CBSE Class 9 Social Science Constitutional Design Notes

CONSTITUTIONAL DESIGN

DEMOCRATIC CONSTITUTION IN SOUTH AFRICA

(a) Struggle against Apartheid :

Apartheid referred to the policy of discrimination an the basis of race as practiced by the government of South Africa. The main features of this policy were as follows:

All people were classified and separated on the basis of race.

Each group had to live in a separate area.

There were separate schools and universities, separate shopping centers, separate coaches in trains. Marriage between persons belonging to two races was a criminal offence. There were restriction on movement from one place to another. Non-whites had no votes. They had no say in the governance of the country. in short, the policy of apartheid human denied human rights and rendered the government of South Africa as among the most oppressive regimes in the world in the 20^th century.

(b) The end of the Policy of Apartheid:

In 1910 the African National Congress was formed which aimed at establishing a non-racial democratic South Africa. The movement was intensified in the 1950s. In 1960s, the African National Congress was banned. The African National Congress organized its own army to fight against the racial regime. The UN condemned the policy of South Africa. In the 1980s some western countries imposed sanctions against South Africa. by the end of the 1980s the international isolation of the government of South Africa was complete. With it began the process of ending the apartheid. The ban on the Africa National Congress was lifted and it leaders released. Negotiations began between the African National Congress s and South Africa government for framing a new constitution which would give all South Africans the right to vote. In April 1994, elections were held in South Africa as per the new provisions. The African National Congress won with a thumping majority and formed a non-racial democratic government. Finally, at the midnight of 26 April 1994, the new national flag of the Republic of South Africa was unfurled making the newly born democracy in the world.

(c) Towards a new Constitution:

The party that had ruled through oppression and brutal killings and the party that led the freedom struggle sat together to draw up a common constitution. One of the finest constitutions the world has ever had. It gave to its citizens the most extensive rights available in any country. The Constitution makes it clear that in the search for a solution to the problems, nobody should be excluded, no one should be treated as a demon, everybody should become part of the solution, whatever they might have done or represented in the past. The South African constitution inspires democrats all over the world. a state denounced by the entire world till recently as the most undemocratic one is now seen as a model of democracy.

(d) Nelson Mandela- Gandhi of South Africa:

Nelson Mandela was one of the most able, efficient and far-sighted leaders of the African national Congress. It was under his leadership that the struggle against apartheid reached its climax. Due to participation in the movement against apartheid he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964. He spent the next 28 years in prison. In the 90s due to activities of the African National Congress and the support it got from other countries of the world, South African regime was completely isolated from the world. In order to create a favourable atmosphere Nelson Mandela was released in 1990. In 199 the first democratic elections were held and Nelson Mandela was elected the President of South Africa. 

WHY DO WE NEED A CONSTITUTION?

A 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. a constitution does many things :

(i) First, it generates a degree of trust and coordination that is necessary for different kind of people to live together;

(ii) Second, it specifies how the government will be constituted, who will have power to take which decisions;

(iii) Third, it lays down limits on the powers of the government and tells us what the rights of the citizens are;

(iv) Fourth, it expresses the aspirations of the people about creating a good society.

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 INDIAN CONSTITUTION

The making of the constitution for a huge and diverse country like India was not an easy affair.

(i) The people of India were emerging from the status of subjects to that of citizens.

(ii) The country was born through a partition on the basis of religious differences. Atleast ten lakh people were killed on both sides of the border in partition related violence.

(iii) The British had left it to the rulers of the princely states to decide whether they wanted to merge with Indian or with Pakistan or remain independent. The merger of these princely states was difficult and uncertain task.

(iv) When the constitution was being written, the makers of the constitution had anxieties about the present and the future of the country.

(a) The path to constitution:

(i) Our national movement was not merely a struggle against a foreign rule. It was also a struggle to rejuvenate our country and to transform our society and politics.

(ii) The familiarity with political institutions of colonial rule also helped develop an agreement over the institutional design. the experience gained by Indians in the working of the legislative institutions proved to be very useful for the country in setting up its own institutions.

(iii) Many of our leaders were inspired by the ideals of French Revolutions, the practice of  Parliamentary democracy in Britain and Bill of Rights in USA. So they incorporated some good points of the Constitution of these in the Indian Constitution.

(iv) They also got inspiration from the Constitution drafted by Moti Lal Nehru and eight other Congress leaders in 1928, and the outlines of the Indian Constitution prepared by the Indian National Congress at its Karachi session in 1931.

