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UNIT 2, CONSTITUTIONAL DESIGN, The story of South Africa, The apartheid rule, • A system of racial discrimination unique to South Africa, • Imposed by the white Europeans, • Divided the people and labelled the people on the basis of their skin colour, • Whites, • Blacks, • Coloured, • People who migrated from India, • Particularly oppressive for the blacks, • Segregation- Trains, buses, taxis, hotels, hospitals, schools and colleges, libraries, cinema, halls, theatres, beaches, swimming pools were all separate for the whites and blacks, The struggle, • Since 1950, the blacks, coloured and Indians fought, • Protest marches and strikes, • African National Congress (ANC)- umbrella organisation, • Workers’ unions, the Communist Party, Many sensitive whites joined the protest, • Several countries denounced apartheid as unjust and racist, • But the white racist government continued to rule by detaining, torturing and killing, thousands of black and coloured people, • Nelson Mandela was charged for reason and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964Spent 28 years in jail, End of Apartheid, • Government realised that they could no longer keep the blacks under their rule through, repression, • Discriminatory laws were repealed, • Ban on political parties and restrictions on the media were lifted, • Nelson Mandela was released after 28 years, • 26 April 1994-apartheid government came to an end, New Constitution, • The party that ruled through oppression and brutal killings and the party that led the, freedom struggle sat together to draw up a common constitution, • After two years of discussion, • The Constitution contains most extensive rights, , CONSTITUTION, Definition, • A set of written rules that are accepted by all people living together in a country, • Supreme law of the land
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• Determines the relationship among people living in a territory (called citizens) and the, relationship between the people and government, Why do we need a constitution?, • It generates a degree of trust and coordination that is necessary for different kind of, people to live together, • It specifies how the government will be constituted, who will have power to take which, decisions, • It lays down limits on the powers of the government and tells us what the rights of the, citizens are, • It expresses the aspirations of the people about creating a good society, , MAKING OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION, The Background, • Partition related violence killed nearly 10 lakh people, • A large number of Princely states needed to be united, The path to Constitution, •, •, •, •, , Much of the consensus had evolved during the freedom struggle, 1928-Motilal Nehru and eight other Congress leaders drafted a constitution for India, 1931-the resolution at the Karachi session, The familiarity with political institutions of colonial rule also helped develop an, agreement over the institutional design, • Indian constitution adopted many institutional details and procedures from colonial laws, like the Government of India Act, 1935, , • Years of thinking and deliberation, • Learn from other countries, o Ideals of French Revolution, o Parliamentary democracy in Britain, o The Bill of Rights in the US, o Socialist revolution in Russia, The Constituent Assembly, •, •, •, •, •, •, , An assembly of elected representatives, Elections -July 1946, First meeting –December 1946, 299 members, Adopted the constitution on 26 November 1949, The constitution came into effect on 26 January 1950, , Why should we accept the Constitution made by this Assembly more than six, decades ago?, • It was written with Broad consensus, • The legitimacy, o The representation of the assembly was universal
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o All major caste, class, ideology, parties had their representatives, , • The systematic work of the assembly, o Some basic principles were decided and agreed upon, o Drafting committee chaired by Dr.B.R. Ambedkar prepared a draft constitution, o Several rounds of thorough discussion took place, o The members deliberated for 114 days spread over three years, o ‘Constituent Assembly Debates’- recorded document of the assembly, , GUIDING VALUES OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION, The views of some of our major leaders, • Gandhiji, o Hormony- Equality- Abolition of Untouchability- Women empowerment, • Ambedkar, o Social and economical Equality, • Nehru, o The ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity, Philosophy of the Constitution, • Constitutional values are embedded in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution, • Preamble- The Constitution begins with a short statement, • WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, o 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, o People have supreme right to make decisions on internal as well as external, matters. No external power can dictate the government of India., • SOCIALIST, o 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., • SECULAR, o Citizens have complete freedom to follow any religion. But there is no official, religion. Government treats all religious beliefs and practices with equal respect., • DEMOCRATIC, o A form of government where people enjoy equal political rights, elect their rulers, and hold them accountable, • REPUBLIC, o The head of the state is an elected person and not a hereditary position., • JUSTICE, o 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., • LIBERTY
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o 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, o All are equal before the law. The traditional social inequalities have to be ended., The government should ensure equal opportunity for all., • FRATERNITY, o 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 mainly about embodying values into institutional arrangements, • Constitutional amendments helps our constitution to be updated, • 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 the power of the government by providing rights to the citizen
