Constitutional Design

04 August 2025 23:28

In democracy, there are certain basic rules that the citizens and the government have to follow. All
such rules together are known as "Constitution". It is the Supreme Law of the country. It determines
the rights of citizens, the powers of the government and how the government should function. It
also determines the relationship among people living in a territory (called citizens) and also the
relationship between the people and government.

Democratic Constitution in South Africa

South Africa became independent and got its democratic Constitution after a long struggle for
freedom. Nelson Mandela fought for its freedom and for rights and equality among black and white
people.
Alongwith seven other leaders, Nelson Mandela was tried for treason and sentenced to life
imprisonment in 1964 for opposing the apartheid regime. He spent 28 years in South Africa's most
dreaded (fearful) prison, "Robben Island".

• Struggle Against Apartheid

"Apartheid" was the name of a system of racial discrimination unique to South Africa. It was
imposed by the white Europeans on South Africa. Due to this settlement of whites, the system of
apartheid divided the people on the basis of their skin colour.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, a large number of whites (from the trading companies of
Europe) settled in South Africa and became the local rulers. The native people of South Africa 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
"migrated Indians".

• Discrimination Against Non-Whites

The white rulers treated all non-whites as inferiors. The apartheid system started oppressing blacks
in the following ways:-
- The non-whites did not have voting rights and they were forbidden from living in white areas.
- The non-whites could work in white areas only if they had a permit.
- Trains, buses and all the public places like hotels, cinema halls, theatres, beaches swimming
pools, public toilets, etc were separate for the whites and blacks. This was known as
"segregation".
- Blacks could not enter a church where the whites worshipped
- Blacks could not form associations or protest against the whites.

Since 1950, the blacks, coloured and Indians fought against the apartheid system. They launched
protest marches and strikes.
"The African National Congress (ANC)" led the movement.
Many workers' unions, the Communist Party and sensitive whites joined the ANC to oppose
apartheid. Apartheid was declared unjust and racist by several countries. But the government of
South Africa continued the Apartheid system.

• Towards a New Constitution

As protests and struggles increased, the government changed its policies by repealing discriminatory
laws. Ban on political parties and restrictions on the media were removed. After spending 28 years in
jail, Nelson Mandela was released. Finally at the midnight of "26th April, 1994", the new democratic
state of the "Republic of South Africa" emerged. The apartheid government came to an end, paving

9th Polity Page 1

state of the "Republic of South Africa" emerged. The apartheid government came to an end, paving
the way for the formation of a multi-racial government.

• Equality of Races in South Africa

After the emergence of the democratic South Africa, black leaders appealed to fellow blacks to
forgive the whites for the atrocities they had committed while in power.

They wanted to build up a new South Africa based on equality of all races. After two years of
discussion, the party that ruled through oppression and the party that led the freedom struggle
compromise together to draw up a common constitution.
- They included everybody in the society, whatever they might have done or represented in the
past.
- The whites agreed to the principle of majority rule and 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. So, they wrote down some rules
which everyone had to obey and all future governments would have to follow.

Why do we Need a Constitution?

Constitution is required to safeguard the interests of common people; whether they belong to major
community or minor community.
We need Constitution to fulfil following tasks:-
(i) It generates a degree of trust and coordination among people that is necessary for the different
kinds of people living together.
(ii) It specifies how the government will be constituted and who will have the power to make this
decision.
(iii) It lays down limits to the powers of the government and also specifies the rights of the citizens.
(iv) It also expresses the aspirations of the people about creating a good society.
(v) These rules will be supreme that no government will be able to ignore these.

Whether democratic or non-democratic, most countries in the world need to have these basic rules.
Any association needs to have its constitution whether it is government, private, social, political, etc.

All countries that have constitutions are not necessarily democratic. But all countries that are
democratic will have constitutions.

Making of the Indian Constitution

Indian's Constitution was drawn up under very difficult circumstances.

The country was born through a partition on the basis of religious differences. Atleast ten lakh
people were killed on both sides of the border in partition related violence.
Another problem was that, 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 Path to Constitution

Unlike South Africa, India did not have to create "consensus" about what a democratic India should
look like. 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.

• Discussion on Important Topics

In 1928, "Motilal Nehru" and eight other Congress leaders drafted a Constitution for India. At the
"Karachi Session" of the Indian National Congress in 1931, the leaders decided how the Indian
Constitution should look like.

9th Polity Page 2

Constitution should look like.
Some important topics like - "Universal Adult Franchise, Right to Freedom and Equality, Rights of
Minorities, etc." were discussed.