(b) The Constituent Assembly:

The Constitution of India was framed by a Constituent Assembly set up under the Cabinet Mission Plan, 1946. The assembly consisted of 389 members representing provinces (292), states (93), the chief commissioner provinces (3) and Baluchistan (1). The assembly held its first meeting on December 6, 1946. It elected Dr. Rajendra Prasad as its Chairman. 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 India Constitution had 299 members. The Assembly adopted the Constitution on 26 November 1949 but it came into effect on January 26, 1950. to mark this day we celebrate January 26 as Republic Day every year.

(c) Why should we accept the Constitution made by the Constituent Assembly more than 50 years ago?

(i) The Constitution does not reflect the views of its members alone. it expresses a broad consensus of its time. Many countries of the world have had to rewrite their constitution afresh because the basic rules were not accepted to all major social groups or political parties. In some other countries, the Constitution exists as a mere piece of paper. No one actually follows it. The experience of our constitution is different. Over the last half a century, several groups have questioned some provisions of the Constitution. But no large social group or political party has ever questioned the legitimacy of the Constitution itself. This is an unusual achievement for any constitution.

(ii) The Constituent Assembly represented the people of India. There was no universal adult franchise at that time. So the Constituent assembly could not have been chosen directly by all the people of India. It 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 Assembly represented members from different language groups, castes, classes, religions and occupations.

(iii) The manner in which the Constituent Assembly worked gives sanctity to the Constitution. The Constituent Assembly worked in a systematic, open and consensual manner. First some basic principles were decided and agreed upon. Then a Drafting Committee chaired by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar prepared a draft constitution for discussion. Several rounds of through discussion took place on the Draft Constitution, clause by clause. More than two thousand amendments were considered. Every document presented and every word spoken in the Constituent assembly has been recorded and preserved. These are called ‘Constituent Assembly Debats’. When printed, these debates are 12 bulky volumes! These debates provide the rationale behind every provision of the Constitution. These are used to interpret the meaning of the Constitution.

(d) Indian Constitution: A Living Document:                                  

Those who crafted the Indian Constitution felt that it has to be in accordace with people’s aspirations and changes in society. They did not see it as a sacred, static and unalterable law. So, they made provisions to incorporate changes from time to time. These changes are called constitutional amendments. Till date 104 amendments have been made in the constitution. Te amendment procedure provided in the constitution is as follows. There are three categories of amendments:

(i)  In the first category, amendments can be done by simple majority of members present and voting before sending it for the President’s assent.

(ii) In the second category, amendments require a special majority. such an amendment can be passed by each house of Parliament by the two-thirds majority of the members of the house present and voting and then sent to the President for his assent.

(iii) The third category, amendments is really difficult to pass. besides the special majority mentioned in the second category, the same has to be approved by at least 50 percent of the state legislatures.

Question. Explain the following terms:- 

a) Preamble: It is an introductory statement in a constitution which states the reasons and guiding values of the constitution.

b) Clause: Clause is a distinct section of a document.

c) Draft: A draft is a preliminary version of a legal document. It is a rough sketch of the constitution.

d) Constitutional Amendment: It is a change in the constitution made bythe supreme legislative body in a country.

e) Sovereign: Sovereign means that people have the supreme right tomake decisions on internal as well as external matters. No external power can dictate the government of that country .

f) Socialist: Socialist means that the wealth is generated socially and should be shared equally by the society . Government should regulate the ownership of land and industry to reduce socio-economic inequalities.

g) Secular: Secular means that citizens have complete freedom to follow any religion. There is no official religion. Government treats all religious beliefs and practices with equal respect.

h) Democratic: Democracy is a form of government where people enjoy equal political rights, elect their rulers and hold regular elections. The government is run with the help of some basic rules.

i) Republic: Republic means that the head of the state is an elected person and not a hereditary position.

j) Fraternity: Fraternity means that all of us should behave as if we are members of the same family. No one should treat his\her fellow citizen as inferior.

k) Justice: Justice means that citizens can’t be discriminated on the basis of caste, religion and gender. Social inequalities have to be reduced. Government should work for the welfare of all especially citizens of disadvantaged groups.

l) Equality: Equalitymeans that all are equal before law. The traditional social inequalities have to be ended. The government should ensure equal opportunities for 

m) Liberty: Liberty says that there are no unreasonable restrictions on the citizens in what they think, how theywish to express their thoughts and the way they wish to follow up their thoughts in actions.

