MODEL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FOR 2ND SEM BA, LLB – POLITICAL SCIENCE

1) CITIZENSHIP

Citizenship is membership of a society living under the one government. It confers

the status and carries with it certain privileges of the state. According to Han‟s
Kelson,” Citizenship is a legal status determined by the specific rights and duties
of which the statute is the condition. Citizen of a state is he who has political right,
duty of military services and diplomatic protection afford by the state concerned.”
Citizenship may also be defined as the legal relationship between an individual and
the state under which an individual pledges his loyalty to the state, and the state
offers protection to the individual .citizenship is confined to only natural or
physical persons. It is not extended to corporations and juristic persons. It is not
extended to corporations and juristic persons.
Citizenship is the status of a person recognized under the custom or law as being a
member of a state. A person may have multiple citizenships and a person who does
not have citizenship of any state is said to be stateless.

Methods of Acquiring Citizenship

Each country has its own very unique laws and rules for citizenship. Citizenship
may be acquired according to two methods:
1. By Birth or
2. by Naturalization.

1 BY BIRTH:-
A person can acquire the citizenship of a particular nation by birth. There are two
practices which are observed regarding the acquisition of citizenship by birth I.e.
jus soli and jus sanguinis.

a) JUS SOLI:-

Jus soli is a Latin term that means laws of the soil. (Right of the soil). It is the right
of everyone born in the territory of state to nationality/ citizenship. Under this
concept, citizenship of a person is determined by the place where a person was
born. Jus soli is the most common means a person acquires citizenship of a
nation.jus soli is common in developed countries some of the countries that follow
the jus soil system include, Argentina , Brazil ,Canada, Colombia, Mexico,
Jamaica, Pakistan ,USA etc.

According to this practice citizenship is determined by the place of birth and not by
parentage. This practice is now popular. It was of course popular in the Middle
Ages when citizenship was associated with land. In England, USA and France,
both the above practices are deployed simultaneously.

Observance of both the practices sometimes gives rise to duplication of citizenship.

The problem is solved by giving an option to the child to accept the citizenship of
either state it likes when it comes to the age.

b) JUS SANGUINIS:-
Jus sanguinis is a latin term, which means laws of blood or right of blood. It is a
principle of nationality law by which citizenship is not determined by place of birth
but by having one or both parents who are citizens of the state. Children at birth
may automatically be citizens if their parents have state citizenship. Many
countries of the world practices the jus sanguine like Afghanistan, Bulgaria ,
Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungry , India , Ireland , Italy etc.

According to this, a child acquires the citizenship of parents irrespective of place

of birth, e.g., child born of Indian soil or abroad. The practice of jus sanguinis was
very popular in ancient times. This practice is natural as well as logically. It is
exclusively observed in Germany, ITALY, Sweden, Norway etc.

If a country follows the jus sanguinis or right of blood system a person inherit a
parent citizenship. So if a father and mother were each from a different jus
sanguinis nation and a person were born in jus soil a child would be able to claim
citizenship in three countries.
BY NATURALISATION:
Citizenship can also be acquired through naturalization. According to this method
an alien can become a citizen after fulfilling certain conditions. Though these
conditions vary from state to state, yet some of the general principle which
observed may be summed up as follows.

Naturalization is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen in a country may

acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may involve an application and
approval by legal authorities. the rules of naturalization vary from country to
country and typically include a minimum legal residency requirement , and may
specify other requirements such as knowledge of the national dominant language
or culture, a promise to obey and uphold that A person may acquire the citizenship
by naturalization by following methods ;

1. Residence : A certain period of residence in the state is essential before an alien

can be granted citizenship. This period varies from state to state. In England and
U.S.A the period is 5 yrs and in France it is 10 yrs.

2. Oath of Allegiance: An oath or pledge of allegiance is also sometimes required.

An alien must take an oath of allegiance before he can become a citizen of another
state

3. Purchase of Real Estate: An alien, who buys real estate in foreign land, can get
the right of citizenship if he so desire.

4. SERVICE (civil/ military): An alien may be given right of citizenship. If he

renders meritorious service in another state

5. Marriage: women acquire the citizenship of their alien husband e.g. an English
lady will acquire the citizenship of India if she marries an Indian. The condition of
marriage, in Japan, however is quite different. Japanese women do not loss their
citizenship even if they marry alien husband.
LOSS / TERMINATION OF CITIZENSHIP:
Loss of citizenship is also termed as termination of citizenship or cancellation of
citizenship. It is an event of ceasing to be a citizen of a country under the laws of
that country. There are generally two categories of grounds for loss of citizenship.

Involuntary loss which may occur either due to automatic lapse of citizenship or
due to active withdrawal of citizenship by the country.

1. BY RENUNCIATION OF CITIZENSHIP:
A person or if a citizen of another country voluntarily renunciates the citizenship
through a declaration in the prescribed manner he ceases to be a citizen.

