bad.

Criticisms

• The Indian Constitution can be subjected to many criticisms of which three may be briefly mentioned:

• First, that it is unwieldy
• Second, that it is unrepresentative and
• Third, that it is alien to our conditions.

1st Criticism

• The criticism that it is unwieldy is based on the assumption that the entire constitution of a

country must be found in one compact document.

• The fact is that a country’s constitution is to be identified with a compact document and with

other written documents with constitutional status.

• In the case of India, many such details, practices and statements are included in one

single document and this has made that document somewhat large in size.

• Many countries for instance, do not have provisions for election commission or the civil service commission in the document known as constitution.

• But in India, many such matters are attended to by the Constitutional document itself.

2nd Criticism

Here we must distinguish two components of representation, one that might be called voice and the other opinion.

• The voice component of representation is important. People must be recognised in their

own language or voice, not in the language of the masters. If we look at the Indian Constitution from this dimension, it is indeed unrepresentative because members of the Constituent Assembly were chosen by a restricted franchise, not by universal suffrage.

• However, if we examine the other dimension, we may not find it altogether lacking in representativeness. The claim that almost every shade of opinion was represented in the Constituent Assembly may be a trifle exaggerated but may have something to it. If we read the debates that took place in the Constituent Assembly, we find that a vast range of issues and opinions were mentioned, members raised matters not only based on their individual social concerns but based on the perceived interests and concerns of various social sections as well.

3rd criticism

• It alleges that the Indian Constitution is entirely an alien document, borrowed article by article from western constitutions and sits uneasily with the cultural ethos of the Indian people. This criticism is often voiced by many. Even in the Constituent Assembly itself, there were some voices that echo this concern.

The limitations of the Constitution

• First, the Indian Constitution has a centralised idea of national unity.

• Second, it appears to have glossed over some important issues of gender justice, particularly within the family.

• Third, it is not clear why in a poor developing country, certain basic socio-economic rights were relegated to the section on Directive Principles rather than made an integral feature of our fundamental rights.

Notes of Ch 9 Constitution as a Living Document| Class 11th Political Science

Are Constitutions Static?

• The Soviet Union had four constitutions in its life of 74 years In 1991, the rule of the Communist

Party of Soviet Union came to an end and soon the Soviet federation disintegrated. After this political upheaval, the newly formed Russian federation adopted a new constitution in 1993.

• The Constitution of India was adopted on 26 November 1949. Its implementation formally started from 26 January 1950. More than fifty-five years after that, the same constitution continues to function as the framework within which the government of our country operates.

• Lot of questions will came in our mind that is it that our Constitution is so good that it needs no change? Was it that our Constitution makers were so farsighted and wise that they had foreseen all the changes that would take place in the future?

• The answer to the above questions is yes we have inherited a very robust Constitution.

• The basic framework of the Constitution is very much suited to our country.

• The Constitution makers were very farsighted and provided for many solutions for future

Situations Yes our constitution provides the solution for many problems but can it provide for all

eventualities?

Then how does the same Constitution continue to serve the country? The answer to this question is:

• Our Constitution accepts the necessity of modifications according to changing needs of the society.

• In the actual working of the Constitution, there has been enough flexibility of interpretations. Both

political practice and judicial rulings have shown maturity and flexibility in implementing the

Constitution.

• These above factors have made our Constitution a living document rather than a closed and static rulebook.

Challenging Issue of Constitution and Solutions

• The provisions of the constitution would naturally reflect efforts to tackle the problems that the society is facing at the time of making of the constitution.

• The constitution must be a document that provides the framework of the government for the future as well.

• The constitution has to be able to respond to the challenges that may arise in the future.

• The constitution will always have something that is contemporary and something that has a more durable importance.

• A constitution is not a frozen and unalterable document.

• The constitution is a framework for the democratic governance of the society.

• Thus from the above the Indian Constitution is a combination of both the approaches mentioned above that the constitution is a sacred document and that it is an instrument that may require changes from time to time or we can say that; our Constitution is not a static document, it is not the final word about everything, it is not unalterable.

How to Amend the Constitution?

• Article 368 deals with the amending power of the parliament i.e. Parliament may in exercise of its constituent power amend by way of addition, variation or repeal any provision of this constitution in accordance with the procedure laid down in this article.

