INDIAN DEMOCRACY

INTRODUCTION:India is a constitutional republic consisting of 28 states and seven centercontrolled union territories with new delhi as the nation's capital. It is the seventh largest and second most populous country with roughly one sixth of the worlds population, making it the world's largest democratic country. Indian national congress has ruled India for 3/4th of Indian history under de facto party system and now under the dominant party system. It is one of the world's oldest civilizations with a rich and varied cultural heritage. It has achieved widespread socio-economic progress during the last 64 years of its independence. From self-sufficiency in agricultural production to space exploration, India is competing effectively with other developed nations. Indo-Aryans are native inhabitants of south Asia, including present day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. These Aryans merged with Dravidians, who were the original inhabitants of south India, and gave a dynamic start to Indian classical culture. In the 3rd and 4th century BC, Indian culture reached a peak during the time of Mauryan Empire. The period of the Gupta dynasty from 4th to 6th century AD is considered the Golden Age of India. An Arab invasion in the 8th century and a Turkish invasion in the 12th century were followed by European traders, beginning in the late 15th century. By the 19th century Britain had assumed political control. India won independence after the diligent efforts of Mohan das karamchand Gandhi better known as father of India MK Gandhi and the lion son of punjab Bhagat Singh in 1947. The sub-continent was divided into the states of India and Pakistan. Despite impressive economic gains India faces significant problems such as overpopulation, poverty, and religious strife. India is also known for the highly sophisticated and urbanized culture of the Indus Valley Civilization that thrived in the north-western part of the sub-continent from about 2600 to 2000 BC. From that time it was a virtually self-contained political and cultural arena, strongly influenced by Hinduism. Other religions, notably Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, originated in India,

although their presenceis quite small in India relative to both Hinduism and Islam. Throughout past centuries it developed a rich and varied culture with intellectual base in mathematics, medicine, astronomy, and architecture. The government of India is framed according to the Constitution. The architects of Indias constitution, though drawing on many external sources, were most heavily influenced by the British model of parliamentary democracy. In addition, a number of principles were adopted from the United States Constitution, including the separation of powers among the major branches of government, the establishment of a supreme court, and albeit in modified form, of a federal structure (a constitutional division of power between the union [central] and state governments). The mechanical details for running the central government, however, were largely carried over from the Government of India Act of 1935, passed by the British Parliament, which served as Indias governing document in the waning days of British colonial rule. The new constitution took effect on 26 January 1950 and proclaimed India a sovereign socialist secular democratic republic. With 444 articles, 12 (later 12) schedules (each clarifying and expanding upon a number of articles), and 97 amendments, it is one of the world's longest and most detailed constitution. It also includes a detailed list of fundamental rights, a lengthy list of directive principles of state policy (goals that the state is obligated to promote, though with no specified timetable for their accomplishment), and a much shorter list of fundamental duties of the citizen. The constitution of India is drawn extensively from Western legal traditions in its outline of the principles of liberal democracy. Unlike many Western constitutions, its principles aspire to end the inequities of traditional social relations and enhance social welfare. The constitution has fostered an increasing concentration of power in the central governmentespecially the Office of the Prime Minister. This centralization has occurred in the face of the increasing assertiveness of an array of ethnic and caste groups across Indian society. The government has responded to the resulting tensions by exerting authoritarian, albeit constitutional powers. Together with the public's perception of pervasive corruption among India's politicians, the state's centralization of authority and increasing resort to coercive power have eroded its legitimacy.

According to Abraham linkon Democracy means a government is elected of the people, for the people, by the people

PART OF INDIAN DEMOCRACY:The government comprises three branches: the executive, the legislative and the judiciary. The executive branch headed by the President, who is the Head of State and exercises his or her power directly or through officers subordinate to him. The Legislative branch or the Parliament consists of the lower house, the Lok Sabha, and the upper house, the Rajya Sabha, as well as the president. The Judicial branch has the Supreme Court at its apex, 21 High Courts, and numerous civil, criminal and family courts at the district level. India is the largest democracy in the world. The basic civil and criminal laws governing the citizens of India are set down in major parliamentary legislation, such as the Civil Procedure Code, the Indian Penal Code, and the Criminal Procedure Code. The union and individual state governments consist of executive, legislative and judicial branches. The legal system as applicable to the federal and individual state governments is based on the English Common and Statutory Law. India accepts International Court of Justice jurisdiction with several reservations. By the 73rd and 74th amendments to the constitution, the Panchayat Raj system has been institutionalized for local governance.

