Carrer Classes

Ch: -2 (Political Science) Constitutional

Design
Nelson Mandela and South
Africa
Democratic Constitution in South
Africa
Nelson Mandela, being tried for treason
by the white South African government.

He and seven other leaders were

sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964
for daring to oppose the apartheid
regime in his country.

He spent the next 28 years in South

Africa's most dreaded prison, Robben
Struggle against Apartheid
Apartheid was the name of a system of racial
discrimination unique to South Africa.
A large number of 'whites' had settled in
South Africa and became the local rulers.
The system of apartheid divided the people
and labelled them on the basis of their skin
colour.
The native people of South Africa are black in
colour and made up about three-fourth of the
population and were called 'blacks'.
Besides these two groups, there were people of
mixed races who were called 'coloured' and
Apartheid
Struggle Against Apartheid
The apartheid system was particularly
oppressive for the blacks.
They were forbidden from living in white areas.
Trains, buses, taxis, hotels, hospitals, schools
and colleges, libraries, cinema halls, theatres,
beaches, swimming pools were all separate for
the whites and blacks. This was called
segregation.
Since 1950, the blacks, coloured and Indians
fought against the apartheid system.
The African National Congress (ANC) was
the umbrella organization that led the struggle
against the policies of segregation.
Apartheid
 Towards a New Constitution
As protests and struggles against apartheid
had increased the white regime changed its
policies.
Discriminatory laws were repealed.
Ban on political parties and restrictions on the
media were lifted.
After 28 years of imprisonment, Nelson
Mandela walked out of the jail as a free man.
Finally, at the midnight of 26 April 1994, the
new national flag of the Republic of South
Africa was unfurled marking the newly born
democracy in the world.
Equality of Races in South
Africa
Black leaders appealed to fellow blacks to
forgive the whites for the atrocities they
had committed while in power.
They said let us build a new South Africa
based on equality of all races and men
and women, on democratic values, social
justice and human rights.
After two years they came out with one of
the finest constitutions the world has
ever had.
This constitution gave to its citizens the
most extensive rights available in any
Equality of Races in South
Africa
The Preamble to the South Africa
Constitution outlines that everybody
should become part of the solution to
every problem, irrespective of whatever
they might have done or represented in
the past.

The South Africa constitution inspires

democrats all over the world. Thus,
South Africa became a model of
constitution
A set of written rules that are
accepted by all people living
together in a country.
Supreme law that determines the
relationship among people living in
a territory and also the relationship
between the people and the
government.
Need for the Constitution

1. It generates a degree of trust and

coordination that is necessary for different
kind of people to live together.
2. It specifies how the government will be
constituted, who will have power to take
which decisions.
3. It lays down limits on the powers of the
government and tells us what the rights of the
citizens are.
4. It expresses the aspirations of the people
about creating a good society.
Need for the Constitution
 Not every nation with a
constitution is a democratic
nation. However ,
Constitutions are a feature
of all democratic nations.
Making of the Indian
Constitution
The making of the constitution for a huge
and diverse country like India was not an
easy affair.
At that time the people of India were
emerging from the status of subjects to that
of citizens.
The country was born through a partition on
the basis of religious differences.
At least ten lakh people were killed on
both sides of the border in partition related
violence.
The British had left it to the rulers of the
India in 1947
The Path to Constitution

The consensus of creating the

Indian constitution had evolved
during the freedom struggle.

There were different views

regarding what path India should
take after Independence, but some
basic ideas were accepted by
everyone.
 The Path to Constitution
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 Path to Constitution
The British rule had given voting rights only
to a few.
Elections were held in 1937 to Provincial
Legislatures and Ministries 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 a working in them.
That is why the Indian constitution adopted
The Path to Constitution
Many of our leaders were inspired by the
ideals of French Revolution, the practice of
parliamentary democracy in Britain and the
Bill of Rights in the US.
The socialist revolution in Russia had
inspired many Indians to think of shaping a
system based on social and economic
equality.
Yet they were not simply imitating what
others had done.
At each step they were questioning whether
these things suited our country.
 The Constituent Assembly
The drafting of the document called the
constitution was done by an assembly of
elected representatives called the
Constituent Assembly.
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
The Constituent Assembly

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
Why should we accept the
Constitution?
 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
acceptable to all.
 In some other countries, the Constitution exists as a
mere piece of paper. No one actually follows it.
 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.
Why should we accept the
Constitution?
The Constituent Assembly represented the
people of India. There was no universal adult
franchise at that time.
A fair geographical share of members from all
the regions of the country were there and the
Assembly was dominated by the Indian
National Congress.
The Assembly had many members who did not
agree with the Congress.
the Assembly represented members from
different language groups, castes, classes,
Why should we accept 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
Why should we accept the
Constitution?

Every document presented and

every word spoken in the
Constituent Assembly has been
recorded and preserved.
These are called 'Constituent
Assembly Debates'.
When printed, these debates are
12 bulky volumes!
Guiding values of Indian
Constitution
The Dream and the Promise
Mahatma Gandhi was not a member
of the Constituent Assembly.
Yet there were many members who
followed his vision.
In 1931, he wrote in his magazine
Young India about what he wanted
the Constitution to do:
This dream of an India that has
eliminated inequality was shared by
Dr. Ambedkar.
Philosophy of the constitution
Values that inspired and guided
the freedom struggle and were
embedded in the Preamble of
the Indian Constitution.
They guide all the articles of the
Indian Constitution. This is called
the Preamble to the constitution.
Taking inspiration from American
model, most countries have
chosen to begin their constitutions
with a preamble.
Preamble of Indian Constitution
Important terms used in
Preamble
1.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.
2. SOVEREIGN: People have supreme right to
make decisions on internal as well as external
matters. No external power can dictate the
government of India.
3.SOCIALIST: Wealth is generated socially and
should be shared equally by society.
Important terms used in
Preamble
4. 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.
5. DEMOCRATIC: A form of government were
people enjoy equal political rights elect their
rulers a hold them accountable. The government
is run according to some basic rules.
6. REPUBLIC: The head of the state is an
elected person and not a hereditary position.
Important terms used in
Preamble

7. JUSTICE: Citizens cannot be discriminated

on
the grounds of caste, religion and gender.
Social inequalities have to be reduced.
Government should work for the welfare of all,
especially of the disadvantaged groups.
8. 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
Important terms used in
Preamble
9. EQUALITY: All are equal before
the law. The traditional social
inequalities have to be ended. The
government should ensure equal
opportunity for all.
10. 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
Constitution is a very long and detailed
document. Therefore, it needs to be amended
quite regularly to keep it updated.
Those who crafted the Indian Constitution felt
that it has to be in accordance 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.
Institutional Design

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