Indian Polity and Governance

What the official syllabus says

UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, General Studies Paper I:

Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.

Topics in detail

Making of the Constitution

• Constitutional development under British rule (see the modern history page)
• The Constituent Assembly: formation under the Cabinet Mission Plan, first meeting (9 December 1946), the Drafting Committee chaired by B. R. Ambedkar
• Adoption on 26 November 1949 and commencement on 26 January 1950
• Sources of the Constitution: Government of India Act 1935, and features borrowed from the British, US, Irish, Canadian and other constitutions

Preamble and basic features

• The Preamble, its words and their meaning; the 42nd Amendment (1976) additions
• Salient features: federal system with a unitary bias, parliamentary government, independent judiciary, secularism
• Basic structure doctrine (Kesavananda Bharati case, 1973)

Union, territory and citizenship

• Articles 1 to 4: the Union and its territory, formation of new States
• Citizenship (Articles 5 to 11) and the Citizenship Act, 1955

Rights and duties

• Fundamental Rights (Articles 12 to 35): equality, freedom, against exploitation, religion, cultural and educational rights, constitutional remedies
• Writs under Article 32: habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari, quo warranto
• The widening of Article 21 by the courts; Article 21A and the Right to Education
• Directive Principles of State Policy (Articles 36 to 51) and their relation to Fundamental Rights
• Fundamental Duties (Article 51A), added by the 42nd Amendment and extended by the 86th Amendment

Union government

• President: election, powers, ordinance-making power (Article 123), pardoning power (Article 72), impeachment
• Vice-President; Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers; Attorney General (Article 76)
• Parliament: Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Speaker and Chairman, sessions, motions, legislative procedure, money bills (Article 110), joint sitting
• Budget process in Parliament; parliamentary committees; privileges
• Anti-defection law (Tenth Schedule, 52nd Amendment, 1985)

Judiciary

• Supreme Court (Article 124): composition, appointment of judges, original, appellate and advisory jurisdiction
• High Courts and subordinate courts; judicial review, judicial activism, public interest litigation
• Tribunals, Lok Adalats and alternative dispute resolution

States and federalism

• Governor, Chief Minister and Council of Ministers, State legislature
• Centre-State relations: legislative (Seventh Schedule lists), administrative and financial; inter-State councils and water disputes
• Emergency provisions: national emergency (Article 352), President's rule (Article 356), financial emergency (Article 360)
• Special provisions: Fifth and Sixth Schedule areas, Union Territories, Delhi

Panchayati Raj and local government

• Balwant Rai Mehta Committee (1957) and other committees
• 73rd Amendment (1992): Gram Sabha, three-tier panchayats, reservation, State Election Commission, State Finance Commission, the Eleventh Schedule (29 subjects)
• 74th Amendment (1992): municipalities and the Twelfth Schedule (18 subjects)
• Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA)

Constitutional, statutory and other bodies

• Constitutional bodies: Election Commission (Article 324), Union and State Public Service Commissions (Article 315), Finance Commission (Article 280), Comptroller and Auditor General (Article 148), National Commissions for Scheduled Castes (338), Scheduled Tribes (338A) and Backward Classes (338B), GST Council (279A)
• Statutory and executive bodies: NITI Aayog, National Human Rights Commission, Central Information Commission, Central Vigilance Commission, Lokpal, National Green Tribunal

Political system

• Elections: Representation of the People Acts of 1950 and 1951, electoral reforms, model code of conduct
• Political parties and their recognition; pressure groups
• Amendment of the Constitution (Article 368) and important amendments

Public policy and rights issues

• Right to Information Act, 2005; citizens' charters; e-governance
• Rights of Scheduled Castes and Tribes, women, children, minorities and persons with disabilities (Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016)
• Welfare schemes as instruments of public policy; role of civil society and self-help groups

Key parts of the Constitution

Overlaps

Polity is the core of Mains General Studies II, which goes deeper into governance, social justice and international relations.