UPSC IAS PRELIMS 2023 | INDIAN POLITY | DEMO CLASS | Drishti IAS English
Drishti IAS : English
Today in Drishti IAS' UPSC IAS PRELIMS 2023 - Indian Polity Demo Class, I will be discussing
the sources of the Indian Constitution and providing some memory techniques to help you recall
this information during the exam. Abhishek Mishra will give you an insight into 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.
The Government of India Act 1935 proposed a federation of British provinces and princely
states, though it never came into effect. This was the basis of the federal scheme we adopted.
The Parliamentary form of government and parliamentary privileges were taken from the British
Constitution, while fundamental rights were inspired by the U.S. Constitution. Additionally,
concepts such as judicial review, the impeachment of the president and the office of vice
president have been taken from the U.S Constitution too. The Weimar constitution of Germany,
Russian Constitution, Irish Constitution and Canadian Constitution have alsohad an influence on
our own constitution. The Canadian constitution has a strong centre-vegetarian approach,
where powers are not divided between the centre and state. Moreover, we adopted the idea of
joint sitting of both houses from the Australian Constitution and emergency provisions relating to
suspension of fundamental rights from the Government of India Act 1935.
Drishti IAS : English
Today in Drishti IAS' UPSC IAS PRELIMS 2023 - Indian Polity Demo Class, I will be discussing
the sources of the Indian Constitution and providing some memory techniques to help you recall
this information during the exam. Abhishek Mishra will give you an insight into 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.
The Government of India Act 1935 proposed a federation of British provinces and princely
states, though it never came into effect. This was the basis of the federal scheme we adopted.
The Parliamentary form of government and parliamentary privileges were taken from the British
Constitution, while fundamental rights were inspired by the U.S. Constitution. Additionally,
concepts such as judicial review, the impeachment of the president and the office of vice
president have been taken from the U.S Constitution too. The Weimar constitution of Germany,
Russian Constitution, Irish Constitution and Canadian Constitution have alsohad an influence on
our own constitution. The Canadian constitution has a strong centre-vegetarian approach,
where powers are not divided between the centre and state. Moreover, we adopted the idea of
joint sitting of both houses from the Australian Constitution and emergency provisions relating to
suspension of fundamental rights from the Government of India Act 1935.