3. BY TERMINATION (operation of law):

If any person who has acquired citizenship by naturalization, registration or
otherwise voluntarily acquired the citizenship of another country ceases to be a
citizen of from the date of such acquisition.

4. BY DEPRAVITION ( compulsory Termination)

The government of any country is empowered to deprive a citizen of his
citizenship by issuing an order for the compulsory termination of citizenship. The
followings are the possible grounds of deprivation:

1. Voluntary acquisition of another citizenship.

2. Residing abroad on a permanent basis
3. Obtaining of citizenship certificate by means of fraud, false representation or
concealment of any fact.
4. Disloyalty or disaffection towards the constitution shown by act or speech.
5. Assisting an enemy with whom India is at war.
6. Sentenced to imprisonment in any country for a term not less than 2 years.
7. Serving in a foreign military or foreign government.
8. upon adoption by a foreign citizen, or other change in the child‟s legal relation
to the parents such as annulment of maternity / paternity.
2) DEFINE LEGISLATURE & ITS FUNCTIONS

Legislature occupies an important position in the machinery of government. WILL

of the state is formulated and expressed through the legislature. Legislature is
treated with special respect and status as it is composed of people who represent
the general population. Legislature in a democratic country enacts the general rules
of society in the form of laws. It serves as a chief source of public opinion and it is
the centre for all political activities. The scope of the legislature is almost
unlimited.
A variety of terms are used to denote legislatures in various countries: it is called
congress in USA, Parliament in India & Britain, National assembly in France,
House of Representatives in Japan and congress of Deputies in Spain.
THE word legislature means Parliament. The word parliament comes from the
Latin word “parliament” which means to „talk „or „discuss‟.
Hence, the legislature or the parliament is the place where strategic discussion
takes place.
The legislature of the state includes two houses. For example, the parliament
consists of Lok- sabha and Rajya sabha (lower house and upper house).
British parliament consists of House of Commons and House of Lords (Lower
AND Upper houses)
American congress consists of House of Representatives and Senate (lower and
upper houses).
A Legislature is the law making body of a political unit, usually a national
government that has power to enact, amend, and repeal public policy. Laws
enacted by legislatures are known as legislation. Legislatures observe and steer
governing actions and usually have exclusive authority to amend the budget or
budgets involved in the process. The most common names for national legislatures
are “Parliament” and “congress”. The members of a legislature are called
legislators. Because members of legislatures usually sit together in a specific room
to deliberate, seats in that room may be assigned exclusively to members of the
legislature.
Functions of Legislature

Functions of the legislature are not identical in every country. It may vary from
country to country, depending on the forms of government and the provisions of
the constitution. Yet there are certain functions which are performed by
legislatures in most democracies. They are as follows:

1) LAW MAKING: First and foremost function of legislature is to make laws for
the country. Law is regarded as the expression of the will of the people. The will of
the people is laws. Bills are introduced in the legislature where it is thoroughly
debated and discussed before it is passed by the legislature and sent to the head of
the state for his formal assent to become an act. In cabinet system it is the duty of
the concerned minister to introduce the bill and get it passed and duly enacted.

2) DELIBERATIVE FUNCTION: A legislature consists of two kinds of work-one

– law making and the other deliberative. The making of law is entrusted to small
committee of experts while the actual work of deliberation is the function of the
whole parliament. Laws should not be made hurriedly. Therefore, it needs proper
discussion and deliberation.

3) Administrative function: Legislature exercise control over the general

administration of the country. In parliamentary system legislature exercises control
over the political executives. Ministers are continuing in office only till they enjoy
the confidence of the legislature.

4) FINANCIAL FUNCTION: Legislature performs important financial function. A

major function it performs every year is the presentation, consideration, and
authorization of the budget. No money can be spent or tax can be levied by the
executive without the prior approval of the legislature. Ordinarily lower house
enjoys more powers over the money bill than the upper house in countries with bi
cameral legislature.

5) Elective function: Legislature also performs elective functions. In India

parliament takes part in the election of the president and vice president.
6) Constituent Function: in most democracies the power to change or amend the
constitution rest with the legislature. In India the parliament has the power to
change certain provisions of the constitution by following a special procedure .in
England there is no distinction between ordinary laws and constitutional laws and
the legislature has the power to amend the constitutional laws in the same manner
as it changes ordinary law.

