Political Science: State, Government and Democracy
This domain tests the vocabulary of the state, the design of the Indian Constitution, the three organs of government, federalism and the machinery of elections.
State and government are not synonyms
A state has four elements: population, a defined territory, government and sovereignty. Government is the machinery that runs the state for the time being; the state is the permanent political community. Governments change, the state persists.
Constitutional framework
- Preamble: sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic - 'socialist' and 'secular' were inserted by the 42nd Amendment, 1976.
- Fundamental Rights (Part III): justiciable, enforceable through writs.
- Directive Principles of State Policy (Part IV): not enforceable in courts, but fundamental in governance.
- Fundamental Duties (Article 51A): ten duties, added in 1976 on the Swaran Singh Committee's advice.
Organs, levels and elections
Parliament means the President plus the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha; the judiciary is independent and exercises judicial review. Power is divided by the Union, State and Concurrent Lists, but the Centre is strong - single citizenship, a Governor appointed by the President, emergency provisions and an integrated judiciary. The 73rd and 74th Amendments (1992) gave constitutional status to panchayats and urban local bodies. The Election Commission (Article 324) conducts elections; the voting age is 18 after the 61st Amendment (1988).
Worked example
'India is federal in form but unitary in spirit.' Explain. Federal features: two levels of government, three lists, written constitution, bicameralism. Unitary features: single citizenship, single constitution, Governor as the Centre's representative, Article 356, All-India Services, integrated judiciary. Conclusion: a federation with a strong central tendency.
Traps
Saying Directive Principles are enforceable; using 'state' and 'government' interchangeably; calling India unitary; quoting the Preamble as a source of enforceable rights; misquoting article numbers.