UPSC Mains 2018 GS Paper 2 Q13: model answer

Both constitutions open with 'We the People', but the US Constitution of 1787 has 7 articles and 27 amendments, while India's of 1950 began with 395 articles and has been amended over a hundred times.

Common tenets

• Popular sovereignty and a written, supreme constitution.
• Republic: elected head of state.
• Federalism with a division of powers.
• Fundamental Rights enforceable by courts (Bill of Rights; Part III).
• Independent judiciary and judicial review (Marbury v Madison, 1803; Articles 13, 32, 226).
• Rule of law and free elections.

Differences

• Form of government: the US is presidential with strict separation of

powers; India is parliamentary, with the executive responsible to the Lok Sabha.

• Head of state: the US President is real executive with a fixed term; India's President is a constitutional head acting on ministerial advice.
• Federalism: the US is a 'union of indestructible states' with dual citizenship and state constitutions; India is a 'Union of States', with single citizenship, an integrated judiciary, and a strong centre (Articles 3, 249, 356).
• Rigidity: US amendments need three-fourths of states; India's are more flexible, but limited by the basic structure.
• Upper House: the US Senate has equal state representation; the Rajya Sabha is population-based.
• Rights: India adds Directive Principles, Fundamental Duties and reservations; the US has stronger free speech and gun rights.
• Secularism: 'wall of separation' versus India's 'principled distance'.
• Elections: electoral college versus indirect election through MPs and MLAs; India has an independent Election Commission.

Assessment

The US system emphasises limiting government; India's emphasises using government to transform a diverse, unequal society. Both have stood the test of time, and each borrows from the other: India took judicial review and the Bill of Rights idea; the US has studied India's election machinery.