What is a Constitution? Why is it necessary for the constitution to ensure that the
government takes opinion of both majority and minority in taking decisions?
Answers
Answer:
Constitutions are needed not only to limit wielders of existing power but to empower those traditionally deprived of it
The recent judgment by the Supreme Court clarifying the respective jurisdictions of Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor and its elected representatives and specifying the limits of their powers once again underlies how fortunate we are to have the Constitution. Why should gratitude be expressed for living under a constitutional democracy? Why do we need a Constitution?
Since an individual’s own personal power is severely limited, nothing valuable can be attained without the collective effort of individuals. A boulder cannot move a centimetre if one individual pushes it, but when pushed by dozens it goes places. Most human goods — health, education, infrastructure, peace and harmony, economic growth, leisure and enjoyment, art and literature, narratives of self-understanding and collective heritage — are realised by assembling power. However, once constituted, this indispensable collective power to do or achieve things can be used not to realise the collective good but for one’s own exclusive advantage, to secure things only for oneself. This can be done by forcing others to do what they would not otherwise do, to get them to act against their will, for one’s own benefit.