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(i) The constitution is the highest law of the country. It reflects the objectives of the state and the rights and aspirations of its citizens. It establishes the rule of law and sets limits on government authority. A constitution is a living document that indicates the way in which a country is governed. The primary function of the constitution is to lay out the basic structure of the government according to which the people are to be governed. A constitution has three distinct but interrelated components.

(ii) Set of Rules – A constitution is a set of rules that describes the structure, powers, and functions of the three organs of government to ensure that each organ functions without its jurisdiction. It lays down the limitations on what the government can do or cannot do.

(iii) Set of Rights – A constitution lists the rights of the citizens, means for the protection of these rights, and the duties of citizens. It also lists the means of protecting the rights e.g., in India, the judiciary is entrusted with protecting the rights. The rights guaranteed by the constitution are not unlimited i.e. they are subject to reasonable limitations. 

(iv) Set of Objectives and Values – A constitution enumerates the values and objectives that it seeks to fulfill. For e.g., the Indian Constitution seeks to ensure the values of justice, liberty, and equality.

The idea that there should be limitations on powers of the government : Constitutionalism

Constitutionalism refers to the idea that there should be limitations on the powers of the government which may be specified in the constitution or may arise due to historical developments. The Magna Carta (Great Charter) (1215) and Bill of Rights (1689) in England were attempts to restrict the powers of the Monarchs. As the concept of separation of legislative, executive, judicial powers became popular, so also, the idea of restricting powers of the government as a whole emerged. The origins of constitutionalism can be traced to the Social Contract Theory propounded by John Locke.

He believed that people should have the right to change the government if it committed any wrongdoings.

The first ten amendments to the American Constitution (collectively called the Bill of Rights) imposed restrictions on the government. The Indian Constitution also restricts government jurisdiction so that it doesn’t violate Fundamental Rights. Any constitution is subject to amendments. Thus, it is possible that certain governments may use their amendment powers to remove restrictions, on their policies and actions.

In any democracy, Constitutionalism refers to restrictions on the power of the government and adherence to the spirit of the constitution. It refers to the values which form its foundations and the manner in which those who hold power are expected to behave. This can be described by the term ‘Constitutional Monarchy’.

Protection of rights is entrusted to the Judiciary

The ruling in the Kesavananda Bharati case was that ‘the basic structure of the constitution could not be altered by any amendments carried out by the legislature.

The modern view of constitutionalism is the idea of restricting the powers of the government as a whole.

1. India – Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha 

2. England – House of Commons, House of Lords 

3. USA – Senate, House of Representatives

The manner in which those who hold power are expected to behave : Constitutional Morality

(c) Houses of Lords – England

(b) Union list – Atomic energy or State list – Public health and sanitation

The US President has the right to reject a law passed by the legislature. This is the ‘veto power’.

Constitutional Morality refers to the values which are the foundation of the constitution and the manner in which those in political power are expected to behave.

(a) England – Constitutional Monarchy

Constitution of the USA was made by the Constitutional Convention.

First ten amendments to the American constitution : Bill of Rights

The doctrine of Parliamentary Sovereignty means that the Parliament which represents the citizens has the power to make laws with no restrictions on it’s jurisdiction.

Till, recently the doctrine of absolute Parliamentary Sovereignty existed in UK

(b) Veto – USA

Process of bringing out changes in some provisions of the constitution : Amendment

This statement is False. 

• A parliamentary system makes a distinction between the Head of State and Head of government. The Head of State is the nominal executive. While the Prime Minister and his/her council are the head of government.
• All decisions and administration is conducted in the name of the nominal executive (President) by the real executive (Prime Minister and his/her Council of Ministers.)

This statement is True. 

• According to the doctrine of Parliamentary Sovereignty, the Parliament has the authority to make any law and the only control mechanism is a vigilant public opinion. 
• Today, the United Kingdom is a member of various international organizations and signatory to many international agreements which guarantee individual rights and restrict parliamentary powers.

This statement is True. 

• The Indian Constitution was framed by the Constituent Assembly of India which functioned from December 1946 till November 1949. 
• It is a product of detailed discussions, debates and deliberations. The constitution came into force on 26th January 1950.

The two main types of democratic governments are Parliamentary System (as seen in the United Kingdom, India, Canada, Australia, Japan, etc.) and Presidential System (which exists in the United State of America, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, etc.). This distinction is mainly based on the nature of LegislatureExecutive relationship.

Parliamentary System – It makes a distinction between Head of State (President of India) and Head of Government (Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers). 