Parliamentary government:India has a parliamentary system of government based largely on that of the United Kingdom (Westminster system). However, eminent scholars including the first President Dr Rajendra Prasad have raised the question "how far we are entitled to invoke and incorporate into our written Constitution by interpretation the conventions of the British Constitution".[2] The legislature is the Parliament. It is bicameral, consisting of two houses: the directly-elected 545-member Lok Sabha ("House of the People"), the lower house, and the 250-member indirectly-elected and appointed Rajya Sabha ("Council of States"), the upper house. The parliament enjoys parliamentary supremacy. All the members of the Council of Ministers as well as the Prime Minister are members of Parliament. If they are not, they must be elected within a period of six months from the time they assume their respective office. The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers are responsible to the Lok Sabha, individually as well as collectively.

Individual responsibility
Every individual minister is in charge of a specific ministry or ministries (or specific other portfolio). He is responsible for any act of failure in all the policies relating to his department. In case of any lapse, he is individually responsible to the Parliament. If a vote of no confidence is passed against the individual minister, he has to resign. Individual responsibility can amount to collective responsibility. Therefore, the Prime Minister, in order to save his government, can ask for the resignation of such a minister and the people have a say.

Collective responsibility
The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers are jointly accountable to the Lok Sabha. If there is a policy failure or lapse on the part of the government, all the members of the council are jointly responsible. If a vote of no confidence is passed against the government, then all the ministers headed by the Prime Minister have to resign.

Executive branch
Executive branch of government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the republican idea of the separation of powers. The separation of powers system is designed to distribute authority away from the executive branch an attempt to preserve individual liberty in response to tyrannical leadership throughout history.

President
The executive power is vested on mainly the President of India by Article 53(1) of the constitution. The President enjoys all constitutional powers and exercises them directly or through officers subordinate to him as per the aforesaid Article 53(1).The President is to act in accordance with aid and advise tendered by the head of government (Prime Minister of India) and his or her Council of Ministers (the cabinet) as described in Article 74 (Constitution of India). The Constitution vests in the President of India all the executive powers of the Central Government. The President appoints the Prime Minister the person most likely to command the support of the majority in the Lok Sabha (usually the leader of the majority party or coalition). The President then appoints the other members of the Council of Ministers, distributing portfolios to them on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Council of Ministers remains in power during the 'pleasure' of the President. In practice, however, the Council of Ministers must retain the support of the Lok Sabha. If a President were to dismiss the Council of Ministers on his or her own initiative, it might trigger a constitutional crisis. Thus, in practice, the Council of Ministers cannot be dismissed as long as it commands the support of a majority in the Lok Sabha. The President is responsible for making a wide variety of appointments. These include:
    

Governors of States The Chief Justice, other judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts of India. The Attorney General The President's Officer The Comptroller and Auditor General

The Chief Election Commissioner and Cabinet Secretary  The Chairman and other Members of the Union Public Service Commission  Ambassadors and High Commissioners to other countries. The President also receives the credentials of Ambassadors and High Commissioners from other countries. The President is the de jure Commander in Chief of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India can grant a pardon to or reduce the sentence of a convicted person for one time, particularly in cases involving punishment of death. The decisions involving pardoning and other rights by the president are independent of the opinion of the Prime Minister or the Lok Sabha majority. In most other cases, however, the President exercises his or her executive powers on the advice of the Prime Minister.


Vice President
The Vice-President of India is the second-highest ranking government official in the executive branch of the Government of India, after the President. The Vice-President also has the legislative function of acting as the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. The Vice-President acts as President in the event of death, resignation, or removal of the President until a new President is chosen by the electoral college for maximum 6 months. During this period, the Vice President shall not perform the duties of the office of the Chairman of Rajya Sabha.

