CONSTITUTIONAL DESIGN

CLASS-9TH P
DEMOCRATIC CONSTITUTION IN SOUTH- AFRICA
• APARTHEID- IT IS A SYSTEM OF RECIAL DISCRIMINATION UNIQUE
TO SOUTH AFRICA IMPOSSED BY WHITE EUROPEANS.
• DURING 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES THE TREDING COMPANIES
FROM EUROPE OCCUPIED IT WITH ARMS AND FORCE AND
BECAME THE LOCAL RULERS.
• THE SYSTEM OF APARTHEID DIVIDE THE PEOPLE AND LABELLED
THEM ON THE BASIC OF THEIR SKIN COLOUR.
• THE NON WHITES DID NOT HAVE VOTING RIGHTS WERE FOR-
BIDDEN FROM LIVING THE WHITE AREAS.
THE BLACK, COLOURED AND INDIANS FOUGHT AGAINST THE
APARTHEID SYSTEM, FROM 1950.
THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (ANC) WAS THE UMBRELLA
ORGANIZATION THAT LED THE STRUGGLE AGAINST THE
POLICIES OF SEGREGATION.
NELSON MANDELA WAS ONE OF THE LEADERS AMONGST THE
EIGHT WHO WERE TIRED FOR TREASON BY THE WHITE SOUTH
AFRICAN GOVERNMENT.
THEY WERE SENTENCED TO LIFE, IMPRISONMENT IN THE 1964
FOR DARING TO OPPOSE THE APARTHEID REGIME IN THE
COUNTRY.
GIVING RISE TO NEW CONSTITUION
 AS THE PROTEST AND STRUGGLES AGAINST APARTHEID
INCREADES, THE BLACK COULD NO LONGER BE KEPT UNDER THE
RULE OF GOVERNMENT THROUGH REPRATION.
 NELSON MANDELA WAS RELESED AFTER 28 YEARS IN THE ROBEN
ISLAND PRISON.
 THE APARTHEID GOVERNMENT CAME TO AN END ON THE
MIDNIGHT 26TH APRIL, 1994 PAVING WAY FOR THE THE
FORMATION OF A MULTI-RACIAL GOVERNMENT.
 FOLLOWING THE EMERGENCE OF THE NEW DEMOCRATIC
SOUNTH-AFRICA, THE PARTY THAT RULED TO OPPRESSION AND
THE BRUTAL KILLINGS AND THE PARTY THAT LED THE FREEDOM
STRUGGLE SAT TOGETHER TO DRAW UP A COMMON
CONSTITUTION.
 THE CONSTITUION GAVE TO THE CITIZENS THE MOST
EXTENSIVE RIGHTS AVAILABLE IN ANY COUNTRY. TOGETHER,
THEY DECIDED THAT IN THE SEARCH FOR A SOLUTION TO THE
PROBLEMS, NOBODY SHOULD BE EXCLUDED.
WHY THE NEED OF CONSTITUION?
►TAKE THE EXAMPLE OF SOUTH AFRICA TO SEE WHY WE NEED THE CONSTITUION
AND WHAT CONSTITUION DO.
► The oppressor and oppressed were planning to live together as equals in the new democracy. 

►Each section wanted to safeguard their interests and wanted substantial social and economic
rights.

►Through negotiations, both parties came to a compromise. 

►The whites agreed to the principle of majority rule and that of one person one vote.

► They also agreed to accept some basic rights for the poor and the workers.
• The blacks agreed that majority rule would not be absolute and
that the majority would not take away the property of the white
minority.

• How was this compromise to be implemented?

• The only way to build and maintain trust in such a situation was to
write down some rules of the game that everyone would abide by.

• These supreme rules that no government would be able to ignore

are called a constitution.
• Every country has diverse groups of people. All over the
world people have differences of opinion and interests.

• The 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
govt.

• 1) First, it generates a degree of trust and coordination that

is necessary for different kind of people to live together
ernment. Find what constitutions do below:
• 2) Second, it specifies how the government will be constituted, who
will have the power to take which decisions.

• 3) Third, it lays down limits on the powers of the government and

tells us what the rights of the citizens are.