Balancing approach of our Constitution

• The Constitution must be amended if so required. But it must be protected from unnecessary
and frequent changes.

• In other words, the Constitution to be flexible and at the same time rigid’.

• Flexible means open to changes and rigid means resistant to changes. A constitution that can be very easily changed or modified is often called flexible.

• In the case of constitutions, which are very difficult to amend, they are described as rigid.

• The Indian Constitution combines both these characteristics.

If Faults or Mistake in our Constitution?

• Whenever such mistakes would come to light, the Constitution to be easily amended and to be
able to get rid of these mistakes.

• Then there were some provisions in the Constitution that were of temporary nature and it was decided that these could be altered later on once the new Parliament was elected.

• But at the same time, the Constitution was framing a federal polity and therefore, the rights and powers of the States could not be changed without the consent of the States.

• Note that all amendments to the Constitution are initiated only in the Parliament. Besides the special majority in the Parliament no outside agency like a constitution commission or a separate body is required for amending the Constitution.

• An amendment bill, like all other bills, goes to the President for his assent, but in this case, the President has no powers to send it back for reconsideration.

• These details show how rigid and complicated the amending process could have been.

• Only elected representatives of the people are empowered to consider and take final decisions on the question of amendments.

• Thus, sovereignty of elected representatives (parliamentary sovereignty) is the basis of the amendment procedure.

Special Majority

Amendment to the Constitution requires two different kinds of special majorities

• In the first place, those voting in favour of the amendment bill should constitute at least half

of the total strength of that House.

• Secondly, the supporters of the amendment bill must also constitute two-thirds of those who actually take part in voting.

• Both Houses of the Parliament must pass the amendment bill separately in this same manner (there is no provision for a joint session). For every amendment bill, this special majority is required.

• The basic principle behind the amending procedure is that it should be based on broad support among the political parties and parliamentarians.

Ratification by States

• For some articles of the Constitution, special majority is not sufficient.

• When an amendment aims to modify an article related to distribution of powers between the States and the central government, or articles related to representation, it is necessary that the States must be consulted and that they give their consent.

• The Constitution has ensured this by providing that legislatures of half the States have to pass the amendment bill before the amendment comes into effect.

• Apart from the provisions related to federal structure, provisions about fundamental rights are also protected in this way.

• The Constitution of India can be amended through large-scale consensus and limited participation of the States.

Why have there been so many Amendments?

• There is always a criticism about the number of amendments. It is said that there have been far too many amendments to the Constitution of India.

• On the face of it, the fact that ninety-three amendments took place in fifty-five years does seem to be somewhat odd. Amendments are not only due to political considerations.

• Barring the first decade after the commencement of the Constitution, every decade has witnessed a steady stream of amendments.

• This means that irrespective of the nature of politics and the party in power, amendments were required to be made from time to time.

Was this because of the inadequacies of the original Constitution? Is the Constitution too flexible?

• The anti-defection amendment (52nd amendment), this period saw a series of amendments
in spite of the political turbulence.

• Apart from the anti-defection amendments (52nd and 919) these amendments include the amendment bringing down the minimum age for voting from 21 to 18 years, the 73rd and the
74th amendments, etc.

• In this same period, there were some amendments clarifying and expanding the scope
of reservations in jobs and admissions.

• After 1992-93, an overall consensus emerged in the country about these measures and therefore, amendments regarding these measures were passed without much difficulty (77th, 81st, and 82nd amendments).

Controversial Amendments

• In particular, the 38th, 39th and 42 amendments have been the most controversial amendments so far.

• These three amendments were made in the background of internal emergency declared in the country from June 1975.

• They sought to make basic changes in many crucial parts of the Constitution.

42nd Amendment: An Overview

• An attempt to override the ruling of the Supreme Court given in the Kesavananda case.

• Even the duration of the Lok Sabha was extended from five to six years. In the chapter on Rights, you have read about fundamental duties.

• They were included in the Constitution by this amendment act. The 42nd amendment also put restrictions on the review powers of the Judiciary.

• This amendment made changes to the Preamble, to the seventh schedule of the Constitution and to 53 articles of the Constitution.