Cabinet, executive departments and agencies

The Cabinet of India includes the Prime Minister along with 35 Cabinet Ministers. All Ministers must be a member of one of the houses of India's Parliament. The Cabinet is headed by the Cabinet Secretary, who is also the head of the Indian Administrative Service. Other Ministers are categorized as Union Cabinet Ministers, who are heads of the various Ministries; Ministers of State, who are junior members who report directly to one of the Cabinet Ministers, often overseeing a specific aspect of government; and Ministers of State (Independent Charges), who are junior members that do not report to a Cabinet Minister.

Judicial branch
India's independent judicial system began under the British, and its concepts and procedures resemble those of Anglo-Saxon countries. The Supreme Court of India consists of a Chief Justice and 30 associate justices, all appointed by the President on the advice of the Chief Justice of India. The jury trials were abolished in India in early 1960s, after the famous case KM Nanavati v State of Maharashtra, for reasons of being vulnerable to media and public pressure, as well as to being misled Unlike its US counterpart, the Indian justice system consists of a unitary system at both state and federal level. The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court of India, High Courts of India at the state level, and District Courts and Sessions Courts at the district level.

National judiciary
The Supreme Court of India has original jurisdiction, appellate jurisdiction and advisory jurisdiction. Its exclusive original jurisdiction extends to any dispute between the Government of India and one or more states, or between the Government of India and any state or states on one side and one or more states on the other, or between two or more states, if and insofar as the dispute involves any question (whether of law or of fact) on which the existence or extent of a legal right depends. In addition, Article 32 of the Indian Constitution gives an extensive original jurisdiction to the Supreme Court in regard to enforcement of Fundamental Rights. It is empowered to issue directions, orders or writs, including writs in the nature of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari to enforce them. The Supreme Court has been conferred with power to direct transfer of any civil or criminal case from one State High Court to another State High Court, or from a court subordinate to another State High Court. Public Interest Litigation (PIL) : Although the proceedings in the Supreme Court arise out of the judgments or orders made by the Subordinate Courts, of late the Supreme Court has started entertaining matters in which interest of the public at large is involved, and the Court may be moved by any individual or group of persons either by filing a Writ Petition at the Filing Counter of the Court, or by addressing a letter to Hon'ble The Chief Justice

of India highlighting the question of public importance for invoking this jurisdiction.

Civil Service
The Civil Services of India is the civil service and the permanent bureaucracy of the Government of India. The executive decisions are implemented by the Indian civil servants. Civil servants are employees of the Government of India and not Parliament of India. Not all employees of the Government of India are civil servants. In parliamentary democracy of India, the ultimate responsibility for running the administration rests with the elected representatives of the people which are the ministers. These ministers are accountable to the legislatures which are also elected by the people on the basis of universal adult franchise. The ministers are indirectly responsible to the people themselves. But the handful of ministers cannot be expected to deal personally with the manifold problems of modern administration. Thus the ministers lay down the policy and it is for the civil servants to carry out this policy.

Cabinet Secretary
The Cabinet Secretary of India is the senior most civil servant in the country. The Cabinet Secretary is the Ex-Officio and Chairman of the Civil Services Board of the Republic of India; the chief of the Indian Administrative Service and head of all civil services under the rules of business of the Government of India. The Cabinet Secretary is arguably India's most powerful bureaucrat and right hand of Prime Minister of India. The Cabinet Secretariat is responsible for the administration of the Government of India Transaction of Business Rules, 1961 and the Government of India Allocation of Business Rules 1961, facilitating smooth transaction of business in Ministries/Departments of the Government by ensuring adherence to these rules. The Secretariat assists in decisionmaking in Government by ensuring Inter-Ministerial coordination, ironing out differences amongst Ministries/Departments and evolving consensus through the instrumentality of the standing/adhoc Committees of Secretaries. Through this mechanism new policy initiatives are also promoted.

The Cabinet Secretariat ensures that the President of India, the VicePresident and Ministers are kept informed of the major activities of all Departments by means of a monthly summary of their activities. Management of major crisis situations in the country and coordinating activities of the various Ministries in such a situation is also one of the functions of the Cabinet Secretariat.

