Constitutional Design 

Q76. Write a short note on Nelson Mandela? 

Ans. Nelson Mandela 

1. Nelson Mandela was tried for treason by the white South African government. 

2. He and seven other leaders were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964 for daring to oppose the apartheid regime in his country. 

3. He spent the next 28 years in South Africa’s most dreaded prison, Robben Island.

4. After 28 years of imprisonment, Nelson Mandela walked out of the jail as a free man.

5. He became the first president of South Africa.

Q77. Here are some false statements. Identify the mistake in each case and rewrite these correctly based on what you have read in this chapter.
a Leaders of the freedom movement had an open mind about whether the country should be democratic or not after independence.
b Members of the Constituent Assembly of India held the same views on all provisions of the Constitution.
c A country that has a constitution must be a democracy.
d Constitution cannot be amended because it is the supreme law of a country. 

Ans. (a) Leaders of the freedom movement had an open mind about the country being democratic after independence.

(b) Members of the Constituent Assembly of India had different ideas on all provisions of the Constitution.

(c) A country that is a democracy must have a democracy.

(d) Constitution needs to be amended quite regularly to keep it updated.

Q78. What is the philosophy of the Indian Constitution?
Or
Discuss the philosophy of the Indian Constitution.

Ans. Values that inspired and guided the freedom struggle and were in turn nurtured by it, formed the foundation for India’s democracy. These values are embedded in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution. They guide all the articles of the Indian Constitution. The Constitution begins with a short statement of its basic values. This is called the Preamble to the constitution. It contains the philosophy on which the entire Constitution has been built. It provides a standard to examine and evaluate any law and action of government, to find out whether it is good or bad. It is the soul of the Indian Constitution.

Q79. How has the Indian Constitution embodied the basic values into institutional arrangements? Explain. 
Or
Explain the importance of institutional design of the Constitution of India.

Ans. 

1. A constitution is mainly about embodying values into institutional arrangements. 

2. It is a very long and detailed document. Therefore it needs to be amended quite regularly to keep it updated. 

3. The Constitution describes the institutional arrangements in a very legal language. 

4. The Indian Constitution lays down a procedure for choosing persons to govern the country. It defines who will have how much power to take which decisions. And it puts limits to what the government can do by providing some rights to the citizen that cannot be violated.

Q80. How was apartheid system practiced in South Africa? 

Ans. 

1. Apartheid was the name of a system of racial discrimination unique to South Africa. The white Europeans imposed this system on South Africa. 

2. The apartheid system was oppressive for the blacks. They were forbidden from living in white areas. 

3. They could work in white areas only if they had a permit. Trains, buses, taxis, hotels, hospitals, schools and colleges, libraries, cinema halls, theatres, beaches, swimming pools, public toilets, were all separate for the whites and blacks. They could not even visit the churches where the whites worshipped. Blacks could not form associations or protest against the terrible treatment.

Q81. How did white minority and black majority agree to draw up a common constitution for South Africa? 

Ans. The white minority and black majority agree to draw up a common constitution for South Africa in the following manner:

1. The white regime changed its policies. Discriminatory laws were repealed. Ban on political parties and restrictions on the media were lifted.

2. After the emergence of the new democratic South Africa, black leaders appealed to fellow blacks to forgive the whites for the atrocities they had committed while in power.

3. Together, they decided that in the search for a solution to the problems, nobody should be excluded.

4. They agreed that everybody should become part of the solution, whatever they might have done or represented in the past.