Basic Structure and Evolution of the Consitution

Most famous case: Kesavananda Bharati

• It has set specific limits to the Parliament’s power to amend the Constitution.

• It says that no amendment can violate the basic structure of the Constitution.

• It allows the Parliament to amend any and all parts of the Constitution (within this limitation).

• It places the Judiciary as the final authority in deciding if an amendment violates basic structure and what constitutes the basic structure.

The theory of basic structure

• There is no mention of this theory in the Constitution.

• It has emerged from judicial interpretation.

• The Judiciary and its interpretation have practically amended the Constitution without a formal amendment.

Examples of how judicial interpretation changed our understanding of the Constitution.

• Reservations in jobs and educational institutions cannot exceed fifty per cent of the total seats.

• Reservations for other backward classes, the Supreme Court introduced the idea of creamy layer and ruled that persons belonging to this category were not entitled to benefits under reservations.

• The Judiciary has contributed to an informal amendment by interpreting various provisions concerning right to education, right to life and liberty and the right to form and manage minority educational institutions.

Parliamentary Democracy

• In a parliamentary democracy, the Parliament represents the people and therefore, it is expected

to have an upper hand over both Executive and Judiciary.

• At the same time, there is the text of the Constitution and it has given powers to other organs of

the government.

• Therefore, the supremacy of the Parliament has to operate within this framework.

• Democracy is not only about votes and people’s representation.

• It is also about the principle of rule of law.

• Democracy is also about developing institutions and working through these institutions.

All the political institutions must be responsible to the people and maintain a balance with each other.

Class 11 Political Science Notes Chapter 8 Local Governments

• Local government is the government at the village and district level involving the day- to-day life and problems of ordinary citizens.
• Local government ensures people’s participation in the meaningful manner to run the administration.
• The development at any place can be done through the cooperation of the people living at that particular place only.
• Earlier the self-governing village communities existed in the form of ‘Sabhas’ (Village assemblies) and later on it was converted into ‘Village Panchayat’ (an assembly of five members)
• Under the Government of India Act 1979, Village Panchayats were established in a number of provinces and continued after the Government of India Act, 1935.
• During India’s freedom movement, Mahatma Gandhi strongly pleaded for decentralization of economic and political power to ensure local involvement to be successful.
• The Central or State Governments cannot tackle the problems faced by people in such a large country, hence the involvement of local authorities was felt to sort out the local problems known as local self-government.
• Local self-government manages the local affairs by the representatives who knows the best about local needs and aspiration of people.
• In the big cities of India like Delhi, Mumbai, the Municipal Corporation look after the interests of the people and in small cities, Municipal Committees look after the interest of the people.
• In 1882, the Viceroy of India, Lord Ripon, created the local boards in the form of local government.
• In 1992, the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments were passed by the parliament.
• The 73rd amendment is about rural local governments known as PanchayoU Raj institutions, it demarcated the levels of Panchayati Raj in Gram Panchayat the base, Iviandal (Block) intermediary and the Zila Panchayat apex.
• The 73rd amendment included the three tier structure (mentioned above), elections at every regular interval of five years, reservations for SC’s, ST’s and OBC’s and 29 subjects from state list in eleventh schedule of constitution were transferred to Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI).
• The 74th Amendment dealt with the Urban local bodies or Nagarpalikas. This is a repetition of the 73rd amendment except that it applies to the Urban areas only.
• Sometimes, the formation of the local bodies is criticized on the ground not to change the way in which decisions are taken at the central and state level and the people at the local level do not enjoy much power of choosing allocation of resources.
• The dependence of local bodies on the state governments and Central Government for financial support has greatly eroded their capacity to operate effectively.

