2.

Constitutional Design

Question and Answers

1. Here are some false statements. Identify the mistake in each case and rewrite these correctly based on what
you have read in this chapter.

(a) Leaders of the freedom movement had an open mind about whether the country should be
democratic or not after independence.

(b) Members of the Constituent Assembly of India held the same views on all provisions of the
Constitution.

(c) A country that has a constitution must be a democracy.

(d) Constitution cannot be amended because it is the supreme law of a country.

Answer:

(a) Leaders of the freedom movement had an open mind about the country being democratic after
independence.

(b) Members of the Constituent Assembly worked in a systematic, open, and consensual manner
to resolve differences among them.

(c) It is not necessary that a country having a constitution must be a democracy. The constitution
of a country can even make provisions for dictatorship or monarchy. Examples: the Soviet Union
and Pakistan.

(d) A Constitution can be amended to keep up with the changes in aspirations of the society. It can
also be changed keeping in mind the social, political, and economic conditions of the country.

2. Which of these was the most salient underlying conflict in the making of a democratic constitution in South
Africa?

(a) Between South Africa and its neighbours

(b) Between men and women

(c) Between the white majority and the black minority

(d) Between the coloured minority and the black majority

Answer:

(c) Between the white majority and the black minority

3. Which of these is a provision that a democratic constitution does not have?

(a) Powers of the head of the state

(b) Name of the head of the state

(c) Powers of the legislature

Answer:

(b) Name of the head of the state

Match the following leaders with their roles in the making of the Constitution:

(a) Motilal Nehru (i) President of the Constituent Assembly

(b) Β.R. Ambedkar (ii) Member of the Constituent Assembly

(c) Rajendra Prasad (iii) Chairman of the Drafting Committee

(d) Sarojini Naidu (iv) Prepared a Constitution for India in 1928

Answer:

(a) Motilal Nehru (iv) Prepared a Constitution for India in 1928

(b) B.R. Ambedkar (iii) Chairman of the Drafting Committee

(c) Rajendra Prasad (i) President of the Constituent Assembly

(d) Sarojini Naidu (ii) Member of the Constituent Assembly

5. Read again the extracts from Nehru’s speech ‘Tryst with Destiny’ and answer the following:

(a) Why did Nehru use the expression “not wholly or in full measure” in the first sentence?

(b) What pledge did he want the makers of the Indian Constitution to take?

(c) “The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every
eye”. Who was he referring to?

Answer:

(a) The expression ‘not wholly or in full measure’ in the first sentence was used by Nehru because
he thought that the task they had undertaken was incomplete and it wasn’t possible to fulfill the
pledges all at once but would be gradually fulfilled.
(b) The pledge that he wanted the makers of the Indian Constitution to take was to dedicate their
lives to the service of India, Indians, and humanity at large.

(c) He was referring to Mahatma Gandhi.

6. Here are some of the guiding values of the Constitution and their meaning. Rewrite them by
matching them correctly.

(a) Sovereign (i) Government will not favour any religion.

(b) Republic (ii) People have the supreme right to make decisions.

(c) Fraternity (iii) Head of the state is an elected person.

(d) Secular (iv) People should live like brothers and sisters.

Answer:

(a) Sovereign (ii) People have the supreme right to make decisions.

(b) Republic (iii) Head of the state is an elected person.

(c) Fraternity (iv) People should live like brothers and sisters.

(d) Secular (i) Government will not favour any religion.

7. Do it by your self.

8. Here are different opinions about what made India a democracy. How much importance would you give to
each of these factors?

(a) Democracy in India is a gift of the British rulers. We received training to work with
representative legislative institutions under British rule.

(b) Freedom Struggle challenged the colonial exploitation and denial of different freedoms to
Indians. Free India could not be anything but democratic.

(c) We were lucky to have leaders who had democratic convictions. The denial of democracy in
several other newly independent countries shows the important role of these leaders.

Answer:

(a) Though I would acknowledge many good things were learned from the British rulers and
democracy being one of them,I wouldn’t say that democracy was a gift given by them. Indians had
to struggle a lot and make many sacrifices to attain freedom from British rule. These
circumstances helped people to gain experience and training in the working of the legislative
institutions.

(b) Yes, Free India could not be anything but democratic because the people had already suffered
a lot under British rule. This made them realise that for people to have a say in ruling the country, it
was necessary to make India a democratic country.