3) EXECUTIVE : FUNCTIONS & KIND

THE Executive refers to that organ of government which executes, administers or

put into effect the laws made by the legislature. The term Executive is used in a
broad as well as in a narrow sense. Dr. Garner, while explaining the meaning of
executive said,” Ina broad and collective sense the executive organ embraces the
aggregate or totality of all the functionaries which are concerned with the
execution of the will of the state as that will have been formulated and expressed in
terms of law “. This comprehensive definition implies that in a broad sense
executive includes the head of the state, council of ministers and all other officials
who implement the laws. The term executive when used in a narrow sense will
include only the president and the council of ministers and the officials are
excluded. Generally the term Executive is used in a narrow sense to mean the head
of the state and the council of ministers

KINDS OF EXECUTIVES

1. Political and Permanent Executive:-

Political executive consists of popularly elected leaders who heads the office of
various departments and whose tenure is a temporary one. In India political
executive consists of the prime minister and his council of ministers. They can
only remain in office as long as they enjoy the confidence of the legislature.
Permanent officials on the other hand, consists of all those permanent and salaried
officials and subordinates who carry on the day to day work of the administration.
These officials carry out the policy as laid down by the political executive

2) NOMINAL AND REAL EXECUTIVE:-

The executive may be real or nominal. This distinction is between head of the state
and the head of the government. In parliamentary systems like India and Britain
this distinction is very clear. In India, president is the nominal executive or titular
executive and the cabinet headed by the prime minister is the real executive. In
India in theory the president enjoys wide powers, but in actual practice all these
powers are exercised by the prime minister and his council of ministers. All the
actions of the government arfe carried out in the name of the nominal executive.
There is no nominal executive in the presidential system as followed in USA.

3) SINGLE AND PLURAL EXECUTIVE

IN THE case if single executive the ultimate power is in the hands of a single
person, and he does not share powers with others. American president is an
example of single executive. Cabinet form of government combines the single and
plural executive. The prime minister follows the principle of single executive and
his colleagues follow the principle of plural executive.

In the case of plural executive or collegiate executive, the executive power is in the
hands of group of persons, having co-equal authority. Federal council of
Switzerland is an example of plural executive. Federal council consists of seven
councilors; having co- equal powers and one of the members are elected annually
to serve as chairman for a one year term with the title of president of the federation
.the president does not enjoy any special powers apart from presiding over the
council of meetings. Federal council is elected by federal assembly for the period
of four years.

FUNCTIONS OF THE EXECUTIVE

THE executive performs the essential activities of government which is realty to

rule application. Functions of the executive can be discussed under the following
heads:

1) ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTION:-
Administrative function includes all those matters which have to deal with the
strict administration of the government such as the appointment, direction and
removal of officers, issues of instruction and all acts relating to the execution of
laws. Internal administration is an important concern of the executive.
Maintenance of peace and rule of law is the most important function of the
executive, without which state cannot effectively function.
2) MILITARY FUNCTIONS:-
Duty of defense of the country rest with the executive . it is an essential function of
the executive to secure territorial integrity and to
And if necessary , to wage war. The executive has to maintain an efficient and
strong army, navy, air force to defend its territory against the attack of outsider.
The department which is concerned with the defense of the country and controls its
military operations in India is called Ministry of defense

3) LEGISLATIVE FUNCTIONS:-
Though lawmaking is the prerogative of the legislature executive also performs
some legislative functions. In parliamentary form of government executive
summon, adjourn and prorogue the session of parliament, and he can also dissolve
the popular house. Executive exercises the powers to issue ordinance when the
legislature is not in session. Ordinance is the law made by the executive. In
parliamentary system political executives introduce the bills in the legislature and
takes up the responsibility of passing the bill in the house.

4) FINANCIAL FUNCTIONS:-

The executive controls the purse of the nation. The budget is prepared and
introduced by the politic executive in the legislature.

5) JUDICIAL FUNCTION:-
In most countries appointment of the judges are made by the
executive. Executive also exercise the power to grant pardon or reprieve to the
offenders. Head of the state enjoys the power of granting mercy, whereby he may
commute the sentence given by the highest court of the land. Executive also
performs miscellaneous function like regulation and control of productive forces in
the country, national planning, and emergency power during war and internal
disturbances, conferring of awards and honors etc.
4 ) CONCEPT OF REPRESENTATION:-

Democracy implies popular sovereignty .Democracy means govt by

the people ,of the people and for the people. In modern state
, people don‟t directly participate in the process of govt.
Direct participation of citizens becomes impossible due to the vastness of te
rritory, Huge population, long distance etc.
hence modern democracies have to be indirect democracies run by the repre
sentatives chosen by the people . thus ,
the modern democracy is indirect democracy or representative democracy. U
nder this system, the voters elect representatives to perform the function
of the legislation on their behalf. Periodic election are important in democracy.

ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF REPRESENTATIVE SYSTEM:

The representative system might have originated in the middle ages as a

device used by certain monastic orders similarly ,it was applied to councils
called by kings for conciliation on financial matters. The representatives ,
thus consulted by the king had very little power
since the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th centuries ,
representatives bodies like parliament in England, Estates general in France.
The 19th century witnessed the gradual extension of the universal adult franc
hise in Britain various acts made the house of commons,
a representative body.
In other countries, the representative bodies were created.
By the end of the third decade of the 20th century, women also have been
admitted to the franchise on equal terms with men in both Britain and Ame
rica.
MEANING AND DEFINITION:-
In politics,
representation describes how some individuals stand in for others or a group of others, f
or a certain time period . representation usually refers to representative democracies,
where elected officials nominally speak for their constituents in the legislation.
Generally only citizens are granted representation in the form of voting rights in the
governments.

