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Comparison of Indian
Constitutional Scheme with Other
Countries for GS 2
PROLOGUE
- United States of America 1.1 President of USA 1.2 Vice President 1.3 Congress (a) House of Representatives (b) Senate 1.4 Supreme Court of USA 1.5 Comparison b/w INDIA-USA’s Political Systems.
- United Kingdom 2.1 Monarchy of UK 2.2 Her Majesty's Government (a) Prime Minister 2.3 British Parliament (a) House of Commons (b) House of Lords 2.4 Supreme Court of UK 2.5 Comparison b/w INDIA-UK’s Political Systems.
- France 3.1 President of the France 3.2 Prime Minister 3.3 Parliament of France (a) National Assembly (b)Senate 3.4 Judiciary of France 3.5 Comparison b/w INDIA-FRANCE’s Political Systems.
- Germany 4.1 President of Germany 4.2 Federal Chancellor 4.3 The Bundestag 4.4 The Bundesrat 4.5 Judiciary of Germany
4.6 Comparison b/w INDIA-GERMANY’s Political Systems
- Switzerland 5.1 The Federal Council 5.2 President of the Confederation 5.3 Federal Assembly (a) National Council (b) Council of States 5.4 The Federal Supreme Court 5.5 Comparison b/w INDIA-SWITZERLAND’s Political Systems
- China 6.1 President of China 6.2 Vice- President 6.3 State Council 6.4 Premier 6.5 The National People's Congress (a) NPC Standing Committee 6.6 Supreme People's Court 6.7 Comparison b/w INDIA-CHINA’s Political Systems {NOTE: The best way of reading would be by keeping parallels in mind e.g. when reading US president keep in mind his Indian counterpart or when reading German Chancellor keep in mind Indian PM. Wherever comparisons are used e.g. Senate>Rajya Sabha, it doesn’t means that Senate can overpower Rajya Sabha, it means that the powers of Senate in US are greater than that are enjoyed by Rajya Sabha in India.
United States of America
American constitution is the oldest among existing written constitutions of the world. It was drafted by the constitutional convention, the Philadelphia Convention (1787). It is federal presidential democratic republic. [But what is federal system of government? In a truly federal state, power is divided b/w federal govt (at the centre) and its constituent units as specified in constitution.
- He is closely associated with work of congress. The constitution requires him to recommend to congress such measures as he judges necessary and expedient and grants him qualified power of veto. [Qualified power of veto whenever he thinks that the bill passed by congress is unwise or unconstitutional, he may return the bill without his signature or retain it unsigned= pocket veto the bill cannot become law of the land. But if both chambers of the Congress pass the bill by 2/3 majority then it becomes law without the President's signature.]
ELECTION The President of US is elected from an indirect
election i.e. not by voters directly but by an electoral college whose electors are chosen by the voters of the state. In other words, voters in each state select a slate of electors from a list of several slates designated by different political parties and those electors promise in advance to vote for presidential candidates of those political parties.
VICE-PRESIDENT
The Vice President is the second-highest executive official in rank of the government. The Vice President becomes President upon the death, resignation, or removal of the President. Under the Constitution, the Vice President is ex-officio President of the Senate. By virtue of this role, he or she is the head of the Senate. In that capacity, the Vice President is allowed to vote in the Senate, but only when necessary to break a tie vote. Due to the 12th^ Amendment, the Vice President presides over the joint session of Congress.
II. CONGRESS
It has two chambers A. House of Representative B. Senate POWERS OF CONGRESS These include
the powers to levy and collect taxes; to coin money and regulate its value; provide for punishment for counterfeiting and felony; establish post offices and roads; create federal courts inferior to the Supreme Court; declare war, raise and support armies, provide and maintain a navy, make rules for the regulation of land and naval forces, provide for, arm and discipline the militia; Make laws necessary to properly execute these powers. The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states and the people IMPEACHMENT OF FEDERAL OFFICERSCongress has the power to impeach the President, federal judges, and other federal officers from office. Both houses have separate roles in this process. The House of representative must first vote to impeach the official. Then, a trial is held in the Senate to decide whether the official should be removed from office which acts like a court. When an Impeachment process involves a U.S. President, the Chief Justice of the United States is required to preside during the Senate trial. In all other trials, the Vice President would preside in his capacity as President of the Senate. CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHTthis is near similar to the work done by standing and business committees in India except Congress is more powerful and does wide variety of functions. Congressional oversight is intended to prevent waste of resources and fraud, to protect civil liberties and individual rights and ensure executive compliance with the law. It applies to cabinet departments, executive agencies, regulatory commissions and the presidency.
A. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES It is the lower house of the
Congress. The House consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district. The number of representatives each state has in the House is based on each state's population, unlike senate; here proportional representation has been followed. ELECTION the qualifications for being elected as the member
III. SUPREME COURT
Supreme Court of US enjoys immense prestige and the people of America take pride in calling it “the most august tribunal on earth”. Its position as the final interpreter of the constitution has come to be universally accepted and through the exercise of this power, the SC acts as an umpire of constitutional conflicts and as the protector of the
FINAL INTERPRETER OF THE CONSTITUTION SC has assumed the
position of final interpreter of constitution and it is on the basis of this position that the SC has built up the Doctrine of Judicial Supremacy. This position of SC has never been successfully challenged.
JUDICIAL REVIEW The practice of judicial review --- is the most
important function and ‘distinctive attribute’ of the SC. Judicial Review is the right of SC and also of subordinate federal courts to examine the laws passed by the federal & state legislatures with a view to determining whether or not they are in consonance with constitution of US. If SC feels that a law under examination contravenes any provision, it declares the law ultra vires and unconstitutional. Judicial Review, it should be remembered, does not only apply to federal & state statutes. It has a wider scope and covers the constitution of states, treaties made by federal govt and executive orders issued by federal & state executive authorities. The Judiciary Act of 1789 subdivided the nation jurisdictionally into judicial districts and created federal courts for each district. The three tiered structure of this act established the basic structure of the national judiciary: the Supreme Court, 13 courts of appeals, 94 district courts but Congress retains the power to re-organize and even abolish federal courts lower than the SC under the act.
COMPARISION B/W INDIA-USA’s POLITICAL
SYSTEMS.
FEATURES INDIA USA INFERENCES(if any) Type of system Quasi-federal state/Unitary State with Federal features Federal State President Nominal Head Real Head While in Indian president is a rubber stamp of govt, US president is Chief-executive of govt. Vice-President Yes Yes Prime Minister/Other Real Head No PM in parliamentary democracy with majority in both houses can be more powerful (can do whatever he wants) than US president. Polity Democratic Republic Democratic Republic Form of Government Parliamentary system Presidential system Lower House Lok Sabha House of Representative Lok Sabha>House of Representatives, in its functions Upper House Rajya Sabha Senate Senate>Rajya Sabha, in its functions. Civil & Political Rights Yes, through PART III of Indian Constitution Yes, through Constitutional provisions and Civil Rights Act.
UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN
& NORTHERN IRELAND
UK has a Constitutional Monarchy and unitary democracy. It has no Written Constitution. Its government is known as Her Majesty’s Government. It functions through Unwritten Constitution which is sum total of Historical Written Laws, Court Judgements, parliamentary constitutional conventions and Treaties. Under the unwritten British constitution, executive authority lies with the monarch, although this authority is exercised only by, or on the advice of, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. In UK, Parliament is ‘Supreme law making body’ and Courts don’t exercise Judicial Review over laws passed by the Parliament hence ‘Parliamentary Supremacy’. One consequence of the principle of parliamentary sovereignty is that there is no hierarchy among Acts of Parliament: all parliamentary legislation is, in principle, of equal validity and effectiveness unlike India, where Constitutional law > non-Constitutional law. A. RULE OF LAW The protector of people’s liberties in UK is Rule of Law. As a basic principle of British Constitutional System, the rule of law means that the exercise of powers of govt shall be conditioned by law and that the subject shall not be exposed to arbitrary will of his rule. That is to say, no man can be punished or made suffer in body or goods (imprisoned or fined) except if it is established in the ordinary legal manner and before the court of law that he is guilty of a breach of law.