Class 11 Political Science Notes Chapter 7 Federalism

• Federalism is a distribution or share of power or an institutional mechanism to accommodate two sets of politics one at the regional level and the other at the national level.
• A culture of trust, cooperation, mutual respect and restraint helps federation to function smoothly.
• Federation is an instrument to bind various states into one bond, i.e. it appeals unity in diversity.
• The constitution of India has made provisions for unitary and federal forms of government.
• The one government is created for the entire nation, i.e. national government and other for each unit known as the state government.
• The federal features of constitution are written constitution, partly rigid and partly flexible, Division of powers between the central and state governments and Bicameral Legislature.
• The constitution of India has provided the division of power on the basis of matters and lists of the subjects, i.e. the union list, the state list and the concurrent list.
• On the subjects of union list, the central government enjoys the power to pass the laws and the subjects are of national importance, i.e. defense of the country, foreign affair, currency, etc.
• The state government can legislate the laws on the subjects in the state list which are important for a state, i.e. police, local government, to maintain law and order, etc.
• On concurrent list, both the central and state governments can legislate laws which include education, marriage, divorce, economic planning, etc.
• The relationship between the center and state can be classified into the legislative, administrative and financial relation.
• The finance commission of India is an independent commission created by the constitution of India, to make recommendations on the distribution of finances between the center and the states.
• The most extra-ordinary feature of federal arrangements created in India is that many states get a differential treatment, i.e. Jammu and Kashmir where the central government enjoys only limited powers and other powers listed in the union list and concurrent list can be used only with the consent of state government. (Art. 370)
• Division of powers in the constitution of India has been referred as follows:
  • Union list-Defense, Atomic Energy, Foreign Affairs, War and Peace, Banking, Railways, Post and Telegraph, Airways,  Ports, Foreign Trade, Currency and Coinage to be made laws by union legislature only.
  • State list-Agriculture, Police, Prison, Local Government, Public health, Land, Liquor, Trade and Commerce, Livestock  and Animal Husbandry, State public services to be made laws by the State legislature.
  • Concurrent list-Education, Transfer of property other than Agricultural land, Forests, Trade unions, Adulteration, Adoption and succession to be made laws by both the union and State legislature.
  • Residuary powers include all other matters not mentioned in any of the lists,
    i. e. Cyber law, hence, union legislature alone has power to legislate laws on such matters.
• The Indian constitution has created a strong central government to handle the social-economic problems of the counting in cooperation with the state governments.
• Many states as well as the political parties have demanded that states should have more autonomy.
•  The role of governor has always been a controversial issue between the central and state governments especially when two different parties are in power at the centre and the state, his role becomes more controversial.
• There are the disputes when states demand more autonomy from the centre and on the issues like share in revenue resources as well as disputes have been arisen between two states and among more than two states.
• The constitution has some special provisions for some states given their peculiar social and historical circumstances,
  i.e. the eastern states like Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, etc.

Class 11 Political Science Notes Chapter 6 Judiciary

• Judiciary is an independent body to settle down the disputes arisen between the individuals or groups or government on the basis of the rule of law.
• The rule of laws ensures supremacy of law which safeguards the rights of individuals, settles disputes and ensures that democracy does not give way to individual or group dictatorship.
• A judiciary should be independent means executive or legislature should not interfere either in the functioning or decisions of the judiciary as well as judges could perform their duties without any fear or favour.
• The constitution of India has the provision for single integrated judicial system.
• The provisions for Supreme Court of India have been made consisting a Chief Justice and 25 other judges.
• The judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President after consultation with such of judges of the Supreme Court and of the high courts in the states as the President may deem necessary for the purpose.
• The judges of the Supreme Court holds the office till the age of 65 years.
• The judges’ salaries (Supreme Court) are determined by the Parliament by law, which are specified in the second schedule.
• A judge of the Supreme Court or the high court can be removed only on the ground of misbehaviour or incapacity. If some charges are imposed against the judges, it must be approved by special majority in both the houses.
• When the office of Chief Justice falls vacant, the duties may be performed by the other judge of the same category to whom the President may appoint for the same purpose.
• Supreme Court exercises its jurisdiction in the form of Original, Writ, Appellate, Advisory and Special Powers.
  • Original: To settle disputes between the union and the states and among states.
  • Writ: Can issue constitutional writs to protect fundamental rights of the people.
  • Appellate: Tries appeals in civil, criminal and constitutional cases.
  • Advisory: Advises the President on the matters of public importance and law.
  • Special powers: Can grant special leave to an appeal from any judgement or matter passed by any court in the territory  of India.
• The decisions of Supreme Court are binding on all courts. It can transfer the judges of high courts, can move cases from any court to itself or can transfer cases from one high court to another.
• High court hears appeals from lower courts, can issue writs to resort fundamental rights, can deal with the cases within jurisdiction of the states and exercise control and superintendence over its subordinate courts.
• District court deals with the cases arising in the district, consider Appeals on decisions given by lower courts and decides cases involving serious criminal offences.
• Subordinate courts to Supreme Court and high courts consider cases of civic and criminal nature.
• The Supreme Court is considered as the guardian of the constitution.
• Judicial review stands for the power of the Supreme Court to examine the constitutionality of any law.
• Public Interest Litigation or Social Action Litigation is to hear cases where case is not filed by aggrieved person but by others on their behalf or consideration of an issue of public interest.