According Hanna Pitkin „‟

political representation is the activity of making citizens voices, opinions,
and perspectives present in the public policy making process.
Political representation occurs when political actors speak, advocate,
symbolize and act on the behalf of others in the political arena‟‟.

THEORIES OF REPRESENTATION:-

In democracies people elected members are the representatives of the peop

le. They represent the people in the legislature. This process is called represe
ntation. According to prof.shephard,
there are three theories of representation. They are as follows:

1. The Primitive Tribal Theory:-

The political practice followed during the Greek city state days known as
tribal theory of re[presentation. Under this system, only the people having
membership of the state had the right to vote. Slaves were not considered as
members of state.

2. The Feudal Theory: the feudal theory highlights the property condition
of voting right in a state . it was in the middle ages in the Europea
n countries.

3. THE ETHICAL THEORY:-

the theory considers the voting right a natural and inherent right of
every citizen.
 Universal adult franchise is accepted under this theory. This theory is
in vogue in present day democratic countries.

Authoritarian Theory of representation:-

Thomas Hobbes and Alexander Humilton advocate the authoritari
an theory of representation.
This theory emphasis on the superior knowledge and wisdom of the
politicians. There is no provision for public control over the authority.
This theory highlights the role of order and authority represented by
the executive.
Hobbes was in particular in favour of the authority of the Monarch.
On the same lines in a democracy parliament is created by a demo
cratic method on the basis of the consent of each individual.

Radical Theory of Representation:-

The supporters of this theory are Rousseau and the proponents o

f new left. They like the direct democracy as the citizens themselve
s participate in the decision making and not through their chosen r
epresentatives. Here all the citizens are representatives by themselves
without elected representation to rep[resent them.

Mirror Theory of Representation:-

John Locke and Thomas Jefferson advocated the mirror theory of

representation. They considered the elected representatives as true ag
ents of people and are to translate demands of their constituents into
policy framework.
the theory has a strong faith in capability and wisdom of the masses.t
his theory was based on the on the principle of equality.

Elitist Theory of Representation:-

The theory proposes that the elected representatives are the elite people.
The common people could not think of the best for the society. The candidate
are considered talented and wise who look after the the well- being.
They are not mere recipient of the input provided by the electorate but are
agents of change that they think would be best for the society.

5) EXPLAIN JUDICIAL REVIEW

The word review means an act of inspecting/ examining something with a view to
correct it or to improve it.

The word „Judicial Review‟ stands for something which is done by a court to
examine the validity or correctness of the action of some other agency. Thus the
power of the judiciary to review and determine the validity of a law or an order
may be described as the power of “judicial review”.

Judicial review is the power of the court to review the laws passed by the
legislature and orders issued by the executive, when challenged by the affected
persons, and to declare them null and void, if they infringe the provisions of the
constitution. Judicial Review is feature of countries with written constitution and
federal systems. Judicial Review protects personal rights against legislatives and
executive actions; states‟ rights against national action; national rights against state
action; and respective rights of three branches of government against one another.
The doctrine of judicial review originated in USA in 1803 in a leading case of
Marbury v/s Madison , where chief justice Marshall ruled that court had the power
to declare the actions of the congress and the executive invalid
Chief justice Marshall defined Judicial Review as “the examination by the courts
in cases actually before them of the legislative statues and executive administrative
acts to determine whether or not they are prohibited by a written constitution or are
in excess of powers granted by it.” Judicial review essentially means the courts of
law have the power of testing the validity of legislative as well as other
governmental action with reference to the provisions of the constitution. In India,
by basis of article 32 and 136 of the Indian constitution Supreme Court can
exercise the power of judicial Review, similarly under Article 226 and 227 High
courts have the power of judicial Review. Though the term judicial review is not
mentioned in the constitution, Article 13 entrust the courts of the review power
states:
i) All laws in force in the territory of India immediately before the commencement
of this constitution, in so far as they are inconsistent with the provisions of this
part, shall, to the extent of such inconsistency, be void.
ii) The state shall not make any law which takes away or abridges the rights
conferred by this part and any law made in contravention of this clause shall, to the
extent of the contravention, be void. The scope of review power of judiciary in
India is comparatively less to than that of USA.

