CONSTITUTIONAL DESIGN (Chapter-3)

Read the following statements about a constitution. Give reasons why each of these is true or not true.

(a) The authority of the rules of the constitution is the same as that of any other law.

(b) Constitution lays down how different organs of the government will be formed.

(c) Rights of citizens and limits on the power of the government are laid down in the constitution.

(d) A constitution is about institutions, not about values.

Read the following extract from a conduct book for ‘married women’, published in 1912. ‘God has made the female species delicate and fragile both physically and emotionally, pitiably incapable of self-defence. They are destined thus by God to remain in male protection − of father, husband and son − all their lives. Women should, therefore, not despair, but feel obliged that they can dedicate themselves to the service of men’. Do you think the values expressed in this para reflected the values underlying our constitution? Or does this go against the constitutional values?

Here are different opinions about what made India a democracy. How much importance would you give to each of these factors?

(a) Democracy in India is a gift of the British rulers. We received training to work with representative legislative institutions under the British rule.

(b) Freedom struggle challenged the colonial exploitation and denial of different freedoms to Indians. Free India could not be anything but democratic.

(c) We are lucky to have leaders who had democratic convictions. The denial of democracy in several other newly independent countries shows the important role of these leaders.

A friend from Nepal has written you a letter describing the political situation there. Many political parties are opposing the rule of the king. Some of them say that the existing constitution given by the monarch can be amended to allow more powers to elected representatives. Others are demanding a new Constituent Assembly to write a republican constitution. Reply to your friend giving your opinions on the subject.

Here are some of the guiding values of the Constitution and their meaning. Rewrite them by matching them correctly.

Read again the extracts from Nehru's speech “Tryst with Destiny” and answer the following:

(a) Why did Nehru use the expression “not wholly or in full measure” in the first sentence?

(b) What pledge did he want the makers of the Indian Constitution to take?

(c) “The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye”. Who was he referring to?

Match the following leaders with their roles in the making of the Constitution:

Which of these is a provision that a democratic constitution does not have?

(a) Powers of the head of the state

(b) Name of the head of the state

(c) Powers of the legislature

(d) Name of the country

Which of these was the most salient underlying conflict in the making of a democratic constitution in South Africa?

(a) Between South Africa and its neighbours

(b) Between men and women

(c) Between the white majority and the black minority

(d) Between the coloured minority and the black majority

Here are some false statements. Identify the mistake in each case and rewrite these correctly based on what you have read in this chapter.

(a) Leaders of the freedom movement had an open mind about whether the country should be democratic or not after independence.

(b) Members of the Constituent Assembly of India held the same views on all provisions of the Constitution.

(c) A country that has a constitution must be a democracy.

(d) Constitution cannot be amended because it is the supreme law of a country.