POLITICAL SCIENCE

CHAPTER-4
WORKING OF INSTITUTIONS
 MAIN CONTENTS

UNIT 4.1:HOW IS A MAJOR POLICY DECISION TAKEN?

UNIT 4.2: PARLIAMENT
UNIT 4.3: POLITICAL EXECUTIVE

UNIT 4.4: THE JUDICIARY

(IN INDIAN CONTEXT)

UNIT 4.1:HOW IS A MAJOR POLICY DECISION TAKEN?

OFFICE MEMORANDUM
• An office memorandum is a communication
issued by an appropriate authority stating
the policy or decision of the government.
• The government issues hundreds of orders
everyday on different matters and one such
order was issued on August 13, 1990.
• It had a number and is known by that: O.
M. No. 36012/31/90-Est (SCT), dated
13.8.1990.
• It said that 27 per cent of the vacancies in
civil posts and services under the
Government of India are reserved for the
Socially and Educationally Backward
Classes (SEBC).
 WHO ISSUED THE MEMORANDUM? (DECISION MAKERS)

Major decisions involve major functionaries in our country and not just
the signatories on the Order like:

Prime Minister: Parliament:

President: Head
Head of the consists of the
of the State
Government and President and
and highest
actually exercises two Houses-Lok
formal authority
all governmental Sabha and
in the country
powers Rajya Sabha
 MANDAL COMMISSION: behind SEBC

• The Government of India had appointed the Second

Backward Classes Commission in 1979.
• It was headed by B.P. Mandal. Hence it was popularly
called the Mandal Commission.
• The Commission gave its Report in 1980 and made
many recommendations. One of these was that 27
per cent of government jobs be reserved for the
socially and educationally backward classes.
• This led to a lot of discussions within all the decision
makers.

B.P.MANDAL
 Election Manifesto-1989

For several years many

parliamentarians and
party kept demanding
Then came the Lok
the implementation of
Sabha elections of 1989.
Commission’s
In its election
recommendations.
manifesto, the Janata
Dal promised that if The Janata Dal did
voted to power, it would form the government
implement The Mandal after this election.
Commission report. Its leader V.P. Singh
became the Prime
Minister.
 Important developments V.P. Singh became the Prime Minister.
• Several development took place after that:
The President of India in his address to the
Parliament announced the intention of the
government to implement the
recommendations of the Mandal
Commission
On 6 August 1990, the Union Cabinet took
a formal decision to implement the
recommendations.
Next day Prime Minister V.P. Singh informed the
Parliament about this decision through a statement
in both the Houses of Parliament.
The decision of the Cabinet was sent to the
Department of Personnel and Training. The senior
officers of the Department drafted an order in line
with the Cabinet decision and took the ministers
approval. An officer signed the order on behalf of the
Union Government. This was how
O.M.No.36012/31/90 was born on 13 August 1990.
 OPPOSITIONS AGAINST THE MANDAL COMMISSION
• Some persons and associations appealed to
the courts to declare the order invalid and
stop its implementation and it was known
as the ‘Indira Sawhney and others Vs Union
of India case’.
• By a majority, the Supreme Court judges in
1992 declared that this order of the
Government of India was valid.
• the Supreme Court asked the government to
modify its original order. It said that well-to
do persons among the backward classes
should be excluded from getting the benefit
of reservation.
NEED FOR POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS

• Several arrangements are made in

modern democracies which are
called Institutions.
• A democracy works well when
institutions perform functions assigned
to them.
• The constitution of any country lays
down basic rules on the powers and
functions of each institution.
WORKING WITH POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS IS NOT EASY
• Working with Institutions is not easy.
• Institutions involved rules and regulations. This can bind the hands of
the leaders.
• Institutions involve meetings, committees and routines. This often
leads to delays and complications. Therefore, dealing with
Institutions can be frustrating.
• Some of the delays and complications introduced by the institutions
are very useful. They provide an opportunity for a wider set of
people to be consulted in any decision-making.
• Institutions make it difficult to take good decisions very quickly, but
they also make it equally difficult to rush through a bad decision.
 Let's Discuss…

• Political institutions involve meetings, committees and routines.

This often leads to delays and complications in taking decisions.

Do you think the delays and

complication in decision
making is useful in a
democracy? Why?
 UNIT 4.2: PARLIAMENT

NEED OF A PARLIAMENT

In all democracies, an assembly of elected representatives exercise

supreme political authority on behalf of the people.