6)THEORY OF SEPRATION OF POWERS

The doctrine of separation of powers implies that there should be three seprate
organs of government
Legislature, Magisterial (Executive) and judicial functions. But in ancient Greece
this distinction was not followed, as all these powers were often exercised by the
same person. The idea was discussed in the writings of Polybius and Cicero of the
Roman empire, where they emphasized the importance of a balanced equilibrium
of power where each part of government needs as a check on the other part. In the
middle ages too, the idea got resonance in the writings of Marsiglo of Padua who
made a distinction between legislative and executive functions be given to
independent magistrates and it should not be in the hands of monarchs as it would
mean the indiscriminate mixture of justice and mercy, of strict adherence to law
and arbitrary departure from it.
Civil government talks about three powers that existed in every commonwealth.
He mentioned it as legislative, executive and federative where the federative owner
relates to the conduct of foreign affairs. He opined that for the interest of liberty
powers of government is separated from each other The best exposition of the
doctrine of separation of powers was given by the French scholar Montesquieu in
his book, „ Sprit of Laws „ published in 1748. Montesquieu is widely regarded as
the father of the doctrine of separation of powers.
Montesquieu lived in the times of Louis Fourteen who gave the famous dictum „I
am the „. The monarch held absolute power, as his words was law and his authority
unquestionable. The monarch combined in his person all the three powers of
government Montesquieu observed that all the powers concentrated in one person
or body of persons is dangerous, and it will result only in the denial of liberty to
people. Montesquieu happened to visit Britain, and was greatly impressed by the
liberty enjoyed by the people of that country. He misjudged it as a result of
separation of powers that be thought existed in that country. So he came to the
conclusion that separation of powers was the main reason for the liberty of British
people.
This view of Montesquieu was however incorrect, as the cabinet system was not
fully developed in Britain (which itself is not based on the principle of separation
of powers) when he visited that country, and there was no separation of powers in
Britain.
Montesquieu believed that there must be separation of powers if liberty is to be
safeguarded.

Criticism
Though the theory received wide recognition and had great particle implications, it
also received a fair amount of criticism from various quarters. Major criticisms
leveled against the theory are :

1) Absolute separation of powers is not possible: Organs of government are liked

the organs of a human body; though distinct they must work in unison in order to
be useful and effective for the purpose for which they are created. Absolute
separation of power leads to division of organs of government into water- tight
Compartments. This can lead to inefficiency and deadlock in the functioning of
government and so is highly undesirable. Moreover in modern times institutions
exercise overlapping functions and provision is made for some degree of co-
operation between different organs of government.

2) All organs of government are not equal in powers: THEORY of separation of

powers assumes that the powers of organs of government are equal. But with the
emergence of democracy this assumption seems to be wrong with pre- eminence of
legislature among the other organs being widely recognized. Executive has been
reduced to a subordinate position. In the parliamentary system executive is
responsible to the legislature and dependent upon the legislature for its existence.

3) Organs of government are mutually dependent: Rather than clear separation,

organs of government today, depend and cooperate among one another to a great
extent. For example. Legislature performs some executive functions apart from its
main function law making. Likewise executive performs some legislative functions
apart from its main function of rule
Application. In USA bills are often prepared under the orders or will of the
president and are introduced in the congress by the members of his own party.

7) DEFINE AMENDMENTS
OUR SOCIETY is not a static society, it keeps on changing when the society
changes people also change along with it, when the people changes law is subject
to change according to the circumstances and need of the people. No generation
has monopoly of wisdom nor has it a right to place fetters generation to mold the
machinery of government according to their requirements. If no provision were
made for the amendment of the constitution, the people would have recourse to
extra constitutional method like revolution to change the laws.

Amendment is nothing but, is an act of changing laws for the betterment of

society .it is the process of formality altering or adding to a legal document made
by adding, altering or omitting a certain part or term .Amended documents
,when properly executed , retain the legal validity of the original document.
An act or changing the constitution by definite procedure is valid Amendment.
A constitutional amendment refers to the modification of the constitution of a
nation. In many jurisdictions the text of the constitutions itself is altered in others
the text is not changed but the amendment change its effects.

Importance and need of amendment

A constitution cannot claim its preservation unless it decides upon the mode of
amendment. A constitution should be capable of adjuring itself to the future
needs.

1. It must have sufficient scope for its own revision or alteration, to meet the
challenges of the period.
2. Amendment keeps the constitution alive.

3. Amendment is nothing but a process through which the changes to the

constitution shall be brought out.

4. When circumstances changes and the current constitution does not fit
with those new circumstances amendment gives the opportunity to make changes
to our constitution.

5. it is very important because it is the only way we can add to the constitution.

6. Provision for amendment of the constitution is made with a view to overcome

the difficulties which may encounter is future in the working of the constitution.

