Class 11 Political Science Ch 1

1. This video is available in Hindi and English.
यह वीडियो हहिंदी और अिंग्रेजी में उपलब्ध है।
இந்த வ ீ
டிய ோ இந்தி மற்றும் ஆங்கிலத்தில் கிடைக்கிறது.
ఈ వీడియో హిందీ మరియు ఆింగ్లింలో అిందుబాటులో ఉింది.
‫ہے۔‬ ‫دستیاب‬ ‫میں‬ ‫انگریزی‬ ‫اور‬ ‫ہندی‬ ‫ویڈیو‬ ‫یہ‬
આ વિડિઓ ડિન્દી અને અંગ્રેજીમ ાં ઉપલબ્ધ છે.
এই ভিভিওটি ভিভি এবং ইংরেভি িাষায় উপলব্ধ।

2. Political Science – Class 11
Ch-1 :- Constitution: Why & How?
Part-1
BY :- RENAISSANCE 2.0 : NEW DAWN OF EDUCATION

3. Renaissance 2.0
New Dawn of Education
What is Constitution?
 Rule book of a nation.
 Document of peoples faith & aspiration.
 Fundamental & Supreme law of the land.
 Sets out framework of various govt. organs viz. Executive, Legislature,
Judiciary.

4. Renaissance 2.0
New Dawn of Education
Why do we need a Constitution?
1. To provide a set of basic rules that allow for minimal coordination amongst
members of a society.
2. To specify who has the power to make decisions in a society. It decides
how the government will be constituted.
3. To set some limits on what a government can impose on the citizens. These
limits are the fundamental in the sense that government may never
trespass them.
4. To enable the government to fulfil the aspirations of a society and create
conditions for a just society.

5. Renaissance 2.0
New Dawn of Education
Fundamental identity of people
Constitution expresses the fundamental identity of people
 Political Identity :- by providing certain basic norms and principles.
 Moral Identity :- by setting authoritative constraints within which one
pursues individual aspirations, goals & freedom.
#The Indian Constitution does not make ethnic identity a criterion for
citizenship.

6. Renaissance 2.0
New Dawn of Education
The Authority Of A Constitution
 The authority of people who enact the constitution helps determine in part
its prospects for success.
 The more a constitution preserves the freedom and equality of all its
members, the more likely it s to succeed.
 Well crafted constitution fragments power in society intelligently so that no
single group can subvert the constitution. The Indian constitution, for
example, horizontally fragments power between Legislature, Executive,
Judiciary.
 Successful constitutions strike the right balance between preserving core
values and adapting them to new circumstances. Indian constitution is also
referred to as ‘A Living Document’ because of the possibility to change the
provisions and the limits on such changes to ensure that it will survive as a
document respected by people.

7. Renaissance 2.0
New Dawn of Education
How was the Indian Constitution made?
 The constitution of India was framed by an elected Constituent Assembly,
and was formally adopted on 26th November, 1949, but it came into force
on 26th January, 1950, as desired by Pandit Nehru.
 The constituent assembly was set up under the Cabinet Mission(1946).
 Total 385 members of which 292 were elected by the elected members of
the Provincial Legislative Assembly while 93 were nominated by Princely
States.
 In 1947 Muslim League decided to withdraw its members for creation of
separate Constituent Assembly for Pakistan and the membership of Indian
Constituent Assembly was reduced to 299, out of which 229 represented
provinces and 70 were nominated by Princely States.
 The assembly met for 160 days spread over 2 years and 11 months.

8. Renaissance 2.0
New Dawn of Education
 The first meeting of the constituent assembly took place on December 9,
1946
 Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as constituent assembly president on
December 11, 1946
 To cope with wide range of specialized tasks, the constituent assembly
formed major committees to outline the proposed constitution such as,
Committee on Union Constitution, Union Powers Committee(both headed
by J.L. Nehru), Committee on Fundamental Rights, Advisory
Committee(both headed by Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel), etc.
 The all important Drafting Committee was formed under the chairmanship
of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
 The drafted constitution received the signature of Dr. Rajendra Prasad on
26th November, 1949, when it was declared as passed and adopted. And
came into effect on 26th January, 1950.

9. Renaissance 2.0
New Dawn of Education
Inheritance of the Nationalist Movement
 The principles of constitution were forged during the long struggle for
freedom. The constituent assembly was giving concrete shape and form to
the principles it had inherited from the Nationalist Movement.
 The best summary of the principles that the nationalist movement brought
to the constituent assembly is the Objective Resolution moved by Pandit
Nehru in 1946.
 Based on this resolution, our constitution gave institutional expression to
these fundamental commitments: Equality, Liberty, democracy,
sovereignty and a cosmopolitan identity.

10. Renaissance 2.0
New Dawn of Education
Objective Resolution
 To foster unity of the nation and to ensure its economic and political security, to
have a written Constitution, and to proclaim India as a Sovereign, Democratic
Republic.
 To have a federal form of government with the distribution of powers between
the Centre and the States.
 To guarantee and secure justice, equality, freedom of thought, expression,
belief, faith, worship, vocation, association and action to all the people of
India.
 To provide adequate safeguards for minorities, backward and tribal areas and
depressed and other backward classes.
 To maintain the integrity of the territory of the Republic and the sovereign rights
on land, sea and air according to the law of civilized nations.
 To attain rightful and honored place in the world and make willing contribution
to the promotion of world peace and the welfare of mankind.

11. Renaissance 2.0
New Dawn of Education
Institutional arrangements
 The basic principle is that government must be democratic and
committed to the welfare of the people.
 This led to the adoption of parliamentary form and the federal
arrangement, which would distribute governmental powers between the
legislature and the executive on one hand and between states and
central government on the other hand.

13. Important Questions
1. What is Constitution?
2. Why do we need Constitution? Give four reasons.
3. Why is it necessary for a country to have a clear demarcation of powers and
responsibilities in the constitution? What would happen in the absence of such a
demarcation? (NCERT)
4. Why is it necessary for a constitution to place limitations on the rulers? Can there be a
constitution that gives no power at all to the citizens? (NCERT)
5. What makes a Constitution effective?
6. How does a Constitution express the fundamental identity of people?
7. Explain the composition of constituent assembly.
8. “Indian constitution is neither rigid nor flexible” explain this statement.
9. Which constitutional measures enable the Indian government to fulfil the aspirations of
people?
10.With the help of system of checks and balances, explain that Indian institutional design is
a balanced one.
11.Mention at least one provision borrowed from constitution of below mentioned
countries:- Britain, Ireland, France, USA
12.Why is constitution called as supreme law of the land?
13.How does a constitution allow for minimal coordination amongst members of the
society?
14.What is objective resolution? Who introduced it and when?

14. To Be Continued…