Test: Class 9 Polity NCERT Based-2 - UPSC MCQ

• 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 was dominated by the Indian National Congress, the party that led India’s freedom struggle.

• 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.

• Even if the Constituent Assembly was elected by universal adult franchise, its composition would not have been very different.Finally, the manner in which the Constituent Assembly worked gives sanctity to 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.

• The Constitution begins with a short statement of its basic values. This is called the Preamble to the constitution. Taking inspiration from American model, most countries in the contemporary world have chosen to begin their constitutions with a preamble.

• The Preamble of the Constitution reads like a poem on democracy. It contains the philosophy on which the entire Constitution has been built. It provides a standard to examine and evaluate any law and action of government, to find out whether it is good or bad. It is the soul of the Indian Constitution.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. Fraternity: All of us should behave as if we are members of the same family. No one should treat a fellow citizen as inferior.

4. 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.

• In our country elections are conducted by an independent and very powerful Election Commission (EC).

• It enjoys the same kind of independence that the judiciary enjoys. The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) is appointed by the President of India.

• But once appointed, the Chief Election Commissioner is not answerable to the President or the government. Even if the ruling party or the government does not like what the Commission does, it is virtually impossible for it to remove the CEC.

1. EC takes decisions on every aspect of conduct and control of elections from the announcement of elections to the declaration of results.

2. It implements the Code of Conduct and punishes any candidate or party that violates it. During the election period, the EC can order the government to follow some guidelines, to prevent use and misuse of governmental power to enhance its chances to win elections, or to transfer some government officials.

3. When on election duty, government officers work under the control of the EC and not the government. In the last 25 years or so, the Election Commission has begun to exercise all its powers and even expand them.

4. It is very common now for the Election Commission to reprimand the government and administration for their lapses.

5. When election officials come to the opinion that polling was not fair in some booths or even an entire constituency, they order a repoll. The ruling parties often do not like what the EC does. But they have to obey. This would not have happened if the EC was not independent and powerful.

1. Use any place of worship for election propaganda. Use government vehicles, aircrafts and officials for elections.

2. Once election dates are announced, Ministers shall not lay the foundation stones of any projects, take any big policy decisions or make any promises of providing public facilities. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• Recently, a new system of declaration has been introduced on direction from the Supreme Court at the time of filing nomination.

• This information has to be made public. This provides an opportunity to the voters to make their decision on the basis of the information provided by the candidates.

• Every candidate has to make a legal declaration, giving full details of: 1. Serious criminal cases pending against the candidate. 2. Details of the assets and liabilities of the candidate and his or her family. 3. Education qualifications of the candidate.

1. First, everyone should be able to choose. This means that everyone should have one vote and every vote should have equal value.

2. Second, there should be something to choose from. Parties and candidates should be free to contest elections and should offer some real choice to the voters.

3. Third, the choice should be offered at regular intervals. Elections must be held regularly after every few years

4. Fourth, the candidate preferred by the people should get elected.

5. Fifth, elections should be conducted in a free and fair manner where people can choose as they really wish.

• In our country we follow an area based system of representation. The country is divided into different areas for purposes of elections.

• These areas are called electoral constituencies. The voters who live in an area elect one representative.

• For Lok Sabha elections, the country is divided into 543 constituencies. The representative elected from each constituency is called a Member of Parliament or an MPOne of the features of a democratic election is that every vote should have equal value.

• The Government of India had appointed the Second Backward Classes Commission in 1979.It was headed by B.P. Mandal.

• Hence it was popularly called the Mandal CommissionIt was asked to determine the criteria to identify the socially and educationally backward classes in India and recommend steps to be taken for their advancement.

• The Commission gave its Report in 1980 and made many recommendations. One of these was that 27 per cent of government jobs be reserved for the socially and educationally backward classes.

• In all democracies, an assembly of elected representatives exercises supreme political authority on behalf of the people. In India such a national assembly of elected representatives is called Parliament.

• Parliament is the final authority for making laws in any country. This task of law making or legislation is so crucial that these assemblies are called legislatures. Parliaments all over the world can make new laws, change existing laws, or abolish existing laws and make new ones in their place.

• Parliaments all over the world exercise some control over those who run the government. In some countries like India this control is direct and full. Those who run the government can take decisions only so long as they enjoy support of the Parliament. Parliaments control all the money that governments have.

• The Parliament plays a central role in modern democracies, most large countries divide the role and powers of the Parliament in two parts. They are called Chambers or Houses. One House is usually directly elected by the people and exercises the real power on behalf of the people.

• The second House is usually elected indirectly and performs some special functions. The most common work for the second House is to look after the interests of various states, regions or federal units. In our country, the Parliament consists of two Houses.

• The two Houses are known as the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and the House of the People (Lok Sabha). The President of India is a part of the Parliament, although she is not a member of either House. That is why all laws made in the Houses come into force only after they receive the assent of the President.

