Indian Polity

Nation or state is a political organization. The nation and nationality both words are derived from same word and there are many elements of nationality, but no single or combined elements is indispensable. The state is a political organisation with its four major elements, people, territory, government, and sovereignty.

Liberalism, Marxism and Gandhism are the major political theories. Liberalism and Marxism were popular among the people in most parts of the twentieth century.

Constitution symbolises independence of country and the framework structure for the governance of free country are provided in the Constitution. Preamble declares India to be a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic and mentions the goals of securing justice, liberty, and equality for all its citizens and promotion of national unity and integrity based on fraternity among the people assuring dignity of the individual.

India respects the rights of the people which are listed in our Constitution under the heading "Fundamental Rights". Fundamental Rights are the salient features of the Constitution.

Rights and Duties are two sides of a coin. There are no rights without duties, no duties without rights. In fact, rights are born in a world of Duties. The original Constitution enforced in 1950, did not mention Fundamental Duties of the citizens. It was hoped that citizens would perform their duties willingly. But, 42nd Amendment to the Constitution added a new list of 10 duties in chapter IV under Article 51A of the Constitution.

The Directive Principles of State Policy are included in Part IV of the Constitution. The framers of the Constitution included them with a special purpose of bringing about social and economic equality. These principles give directions to the state for making laws and policies for the collective good of the people.

The Indian Constitution has all features of a federal state. In a federal system of government, there is a need for clear cut division of power between the Union and States. The federal polity, in other words, provides a constitutional device for bringing unity in diversity and for the achievement of common national goals.

Emergency provisions has been made in Constitution to safeguard and protect the security, integrity, and stability of the country and effective functioning of State Governments. The Constitution-makers has equipped the Central Government with the necessary authority for the hour of emergency when the security and stability of the country is threatened by internal and external threats.

India is having the parliamentary form of government. The government at the Central level is called Union Government and at the State level it is known as State Government. The Union Government has three organs - the Executive. the Legislature and the Judiciary.

The Parliament has two Houses Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha and the President is an integral part of the Parliament. India has a parliamentary form of government in which the Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers are collectively responsible to the lower House of the Parliament.

Judiciary is the third organ of the government has an important role. It settles the disputes, interprets laws, protects fundamental rights, and acts as guardian of the Constitution. India has a single unified and integrated judicial system and that the Supreme Court is the highest court in India.

The executive under a system is made up of two levels: union and states. At the State level, generally following the central pattern, the governor, like the President, acts as a nominal head and the real powers are exercised by the Council of Ministers headed by the Chief Minister.

In most of the States we have unicameral Legislatures. The State Legislatures consist of the Governor and the Legislative Assembly. The Parliament is empowered to set up or abolish the Vidhan Parishad in a State.

The High Courts are part of the Indian judiciary, and function under the supervision guidance and control of the Supreme Court. As highest court in the State, a High Court supervises the subordinate courts in the State.

There are three types of urban local bodies: Municipal Corporations in big cities, Municipalities in medium and small towns and Nagar Panchayats in semi localities. Urban local government is the major supplier of essential civic services and facilities in our urban areas, and it represents grassroots democracy at the local level.

Universal adult franchise is the foundation of a representative democracy. It means that each man or woman after attaining a prescribed age is entitled to vote in the elections without any discrimination on grounds of caste, creed, religion, language or sex.

Election is a complex exercise, it involves schedules rules and machinery, the voting procedure, filing of nominations, their scrutiny and the campaigns carried out by the parties and the candidates before actual polling. Election Commission is for electoral system in India and suggestions for electoral reforms.

Political parties exist in every democratic society and even in authoritarian systems. In a political system, parties act as the carrier of ideas, opinions and approaches to social needs and national goals. Parties provide a link between the citizens and the government, between the electorate and the representative institutions.

Regionalism means strong attachment to a particular region or a state as against the country. This feeling arises either due to the continuous neglect of a particular area or because the people of a particular region become politically aware and seek to fight perceived discrimination.

Pressure or interest groups are organized groups, having common and social interests concerned with influencing decision making by putting pressure from outside. Pressure groups have voluntary membership and are found in every country.

In any political system public opinion and pressure groups play a very significant role. There is various aspects of public opinion and pressure groups. Democracy derives its authority from the people, no government whether it is democratic or not, can afford to ignore the public opinion and pressure groups.

Communalism has divided the religions lines and it is a threat to our communal harmony. The communal violence can affect the life in the country practically. The criminal forces also caught on to this. Minority communalism and majority communalism alike are harmful to healthy democracy and economic progress.

The concept of good governance is very nice, the features or attributes of good governance, the extent or level of their existence at the national and other lower levels are very vast. There are many reflected on the problems in implementing the ideals or goals of good governance, mainly posed by the population explosion, violence, terrorism, and corruption.

Human rights in practice have been defined to include all aspects of dignified human existence which make every human being an equal member of the human family. Human dignity is the essence of human rights.

Sri Lanka was earlier known as Ceylon (until 1972). It is a small island country situated in the Indian Ocean to the south of India. Its total area is 25,332 sq. miles. It has geographical proximity to India.

No two countries in the world have so much in common as India and Pakistan. Yet they have perpetually been in a state of undeclared war with varying degree of intensity.

India and China are the two great giants of Asia. They are also two of the most ancient civilisations of the world. Historically, several historians have successfully traced the cultural linkages dating back to 2nd century BC.

India has always shared a very cordial relations with USA and Russia, both countries has helped and appreciated the India's efforts for development. India and the US are two great democracies. But for a long time, the relationship between them was far from smooth. Indo Soviet Union relationship was based on several common grounds from the beginning.

India has followed certain basic principles in the conduct of its foreign policy from which it has not deviated much. In fact, some of its basic features such as nonalignment remain significant and relevant. India has contributed significantly to UN efforts for peace and disarmament and to UN peacekeeping operations.

UN and its affiliated agencies play an important role in the promotion of international co-operation in the economic and social fields. The United Nations considered that stable peace cannot be achieved without economic and social development of all nations.

The United Nations was created to work for peace in all parts of the world. In fact, peace is its topmost aim. United Nations is today the most important organisation dedicated to world peace. Many organs of the United Nations work for peace.

United Nations (UN) is an important international institution of our times. It was set up in 1945 with 51 countries as member nations and its current membership is 192. Most of the countries in the world today are members of the United Nations.

World affairs is mainly the sum of relations among States. It is not limited to States only. Contact and cooperation between ordinary people in capacities as tourists, journalists, businessmen, sportsmen, etc. are growing very fast.

Civil servants occupy an important role in the successful administration of state at different levels. Therefore, their recruitment, training, emoluments, conditions of service, promotion policies, etc. assume importance.

Public Administration is the management of public affairs. it is a study of Indian administrative system at multi - level considering the administrative machinery at the central, states, district, and the local levels.

Bureaucracy is a permanent fixture. Theoretically they play different roles, politicians make policies and administrators implement them. Bureaucracy is a body of permanent paid and skilled officials.

The grievances of citizens against government machinery needs to be heard and redressed, every democracy sets up appropriate machinery for the redressal of citizens’ grievances. Some States have appointed Lokayukta.