indian political system
TRANSCRIPT
INDIAN POLITICAL SYSTEM
Unlike the American and British political systems which have existed in their
current form for centuries, the Indian political system is recent and dates from
India’s Independence from Britain in 1947 and proclamation of India’s
Constitution in 1950.
In contrast to the constitution of Japan that has seen no amendments, the
constitution of India is a much-amended national document. The last 104th
amendment enforcing OBC reservations was carried in 2006. Arising from
disagreements between the Parliament and the Supreme Court or under pressure
from political interest groups and compulsions of a modernizing society or the
process of change within the society, each constitutional amendment has had
implications for India’s politico-social system.
A political system is, after all, a set of institutions, interest groups (such as poli-
tical parties, trade unions, lobby groups) and provides dynamics of interaction
among those institutions and bases for political norms and rules that govern their
functions, say, Constitution and the Law. Foremost, it consists of the members of
a social organisation (group) who are in power but also of interdependent
components and peripheries of the milieu with which it interacts.
Theoretically, a political system is regarded as the way a government makes
policy and organizes administration. A political system, if sound, ought to ensure
the maintaining of order and harmony in the society and provide institutions for
addressing grievances and complaints of citizens at large.
The Lok Sabha, the most important element of India’s political system, modelled
on the British House of Commons, is the Lower House of the Indian Parliament.
The Rajya Sabha or the Council of States too is partly modelled on the British
House of Lords or Upper House of Parliament but India’s federal system of
government has many features similar to federalism as practiced by the United
States, Canada and Australia.
The Head of State in India is the President, mostly a ceremonial position derived
from the concept of constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom, and like the
British monarch is expected to “advise, encourage and warn” the elected
government on constitutional matters. The President can return a Parliamentary
Bill once for reconsideration and, in times of crisis such as a hung Parliament,
President’s role becomes pivotal. The President can declare a state of emergency
which enables the Lok Sabha to extend its life beyond the normal five-year term.
As members of an electoral college, around 4,500 members of the national
parliament and state legislators are eligible to vote in the election of the
President. The Indian Presidency has recently attracted special attention because
for the first time a woman, Pratibha Patil, occupies it.
The head of the government is the Prime Minister, appointed by the President on
nomination or election by the majority party or coalition of political parties in the
Lok Sabha. The Prime Minister has to be a member of either House or get elected
within six months if not a member at the time of appointment. The Ministers are
then appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.
The Lok Sabha or House of the People, is composed of representatives of the
people directly elected on the basis of adult suffrage. The maximum strength of
the House provided by the Constitution is 552 that includes up to 530 members to
represent the States, 20 members to represent the Union Territories and two
members of the Anglo-Indian Community nominated by the President, if that
community is not adequately represented in the House. The ratio between the
number of seats allotted to each State and the population of the State, as far as
practicable, is kept the same for all States.
Currently, the size of the house is 545—made up of 530 elected from the States,
13 elected from the Territories, and two nominated from the Anglo-Indian
community. Uttar Pradesh with 80 members has the largest number of Lok Sabha
members, being the most populous among all Indian states. Three states have
only one representative each; certain constituencies are reserved for candidates
from scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
The upper house in the Indian political system is the Rajya Sabha or Council of
States which has up to 250 members, 12 of which are nomi-nated by the
President for their accomplishment in art, literature, science, or social services.
The remainder of the house—currently comprising 238 members—is elected
indirectly by the state and territorial legislatures in proportion to the unit’s
population. Uttar Pradesh has 31 members.
The method of election followed by legislatures is ‘single transferable vote’. Term
of office is six years, with one-third of the members seeking election every two
years. The Rajya Sabha meets in continuous session. Unlike the Lok Sabha, it is not
subject to dissolution.
The two houses share legislative powers, except in the area of Money Bill where
the Lok Sabha has overriding powers. In the case of conflicting legislation, a joint
sitting of the two houses is held. If there is a conflict which cannot be resolved
even by the joint committee of the two houses, it is solved by vote in a joint
session of the Parliament, where the will of the Lok Sabha, which is twice as large
as Rajya Sabha, almost always prevails.
Though not mentioned in the Constitution, political parties are a most vital
element of the Indian political system. The Indian National Congress (INC) since its
inception in 1885—and its successor—has been a dominant political party in
India. Until 1947, it campaigned for Indian independence from Britain. Since
independence, it has competed for power and for considerable period governed
the country either as the largest party in Parliament or, as currently, head of a 16-
party coalition called UPA (United Progressive Front).
Originally socialistic, it followed policies of moderate socialism, planned, mixed
economy but now supports deregulation, privatisation, foreign investment, and
from non-alignment it has shifted to pro-American foreign policy.
A peculiar feature of Congress Party is its one-family leadership of Jawaharlal
Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister for 17 years; his daughter Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi; his grandson Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi ; currently Rajiv’s widow, the
Italian-born Sonia Gandhi Congress President but more powerful than the Prime
Minister; and her son Rahul Gandhi, Member Parliament being projected as a
future Prime Minister.
The other major political party in India is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Formed
in 1980, it champions the socio-religious cultural values of the country’s Hindu
majority and advocates strong national defence. The BJP-led the National
Democratic Alliance (NDA) government between 1998-2004. National Democratic
Alliance (NDA) founded in 1998, then had 13 parties in the coalition but currently
has nine.
The Indian Political System, like the USA’s, is based on the principal of checks and
balances of power and has a strong and independent judiciary with the Supreme
Court as the highest judicial authority in civil, criminal and constitutional cases.
Demographically and geographically, India is big and highly diverse; it operates a
federal system of government. Besides the Central government, there are
governments and administrative set-ups in 28 States and seven Union Territories.
India has been changing from a highly centralized. one political party-dominated
system to an increasingly discrete polity with regional parties pulling in different
directions. Political norms have been declining and politics in India is much
rougher and much more corrupt than in the democracies of Europe and North
America. Likewise, Judiciary and bureaucracy are steeped in corruption.
Unfortunately, the Indian political system has been unable to incorporate the
multiple stakeholders of the complex Indian society even though it has lent
stability and continuity to Indian democracy. As a result, after sixty years of
Indepen-dence, our experiment with demo-cracy is in peril. Currently, Indian
democracy finds itself reduced to the ballot box, vote banks and
populism. A constitution can provide only a framework; it is its institutions that
infuse life into a democracy.
The Indian political system was expected to produce accountable governments,
conscientious ruling elites and democratically aware citizens. All this has not
happened and as Galbraith’s put it, Indian demo-cracy is a functioning anarchy.