Question. What is a Constitution? 

Ans.2.Aconstitution of a country is a set of written rules that are accepted by all the people living in a country. Constitution is the supreme law that determines the relationship between and among the people living in a territory and also the relationship between the citizens and the government. 

Question. Why do we need a Constitution? 

Ans.3 We need a constitution because:- 

First, it generates a degree of trust and coordination that is necessary for different kind of people to live together.

Second,it specifies how the government will be constituted, who will have power to take which decisions

Third,it lays down limits on the powers of the government and tells us what the rights of the citizens are; and

Fourth,it expresses the aspirations of the people about creating a good society.

Question. What is Apartheid? 

Ans.4. It was the official policy of racial separation and ill treatment of blacks followed by the government of South Africa between 1948 and 1989. 

Question. How was the apartheid oppressive for blacks? 

Ans.5. The apartheid system was particularly oppressive for the blacks. 

• Theywere forbidden from living in white areas.

• They could work in white areas only if they had a permit.

• Trains, buses, taxis, hotels, hospitals, schools and colleges, libraries, cinema halls, theatres, beaches, swimming pools, public toilets, were all separate for the whites and blacks. This was called segregation.

• They could not even visit the churches where the whites worshipped.

• Blacks could not form associations or protest against the terrible treatment.

Question. Why should we accept the constitution made by the constituent assembly? 

Ans.6.We should accept the constitution made bythe constituent assembly more than 50 years ago because:- 

• The Constitution does not reflect the views of its members alone. It expresses a broad consensus of its time.

• Over the last half a century, several groups have questioned some provisions of the Constitution. But no large social group or political party has ever questioned the legitimacy of the Constitution itself. This is an unusual achievement for any constitution.

• The Constituent Assembly represented the people of India. There was no universal adult franchise at that time so the Constituent Assembly could not have been chosen directly byall the people of India.

• It was elected mainly bythe members of the existing Provincial Legislatures that we mentioned above.

(i)This ensured a fair geographical share of members from all the regions of the country.

(ii) Though the Assembly was dominated bythe Indian National Congress, the partythat led India’s freedomstruggle. But the Congress itself included a variety of political groups and opinions. The Assembly had many members who did not agree with the Congress. In social terms too, the Assembly represented members from different language groups, castes, classes, religions and occupations.

• Constituent Assembly worked in a systematic, open and consensual manner. First some basic principles were decided and agreed upon, and then several rounds of
thorough discussion took place on the Draft Constitution, clause by clause.

• The opinion of general public was taken through media.

Question. What is the basic institutional design of the Indian constitution?

Ans.7. The constitution of India is mainly about embodying the values into the constitutional arrangements. It describes them in a very legal language:-

• Like any Constitution, the Indian Constitution lays down a procedure for choosing persons to govern the country.

• It defines who will have how much power to take which decisions.

• It puts limits to what the government can do by providing some rights to the citizen that cannot be violated.

• It has a provision to incorporate changes and get updated fromtime to time .These changes are called constitutional amendments.

Question. What were the main guiding principles for the formation of constitution of South Africa?

Ans.8. The main guiding principles of the formation of constitution of South Africa were:

• To built a new South Africa based on equality of all races and men and women, on democratic values, social justice and human rights.

• The partythat ruled through oppressions and brutal killings and the partythat led the freedomstruggle sat together to draw upon a common constitution.

• This gave its citizens the most extensive rights available in any country.

• Together they decided that in search for a solution to the problems nobody should be excluded and no one should be treated as a demon.

• They agreed that everybody should become a part of this solution whatever they might have done in the past.

Question. What is the basic philosophy of the Indian constitution?

Ans.9. 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 constitution.

• It contains the philosophy on which the entire constitution was built.

• It says that the constitution has been formed by the people of India.

• They have decided to make a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic and a republic nation and to give its citizens justice, liberty, equality and fraternity.

All this is written in the preamble of the Indian constitution which is its soul in a way.

Question. Discuss the various stages that led to the formation of the Indian constitution.

Ans.10

• 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 the inclusion of universal adult franchise, right to freedom and equality and to 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 British rule had given voting rights to only a few. So they had introduced a very weak legislature.

• Elections were held in 1937 to Provincial Legislatures andMinistries all over British India. These were not fully democratic governments. But the experience gained by Indians in the working of the legislative institutions proved to be very useful for the country in setting up its own institutions.