• 4) 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.
MAKING THE INDIAN CONSTITUION
• India’s Constitution was drawn up under very difficult circumstances.

• The country was born through a partition on the basis of religious differences and was a traumatic
experience for the people of India and Pakistan. 

• The British had left it to the rulers of the princely states to decide whether they wanted to merge
with India or with Pakistan or remain independent.

• The merger of these princely states was a difficult and uncertain task.

• When the constitution was being written, the future of the country did not look as secure as it does
today.
THE PATH TO CONSTITUION
• One of the major advantages for the makers of the Indian
Constitution was that consensus about what a democratic
India should look like had already evolved during the
freedom struggle.

• In 1928, Motilal Nehru and eight other Congress leaders

drafted a constitution for India and 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 included features such as Universal Adult Franchise,
Right to Freedom and Equality and to protecting the rights of minorities in the
constitution of independent India. 

• These basic values were accepted by all leaders much before the Constituent
Assembly met to deliberate on the Constitution. 

• That is why the Indian constitution adopted many institutional details and
procedures from colonial laws like the Government of India Act, 1935.

• Many of our leaders were inspired by the ideals of the French Revolution, the
practice of parliamentary democracy in Britain and the Bill of Rights in the US.
CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY

• The drafting of the constitution was done by an assembly of

elected representatives called the Constituent Assembly.

• Elections to the Constituent Assembly were held in July 1946

and its first meeting was held in December 1946.

• Soon after, the country was divided into India and Pakistan
and 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.

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

• To mark this day we celebrate January 26 as Republic Day every year.

• Why should we accept the Constitution made by this Assembly more than six
decades ago?

• The Constitution does not reflect the views of its members alone. It expresses a
broad consensus of its time.
• he second reason for accepting the Constitution is that the Constituent
Assembly represented the people of India.

• Finally, 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 thorough discussion took place
on the Draft Constitution, clause by clause. More
than two thousand amendments were considered.

• Every document was presented and every word

spoken in the Constituent Assembly has been
recorded and preserved. These are called
‘Constituent Assembly Debates.’
GUIDING VALUES OF INDIAN CONSTITIUION
• First, understand the overall philosophy of what our
Constitution is all about.

• Read the views of some of our major leaders on our

Constitution and read what the Constitution says about its
own philosophy.

• This is what the preamble to the Constitution does.

• The Dream and the Promise

• There were many members who followed the vision of Mahatma Gandhi.

• This dream of an India that has eliminated inequality was shared by Dr

Ambedkar, who played a key role in the making of the Constitution, but his
vision of removing inequalities from India was different from Gandhi ji.

• Philosophy of the Constitution

• Values that inspired and guided the freedom struggle and were in turn nurtured
by it, formed the foundation for India’s democracy.

• Given below are the values embedded in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution.
• We, the People of India: The Constitution has been drawn up and enacted by
the people through their representatives, and not handed down to them by a
king or any outside powers.

• Sovereign: People have the supreme right to make decisions on internal as well

as external matters. No external power can dictate the Government of India.

• Socialist: Wealth is generated socially and should be shared equally by society.

The government should regulate the ownership of land and industry to reduce
socio-economic inequalities.
• Secular: Citizens have complete freedom to follow any religion. But there is
no official religion. The government treats all religious beliefs and practices
with equal respect.

• Democratic: A form of government where people enjoy equal political rights,

elect their rulers and hold them accountable. The government is run
according to some basic rules.

• Republic: The head of the state is an elected person and not a hereditary

position.
• Justice: Citizens cannot be discriminated against on the grounds of caste,
religion and gender. Social inequalities have to be reduced. The government
should work for the welfare of all, especially of the disadvantaged groups.

• 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.

• Equality: All are equal before the law. The traditional social inequalities have to
be ended. The government should ensure equal opportunity for all.
• Fraternity: All of us should behave as if we are members of the same family. No
one should treat a fellow citizen as inferior.

• Institutional Design

• A Constitution is not merely a statement of values and philosophy.

• It is mainly about embodying these values into institutional arrangements. It is a

very long and detailed document. 

• Therefore it needs to be amended quite regularly to keep it updated.

• Provisions are made to incorporate changes, known as constitutional
amendments from time to time.

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

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

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