NECESSITY OF AMENDING PROVISIONS IN THE CONSTITUTION

1. Provisions for amendment of the constitution is made with a view to

overcome the difficulties which may encounter in future in the working
of the constitution.
2. If no provision were made for the amendment of the constitution the
people would have recourse to extra constitutional method like
revolution to change the constitution.
3. A federal constitution is generally rigid in character as the procedure of
amendment is very difficult. So is the case with Australia, Canada and
Switzerland. It is a common criticism of federal constitution that is too
conservative, too difficult to alter and that it is consequently behind the
times.
4. THE framers of the Indian constitution were keen to avoid excessive
rigidity. They were anxious to have a document which could grow
with a growing nation, adapt itself to the changing need and
circumstances of a growing people.
5. But the framers of Indian constitution were also aware of the fact that if
the constitution was not flexible it would be a playing of the whims and
caprices of the ruling party.
6. They were therefore anxious to avoid flexibility of the extreme type .
HENCE they adopted a middle course. It is neither too rigid to admit
necessary amendments, nor flexible for undesirable changes.
 7. The machinery of amendment should be like a safety valve, so
devised as neither to operate the machine with too great facility nor to
require in order to set in motion an accumulation of forces sufficient
to explode it. The constitution makers have, therefore kept the balance
between the danger of having non- amendable constitution and a
constitution which is too easily amendable.

METHODS OR PROCEDURES OF AMENDMENT:

THE CONSTITUTION IS A fundamental law of the land and hence supreme. It

should try to accommodate the new demands of society. Therefore the need for a
proper procedure for amendment is essential if a constitution is not to remain
static. K.C. Wheare lists four safeguards which are to be provided during
amending process. They are:

1) The constitution should be changed only with deliberation, and not lightly or
wantonly.
2) The people should be given an opportunity of expressing their views before
a change is made.
3) In a federal system the power of the units and of central Government
should not be alterable by either of the party acting alone.
4) Individual or community rights for example, of minorities in language or
religion or culture should be safeguarded.
It has been the nature of the amending process that the amendments
to the constitution is either rigid or flexible in character as the
procedures of the amendment are very complicated .
Every modern constitution prescribes the procedure for
amendment. In most cases, this may be done by legislative body alone
provided it votes the amendments by a specified majority or by
following a special procedure. Different countries follow different modes
of amendment to the constitution.
PROCEDURE OF AMENDMENT IN UK

In U.K. the constitution can be amended by the parliament itself. The

British parliament is supreme in law – making. The procedure adopted
for the constitutional amendment is similar to that of the
enactment or amendment of ordinary laws. No rigid or special
PROCEDURE for the constitutional amendment is suggested in
Britain. There is no judicial decision that parliament cannot set aside,
no usage that it cannot terminate , and no rule of common law that
it cannot overturn. The procedure of amendment in the UK is easy. The
constitutional amendment is passed in the UK with a simple
majority in both the houses of parliament.

PROCEDURE OF AMENDMENT IN THE U.S.A.

In the U.S.A, the procedure for amendment is rigid and complex. The
normal process of amendment to the constitution is laid down in
Article -5 which reads as follows:
“ The Congress , wherever two – thirds of both the houses shall deem
it necessary, shall propose amendments to the constitution, or, on the
applications or legislations or two- third of several states, shall call a
convention for proposing amendments, which either case shall be
valid to all interests and purpose , as part of this constitution when
ratified by the legislation of three- fourths of the several states or by
conventions in three- forth thereof as the one or the other method of
ratification may be proposed by the Congress.”
Article 5 of the constitution of the U.S.A. Prescribes two methods, namely.
i) 2/3rd of both the houses of the Congress may propose
amendments and ratification shall take place by 3/4th of the
legislation of several states or by conventions of 3/4th of the
several states.
ii) The states may themselves proposed an amendment under this
method,2/3rd of all the states legislatures shall apply to the
congress for this purpose.
 On such a request being made, the congress calls a
constitutional convention which proposes the amendments on the
basis of the original recommendations. The amendment then is
to be ratified by 3/4th of all the states either through their
legislatures or specially called conventions. Here again, it is the
congress which determines the mode of ratification.
It is admitted that the formal process of amendment takes
a long time. OUT of about 3,000 formal proposals since 1789
only 27 proposals were adopted and only 14 constitutional
amendments, after 1804, have brought about.

8) WRITTEN CONSTITUTION
A written constitution is one WHICH IS WRITTEN IN TO BLACK and
white in a document or in several documents and is a consciously planned
system which is adopted by a deliberate creation. FOR e.g the constitution
of India was formulated and adopted by the constituent assembly of India
and drafted by Drafting committee of India . A written constitution is a
deliberate design whereby government is conducted and all this is contained
in a document bearing single data. A written constitution is distinct in its
character. It is the supremacy of the constitution, which means that its
provisions can be changed or amended according to the prescribed
procedure.
Garner writes,” A written constitution is a consciously planned constitution
formulated and adopted by deliberate actions of a constituent assembly or a
convention.” It provides for a definite design of government institutions, their
organizations ,powers, functions and inter- relationships. It embodies the
constitutional law of the state. It enjoys the place of supremacy. The government
is fully bound by kits provisions and works strictly in accordance with a
settled process of amendment written in the constitution itself. It is a duly
passed and enacted constitution. The constitutions of India, the USA, Germany ,
Japan, Canada , France, Switzerland and several other states , are written
constitutions.
FEATURES ON WRITTEN CONSTITUTION

A Written constitution consists of several provisions dealing with the

organization, powers and functions of the government. It also comprises the
provisions relating to the special procedure for amending the constitution
besides several provisions enlisting the rights of the people. Following are the
features of written constitution.