Important terms:

• PIL or SAL: Public Interest Litigation or Social Action Litigation.
• Lok Adalats: The popular courts to decide cases at quicker speed.
• Original Jurisdiction: A power granted to a court to hear cases in first instance.
• Appellate Jurisdiction: A power granted to a higher court to hear appeals against judgement of lower court.
• Election Petition: To request to a court to reconsider the fairness of election’s results.

Class 11 Political Science Notes Chapter 5 Legislature

• In India, the parliamentary form of government is adopted at the centre by adopting bicameral legislature.
• The legislature helps people in holding the representatives accountable.
• In India, there are two houses of parliament Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
• The Lower House of Parliament is called the Lok Sabha which consists of 545 members.
• The members of the Lok Sabha are called Members of Parliament (MPs), who are elected on the basis of universal adult franchise.
• Two Anglo-Indians are nominated by the president if he feels that Anglo-Indians have not been represented suitably in the parliament.
• The Lok Sabha has a speaker who presides over its session.
• The Upper House of Parliament is called the Rajya Sabha having 250 members out of which 238 are elected by State Legislative Assemblies and 12 members are nominated by the President.
• The Vice President of India is the ex-office Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha.
• The Lok Sabha enjoys the powers of making laws, to enact Money or non-Money Bills, approves taxation, budgets and annual financial statement, amends constitution, etc.
• Rajya Sabha enjoys the powers to suggest amendments to Money Bills, exercise control over executives and can give power to make laws on matters included in the state list.
• The Parliament uses the various devices to have a parliamentary control over its executives as financial control, deliberation and discussion, approval or refusal of laws and no confidence motion, etc.

Important terms:

• Bill: A bill is a draft of the proposed law, which can be of different types.
• Defection: If a member remains absent in the House, when asked by the party leadership to remain present or votes against the instructions of the party or voluntarily leaves the membership of the party.
• Budget: It is the detail of income and expenditure of a country’s income from taxes and how it will be spent, i.e. on annual government statement.
• Deadlocks: A statement in mutual negotiations.
• Ordinance: An order, rule of law made by government or authority who is entitled for the same.
• Question Hour: A period of time to put up with the questions by members of parliament to the ministers.
• Zero hour: It starts at twelve noon immediately after the question hour.

Class 11 Political Science Notes Chapter 4 Executive

• In a democracy, the Government is divided into three organs:
  • The Legislative
  • The Executive
  • The Judiciary
•  The legislature and the executive are interdependent in a parliamentary system. The legislature frames the laws and the executive enforces them to run the administration.
• In such a manner, the legislature controls the executive and in turn it is controlled by the executive.
• Different types of executives are Parliamentary, Semi-Presidential, Presidential, Monarchical or Ceremonial, etc.
• A distinction can be made between the parliamentary and the presidential executives.
• In a parliamentary system, the real head of executive is the Prime Minister and the President is the nominal head.
• The Prime Minister is assisted by the Council of Ministers and advises the President.
• The President enjoys the right to be informed of all important matters and functioning of the council of ministers.
• The Vice President is the ex-office Chairman of Rajya Sabha and acts for the President when the office of the President falls vacant.
• The council of minister is responsible collectively to the house of the people and it shall not exceed 15% of total number of members of the house of the people.
• The President appoints the Prime Minister who is the leader of the majority party in the Lok Sabha.
• The executive, thus, includes the Prime Minister, the ministers and large administrative machinery. 13. The bureaucrats implement the decisions of ministers.
• These bureaucrats are skilled and trained officers who work as a permanent employees of the government and assist the government in formulating and implementing the policies.