• Institutional Evolution

British had introduced very weak legislatures. In 1937, elections for Provincial Legislatures and
Ministries were held all over British India. Governments formed were not fully democratic, but the
experience gained by the Indians regarding institutional set up proved to be very useful.
The Indian Constitution adopted many institutional details and procedures from colonial laws like
the "Government of India Act, 1935".
After years of thinking and discussions, our leaders got the confidence to learn from other countries,
but on their own terms. Many of our leaders were inspired by the ideals of the "practice of
Parliamentary democracy in Britain and French Revolution, the Socialist Revolution of Russia, the Bill
of Rights in the US".

• The 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. Its first meeting was held in December
1946. After partition of India and Pakistan, the Constituent Assembly was divided into Constituent
Assemblies of India and Pakistan. The Constituent Assembly that wrote the Indian Constitution
constituted 299 members.
The Assembly adopted the Constitution on 26th November, 1949. It came into effect on 26th
January, 1950. To mark this day, 26th January is celebrated as Republic Day every year.

• Legitimacy of the Indian Constitution Today

The Constitution does not reflect the view of its members alone, but expresses a broad consensus of
the time it originated.
Over the years, several groups have questioned some provisions of the Constitution but no large
social group or political party has ever questioned its legitimacy.
Another reason for accepting the Constitution is that the Constituent Assembly represented the
people of India. It could not be chosen directly by all the people, as there was no Universal Adult
Franchise at that time.
The Constituent Assembly was elected by the members of the existing Provincial Legislatures. This
ensured a fair geographical share of members from all regions of the country.

• Working of the Constituent Assembly

The Assembly was dominated by the Indian National Congress, which included a variety of political
and regional groups of people.
It also represented members from different language groups, castes, classes, religions and
occupations.
Finally, the Constituent Assembly worked in a systematic, open and consensual (with mutual
consent) manner, which gave sacred quality to the Constitution.

- Drafting Committee and Constituent Assembly

Drafting Committee under the Chairmanship of "Dr BR Ambedkar" prepared a draft Constitution for
discussion.
The discussion of the draft Constitution took place 'clause by clause'. The members of the Drafting
Committee completed the work in "114 days spread over three years".

More than two thousand Constitutional amendments" were made. Every document presented and
every word spoken in the Constituent Assembly has been recorded and preserved. These are called
"Constituent Assembly Debates" and have been printed in 12 bulky volumes.

9th Polity Page 3

"Constituent Assembly Debates" and have been printed in 12 bulky volumes.
These debates provide the reason behind every provision of the Constitution and are used to
interpret the meaning of the Constitution.

Guiding Values of the Indian Constitution

The philosophy" of the Constitution can be understood by knowing the views of some prominent
leaders about our Constitution, as well as the Preamble to our Constitution.

• The Dream and the Promise

- Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi was not a member of the Constituent Assembly, but many members of it followed
his vision. In 1931, he had expressed himself in his magazine "Young India" that he wanted to frame
Constitution that provides an effective voice to the poor and underprivileged.
He wanted the Constitution to promote harmonious living of all communities in the country. It
prohibits untouchability, use of intoxicating drinks and drugs in the country. It should give equality to
women with men.

- Dr BR Ambedkar

Dr BR Ambedkar wanted political, social and economic equality for all. He is known as the "Father of
the Indian Constitution". He feared that if we deny equality in social and economic life for long,
democracy will be in great danger.

- Jawaharlal Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru wanted equality of opportunity to all, end of poverty and ignorance and control of
diseases. He wanted all responsible persons to dedicate themselves to the service of society. At the
midnight on 15th August 1947, he gave his famous speech "Tryst with Destiny".

• Philosophy of the Constitution

The values that inspired and guided the freedom struggle formed the foundation for India's
democracy. These values are included in a short statement of its basic values, which is called the
"Preamble to the Indian Constitution".
They guide all the Articles of the Indian Constitution. It is "inspired by the American model of the
Constitution" which begins with a Preamble. The Preamble provides a standard to examine and
evaluate any law and action of government, to find out whether it is good or bad. It is the "soul of
the Indian Constitution".

• Institutional Design

A constitution expresses the values and philosophy into institutional arrangements. The Constitution
describes the institutional arrangements in legal language. The makers of the Constitution made a
provision for making amendments to the Constitution from time-to-time. These changes are called
"Constitutional Amendments". In its working, there are three major aspects:-
(i) It lays down the procedure for choosing persons to govern the country, i.e. about elections.
(ii) It defines who will have how much power to take the decision.
(iii) It puts limits to what the government can do by providing some rights to the citizen that cannot
be violated.

Write terms of Glossary*

9th Polity Page 4