UPSC IAS PRELIMS 2023 - INDIAN POLITY
Constitution and Polity - what is Constitution and what is Polity? The state includes the
government, union government, state government, local government, any statutory or
non-statutory body established by any law and even private agencies that act as an
instrument of state. For it to be considered a state, it must have a defined territory, a
permanent population, sovereign government and the capacity to conduct
international relations. Constitution ensures that all laws and regulations must be in
accordance with it. Federalism implies that there are multiple levels of governments -
central, state and local; this is an essential feature of federalism. Constitution is theory
but polity is practice; when the Constitution comes into practice, it becomes a political
system. It provides certain protections to citizens known as fundamental rights. Lastly,
democracy implies Rule of the People by the People and for the People.
The Rule of Law is a fundamental principle of governance and is characterized by the
supremacy of law, quality of law, equality before law, and an independent Judiciary to
enforce the law. Democracy is defined as the rule of the People by the people and for
the people; however, North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea (DPRK), is anything but democratic. The Indian Constitution was
adopted on 26 November 1949, coming into full force on 26 January 1950 after two
years, eleven months and eighteen days of deliberation. The Constitution originally
contained 395 articles arranged in 22 parts and eight schedules in Hindi. It is also
important to note that our Indian Constitution is based on the Government of India Act
1935, which was itself very bulky. Consequently, our Indian Constitution has become
very voluminous and bulky.
Constitution and Polity - what is Constitution and what is Polity? The state includes the
government, union government, state government, local government, any statutory or
non-statutory body established by any law and even private agencies that act as an
instrument of state. For it to be considered a state, it must have a defined territory, a
permanent population, sovereign government and the capacity to conduct
international relations. Constitution ensures that all laws and regulations must be in
accordance with it. Federalism implies that there are multiple levels of governments -
central, state and local; this is an essential feature of federalism. Constitution is theory
but polity is practice; when the Constitution comes into practice, it becomes a political
system. It provides certain protections to citizens known as fundamental rights. Lastly,
democracy implies Rule of the People by the People and for the People.
The Rule of Law is a fundamental principle of governance and is characterized by the
supremacy of law, quality of law, equality before law, and an independent Judiciary to
enforce the law. Democracy is defined as the rule of the People by the people and for
the people; however, North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea (DPRK), is anything but democratic. The Indian Constitution was
adopted on 26 November 1949, coming into full force on 26 January 1950 after two
years, eleven months and eighteen days of deliberation. The Constitution originally
contained 395 articles arranged in 22 parts and eight schedules in Hindi. It is also
important to note that our Indian Constitution is based on the Government of India Act
1935, which was itself very bulky. Consequently, our Indian Constitution has become
very voluminous and bulky.