• Our leaders gained confidence to learn from other countries, but on our own terms.Manyleaders were inspired bythe ideals of the French revolution, the bill of rights in the US, parliamentary democracy in Britain, socialist revolution of Russia.

• 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.

• It included the variety of political groups and opinions. The assembly had members from different language groups, castes, classes, religions and occupations all disagreeing with each.

• The Assembly adopted the Constitution on 26 November 1949 but it came into effect on January 26, 1950.

• The constituent assembly worked in a systematic, open and consensual manner to make the Indian constitution

• First some basic principles were decided and agreed upon.

• Then a drafting committee chaired byDr. B. R. Ambedkar prepared a draft constitution of the Indian constitution for the discussion.

• Several rounds of thorough discussion took place on the draft constitution clause by clause.

• The discussions were reported in the newspapers for the common people.

• The people expressed their views and opinions about each and every clause after which it was decided to include or not the particular clause.

• More than 2000 amendments were considered.

• The members deliberated for 114 days spread over three years.

• Every document presented and each word spoken in the assembly has been recorded and preserved and these are known as ‘constituent assembly debates ‘.

Question. What were the guiding values of the Constitution?

Ans.11. The guiding values of the of the constitution were:-

• Tomake an India where the poor are not ignored.

• There is no high class or low class.

• All communities live with harmony.

• Ban on untouchability and intoxicating drinks and drugs.

• Women enjoy the same rights as men.

• All types of inequalities to be removed.

• To have the principal of one man one vote one value.

• Tomake a countrywhere equality, justice, liberty and fraternity are followed.

Question. 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.
Answer: This is a true statement.

(b) Members of the Constituent Assembly of India held the same views on all provisions of the Constitution.
Answer: Members of the Constituent Assembly of India had different opinions on various provisions of the constitution.

(c) A country that has a constitution must be a democracy.
Answer: This cannot be said with surety; in the context of information given in this chapter.

(d) Constitution cannot be amended because it is the supreme law of a country.
Answer: Constitution can be amended to keep up with the changes in aspirations of the society.

Question : 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
Answer: (d) Between the coloured minority and the black majority

Question : 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
Answer:
(b) Name of the head of the state

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

Answer: (a) - 4, (b) - 3, (c) - 1, (d) - 2

Question : 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?
Answer: The task of building a nation is a gargantuan task which cannot be fulfilled in one’s lifetime. Hence Nehru had used the expression, “not wholly or in full measure, but substantially”.

(b) What pledge did he want the makers of the Indian Constitution to take?
Answer: He wanted them to take the pledge of building a nation in which there would not be a single person with tears in his eyes. He wanted them to understand the huge responsibility which destiny had thrust upon them.
(c) “The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye”. Who was he referring to?
Answer: He was referring to Mahatma Gandhi.

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

Answer : (a) - 2, (b) - 3, (c) - 4, (d) - 1

Question : A friend from Nepal has written you a letter describing the political exercises 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.
Answer : Both the options are plausible. If the existing constitution is proper then it can be
amended to include more powers to elected representatives. If the existing constitution is full of loopholes, then a new constitution should be drafted. For this, a Constituent Assembly
should be formed by including the elected representatives and they should collectively decide about a particular option.

Question : 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.
Answer: The importance of this fact cannot be ignored. We should acknowledge that we learnt many good things from the British rulers and democracy was one of them.
(b) Freedom Struggle challenged the colonial exploitation and denial of different freedoms to Indians. Free India could not be anything but democratic.
Answer: Freedom struggle was important in spreading the idea of nationalism in India and inculcating the practice of making decisions by consensus.
(c) We were 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.
Answer: We were indeed lucky that we did not have leaders who were autocratic. India’s freedom struggle is the only example of a bloodless freedom struggle in the contemporary
history. This could be possible because our nationalist leaders had the maturity to listen to others’ views.

Question :
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?
Answer : The constitution treats every citizen equally irrespective of gender distinction.
Hence this paragraph does not reflect the underlying value in our constitution.

Question : 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.
Answer :
(a) This is not a true statement since the authority of the rules of the Constitution is much more than that of any other law.
(b) No, it is not correct because our Constitution lays down how different organs of the Government will be formed.
(c) This is a correct statement since in our Constitution rights of citizens and limits on the power of the government have been clearly laid down.
(d) A constitution is about institutions through which different values are being inculcated.