Important terms:

• Electorate: The people who elect the representatives using votes.
• Constituency: An area comes under parliament and a member is elected from there.
• Components: Parts or organs
• Insolvent: The one who is unable to pay one’s debts.
• Harmonious: Balanced.
• Tenure: A fixed period of office.
• Impeachment: An act of officially accusing for a serious crime or offence.
• Minimum Wages Act, 1948: An Act to provide for fixing minimum rates of wages in certain employment.
• Nominate: To propose formally that somebody should be chosen for a position, an office, etc.

Class 11 Political Science Notes Chapter 3 Election and Representation

• The modem period is considered as the age of democracy where participation of people ensured at every level of government. In the words of Abraham Lincoln. “Democracy the government of the people, for the people and by the people”.
• mocracy can be classified into two types, i.e. Direct Democracy and Indirect Democracy.
• ancient times, the direct democracy was prominent due to small sizes of kingdoms but , iow the states are vast alongwith higher population.
• In an indirect democracy, the people do not participate directly but they participate indirectly through their elected representatives who act in accordance with the wishes of the people.
• Indian Electoral System experiences some unique features as Universal Adult Franchise, Joint Electorate, Combination of direct and indirect elections, secret Ballot system, Election petition, etc.
• By Universal Adult Franchise, we mean every person above the age of maturity (18 years and above) is entitled to enjoy the right to vote in elections irrespective of caste, creed , colour, race, language, religion, etc.
• The age of attaining maturity is fixed by the state. In India, England and Russia, it is 18 years, in Switzerland 20 years and in America 21 years and in Norway it is 23 years.
• Adult franchise has many merits. It provides political training and education as well as creates the feelings of self-respect among the people. It ensures participation of people in governance.
• The constitution of India appoints our Election Commission also to perform election related activities, i.e. to prepare voters’ list, provide recognition to political parties, declares constituencies and control over the machinery of election.
• The election process begins with the election notification issued by the president under section 14 of the People’s Representation Act, 1951, which is followed by the announcement of election dates by the Election Commission.
• Though Election Commission performs its duties very well, despite the following discrepancies have been observed during elections:
  • Use of money and use of power by candidates has become dominant.
  • In actual, voters do not create much interest in the elections.
  • Misuse of public funds and facilities.
  • Even the candidate less than majority of votes becomes victorious.
• The following suggestions might be there to remove the drawbacks mentioned above:
  • To control money and muscle power
  • The participation of women should be encouraged.
  • The persons from criminal background should be prohibited.
  • During election campaign, the candidates should not use words related to any caste, religion, language, etc.

Important terms:

• First Past the Post System (FPTP): In this system whoever has more votes than all other candidates is declared elected.
• Proportional Representation (PR): Large geographical areas are demarcated as constituencies.
• Universal Adult Franchise: Every person above the age of maturity enjoys the right to vote without any discrimination.
• Democracy: A rule or government of the people, for the people and by the people.

Class 11 Political Science Notes Chapter 2 Rights and Duties in the Indian Constitution

• Rights are the favorable conditions and guarantees to be provided by a state to its citizens to live up a dignified life.
• These rights can be categorized as Social Rights, Political Rights and Fundamental Rights to procure equality, liberty and social justice into society.
• Fundamental Rights are specially protected to ensure that they are not violated even by the government. Because these are protected by the constitution of the country.
• There are 6 Fundamental Rights guaranteed by Indian Constitution to its citizens:
  • Right to Equality
  • Right to Freedom
  • Right to Freedom of Religion
  • Right against Exploitation
  • Cultural and Educational Rights
  • Right to Constitutional Remedies
• Fundamental Rights except the Right to Life and personal liberty may be suspended only during the emergencies like foreign attacks or internal disturbances.
• South African Constitution grants most extensive range of rights to its citizens including even right to dignity, privacy, fair labour practices, healthy environment, adequate housing, information, etc.
• Indian Constitution contains Directive Principles of State Policy also to establish a welfare state along with the Fundamental Rights.
• The judiciary has the power to enforce the Fundamental Rights but the Directive Principles of State are not enforceable by law.
• By the 42nd amendment, in 1976, the Fundamental Duties have also been inserted which are ten in numbers to defend our country, promote harmony and protect the environment.
• The inclusion of fundamental duties has not changed the status of our fundamental rights.