1) Definite and Precise:-

Written constitution is definite and precise. Every provision is
carefully worded to avoid doubts. If he constitution is written there will
be no disputes regarding any clauses. if the provisions are worded in
clear language, one can understand them easily. A written constitution
is more definite than the constitution which consists customs and
usages. In this respect, a written constitution is more satisfactory than
an unwritten one. The provisions of a written constitution are
prepared and formulated after careful deliberations.

2) Comprehensive:-
The constitution must be comprehensive and should cover
all levels of governmental organization and clearly enunciate the principles
for the exercise of all political power. A good constitution should have no
loopholes. The basic principles should not be neglected.

3) It should have proper content:-

A good constitution should also have proper contents. Mention must be
made regarding the organization of the government, the powers to the
various organs of the government, elections ,term of office of the
government, the rights and duties of the citizens, their limitations and
the methods of amendments etc.

4) Flexible and Stable:-

Stability and flexibility are two prime requisites of a good
constitution . The system of government which the constitution
establishes must have a high degree of stability. The making of
frequent changes, tends to weaken the government. But at the same time
constitution should be neither too rigid nor too flexible. It should
represent compromise between stability and flexibility
4) Distinction between constitutional law and Ordinary law :-
There should also be a clear distinction between constitutional law
and ordinary law conflicts with the constitutional law , it is ultra-virus
or un constitutional and cannot become operative. The constitutional
law is paramount where as the ordinary law is subordinate.

5) Constitution should correspond to Real conditions :-

A good constitution should also correspond to the real
conditions prevailing in the country . if the constitution does not
correspond to the real conditions it cannot work, for e.g, the
legal and political sovereign power should be exercised by one
and the same person or organ
9) ELECTORATE:-
An election is a formal by which a population chooses an individual to
hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative
democracy has operated since the 17th century.
Elections may fill offices in the legislature,
sometimes in the executive and judiciary,
and for regional and local government. This process is also used in many
other private and business organi8sations,
from clubs to voluntary associations and corporations. The universal use of
elections as a tool for selecting representatives in modern representative
democracies is in contrast with the practice in the democratic countries . e
lectoral reform describes the process of introducing fair electoral systems w
here they are not in place or improving the fairness or effectiveness of exis
ting systems.

History of ELECTORATE:-
Elections were used as early in history as ancient Greece and ancient R
ome, and throughout the medieval period to select rulers such as the
holy roman empower and the pope. In medieval india,
around 920 ad in Tamil nadu palm leaves were used for village assembly
elections.the leaves with candidates names written on them were put inside
a mud pot for counting. Elections were carried out to select rajas by the
gana during the Vedic period.
The modern election which consists of public elections of governm
ent officials,
didn‟t emerge until the beginning of the 17th century when the idea of re
presentative government took hold in north America and Europe. The suffra
ge of minority groups have dominated the history of elections.
DEFINITION OF ELECTORATE:-
An electorate is nothing but a body of qualified voters. In other words the
body of persons entitled to vote in an election.

QUALIFICATION AND DISQUALIFICATION OF ELECTORATE:-

All the people living in the state do not elect their representatives .
those eho exercise the power of voting and periodically elect their represent
atives are a comparatively small fraction of the whole population. no c
ountry gives the right of voting to minors, to persons of unsound mind
or to aliens. Some states deny these rights to women
.other impose educational qualifications.
Citizens of the state enjoying the right of electing their representatives are
voters and the entire body of such voters / electors is known as electorate.
Thus the persons qualified to cast their votes are:
1. Major
2. Persons of sound mind
3. Citizens of respective country
4. Property/ educational qualifications

The persons disqualified from voting are:

1. Minor
2. Persons of unsound mind/ lunatics/insane
3. Foreigners / aliens
4. Women (some countries)
5. Disqualified from law.
The right of voting is called franchise.
all persons who are qualified
to vote are collectively called as electorate or franchise.
The electorate is body of voters taken as a whole. They constitute a
comparatively small sections of the whole population.
J.S. MILLS VIEWS ON ELECTORATE:-
John Stuart mill was born on 20th May 1806,
in England. He was a great political philosopher of 17th century.
He was influenced by various political thinkers, Plato, Aristotle,
Aquinas, Hobbes, Locke , Bentham and others , he
became the first person in the history of parliamentary form of go
vernment to call for women to be given the right to vote.