• Our Constitution does give the Rajya Sabha some special powers over the states. But on most matters, the Lok Sabha exercises supreme power.

1. Any ordinary law needs to be passed by both the Houses. But if there is a difference between the two Houses, the final decision is taken in a joint session in which members of both the Houses sit together. Because of the larger number of members, the view of the Lok Sabha is likely to prevail in such a meeting.

2. Lok Sabha exercises more powers in money matters.

3. Once the Lok Sabha passes the budget of the government or any other money related law, the Rajya Sabha cannot reject it. The Rajya Sabha can only delay it by 14 days or suggest changes in it. The Lok Sabha may or may not accept these changes.

• The Prime Minister is the most important political institution in the country. The President appoints the Prime Minister. But the President cannot appoint anyone she likes. The President appoints the leader of the majority party or the coalition of parties that commands a majority in the Lok Sabha, as Prime Minister.

• In case no single party or alliance gets a majority, the President appoints the person most likely to secure a majority support. The Prime Minister does not have a fixed tenure.

• He continues in power so long as he remains the leader of the majority party or coalition. After the appointment of the Prime Minister, the President appoints other ministers on the advice of the Prime Minister.

• The Ministers are usually from the party or the coalition that has the majority in the Lok Sabha.The Prime Minister is free to choose ministers, as long as they are members of Parliament. Sometimes, a person who is not a member of Parliament can also become a minister. But such a person has to get elected to one of the Houses of the Parliament within six months of appointment as minister.

• Council of Ministers is the official name for the body that includes all the Ministers. It usually has 60 to 80 Ministers of different ranks. Cabinet Ministers are usually top-level leaders of the ruling party or parties who are in charge of the major ministries.

• Usually the Cabinet Ministers meet to take decisions in the name of the Council of Ministers. Cabinet is thus the inner ring of the Council of Ministers. It comprises about 20 ministers.

• Ministers of State with independent charge are usually in-charge of smaller Ministries. They participate in the Cabinet meetings only when specially invited. Ministers of State are attached to and required to assist Cabinet Ministers. Since it is not practical for all ministers to meet regularly and discuss everything, the decisions are taken in Cabinet meetings.

• That is why parliamentary democracy in most countries is often known as the Cabinet form of government. The Cabinet works as a team. The ministers may have different views and opinions, but everyone has to own up to every decision of the Cabinet.

• The Constitution does not say very much about the powers of the Prime Minister or the ministers or their relationship with each other. But as head of the government, the Prime Minister has wide ranging powers. He chairs Cabinet meetings.

• He coordinates the work of different Departments. His decisions are final in case disagreements arise between Departments. He exercises general supervision of different ministries. All ministers work under his leadership.

• The Prime Minister distributes and redistributes work to the ministers. He also has the power to dismiss ministers. When the Prime Minister quits, the entire ministry quits.

• Thus, if the Cabinet is the most powerful institution in India, within the Cabinet it is the Prime Minister who is the most powerful.

• The powers of the Prime Minister in all parliamentary democracies of the world have increased so much in recent decades that parliamentary democracies are sometimes seen as Prime Ministerial form of government.

• The Prime Minister is the head of the government and the President is the head of the State. In our political system the head of the State exercises only nominal powers.

• The President of India is like the Queen of Britain whose functions are to a large extent ceremonial. The President supervises the overall functioning of all the political institutions in the country so that they operate in harmony to achieve the objectives of the State.

• The President is not elected directly by the people. The elected Members of Parliament (MPs) and the elected Members of the Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) elect her.A candidate standing for President’s post has to get a majority of votes to win the election. This ensures that the President can be seen to represent the entire nation.

• Following are the powers of the President. But the President exercises all these powers only on the advice of the Council of Ministers.

1. All governmental activities take place in the name of the President.

2. All laws and major policy decisions of the government are issued in her name.

3. All international treaties and agreements are made in the name of the President.

4. The President is the supreme commander of the defence forces of India.

5. A bill passed by the Parliament becomes a law only after the President gives assent to it. If the President wants, she can delay this for some time and send the bill back to the Parliament for reconsideration. But if the Parliament passes the bill again, she has to sign it.

1. Presidents all over the world are not always nominal executives like the President of India. In many countries of the world, the President is both the head of the state and the head of the government.

2. The President of the United States of America is the most well-known example of this kind of President. The US President is directly elected by the people. He personally chooses and appoints all Ministers.

3. The law making is still done by the legislature (called the Congress in the US), but the president can veto any law. Most importantly, the president does not need the support of the majority of members in the Congress and neither is he answerable to them.

4. He has a fixed tenure of four years and completes it even if his party does not have a majority in the Congress. This model is followed in most of the countries of Latin America and many of the ex-Soviet Union countries.

5. Given the centrality of the President, this system of government is called the Presidential form of government.

6. In countries like ours that follow the British model, the parliament is supreme. Therefore our system is called the parliamentary system of government.