Indian Politics

There is a central government and more than twenty five state governments. Under the India Constitution there are three lists, federal list, state list and the concurrent list. Things covered under the first two lists are the exclusive domain of the concerned parties but under the third central government can overrule the state governments on matters of national interest. Judiciary is independent with the power of judicial review. Every state has a high court above subordinate courts presided by the Supreme Court of India. Under the Constitution the functions of Legislature, executive and judiciary have been clearl defined. (Shukla)

Although the constitution separates powers in the government, doesn’t mean that the country and the states individually have their own sets of laws and power. The government has to distinct compound powers, one is powers given to the states, and the other is power given central government. Consequently, some powers given to the state are setting up local governments, holding elections and establishing schools, some powers that the

On a more local level there are governors, municipal governments, and mayors. The governors are elected by popular vote, but they were once appointed by the president. Each department has the right to establish lower governments known as municipal districts are. With in each district there is a municipal council which is elected by popular vote. The mayor is elected by popular vote to serve a two-year term, and just like the governors, the mayors used to be appointed by the presidents and controlled by the governor; all of this was changed with the 1991 constitution reform.

separate branches of political institutions. The handling of power and distinction of these roles is

The Queen, who is represented by the Governor General, is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of Government.

The state government is given the right to control most of the things that affect their citizens. The three branches of government check and balance each other. Although the president is the head of the executive branch he is not a king. The second branch is

Most state governments are modeled after the three branch system of government like the federal government, although it is not required by law to follow suit. Each state has their Constitution as well as having powers not giving to the federal government. (whitehouse.gov) States have an

On the other hand, India has spent a majority of its history as a colony of England. It was not until 1947 that India became an independent nation state, after a grassroots nationalist movement started by Gandhi, and even then they were a one party congress. They are also an interesting case of democracy because of how many unfavorable aspects towards it they had, such as high inequality, many peasants, and many different languages and religions (Lecture). In 1956, India was broken up into states by the States Reorganization Act, that made state lines based on linguistic group. India’s founding leaders mirrored the ideas of America, in balancing states rights with a central government (Sil, 2014). They have also more recently gone through a liberalization of their economy. India is unique in the way that their social hierarchy is constructed because of the fact that they have a caste system. The caste system is a combination of religious practice and community organization that is a part of Hinduism (Sil, 2014). This system was officially demolished in the country, but in the country it is still very prevalent, and the focus on helping those who were in lower castes succeed has made people more aware of the way they institute social policies.

Although neither region experienced tremendous stability, the early states of China and modern-day India consistently followed their own styles of state-building practices. These powerful states in East and South Asia, respectively, used quite different methods of state-building, with their techniques greatly mirroring their different levels of desired interaction with outsiders. While the Chinese focused on state-building from within, the empires of modern-day India were more open to outsiders and their potential contributions to Indian society.

The President can call for an election earlier. It has a president, generally from the largest party in the assembly, and a number of vice presidents from other parties. The executive is a branch headed by the prime minister and the president. The president appoints the prime minister, but in theory cannot terminate him. Prime ministers are often asked to sign an undated notice of resignation upon nomination. The president is elected for a five year term which runs alongside with the five year term of the assembly, where before the term use to be seven years. The prime minister countersigns the orders of the president, and is the senior executive in the government as well as head of the cabinet. The nation’s criticisms of government policy are normally directed towards the Prime Minister.

President is elected by the voters, while the head of state in a parliament generally Prime Minister is elected by the legislature.

Contemporary comparative erudition on the topic of nationalism proposes another reason for India’s democratic survival. Under the independence movement, with the governance of Gandhi, Nehru and the Congress party turned what formerly had been a cultural unit into a nation with a cultural political unit. This transformation perpetuated Indian democracy: “There has to be a political unit before there can be a democracy” The strategic communications between British authorities and national movement leaders also laid the fundamentals of democracy. No historical explanation can be comprehensive unless it takes the “agency” of India’s freedom movement into justification – with the attainment of India’s autonomy. (Varshney 1998: 38)

Through the study of human history it is evident authoritative and monarch governments prevailed as legitimate authorities but with careful considerations these political systems were seen as inaccurate by many. New political systems, functions and responsibilities soon began to surface. Democracy was among these new political systems and argues for the influence of citizens in politics and the protection of rights (Dahl, 1998, p. 44). Democracy can be found through many political systems around the world particularly in first world countries such as Canada and the United States of America. Fortunately the notions of democracy can also be found in some developing countries such as India. ¬¬¬Although democratic views and notions are found throughout Indian politics and its associated practices India does not prove to be completely democratic in relation to Robert Dahl’s criteria of democracy highlighted in his book, On Democracy. Robert Dahl, a political scientist and professor, sets up 5 criteria of democracy that includes effective participation, voting equality, enlightened understanding, inclusion and control of agenda (Dahl, 1998, p. 36-7). He argues that a sense of true democracy is founded when all 5 criteria of democracy are fulfilled (Dahl, 1998, p. 36). Unfortunately India is unable to accommodate the criteria of voting equality and effective participation due to its

India is the biggest democracy in the world, with a government type of federal republic. The country’s form of government mimics the United States with its federal structure. The federal government consists of executive, legislative, and judicial branches. In addition, India has adopted the a British style parliamentary system that allows for it its central government to have great power in relation to its states, according to US Department of State- Background Notes website (The Office of Electronic

The head of state is the federal president; the post is purely ceremonial and rotates annually among the members of the Federal Council.