Important terms:

• Rights: These are guarantees to citizens to live up a social life in a dignified manner.
• Duties: A performance towards others or society to enjoy rights.
• Constitutional Remedies: Protective arrangements to citizens by the Constitution against any exploitation.
• Exploitation: The act of doing injustice with others in any manner.
• Begar: A forced labour without payment.
• Minorities: These are the groups having common language or religion and in a particular part of the country or in a country as a whole, these are out-numbered by some other social sections.
• Marginalized Communities: Communities left ignored like Dalits, OBCs, Weaker sections,, etc.

Notes of Ch 1 Constitution: Why and How? | Class 11th Political Science

What is a Constitution?

• A constitution is a body of fundamental principles according to which a state is constituted or governed. 

Why do we need a Constitution?

• We need a constitution to provide a set of basic rules that allow for minimal coordination amongst members of a society which are legally enforceable.

Who can decide which rules are the best to suite for a society?

• The constitution specifies the basic allocation of power in a society.

• It decides who gets to decide what the laws will be.

• In the Indian Constitution, it is specified that in most instances, Parliament gets to decide laws and policies, and that Parliament itself be organized in a particular manner.

Functions of Constitution:

• The first function of a constitution is to provide a set of basic rules that allow for minimal coordination amongst members of a society.

• The second function of a constitution is to specify who has the power to make decisions in a society. It decides how the government will be constituted.

• The third function of a constitution is to set some limits on what a government can impose on its citizens. These limits are fundamental in the sense that government may never trespass them.

• The fourth function of a constitution is to enable the government to fulfil the aspirations of a society and create conditions for a just society.

Fundamental identity of a people:

• Constitution expresses the fundamental identity of a people.

• The people as a collective entity come into being only through the basic constitution. 

• Constitutional norms are the overarching framework within which one pursues individual aspirations, goals and freedoms.

• The constitution sets authoritative constraints upon what one may or may not do.

• It defines the fundamental values that we may not trespass. So the constitution also gives one a moral identity.

• Many basic political and moral values are now shared across different constitutional traditions.

Mode of promulgation

This refers to how a constitution comes into being. Who crafted the constitution and how much authority did they have?

In many countries constitutions remain defunct why?

• Crafted by military leaders
• Leaders who are not popular
• Do not have the ability to carry the people with them.

Why Countries like India, South Africa and the United States are the most successful constitutions?

• Created in the aftermath of popular national movements.

Indian Constitution overview:

• Formally created by a Constituent Assembly between December 1946 and November 1949.

• Drew upon a long history of the nationalist movement that had a remarkable ability to take along different sections of Indian society together.

• Drew enormous legitimacy from the fact that it was drawn up by people who enjoyed:
→ Immense public credibility

→ Who had the capacity to negotiate and command the respect of a wide cross-section of society,
→ Who were able to convince the people that the constitution was not an instrument for the aggrandizement of their personal power.

Provision of the Constitution:

• It gives everyone in society some reason to go along with its provisions.

• Allowed permanent majorities to oppress minority groups within society.

• Systematically privileged some members at the expense of others, or that systematically entrenched the power of small groups in society, would cease to command allegiance.

• The more a constitution preserves the freedom and equality of all its members, the more likely it is to succeed.

Balanced Institutional Design:

• Designing of a constitution is to ensure that no single institution acquires monopoly of power.

• For E.g. The Indian Constitution horizontally fragments power across different institutions like the Legislature, Executive and the Judiciary and even independent statutory bodies like the Election Commission.

• This ensures that even if one institution wants to subvert the Constitution, others can check its transgressions.

• An intelligent system of checks and balances has facilitated the success of the Indian Constitution.

• A constitution must strike the right balance between certain values, norms and procedures as authoritative, and at the same time allow enough flexibility in its operations to adapt to changing needs and circumstances.

• Too rigid a constitution is likely to break under the weight of change; a constitution that is, on the other hand, too flexible, will give no security, predictability or identity to a people.

How was the Indian Constitution made?