Elections and voting

India has quasi-federal, with elected officials at the federal (national), state and local levels. On a national level, the head of government, the Prime Minister, is elected in-directly by the people, through a general election where the leader of the majority winning party is selected to be the Prime Minister. All members of the federal legislature, the Parliament, are directly elected. Elections in India take place every five years by universal adult suffrage.

State, tribal and local governments

State governments in India are the governments ruling States of India and the main minsters in the state are the chief ministers. Power is divided between central government and state governments. State government's legislature is bicameral in 6 states and unicameral in the rest. Lower house is elected with 5 years term, while upper house if exists 1/3 of the members elected every 2 years with 6 year term.

REVIEW OF LITRETURE:Atul kohli Ed,The Success Of India's Democracy (Paperback) How has democracy taken root in India in the face of a low-income economy, widespread poverty, illiteracy, and immense ethnic diversity? Atul Kohli brings together some of the worlds leading scholars of Indian politics to consider this intriguing anomaly. They do so by focusing not so much on socioeconomic factors, but rather on the ways in which power is distributed in India. Two processes have guided the negotiation of power conflicts. First, a delicate balance has been struck between the forces of centralization and decentralization and, second, the interests of the powerful in society have been served without fully excluding those on the margins. These and related themes are addressed by the editor in his introduction, which is followed by an essay on the historical origins of Indian democracy, and two further sections, one on the consolidation of democratic institutions, and the other on the forces which motivate or inhibit democratic growth. While the book offers a clear and coherent approach to the subject, individual authors have their particular take on the subject. It is this combination that will entice a wide variety of readers, from students on the one hand, as a guide to one of the worlds largest democracies, to scholars on the other, who are looking for a new approach to this controversial and much-debated subject.

y Shalendra D. Sharma, Development and democracy in India Examining the relationship between democratic governance and economic development in post-independence India, this book addresses the paradox of India's political economy. y Judith M. Brown., Modern India: The Origins of an Asian Democracy A new edition of this widely used text covers the last two centuries of Indian history, concluding with an epilogue written from the perspective of the 1990s. It thematically and analytically discusses the emergence of India as one of the world's largest democracies and one of the most stable of the states to emerge from the experience of

colonialism. The foundations of this rare phenomenon in either Asia or Africa are seen in India's society, the ideas and beliefs of her people, and the institutions of government and politics which have developed on the subcontinent, in a process of interaction between what was indigenous to India and the many external influences brought to bear on the country by economic, political, and ideological contact with the Western world. y Thomas Blom Hansen, Democracy and Hindu Nationalism in Modern India The rise of strong nationalist and religious movements in postcolonial and newly democratic countries alarms many Western observers. In The Saffron Wave, Thomas Hansen turns our attention to recent events in the world's largest democracy, India. Here he analyzes Indian receptivity to the right-wing Hindu nationalist party and its political wing, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which claims to create a polity based on "ancient" Hindu culture. Rather than interpreting Hindu nationalism as a mainly religious phenomenon, or a strictly political movement Hansen places the BJP within the context of the larger transformations of democratic governance in India. y Brij Mohan, Democracies of Unfreedom: The United States and India The United States and India--the most powerful and the most populous constitutional democracies, respectively--have more in common than is apparent from a casual comparison of life in, say, Agra and Omaha. While the material circumstances of an average family in the one city may be dramatically different from the circumstances of its counterpart in the other, the political cultures that protect and sometimes encroach upon the freedoms of each family are in many ways remarkably similar. The arrogant ambitions of one of Agra's representatives in New Delhi can likely find a match in the designs of one of Omaha's legislators in Washington, D.C. So, too, could we expect to find sincere concern for their constituents in the hearts of other political figures on Capitol Hill and in the Subcontinent. In this probing critical comparison of political culture in the United States and India, Professor Brij Mohan argues that much can be learned about the parochial roots and global expansion of

representative government by studying both the successes and the failures--both the promise and disappointment--of these two great experiments in constitutional democracy. y Gurhpal Singh, Ethnic Conflict in India: A Case-Study of Punjab (Chap. 3 "Reassessing 'Conventional Wisdom': Ethnicity, Ethnic Conflict, and India as an Ethnic Democracy") This important new book critically evaluates the conventional reading of ethnicity and ethnic conflict in contemporary Indian politics. By focusing on India's nation and state-building in the peripheral regions since 1947, in particular Punjab, it argues that there is a case for considering India as an ethnic democracy. The long-term development of ethno-nationalist separatist movements and the future character of Indian democracy is assessed in light of the challenge posed by the rise of Hindutva forces, the demise of the Nehruvian state, and the internal political and economic pressures towards regionalization.

