Author: Madhav Khosla
Publisher:
ISBN: 0674980875
Category : Constitutional history
Languages : en
Pages : 241
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Book Description
"How did the founders of the most populous democratic nation in the world meet the problem of establishing a democracy after the departure of foreign rule? The justification for British imperial rule had stressed the impossibility of Indian self-government. At the heart of India's founding moment, in which constitution-making and democratization occurred simultaneously, lay the question of how to implement democracy in an environment regarded as unqualified for its existence. India's founders met this challenge in direct terms-the people, they acknowledged, had to be educated to create democratic citizens. But the path to education lay not in being ruled by a superior class of men but rather in the very creation of a self-sustaining politics. Universal suffrage was instituted amidst poverty, illiteracy, social heterogeneity, and centuries of tradition. Under the guidance of B. R. Ambedkar, Indian lawmakers crafted a constitutional system that could respond to the problem of democratization under the most inhospitable of conditions. On January 26, 1950, the Indian constitution-the longest in the world-came into effect. More than half of the world's constitutions have been written in the past three decades. Unlike the constitutional revolutions of the late-eighteenth century, these contemporary revolutions have occurred in countries that are characterized by low levels of economic growth and education; are divided by race, religion, and ethnicity; and have democratized at once, rather than gradually. The Indian founding is a natural reference point for such constitutional moments-when democracy, constitutionalism, and modernity occur simultaneously"--
Author: Rohit De
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691210381
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 308
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Book Description
It has long been contended that the Indian Constitution of 1950, a document in English created by elite consensus, has had little influence on India’s greater population. Drawing upon the previously unexplored records of the Supreme Court of India, A People’s Constitution upends this narrative and shows how the Constitution actually transformed the daily lives of citizens in profound and lasting ways. This remarkable legal process was led by individuals on the margins of society, and Rohit De looks at how drinkers, smugglers, petty vendors, butchers, and prostitutes—all despised minorities—shaped the constitutional culture. The Constitution came alive in the popular imagination so much that ordinary people attributed meaning to its existence, took recourse to it, and argued with it. Focusing on the use of constitutional remedies by citizens against new state regulations seeking to reshape the society and economy, De illustrates how laws and policies were frequently undone or renegotiated from below using the state’s own procedures. De examines four important cases that set legal precedents: a Parsi journalist’s contestation of new alcohol prohibition laws, Marwari petty traders’ challenge to the system of commodity control, Muslim butchers’ petition against cow protection laws, and sex workers’ battle to protect their right to practice prostitution. Exploring how the Indian Constitution of 1950 enfranchised the largest population in the world, A People’s Constitution considers the ways that ordinary citizens produced, through litigation, alternative ethical models of citizenship.
Author: Arun K Thiruvengadam
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1849468702
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 291
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Book Description
This book provides an overview of the content and functioning of the Indian Constitution, with an emphasis on the broader socio-political context. It focuses on the overarching principles and the main institutions of constitutional governance that the world's longest written constitution inaugurated in 1950. The nine chapters of the book deal with specific aspects of the Indian constitutional tradition as it has evolved across seven decades of India's existence as an independent nation. Beginning with the pre-history of the Constitution and its making, the book moves onto an examination of the structural features and actual operation of the Constitution's principal governance institutions. These include the executive and the parliament, the institutions of federalism and local government, and the judiciary. An unusual feature of Indian constitutionalism that is highlighted here is the role played by technocratic institutions such as the Election Commission, the Comptroller and Auditor General, and a set of new regulatory institutions, most of which were created during the 1990s. A considerable portion of the book evaluates issues relating to constitutional rights, directive principles and the constitutional regulation of multiple forms of identity in India. The important issue of constitutional change in India is approached from an atypical perspective. The book employs a narrative form to describe the twists, turns and challenges confronted across nearly seven decades of the working of the constitutional order. It departs from conventional Indian constitutional scholarship in placing less emphasis on constitutional doctrine (as evolved in judicial decisions delivered by the High Courts and the Supreme Court). Instead, the book turns the spotlight on the political bargains and extra-legal developments that have influenced constitutional evolution. Written in accessible prose that avoids undue legal jargon, the book aims at a general audience that is interested in understanding the complex yet fascinating challenges posed by constitutionalism in India. Its unconventional approach to some classic issues will stimulate the more seasoned student of constitutional law and politics.
