Constitutional Design Ix

SALWAN PUBLIC SCHOOL, GURUGRAM
SESSION 2024-25
CLASS- IX
Political Science Chapter 2: Constitutional Design
{Chapter Notes}
What is the Constitution?
There are certain basic rules that the citizens and the government have to follow. All such rules
together are called constitution. As the supreme law of the country, the constitution determines
the rights of citizens, the powers of the government and how the government should function.
Why Do We Need the Constitution?

The constitution of a country is a set of written rules that are accepted by all people living
together in a country. The Constitution is the supreme law that determines the relationship
among people living in a territory (called citizens) and also the relationship between the people
and government. A constitution does many things:
(i) It generates a degree of trust and coordination that is necessary for different kind of people
to live together;
(ii) It specifies how the government will be constituted, who will have power to take which
decisions;
(iii) It lays down limits on the powers of the government and tells us what the rights of the
citizens are; and
(iv) It expresses the aspirations of the people about creating a good society.
Do you know?
All countries that have constitutions are not necessarily democratic. But all countries that are
democratic will have constitutions. After the War of Independence against Great Britain, the
Americans gave themselves a constitution. After the Revolution, the French people approved
a democratic constitution. Since then it has become a practice in all democracies to have a
written constitution.
Making of the Indian Constitution
The making of the constitution for a huge and diverse country like India was not an easy affair.
At that time the people of India were emerging from the status of subjects to that of citizens.
The country was born through a partition on the basis of religious differences. This was a
traumatic experience for the people of India and Pakistan.
There was another problem. The British had left it to the rulers of the princely states to decide
whether they wanted to merge with India or with Pakistan or remain independent. The merger
of these princely states was a difficult and uncertain task.
The Path to Constitution

✓ In 1928, Motilal Nehru and eight other Congress leaders drafted a constitution for India.
In 1931, the resolution at the Karachi session of the Indian National Congress dwelt on
how independent India’s constitution should look like. Both these documents were
committed to:
✓ Inclusion of universal adult franchise,
✓ Right to freedom and equality
✓ Protecting the rights of minorities in the constitution of independent India.
✓ Thus some basic values were accepted by all leaders much before the Constituent
Assembly met to deliberate on the Constitution. The familiarity with political
institutions of colonial rule also helped develop an agreement over the institutional
design.
✓ The Indian constitution adopted many institutional details and procedures from colonial
laws like the Government of India Act, 1935.
The Constituent Assembly
The drafting of the document called the constitution was done by an assembly of elected
representatives called the Constituent Assembly.
Elections to the Constituent Assembly were held in July 1946. Its first meeting was held
in December 1946. Soon after, the country was divided into India and Pakistan.
The Constituent Assembly was also divided into the Constituent Assembly of India and
that of Pakistan.
The Constituent Assembly that wrote the Indian constitution had 299 members. The
Assembly adopted the Constitution on 26th November 1949 but it came into effect on
26th January 1950. To mark this day we celebrate January 26 as Republic Day every
year.
Why should we accept the Constitution made by this Assembly more than six decades
ago?
The Constitution does not reflect the views of its members alone. It expresses a broad
consensus of its time.
The Constituent Assembly represented the people of India. There was no universal adult
franchise at that time. So the Constituent Assembly was elected mainly by the members
of the existing Provincial Legislatures. This ensured a fair geographical share of
members from all the regions of the country.
The manner in which the Constituent Assembly worked gives sanctity to the
Constitution. The Constituent Assembly worked in a systematic, open and consensual
manner.
Philosophy of the Constitution
Values that inspired and guided the freedom struggle and were in turn nurtured by it, formed
the foundation for India’s democracy. These values are embedded in the Preamble of the Indian
Constitution.
Preamble
The Constitution begins with a short statement of its basic values. This is called the Preamble
to the constitution. Taking inspiration from the American model, most countries in the
contemporary world have chosen to begin their constitutions with a preamble.
The Preamble contains the philosophy on which the entire Constitution has been built. It
provides a standard to examine and evaluate any law and action of the government, to find out
whether it is good or bad. It is the soul of the Indian Constitution.
WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA : The constitution has been drawn up and enacted by the
people through their representatives, and not handed down to them by a king or any outside
powers.
SOVEREIGN: People have supreme right to make decisions on internal as well as external
matters. No external power can dictate the government of India.
SOCIALIST : Wealth is generated socially and should be shared equally by society.
Government should regulate the ownership of land and industry to reduce socio-economic
inequalities.
SECULAR: Citizens have complete freedom to follow any religion. But there is no official
religion. Government treats all religious beliefs and practices with equal respect.
DEMOCRATIC: A form of government where people enjoy equal political rights, elect their
rulers and hold them accountable. The government is run according to some basic rules.
REPUBLIC: The head of the state is an elected person and not a hereditary position.
JUSTICE: Citizens cannot be discriminated on the grounds of caste, religion and gender.
Social inequalities have to be reduced. Government should work for the welfare of all,
especially of the disadvantaged groups.
LIBERTY: There are no unreasonable restrictions on the citizens in what they think, how they
wish to express their thoughts and the way they wish to follow up their thoughts in action.
EQUALITY: All are equal before the law. The traditional social inequalities have to be ended.
The government should ensure equal opportunity for all.
FRATERNITY: All of us should behave as if we are members of the same family. No one
should treat a fellow citizen as inferior.
Q1. The South African Constitution inspires democrats all over the world’. Justify the
statement.
Answer: After two years of discussion and debate the Constitution of South Africa was
produced. It gave its citizens the most extensive rights available in any country. The
Constitution writers included everybody, no one has treated differently whatever they have
done in the past. So all communities sat down together to transform the bitter experience into
a binding glue of a rainbow nation. They wanted to solve the problems of the country
collectively. The Constitution was based on social equality and justice. Thus the Constitution
inspires democrats all over the world.
Q2. What is a Constitution? Why do we need a Constitution? Give any five reasons. Or Why
do we need a Constitution in a democracy? Explain any three reasons. Or What is a
Constitution? Why do we need a Constitution? Give any four reasons.
Answer: The Constitution of a country is a set of written rules that are accepted by all people
living together in a country. Constitution is the supreme law that determines the relationship
among people living in a territory (called citizens) and also the relationship between the people
and government. We need a Constitution because
(i) It generates a degree of trust and coordination that is necessary for different kind of people
to live together.
(ii) It specifies how the government will be constituted, who will have power to take which
decisions.
(iii) It lays down limits on the powers of the government and tells us what the rights of the
citizens are.
(iv) It expresses the aspirations of the people about creating a good society.
(v) Indian Constitution safe guards the interests of minority, OBC, poor and weaker section of
our society. It gives universal adult franchise to all and establishes equality for all.
Q3. “The manner in which the Constituent Assembly worked gives sanctity to the constitution
of India. “Justify the statement with three arguments.
Answer: The manner in which the Constituent Assembly worked gives sanctity to the
Constitution. This statement can be justified by following points
(i) It worked in a systematic, open and consensual manner.
(ii) First some basic principles were decided and agreed upon and a draft of Constitution was
prepared.
(iii) Several rounds of thorough discussion took place, clause by clause.
(iv) More than two thousands amendments were considered.
(v) Every document presented and every word spoken in the Constituent Assembly was
recorded and preserved. These ‘Constituent Assembly Debates, were printed in 12 volumes.
Q4.

Constitutional Design Ix

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Constitutional Design Ix

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Constitutional Design Ix

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

SALWAN PUBLIC SCHOOL, GURUGRAM

Why Do We Need the Constitution?

The Path to Constitution

You might also like