The main features of the parliamentary system are: 

• There is a fusion of legislature and executives powers. The executive i.e., the ministry is drawn from the legislature and is subordinate to it. Ministers are also members of Parliament. 
• There are two executives i.e., nominal (President of India or Monarch in England) and real (ministry). All powers are exercised by the real executive although it is conducted in the name of the nominal executive. 
• It is a responsible government- The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers stay in power only as long as they have the required majority in the Parliament. In case, the Ministry loses majority support, the Prime Minister along with his Council of Ministers has to resign. 
• It may exist either as Republics or as Constitutional Monarchies depending on the nature of the nominal executive. In a Republic, the nominal executive is elected while in a Monarchy, he/she assumes position on the basis of heredity. 
• Most Parliamentary systems have a Bicameral Parliament for e.g., in England, Parliament consists of House of Commons (lower house-directly elected)] and House of Lords (Upper house hereditary basis)

The constitution is the highest law of the country. It reflects the objectives of the state and the rights and aspiration of its citizens. It establishes the rule of law and sets limits on government authority. A constitution is a living document that indicates the way in which a country is governed. The primary function of the constitution is to lay out the basic structure of the government according to which the people are to be governed. 

A constitution has three distinct but interrelated components. 

• Set of Rules – A constitution is a set of rules that describes the structure, powers and functions of the three organs of government to ensure that each organ functions without its jurisdiction. It lays down the limitations on what the government can do or cannot do.
• Set of Rights – A constitution lists the rights of the citizens, means for protection of this rights and the duties of citizens. It also lists the means of protecting the rights e.g., in India, the judiciary is entrusted with protecting the rights. The rights guaranteed by the constitution are not unlimited i.e. they are subject to reasonable limitations. 
• Set of Objectives and Values – A constitution enumerates the values and objectives that it seeks to fulfill. For e.g., Indian Constitution seeks to ensure the values of justice, liberty and equality.

In India, at the time of independence, there were Princely States and areas under British administration. The States were created after independence on the basis of language i.e., linguistic reorganisation of States. The Union Government created the States. The journey of Indian Federalism has been mixed. After independence, the States had been granted additional powers. However, later economic and technological changes had led to the enhancement of the powers of the Central government.

The Indian Federation differs greatly from the US federation. India has been described as ‘quasi-federation’ or a ‘federation with an unitary spirit’ as the division of powers favors the central government for e.g., it has full control over the Union list and Residuary subjects and it’s laws have precedence over state legislations even in case of the subjects in Concurrent list.

India (not a ‘coming together’ federation)

(i) A federation refers to a political structure in which there are two sets of governments i.e. one for the whole country and governments in each of the federal units (called Provinces or States). There is a distribution of powers between the Federal government (also known as Union or Central Government) and the State Governments. Federal governments are preferred in countries having large size and heterogeneous population. 

(ii) The main features of a federation are 

• Dual set of governments i.e., Union government and State governments. 
• Division of power between the two sets of governments for e.g., in India, jurisdiction is distributed between the Union (Centre) and States on the basis of Union, State and Concurrent list (as stated in Seventh Schedule of the Constitution) 
• A written constitution to enable a clear distribution of government powers. 
• Independent judiciary to resolve center-state or state-state disputes. 

(iii) Federation may be performed by two processes 

• Small political units ‘come together to establish a single unit for e. g., thirteen colonies came together to fight for independence from British rule and the US federation came into being. This is called centripetal process. 
• States are created by the union government for e.g., in India, states were reorganized on the basis of language and other regional aspirations. This is the centrifugal process.

(iv) India has been described as ‘quasi-federation’ or a ‘federation with an unitary spirit’ as the division of powers favors the central government for e.g. it has full control over the Union list as well as over residuary subjects. It’s laws have precedence even in case of the subjects in Concurrent list.

The President is both Head of State and Head of government. He/she is directly elected by the people for a fixed tenure for e.g., US President is elected for a 4 year tenure. There is only one executive. The legislature (Congress in the USA) is also directly elected by the citizens. There exists a separation of legislative and executive powers as well as a system of ‘checks and balances’ for e.g., Legislature can impeach the President, while the President can exercise the ‘Veto Power’ to reject any law passed by the Legislature. 

Thus, there can be an impasse in government functioning for e.g., since President Trump assumed office- there have been many cases of a standoff between the office of the President and the US Congress, especially the Democrats. In 2019, the Congress voted to overturn President Trump’s emergency declaration to build a border wall with Mexico. In turn, the President ‘vetoed’ this vote.

The Supreme Court of India, in the celebrated Keshavananda Bharati (1973) laid down the restrictions on the power of the Government to amend the Constitution. It ruled that the Constitution of India possessed a basic structure which could not be altered in any manner, and that other than this there were no restrictions on the power of parliament to amend the Constitution. This is known as Basic Structure Doctrine.

The Seventh Schedule of the constitution contains three lists i.e., the Union List, the State List and the Concurrent List. Each list contains subjects over which the Central Government, The State Governments (as far as their respective states are concerned), or both the governments can take decisions and make laws respectively. In cases where both the Central and State governments have made laws about subjects falling in the Concurrent List, then the decision of the former prevails. Furthermore, the State Governments can also ask the Central Government to make laws on subjects included in the State List, if such a need arises.

Answer is: merger