B. EQUALITY BEFORE LAW It implies that no one is above the law. With the sole exception of Monarch who “can do no wrong”, everyone in UK, whether the PM or Constable is under same responsibility for every act done without legal justification. This rule is subject to certain exceptions. C. UNITARY STATE The UK includes 4 countries: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland but it is a unitary state and though Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have legislatures and executives, the authority of all these bodies are dependent on Acts of Parliament and that they can be abolished at the will of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. England and Wales share the same legal system, while Scotland and Northern Ireland both has its own distinct legal system. [But what is unitary state? In unitary state, the ultimate authority and control over all affairs of the govt and administration rests with the central govt , which may create such provinces & sub-divisions for the sake of administrative convenience and confer upon them such powers as it deems fit.]
I. MONARCHY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
The British Sovereign has no effective or real powers. She has that glory that belongs to a hereditary monarch. She wears the crown on great official occasions. But there is no power behind her glory and dignity. She reigns but does not rule. In all her official functions, she acts on the advice of council of ministers ; which means after all, that she has to do what they tell her to do. She may exercise her right “to be informed, to encourage and warn”. This is known as Royal Prerogative. The Sovereign advices and minister decides. No British Sovereign since Queen Victoria (1892) has made a serious effort to take a direct hand in administration. The Sovereign's role as a constitutional monarch is largely limited to non-partisan functions, such as granting honours, performance of opening ceremonies and holding receptions emissaries.
PM is appointed by the Monarch. The most important power still personally exercised by the Monarch is the choice of whom to appoint Prime Minister, this is done, in the case of hung Parliament, after negotiations and usually leader of party with most no. of seats in House of Commons is chosen. PM is the de facto leader of Her Majesty's Government, and exercises executive functions that are nominally vested in the sovereign.
III. PARLIAMENT OF UK OF GREAT BRITAIN &
NORTHERN IRELAND
British Parliament is the supreme legislative body in the UK. It has been called ‘the mother of parliaments’, its democratic institutions having set the standards for many democracies throughout the world including India. In theory, supreme legislative power is vested in the Queen-in- Parliament but in practice, real power is vested in the House of Commons since the House of Lords is subordinate to Commons. Royal Assent of the Monarch is required for all Bills to become law. [As in India, Parliament= President + Lok Sabha + Rajya Sabha. British Parliament = the Monarch+ the House of Lords + the House of Commons.] Dissolution of parliament the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, removed the Royal Prerogative to dissolve Parliament. Now Dissolution of parliament occurs only when British PM loses vote of confidence or 2/3 of the members of the House of Commons vote to hold an early election. After each Parliament dissolves, the Crown issues writs to hold a general election and elect new members of the House of Commons but membership of the House of Lords does not change due to dissolution. It has two chambers
A. House of Commons B. House of Lords FUNCTIONS OF BRITISH PARLIAMENT Laws are made by the UK Parliament. A bill can be introduced by any member of either House, but usually a bill is introduced by a Minister of the Crown. The House of Lords neither initiate nor debate financial bill. A bill introduced by a Minister is known as a "Government Bill"; and one that is introduced by another member is called a "Private Member's Bill". Parliamentary procedure of passing bills is about similar to India except the institution of Speaker of House of Commons.
A. HOUSE OF COMMONSThe British House of Commons is
the oldest “popular” legislative body in the world. The House consists of 650 MPs each of whom represents a parliamentary constituency. ELECTIONS- The qualifications for being elected as the member SPECIAL POWERS The House of Commons is legally omnipotent chamber. Financial bills can only be initiated, debated and passed in Commons. All legislation must be passed by the House of Commons to become law and it controls taxation and the supply of money to the government. Government ministers (including the PM) must regularly answer questions in the House of Commons.
SPEAKER The House of Commons transacts its business with the
Speaker on the chair. The Speaker, presiding officer of the house, holds
After this time, the House of Commons can force the Bill through, without the Lords' consent under the Parliament Acts. Usually governments accept changes in legislation in order to avoid the time delay. The House of Lords cannot veto major manifesto promises (Salisbury convention). However the Lords still retain a full veto in acts which would extend the life of Parliament beyond the 5 year term limit.
IV. JUDICIARY OF UK
The judiciary of UK is not unified. Each of the separate legal systems in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland has their own judiciary. However, the judges of the Supreme Court of the UK do have a jurisdiction over whole of the United Kingdom. SC is headed by the President and Deputy President of the Supreme Court and is composed of a further 10 Justices of the Supreme Court. Unlike other functional democracies, SC of UK doesn’t exercise judicial review over the law passed by parliament.
