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• The principle of popular sovereignty, reflected in the constitution, denotes that the
sovereign power is assigned in the people and exercised by the government
elected by the people.
Socialist State :
Socialist state denotes a state wherein the gap between the rich and the poor is minimum
and that the wealth is not concentrated in the hands of a few people. All have a right over
the wealth of the country.
Secular State :
• Secular
state is the one which does not have official religion of the state.
• The citizens have freedom to follow any religion and the State cannot discriminate
among citizens on the basis religion.
Democratic State :
• Democratic state is one where the sovereign power is vested with the people.
• The elections are conducted at a fixed period and voters elect their representatives.
• These representatives take decisions as per the procedure laid down in the
Constitution.
Republic :
• Republic is a state where there is no hereditary succession to the public positions.
• All public positions are filled from elected representatives of the people.
• Any Indian citizen, fulfilling the required criteria, can be elected to any of the public
positions.
Justice : Justice implies everybody has the opportunity to progress. This ultimately will
promote public good.
There are three types of justice:
• Social Justice: ]t means there should not be any discrimination among individuals on
the basis of caste, creed, race, language, region, place of birth or sex.
• Economic Justice: To eradicate poverty, everyone should have a right a source of
livelihood. Our constitution gives this right to every citizen without any
discrimination.
• Political Justice: It means all citizens completing 18 years of age have the right to
vote, i.e., Universal Adult Franchise.
Liberty:
• It
implies that there should be no coercive, unfair restriction on anybody.
• Everybody is free to express his/her views and opinions.
Freedom :
• Freedom does not mean unrestrained behaviour or license to do whatever we like.
• We expect others to respect our freedom. We should respect the freedom of others
as well.
• We should accept reasonable restrictions on our freedom in the interest of national
security, law and order, decency and morality.
Equality : Equality means that all have equal human status and there will be no
discrimination based on caste, creed, race, sex, place of birth, etc. Equality of Status and
opportunities is assured.
Equality of opportunity :
• Equality of opportunity means there will be no discrimination between individuals
on the basis of caste, creed, race, sex, place of birth in the matter of public
employment.
• Every individual will have equal opportunity to develop without any discrimination.
Fraternity:
• Fraternity is ‘we-feeling’ among the people, having understanding of the needs of
each other. This will promote social harmony.
• No number of laws would help us achieve the goals if fraternity is lacking.
• Dignity of individual is closely related with fraternity. It implies respect for every
individual.
The Preamble ends with the words that the people of India have given to themselves this
constitution.
Why does a democratic country need a Constitution?
There are various reasons why a democratic country needs a Constitution:
The Constitution mentions the fundamental ideas on which we as people aspire to live in
our society.
It describes the very nature of society.
To describe the essence of the country’s political structure
It provides a set of laws by which citizens of various faiths and cultures will coexist
peacefully.