• Constitution was made by the Constituent Assembly which had been elected for undivided India.

• First sitting on 9 December 1946 and re-assembled as Constituent Assembly for divided India on 14 August 1947.

• Members were elected by indirect election by the members of the Provisional Legislative Assemblies that had been established in 1935.

• The Constituent Assembly was composed roughly along the lines suggested by the plan proposed by the committee of the British cabinet, known as the Cabinet Mission.

According to Cabinet Mission Plan:

• Each Province and each Princely State or group of States were allotted seats proportional to their respective population roughly in the ratio of 1:10,00,000.

• The seats in each Province were distributed among the three main communities, Muslims, Sikhs and General, in proportion to their respective populations.

• Members of each community in the Provisional Legislative Assembly elected their own representatives by the method of proportional representation with single transferable vote.

• The method of selection in the case of representatives of Princely States was to be determined by consultation.

Procedures

• The Constituent Assembly had eight major Committees on different subjects. Usually, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel, Maulana Azad or Ambedkar chaired these Committees.

• Each Committee usually drafted particular provisions of the Constitution which were then subjected to debate by the entire Assembly. ✓ Some provisions were subject to the vote.

• An Assembly as diverse as the Constituent Assembly of India could not have functioned if there was no background consensus on the main principles the Constitution should enshrine.

Objective Resolutions

• It defined the aims of the Assembly.

• Moved by Nehru in 1946.

• This resolution encapsulated the aspirations and values behind the Constitution. Based on this resolution, our Constitution gave institutional expression to these fundamental commitments: equality, liberty, democracy, sovereignty and a cosmopolitan identity.

Main points of the Obiectives Resolution

• India is an independent, sovereign, republic.

• India shall be a Union of erstwhile British Indian territories, Indian States, and other parts outside British India and Indian States as are willing to be a part of the Union.

• Territories forming the Union shall be autonomous units and exercise all powers and functions of the Government and administration, except those assigned to or vested in the Union.

• All powers and authority of sovereign and independent India and its constitution shall flow from the people.

• All people of India shall be guaranteed and secured social, economic and political justice; equality of status and opportunities and equality before law; and fundamental freedoms – of speech, expression, belief, faith, worship, vocation, association and action – subject to law and public morality.

• The minorities, backward and tribal areas, depressed and other backward classes shall be provided adequate safeguards.

• The territorial integrity of the Republic and its sovereign rights on land, sea and air shall be maintained according to justice and law of civilized nations.

• The land would make full and willing contribution to the promotion of world peace and welfare of mankind.

Institutional arrangements

• The Constituent Assembly spent a lot of time on evolving the right balance among the various institutions like the executive, the legislature and the judiciary.

• Adoption of the parliamentary form and the federal arrangement, which would distribute governmental powers between the legislature and the executive on the one hand and between the States and the central government on the other hand.

Borrowed Constitution

From British Constitution

• Nominal Head – President (like Queen)
• Cabinet System of Ministers
• Post of PM
• Parliamentary Type of Govt.
• Bicameral Parliament
• Lower House more powerful
• Council of Ministers responsible to Lower House
• Speaker in Lok Sabha
• First past the Post
• Law Making Procedure
• The idea of the rule of law

From US Constitution

• Nominal Head – President (like Queen)
• Cabinet System of Ministers
• Post of PM

• Parliamentary Type of Govt.

• Bicameral Parliament
• Lower House more powerful
• Council of Ministers responsible to Lowe House

• Speaker in Lok Sabha

From USSR
• Fundamental Duties
• Five year Plan

• From Australia

• Concurrent list

• Language of the preamble
• Provision regarding trade, commerce and intercourse

From Australia

• Concurrent list

• Language of the preamble
• Provision regarding trade, commerce and intercourse

From Japan

• Law on which the Supreme Court function.

From Weimar Constitution of Germany

• Suspension of Fundamental Rights during the emergency.

From Canada

• Scheme of federation with a strong centre
• Distribution of powers between centre and the states and placing.
• Residuary Powers with the centre

From Ireland

• Concept of Directive Principles of States Policy(Ireland borrowed it from Spain)
• Method of election of President

• Nomination of members in the Rajya Sabha by the President