(c) It is indeed true that we were lucky to have leaders who had deep democratic values. It is
because of these ideals that India’s freedom struggle can be considered as the only example of a
bloodless freedom struggle in contemporary history. Therefore, absence of such ideals has made
many countries undemocratic.

9. Read the following extract from a conduct book for ‘married women’, published in 1912. ‘God has made the
female species delicate and fragile both physically and emotionally, pitiably incapable of self-defence. They are
destined thus by God to remain in male protection – of the father, husband, and son – all their lives. Women
should, therefore, not despair, but feel obliged that they can dedicate themselves to the service of men’. Do you
think the values expressed in this para reflected the values underlying our constitution? Or does this go against
the constitutional values?

Answer:

The given paragraph does not reflect the underlying value in our Constitution. It refers to the
patriarchal views and endorses the thought of inequality in genders.

It goes against the constitutional values because in the paragraph women are shown as inferior,
unequal as weak and fragile who should serve men. However, the Constitution has provided equal
rights to women. They enjoy the right to vote, can take up any job, and are paid equal wages for
the same work.

10. Read the following statements about a constitution. Give reasons why each of these is true or not true.

(a) The authority of the rules of the constitution is the same as that of any other law.

(b) Constitution lays down how different organs of the government will be formed.

(c) Rights of citizens and limits on the power of the government are laid down in the constitution.

(d) A constitution is about institutions, not about values.

Answer:

(a) Not true. An ordinary law is passed by the Parliament and can be changed by it on its own will.
On the other hand, the rules of the Constitution have greater authority and the Parliament has to
abide by them. For amending these rules, a special procedure has to be adopted.

(b) True. The Constitution has laid down the framework for government formation. It has put in
place the structure, power, and functions of the three organs of the government, i.e. executive,
legislative, and the judiciary.

(c) True. The rights of the citizens are laid down in the Constitution as fundamental rights, which
are enforceable by law. The powers and functions of the government are divided into the executive,
legislative, and judiciary. It is done to keep each organ under check by the other organs to ensure
the power functioning of the government.

(d) Not True. The Constitution is the supreme law of the country. It lays down the composition
powers and functions of the various institutions of government. The Constitution is guided by
values which are found in the form of Preamble. Principles and values such as equality, liberty,
fraternity, brotherhood, secularism, and justice are included in the Preamble of the Constitution.

Extra Questions:

1. Define apartheid.

Ans. Apartheid is the system that believes in separation of people based on their color,
ethnicity, caste, etc. It was a strict policy in South Africa to segregate and economically and
politically oppress the non-white population of the country.

2. What was the Constituent Assembly?

Ans. The drafting of the document called the Constitution was done by an assembly of elected
representatives called the Constituent Assembly.

3. Define Preamble.

Ans. The preamble is an introduction to the Constitution which contains the ideals and basic
principles of the Indian Constitution.

4. What is the importance of the Preamble?

Ans. (i) It contains the philosophy on which the entire Constitution has been built.

(ii) It provides a standard to examine and evaluate any law and action of the government, to
find out whether it is good or bad. It is the soul of the Indian Constitution.

5. Why India is called ‘a Republic’?

Ans. India is called Republic because the head of the state, i.e. the President is an elected
person, and it is not a hereditary position.

6. What do you mean by Constitutional amendments? What is its importance? State their
significance in a democratic country like India.

Ans. A change in the Constitution made by the supreme legislative body in the country is
known as Constitutional amendment. In India, it is called the Parliament or “Sansad”.

● Constitution can be changed according to needs and aspirations of the people.

● Major shortcomings of the constitution can be removed.

Significance
 i. India is a major democratic country and has a long detailed Constitution.

ii. Therefore, it needs to be amended quite regularly to keep it updated.

iii. The makers of the Constitution did not see it as sacred, static and unalterable law.

iv. As s ‘Living Document’, it has to be in accordance with people’s aspirations and

7. Explain the role of Nelson Mandela in promoting democracy in the world.

Ans.(i) Nelson Mandela was one of most able, efficient and far-sighted leaders of the African
National Congress.

(ii) It was under his leadership that the struggle against apartheid reached its climax.

(iii) Due to the participation in the movement against apartheid he was sentenced to life
imprisonment in 1964. He spent the next 28 years in prison.

(iv) In the 90’s, due to activities of the ANC and the support it got from other countries of the
world, the South African regime was world, the South African regime was completely isolated
from the world.

(v) In 1994, the first democratic elections were held, and Nelson Mandela was elected the
President of South Africa.