FACTORS INFLUENCING THE VOTER / ELECTORATE:-

IN Democracy every political party comes to the voters with its policies ,
plan and programs in times of election. So the voter with its policies,
plan and programs in times of election.
So the voter has to choose the right political party or the candidate for the co
nstruction of the legislature and the executive.in times Of election there are
many social factors influencing the behaviour of a voter. They are:

1. Religion:
As some political parties came into existence on the ba
sis of religion such as muslim league,sikh-
akalidal,shiv sina, b.j.p.containing hindu agenda,
religious influences the voters in india.

2. Caste and community:

As almost all political parties are considering the caste in
allotting seats to dominating castes candidates in times of elec
tions on area wise.

3. Language:
After religion, the language plays a major role on the
behaviour of the voter in elections
. Regional states are formed on linguistic character.
4. Gender:
The political parties in india try to attract lady voters by cr
eating special provisions for them as they form 50% of the
electorate. Welfare programmes like widow pensions,
nutritious food for pregnant ladies etc are some of the
attractions to women voters.
5. Money:
Money is the most important factor influencing the behavio
ur of voter in times of elections. Purchasing votes, supplying
free rice and other intoxicating drinks to voters.

6. Pressure group:
The group are playing important roile in the influencing
the behaviour of an average voter.

7. Party symbol:
Party symbol are very helpful to illiterate voters to
decide to which party they decide to cast their votes
irrespective of the candidate contesting.
10) POLITICAL PARTIES:-

POLITICAL parties are indispensable for the working of modern

representative democracy. They have made their way into vast majority
of countries of the world and in most political systems. Nature of these
parties may differ widely they may be democratic or authoritarian; they
may seek power through elections or through revolutions; and may be
ideologically as varied as left, right or centre. But one thing is certain,
there will be some kind of political parties in almost all countries of the
world regardless of the fact that where that country is situated.

Brief History of political parties:-

Historically, the origin of party system is intimately connected with the
development of British party system and politics. Hence , party system
in England is regarded as the progenitor of modern parties. Generally
party system is viewed as an extra legal growth in most democracies. As
it is mentioned in the constitutions and it exist outside the legal
framework of the state.
Parties of modern kind first emerged in the USA where the federalist
party and the republican party appeared as a mass based party during the
election of 1800. Many conservative and liberal parties started their life
as factions. But later on, they widened their base and transformed into
mass based parties. This was largely because of the feeling that
democracy was divisive and failed to solve the problem of the people.
Added to this was the inconvenience the democracy caused to the
economic and military elites in these countries.
But the upsurge In the democratization felt in the 1980s and 1990s world
over have again brought back the importance of political parties.
Definition of political parties:-
Some of the important definitions of political parties are stated below:
According to R .N GILCHRIST “ A political party is an organized group
of citizens who profess to share the same political views and who by
acting as a political unit try to control the government.”
According to R .G Gettle “ a political party consists of group of citizens
more or less organized who acts as a political unit and who by the use of
their voting power, aim to control the government and carry out their
general policies.‟‟

Basic features of political parties:-

A close reading of the above definition of political parties given by

various scholars lead us to some idea about the basic features of political
parties. We can summaries the characteristics or ingredients of political
parties as thus:

1. Organization: - political parties are more or less organized. Without

organization people make just a disorganized crowd and it will be
difficult to conform to the common principle on which they agree.
Moreover, organization provides strength to the party and helps it to
influence people better. If there is disagreement among members on
fundamentals, then cooperation among the members become difficult
and their political ends even more difficult.
2. Formulate clear programs:-

Political parties should formulate clear and specific programme

which they should place before the electorate to win their support.
Political party can succeed
In this only if the party members support their programs wholeheartedly
and work for its realization. Violence as a means of capturing power
cannot be the character of political party in a democracy.
3. A political party must promote national interest:-

A political party must endeavor to promote national interest and not

sectarian or communal interest. When a political party tries to promote
sectional interest and selfish ends, it degenerates into a faction.

Functions of political parties:-

Political parties are considered as the backbone of democracy without

which modern democratic governments would have functioned to our
satisfaction. They perform variety of functions which helps in the
smooth working of democracy. Some of the functions performed by
political parties are:
a) Representation is often seen as the primary function of political
parties. Political parties are meant to represent the views of the people
whom they represent.
b) Political parties help to aggregate and articulate various interests
found in society. Parties act as vehicles though which various interest of
society business, religious, labor, ethic- are advanced or defended.
Political parties recruit various interest and groups in order to broaden
their electoral base.
c) Political parties act as a link between the government and the people.
It is mainly through the political parties that governments are kept
informed about the wishes and aspirations of the people.
d) Political parties also perform social welfare functions. They work for
eradication of social evils like illiteracy, untouchablity, ignorance etc.
during the time of emergencies; they work for the alleviation of the
sufferings of the people. This often demonstrated on the
time of natural calamities like earth quakes , floods cyclones , famines
etc.