Author: Subhadra Sen Gupta
Publisher: Penguin Random House India Private Limited
ISBN: 9353057671
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 192
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Book Description
Every 26th January, people gather on New Delhi's Rajpath amidst a colourful jamboree of fluttering flags, marching soldiers and dancing children. What is celebrated on this day is at the heart of our democracy-the magnificent Constitution of India. The document didn't only lay down the law but united India with a vision that took two years, eleven months and seventeen days to realise. Subhadra Sen Gupta captures the many momentous occasions in Indian history that led to its making in The Constitution of India for Children. Populated with facts and dotted with cheerful illustrations, this book provides answers to innumerable questions asked over the years. Which language is our Constitution written in? Were women a part of the team that drafted the Constitution? Why do political parties have symbols next to their names? What is the official language of India? An essential handbook for every student and denizen of India, here is a compendium of knowledge that serves as an insightful introduction to the most important document of Independent India.
Author: Sujit Choudhry
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191058629
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 1328
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Book Description
The Indian Constitution is one of the world's longest and most important political texts. Its birth, over six decades ago, signalled the arrival of the first major post-colonial constitution and the world's largest and arguably most daring democratic experiment. Apart from greater domestic focus on the Constitution and the institutional role of the Supreme Court within India's democratic framework, recent years have also witnessed enormous comparative interest in India's constitutional experiment. The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution is a wide-ranging, analytical reflection on the major themes and debates that surround India's Constitution. The Handbook provides a comprehensive account of the developments and doctrinal features of India's Constitution, as well as articulating frameworks and methodological approaches through which studies of Indian constitutionalism, and constitutionalism more generally, might proceed. Its contributions range from rigorous, legal studies of provisions within the text to reflections upon historical trends and social practices. As such the Handbook is an essential reference point not merely for Indian and comparative constitutional scholars, but for students of Indian democracy more generally.
Author: Alan Gledhill
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 309
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Book Description
Author: Pratap Kumar Ghosh
Publisher: Prabhat Prakashan
ISBN: 9352664833
Category : Study Aids
Languages : en
Pages : 493
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Book Description
The book is arranged Article-wise and references have been given at the end of each chapter. As almost each Article of the Constitution has been judicially interpreted, the meaning determined by the judiciary has been explained along with the citation of the case. The bulk of the book has been kept moderate and essential information under each Article has been provided. To err is human and authors jointly own the responsibility for any error factual or otherwise. Contents of 'Constitution of India'
Author: G B Singh
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780981499284
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 154
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Book Description
Although political circles treat the Constitution of India as a "sacred" scripture which has guided the inner workings of the "world's largest democracy" since 1950, the document has mysteriously escaped critical inquiry. Why? Is it because of its bulkiness? Its complexity? Its inconsistencies and contradictions? The Constitution of India Simplified invites the common person to examine the internals of the Indian Constitution in order to comprehend its basic contents and discover how to make a little sense out of the document's seemingly bewildering set of principles.
Author: Zoya Hasan
Publisher: Anthem Press
ISBN: 1843311364
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 242
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Book Description
India became independent in 1947 and, after nearly three years of debate in the Constituent Assembly, adopted a Constitution that came into effect on 26 January 1950. This Constitution has lasted until the present, with its basic structure unaltered, a remarkable achievement given that the generally accepted prerequisites for democratic stability did not exist, and do not exist even today. Half a century of constitutional democracy is something that political scientists and legal scholars need to analyze and explain. This volume examines the career of constitutional-political ideas (implicitly of Western origin) in the text of the Indian Constitution or implicit within it, as well as in actual political practice in the country over the past half-century.
Author: Pylee M.V.
Publisher: S. Chand Publishing
ISBN: 9352531043
Category : Study Aids
Languages : en
Pages :
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Book Description
A well-known comprehensive text on India's constitution with a holistic approach• A revised and updated edition providing a cumulative account of the changing scene of politics with the fifteenth general elections of 2014 bringing about the decimation of the congress party and the triumph of BJP• Coverage of the new legislation regulating procedure for recommending new appointments to the Supreme Court of India