Class 11 Political Science Notes
Chapter 1
Constitution: Why and How?
• A constitution is a written set of laws and fundamental
principles to develop a relationship between the people and
the government which comprises a number of articles
about the state.
• We need a constitution:
o To provide a set of basic rules to allow minimal
coordination amongst the members of a society.
o To specify how the government would be constituted
and who has power to make decisions in the society.
o To lay some limitations on government’s power by
guaranteeing rights to the citizens.
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o To enable the government to fulfill aspirations of a
society and create conditions for a just society.
o To express the fundamental identity of people.
• The Constitution of India was framed by the Constituent
Assembly in 1946 under the Cabinet Mission Plan.
• The Constituent Assembly spent 2 years 11 months and 18
days to prepare the constitution to be adopted on
November 26, 1949 and came into force on 26 January,
1950.
• The Constitution of India is the Supreme Law to be
accepted and respected by all the citizens as well as
institutions of the country.
• The Constitution of India is a blend of flexibility and rigidity
as it is federal in form but unitary in spirit.
• The main federal features of the Indian Constitution are
written and flexible constitution, distribution of powers
between the center and the states, supremacy of judiciary
and existence of bi-cameral legislature.
• The framers of Indian Constitution have borrowed a
number of provisions as per the suitability of the nation
from different countries, i.e. the British Constitution, the
American Constitution, the Constitution of Canada, the
Constitution of Ireland, the French Constitution, etc. along
with the Government of India Act, 1935.
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Important terms:
• Promulgation: To announce publically at the starting of a
law.
• Deliberation: Considerations during the framing of
Constitution.
• Disparity: A lack of equality and similarity in a war that is
not fair.
• Suppressed: To prevent to express the feelings of
someone.
• Sects: Different groups within a community.
• Laws: A set of rules governing the administration of country
to be enforced by political authority.
• Integration: A harmonious relation with the feelings of
brotherhood.
• Objective Resolution: Resolution to define aims of
Assembly.
Points Form
1. A constitution is a written set of laws and fundamental
principles to develop a relationship between the people and the
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government which comprises a number of articles about the
state.
2. We need a constitution\Fuctions of Indian Constitution:
1. To provide a set of basic rules to allow for minimal
coordination amongst the members of a society.
2. To specify how the government would be constituted and
who has power to make decisions in the society.
3. To lay some limitations on government’s power by
guaranteeing rights to the citizens.
4. To enable the government to fulfill aspirations of a society
and create conditions for a just society.
5. To express the fundamental identity of people.
3. The Constitution of India was framed by the Constituent
Assembly between December 1946 and November 1949.
4. Constitution are often subverted ,not by the people,but by small
groups,who wish to enhance their own power.Well crafted
constitutions fragment power in society intelligently so that no
single group can subvert the constitution.The Indian
consititution horizontally,Executive and the Judiciary and even
independent statutory bodies like the Election Commission. An
intelligent system of checks and balance has facilitated the
success of the Indian Constitution.
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5. The Constituent Assembly spent 2 years 11 months and 18 days
to prepare the constitution to be adopted on November 26, 1949
and came into force on 26 January, 1950.
6. The Constitutional Assembly had eight major Committees on
different subjects.Usually,Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajender Parsad
,Sardar Patel or B.R Ambedkar chaired these Committees.Each
Committee usually drafted particular provisions of the
Constitution which were then subjected to debate by the entire
Assembly.
7. The Constitution of India is the Supreme Law to be accepted
and respected by all the citizens as well as institutions of the
country.
8. Only one provision of the constitution was passed without
virtually any debate : the introduction of universal
suffrage(meaning that all citizen reaching a certain age,would
be entitled to be voters irrespective of
religion,caste,education,gender or income).
9. The Constitution of India is a blend of flexibility and rigidity as
it is federal in form but unitary in spirit.
10. The main federal features of the Indian Constitution are
written and flexible constitution, distribution of powers between
the centre and the states, supremacy of judiciary and existence
of bi-cameral legislature.
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11. The framers of Indian Constitution have borrowed a
number of provisions as per the suitability of the nation from
different countries, ilrb the British Constitution, the American
Constitution, the Constitution of Canada, the Constitution of
Ireland, the French Constitution, etc. along with the
Government of India Act, 1935.