Challenges for Indian democracy:-

Social and economic Inequality Poverty Unemployment Casteism Illiteracy Multiple Party System Violence Election are very expensive Defective Election System Corruption

Recommendation: Promotes equality among citizens Enhances the dignity of the individual Improves the quality of decision making Provides a method to resolve conflicts Allow room to correct mistakes

CONCLUSION: True democracy will come to this country when no one goes hungry to bed. You dont need just equal right to vote. Every citizen needs to have equal information, basic education, equal resources & a lot of commitment.

Refrences: Pylee, M.V. (1997). India's Constitution. S. Chand & Co.. pp. 3. ISBN 812190403X. "Introduction to Constitution of India". Ministry of Law and Justice of India. 29 July 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-14. "Forty-Second Amendment to the Constitution". Ministry of Law and Justice of India. 28 August 1976. Retrieved 2008-10-14. Das, Hari (2002). Political System of India. Anmol Publications. pp. 120. ISBN 8174886907. Mansergh, Nicholas; Moon, Penderel (1977). The Transfer of Power 1942-7.. Vol VII. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London. ISBN 9780115800825. "Parliamentary Archives: HL/PO/1/595/11". Parliament and India, 18581947. British Parliamentary Archives. Retrieved 2008-10-15. "The Constituent Assembly Debates (Proceedings):(9th December,1946 to 24 January 1950)". The Parliament of India Archive. Retrieved 2008-02-22. "THE CONSTITUTION (AMENDMENT) ACTS". India Code Information System. Ministry of Law, Government of India. Retrieved 14 July 201

ibliography:

Baruah, Aparajita (2007). Preamble of the Constitution of India : An Insight & Comparison. Eastern Book Co. ISBN 9788176299960. Basu, Durga Das (1965). Commentary on the constitution of India : (being a comparative treatise on the universal principles of justice and constitutional government with special reference to the organic instrument of India). 12. S. C. Sarkar & Sons (Private) Ltd. Basu, Durga Das (1984). Introduction to the Constitution of India (10th ed.). South Asia Books. ISBN 0836410971. Basu, Durga Das (1981). Shorter Constitution of India. Prentice-Hall of India. ISBN 9780876922002. Das, Hari Hara (2002). Political System of India. Anmol Publications. ISBN 8174886907. Dash, Shreeram Chandra (1968). The Constitution of India; a Comparative Study. Chaitanya Pub. House. Ghosh, Pratap Kumar (1966). The Constitution of India: How it Has Been Framed. World Press. Jayapalan, N. (1998). Constitutional History of India. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. ISBN 8171567614. Khanna, Hans Raj (1981). Making of India's Constitution. Eastern Book Co. ISBN 9788170121084. Basu, Durga Das (1984). Introduction to the Constitution of India (10th ed.). South Asia Books. ISBN 0836410971. Pylee, M.V. (1997). India's Constitution. S. Chand & Co.. ISBN 812190403X. Pylee, M.V. (2004). Constitutional Government in India. S. Chand & Co.. ISBN 8121922038. Sen, Sarbani (2007). The Constitution of India: Popular Sovereignty and Democratic Transformations. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195686494.

Sharma, Dinesh; Singh, Jaya; Maganathan, R.; et al. (2002). Indian Constitution at Work. Political Science, Class XI. NCERT. "The Constituent Assembly Debates (Proceedings):(9th December,1946 to 24 January 1950)". The Parliament of India Archive. Retrieved 200802-22.

A REPORT ON INDIAN DEMOCRACY

Submitted to:Ms. Jatinder Kaur

Submitted by:Navdeep Singh Yadav A-06