Final authority for making Controls those who run the

laws government

Control all the money that Highest forum of discussion

governments have and debate on public issues What does it
and national policy depict?
 HOUSES OF THE PARLIAMENT

LOK SABHA RAJYA SABHA

Lower House/ House of the People Upper House / Council of States

Members are elected by the elected members of the state

Members are directly elected legislative assembly

Time period is 5 years One-third members retire every two years

Maximum strength: 552 Maximum strength: 250

At present: 545

Does not exercise much power over money bills

Money bills can only be introduced here
 UNIT 4.3: POLITICAL EXECUTIVE

Executive

Executive- A body of
persons having authority
to initiate major policies, Executive can be
make decisions and further divided into:
implement them on the  Political Executive
basis of the constitution  Permanent Executive.
and laws of the country.
EXECUTIVE CAN BE FURTHER DIVIDED INTO POLITICAL & PERMANENT
EXECUTIVE
POLITICAL PERMANENT
EXECUTIVE EXECUTIVE

Elected by the people for a specific period Known as ‘Civil Servants’ and are appointed for long-term. They are
appointed by the government for the work under political executive

Tenure of office is not fixed, They remain in office only so long as

they command the confidence of the majority members of
Parliament. Their tenure is fixed and remain in office even if ruling party
changes

They are answerable to people for all the consequences of their

decisions.
They are not answerable to people

They are more powerful. They take all the final decisions.
They are less powerful. They do not take decisions. Instead they assist
political executives in carrying out day-to-day administration.

Political leaders: PM, Council of Ministers etc

Civil Servants like IAS, IPS etc

PRIME MINISTER & THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

PRIME MINISTER

• There is no direct election to the post of

the Prime Minister. The President appoints the
Prime Minister.
• The President appoints the leader of the majority
party or the coalition of parties that commands a
majority in the Lok Sabha, as Prime Minister.
• In case no single party or alliance gets a majority,
the President appoints the person most likely to
secure majority support (discretionary powers)
• The Prime Minister does not have a fixed tenure.
He continues to be in power so long as he remains
the leader of his majority party or coalition.
 COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
Council of Ministers is the official name for the body that
includes all the Ministers
Council of Ministers usually has 60 to 80 ministers
of different ranks.
Council of Ministers consists of: Cabinet Ministers,
Ministers of State with independent charge,
Ministers of State
Usually Cabinet Ministers are the top level leaders of
the ruling party or parties who are in charge of the
major ministries. It comprises about 25 ministers. At
present, 22 ministers are there.

Ministers of State with independent charge are

usually in-charge of smaller Ministries.

Ministers of State are attached to and required to

assist Cabinet Ministers.
 POWERS OF THE PRIME MINISTER

*The Prime Minister is the head of the government and chairs Cabinet meetings.

*He coordinates the work of different Departments.

*His decisions are final in case disagreements arise between Departments.

*The Prime Minister distributes and redistributes work to the ministers and All ministers
work under his leadership.

*He has the power to dismiss ministers.

*When the Prime Minister quits, the entire ministry quits

THE PRESIDENT
Head of the State
ELECTION OF PRESIDENT

• The President is not elected directly by

the people.
• The elected members of Parliament(MP’s)
and the elected members of the
Legislative Assemblies(MLA’s) elect the
President.
• The candidate standing for President's post
has to get a majority of votes to win the
election.
This ensures that the President can be seen
to represent the entire nation.
 THE PRESIDENT
POWERS OF PRESIDENT
• All governmental activities take place in the name of the President.
• All laws and major policy decisions of the government are issued in the
name of the President.
• All major appointments are made in the name of the President, which
include the appointment of the Chief Justice of India, the Judges of the
Supreme Court and the High Courts of the states, the Governors of the
states, the Election Commissioners, Ambassadors to other countries, etc.
• All international treaties and agreements are made in the name of the
President.
• The President is the supreme commander of the defence forces of India.
The President exercises all these powers only on the advice of the PM &
Council of Ministers.
 UNIT 4.4: THE JUDICIARY

HIERARCHY OF COURTS IN INDIA

• All the Courts at different levels in a

country put together are called the
Judiciary.
• The Indian judiciary consists of a
Supreme Court for the entire nation,
High Courts in the states and District
Courts and the Subordinate/Session
courts at local level.
• India has an integrated judiciary.
 INTEGRATED AND INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY

INTEGRATED JUDICIARY INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY

Supreme Court controls the judicial It is not under the control of the
administration in the country. Its decisions Legislature or the Executive. The Judges
are binding on all other courts of the do not act on the direction of the
country. It can take up any dispute government or according to the wishes of
• Between citizens of the country the party in power.
• Between citizens and government
• Between two or more state governments
• Between governments at the union and
state level
 POWERS OF THE JUDICIARY

The powers and the

They can determine independence of the
The Supreme Indian judiciary
the Constitutional
Court of India has allow it to act as the
The Supreme validity of any
also ruled that guardian of the
Court and the High legislation or action
the core or basic Fundamental Rights.
Courts have the of the executive in
principles of the Anyone can
power to interpret the country when it approach the courts
Constitution
the Constitution of is challenged before if public interest is
cannot be
the country. them. This is known hurt by the actions
changed by the
as the judicial of the government.
Parliament.
review. This is called public
interest litigation.