Constitution Day
Constitution Day
Context:
Around 15 opposition parties, including the Congress, boycotted the Constitution Day programme organised by the Lok Sabha to celebrate the Samvidhan Samman Divas.
Concept:
Why political parties boycotted constitution day
The opposition boycotted the Constitution Day event in Parliament’s Central Hall on Friday, saying the government was disrespecting the fundamental values of the Constitution and under mining parliamentary democracy. It has alleged that Government is functioning in an authoritarian manner.
- The Constitution Day is observed annually on November 26 to mark the anniversary of the adoption of Indian Constitution on November 26, 1949 by the Constituent Assembly of India, which came into effect on 26 January 1950.
- The Government of India declared 26 November as Constitution Day in 2015 by a gazette notification.
- The year of 2015 was the 125th birth anniversary of Ambedkar, who played a key role in the drafting of the constitution. Previously this day was celebrated as National Law Day.
- Article 394 of the Constitution states that Articles 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 60, 324, 367, 379 and 394 came into force since the adoption of the Constitution on 26th November 1949 and the rest of the provisions on 26th January 1950.
Constitution and Constitutionalism:
- A constitution is a body of fundamental principles according to which a state is constituted or governed. It is the document or set of documents that has a set of rules and principles which as the basis of society is accepted by all. It reflects the ideals of a society shared by all and defines nature of social, legal and political system in a “STATE”.
| What is a State (not state which in Indian sense will mean 2nd-tier of the government)? The State is defined by different philosophers differently (Ex- Hegel and Hobbes claim state as an absolute body; whereas Locke calls it a body acting as a trust with delegated functions). However, a general accepted definition is: The state is a territorial society, the people living on a particular tract of land organized under a common governing body which has, if not a complete at any rate, a very special degree of authority over people. Components of state:
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- On the other hand, the Constitutionalism is an idea. It is an idea which is traced generally to Political philosopher John Locke and it talks of government can and should be legally limited in its powers, and that its authority or legitimacy depends on it observing these limitations
- The significant difference between the Constitution and Constitutionalism is that the limitation envisaged under the Constitutionalism is provided by the Constitution. This means the Constitution is just a document and it is the idea of Constitutionalism which enforces the true meaning, values of the Constitution.
- Even an authoritarian state generally has some sort the Constitution. However, what is missing in these states is the Constitutionalism.
Fundamental Values of the Constitution:
The values expressed in the Preamble are expressed as objectives of the Constitution. These are: sovereignty, socialism, secularism, democracy, republican character of Indian State, justice, liberty, equality, fraternity, human dignity and the unity and integrity of the Nation
Parliamentary democracy:
- Democracy is a form of government in which the rulers are elected by the people. A parliamentary system or parliamentary democracy is a system of democratic governance of a state where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support (“confidence”) of the legislature, typically a parliament, to which it is accountable. In a parliamentary system, the head of state is usually a person distinct from the head of government. This is in contrast to a presidential system, where the head of state often is also the head of government and, most importantly, where the executive does not derive its democratic legitimacy from the legislature.
Authoritarianism is a form of government characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of a strong central power to preserve the political status quo, and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic voting.
Authoritarian regimes may be either autocratic or oligarchic in nature and may be based upon the rule of a party or the military.
In an influential 1964 work, the political scientist Juan Linz defined authoritarianism as possessing four qualities:
- Limited political pluralism, realized with constraints on the legislature, political parties and interest groups.
- Political legitimacy based upon appeals to emotion and identification of the regime as a necessary evil to combat “easily recognizable societal problems, such as underdevelopment or insurgency.”
- Minimal political mobilization, and suppression of anti-regime activities.
- Ill-defined executive powers, often vague and shifting, which extends the power of the executive