COMPARISION B/W INDIA-UK’s POLITICAL
SYSTEMS.
FEATURES INDIA UK INFERENCES(if any) Type of system Quasi-federal state/Unitary State with Federal features Unitary State with Constitutional Monarchy President/ Monarch Nominal Head Nominal Head Vice-President Yes No Prime Minister/Other Real Head Real Head Polity Democratic Republic Democratic Monarchy Government Parliamentary system Parliamentary system Speaker of House of Commons is
much more powerful and efficient in maintaining order in the house than Lok Sabha Speaker. Lower House Lok Sabha House of Commons UK being a unitary state, House of Commons > Lok Sabha, in its functions. Upper House Rajya Sabha House of Lords Rajya Sabha = House of Lords, regarding financial bills in some respects but Rajya Sabha
House of Lords regarding
non-money bills. Civil & Political Rights Yes, through PART III of Indian Constitution Yes, through Rule of Law Judiciary Supreme Court is independent of Executive interference. Judicial Review is exercised by Supreme Court & High Court SC of UK doesn’t exercise judicial review over the law passed by parliament SC of India > SC of UK, in its functions. Constituent States Indian states are semi- autonomous with ability to make independent laws with regard to state list and concurrent list BUT to limit all this Union govt has Governors, Art.249, 250 & In UK, devolution of powers has taken place, but Legislation creating devolved parliaments or assemblies can be repealed or amended by central government in the same way
OTHER POWERS The President may: Dissolve the French National Assembly; Refer treaties or certain types of laws to popular referendum, within certain conditions. Grant pardon to convicted criminals. He names and dismisses the other ministers, with the agreement of the Prime minister. He presides over the Council of Ministers. He nominates certain members of the Constitutional Council. All decisions of the president must be countersigned by the Prime minister and, where required, by the appropriate ministers. ELECTION The President is elected directly through universal suffrage for 5 years. A president cannot serve more than two consecutive terms. To be admitted as an official candidate, potential candidates must receive signed nominations from more than 500 elected officials (from 45,000+ elected officials). These officials must be from at least 30 departments, and no more than 50 officials should be from the same department. Each official may nominate only one candidate. French presidential elections are conducted through two ballot system or run-off voting which ensures that the elected President always obtains a majority. If no candidate receives a majority of votes in the first round of voting, the two highest-scoring candidates arrive at a run-off and the candidate who gets more than 50% of vote is elected. He can be impeached by the High Court-a special court convened from both houses of Parliament on the proposal of either House, if the president fails to discharge his duties in a lawful manner.
PRIME MINISTER
The Prime Minister of France is the head of government. The PM directs the actions of the government & conduct the policy of the Nation. In practice, the PM acts on the advice of the President to whom he is a subordinate, except when there is cohabitation in which case his responsibilities are akin to those of a PM in a parliamentary system. [COHABITATION When the majority of the Assembly don’t agree with the president, this leads to cohabitation. If this happens, the president's power is diminished (only those powers which are to be exercised through PM vis-a-vis National Assembly), as much of the de facto power relies on a
supportive PM and National Assembly, and is not directly attributed to the post of president. When the majority of the Assembly sides with him, the President can take a more active role and may, in effect, direct government policy. When the president and the prime minister come from opposing parties, the president is responsible for foreign policy and the prime minister for domestic policy. When PM + President=same political party President is boss. Otherwise, cohabitation = sharing of power b/w President and PM.] ELECTION The Prime Minister is appointed by the President of the Republic. He has no fixed term, remains in office while commanding the confidence of the National Assembly and the President of the Republic.
II. PARLIAMENT OF FRANCE
The Parliament of France has a bicameral legislature, consists of two houses: a. National Assembly; b. Senate. Unlike the President of India, the French President under the Constitution of 1958 is not the component part of Parliament. The powers of both houses are about same except the National Assembly can cause a government to fall if an absolute majority of the total Assembly membership votes a censure motion. Parliament meets for one 9 month session every year and under special circumstances, the President can call an additional session. As in India, the cabinet has a strong influence in shaping the agenda of Parliament. LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE Bills may be introduced in either of the houses of Parliament, except for finance bills which must be submitted and read first in National Assembly.
