Notes of political constitution 1th constitution : why and how ?
Answers
Features of a Constitution
A constitution is a set of basic rules that allows for minimal coordination amongst members of a society and expresses the fundamental identity of people.
It is a body of fundamental principles according to which a state is constituted or governed.
A constitution specifies the power of people to make decisions in a society.
It decides on how the government would be constituted.
Constitution also sets some fundamental limits on what a government can impose on its citizens and which cannot be trespassed.
A constitution enables the government to fulfil the aspirations of a society and create conditions for a just society
. • Constitutions are not only rules and regulations that control the powers of the government. Theylalso give powers to the government for pursuing the collective good of the society.
This means that people as a collective entity come into being only through the basic constitution.
It is by agreeing to a basic set of norms about how one should be governed, and who should be governed that one forms a collective identity.
Constitutional norms are the overarching framework within which one pursues individual aspirations, goals and freedoms.
it also may be the case that many basic political and moral values are shared across different constitutional traditions.
Most modern constitutions create a form of government that is democratic in some respects, most claim to protect certain basic rights.
Factors Leading to an Effective Constitution
Mode of Promulgation—The authority of people who enact the constitution help determine in part its prospects for success.
The Substantive Provisions of Constitution—A successful constitution has provisions for all members of the society and carries every section along with it.
Balanced Institutional Design—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.
:• Making of the Indian Constitution
The Indian Constitution was made by the Constituent Assembly which had been elected for undivided India.
It held its first sitting on 9th December, 1946 and re-assembled as Constituent Assembly for divided India on 14th August, 1957.
Its members were indirectly elected 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.
:• Constituent Assembly—Composition
As a consequence of the partition under the plan of 3s June 1947 those members who were elected from territories which fell under Pakistan ceased to be members of the Constituent Assembly.
The numbers in the Assembly were reduced to 299 of which 284 were actually present on 26th November 1949 and appended their signature to the Constitution as finally passed.
In terms of political parties, the Congress dominated the Assembly occupying as many as eighty-two per cent of the seats in the assembly after the Partition.
❖ The Principle of Deliberation
The Constituent Assembly adopted to frame the Constitution and the values its members brought to their deliberations.
While in any assembly that claims to be representative, it is desirable that diverse sections of society participate, it is equally important that they participate not only as representatives of their own identity or community.
The Constitution drew its authority from the fact that members of the Constituent Assembly engaged in public reason.
The members of the Assembly placed a great emphasis on discussion and reasoned arguments.
❖ Procedures
The importance of public reason was emphasised in the mundane procedures of the Assembly.
The Constituent Assembly had eight major Committees on different subjects.
Each committee usually drafted particular provisions of the Constitution which were then subjected to debate by the entire Assembly.
The Assembly met for one hundred and sixty six days, spread over two years and eleven months.
Its sessions were open to the press and the public.
e• Inheritance of the Nationalist Movement
The Constituent Assembly gave a concrete shape and form to the principles it had inherited from the nationalist movement.
The Objectives Resolution that was passed in 1946 defined the aims of the Constituent Assembly.
The Indian Constitution gave institutional expression to fundamental commitments of equality, liberty, democracy, sovereignty and a cosmopolitan identity.
Institutional Arrangements
The basic principle of a democratic government that should be committed to the welfare of the people led to the adoption of parliamentary form and federal arrangement, which would distribute governmental powers between the legislature and executive on hand and between the States and central government on the other hand.
The Constitution also sought to evolve a right ba