CBSE Class 9 Social Science Constitutional Design Assignment

Democratic Constitution in South Africa

Questions : 

Question : Who said these words in his fight against White government in South Africa?
Answer : “I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. ----- - But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

Question : Define: Apartheid
Answer : The official policy of racial separation and ill treatment of blacks followed by the government of South Africa between 1948 and 1989.

Question : Evaluate the features of 'apartheid' praticed in “outh Africa between 1948 and 1989.
Answer :
1. Apartheid was the name of a system of racial discrimination unique to South Africa. The system of apartheid divided the people and labelled them on the basis of their skin colour.
2. The apartheid system was particularly oppressive for the blacks. They were forbidden from living in white areas.
3. They could work in white areas only if they had a permit.
4. Trains, buses, taxis, hotels, hospitals, schools and colleges, libraries, cinema halls, theatres, beaches, swimming pools, public toilets, were all separate for the whites and blacks. This was called segregation.
5. They could not even visit the churches where the whites worshipped. Blacks could not form associations or protest against the terrible treatment.

Question : Analyse the working and composition of ANC.
Answer : 1. Since 1950, the blacks, colored and the Indians fought against the apartheid system.
They launched protest marches and strikes.
2. The African National Congress (ANC) was the umbrella organisation that led the struggle against the policies of segregation.
3. This included many workers' unions and the Communist Party. Many sensitive whites also joined the ANC to oppose apartheid and played a leading role in this struggle.

Question : What efforts were made to form a new constitution after independence in South Africa?
Answer :
1. After the emergence of the new democratic South Africa, black leaders appealed to fellow Blacks to forgive the whites for the atrocities they had committed while in power.
2. They said let us build a new South Africa based on equality of all races and men and women, on democratic values, social justice and human rights.
3. The party that ruled through oppression and brutal killings and the party that led the freedom struggle sat together to draw up a common constitution.

Question : What is a 'constitution'?
Answer :
1. The constitution of a country is a set of written rules that are accepted by all people living together in a country.
2. Constitution is the supreme law that determines the relationship among people living in a territory (called citizens).
3. It also the relationship between the people and government.

Question : What documents were taken by the Constituent Assembly to form the Indian Constitution?
Answer :
1. The Constitution was drafted by Motilal Nehru and eight other leaders in 1928.
2. The resolution was framed at the Karachi Session of the INC on how independent India's Constitution should look like, in 1931.
3. The Indian Constitution adopted many institutional details and procedures from colonial laws like Government of India Act of 1935.

Question : What were the basic values accepted by all leaders much before the Constituent Assembly met to deliberate on the Constitution?
Answer :
(i) Universal adult franchise
(ii) right to freedom and equality
(iii) to protect the Rights of the minorities in the Constitution of independent India.

Question : "Indian leaders were inspired by the ideals of other countries when they made our constitution, but on our own terms". Name the countries and examine their ideals that that followed by Indian Constitution makers.
Answer :
1. France: Many Indian leaders were inspired by the ideals of the French Revolution and their and their resolution on liberty, equality and fraternity.
2. Britain: Indian leaders were inspired by the Parliamentary democracy in Britain.
3. US: Bill of Rights.
4. Russia: Socialist Economy and equality.

Question : What is a 'Constituent Assembly'?
Answer : An Assembly of elected representatives to draft a document called constitution is referred as a 'Constituent Assembly'.

Question : Give a brief note on the 'Constituent Assembly of India'.
Answer :
1. The Constituent Assembly was also divided into the Constituent Assembly of India and that of Pakistan.
2. The Constituent Assembly that wrote the Indian constitution had 299 members.
3. The Assembly adopted the Constitution on 26 November 1949 but it came into effect on January 26, 1950.

Question : Give reasons for accepting the constitution made by the Constituent Assembly more than 50 years ago.
Answer :
1. The Constitution does not reflect the views of its members alone. It expresses a broad consensus of its time.
2. The second reason for accepting the Constitution is that the Constituent Assembly represented the people of India. There was no universal adult franchise at that time. So the Constituent Assembly could not have been chosen directly by all the people of India.
3. It was elected mainly by the members of the existing Provincial Legislatures, which ensured a fair share of members from all the regions of the country.

Question : Give a brief account of Drafting Committee that worked for the drafting of Indian Constitution.
Answer :
1. Drafting Committee was chaired by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
2. Several rounds of thorough discussion took place on the Draft Constitution, clause by clause.
3. More than two thousand amendments were considered. The members deliberated for 114 days spread over three years.

Question : What do you understand by 'Constituent Assembly Debates'?
Answer :
1. A Drafting Committee chaired by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar discussed the draft constitution clause by clause.
2. The members deliberated for 114 days spread over three years.
3. Every document presented and every word spoken in the Constituent Assembly has been recorded and preserved. These are called 'Constituent Assembly Debates'.

Question : What is a Preamble to the Constitution?
OR
Write short note on the Preamble of Indian Constitution.
Answer :
1. The Constitution begins with a short statement of its basic values. This is called the Preamble to the constitution.
2. Like any other countries, India took inspiration from American model to include Preamble to the Constitution.
3. The Preamble of the Constitution reads like a poem on democracy. It contains the philosophy on which the entire Constitution has been built.
4. It provides a standard to examine and evaluate any law and action of government, to find out whether it is good or bad.
5. It is the soul of the Indian Constitution.

Question : Define following terms given in the Preamble:
Answer :
1) WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA
2) SOVEREIGN
3) SOCIALIST
4) SECULAR
5) DEMOCRATIC
6) REPUBLIC
7) JUSTICE
8) LIBERTY
9)EQUALITY
10) FRATERNITY:

Question : How was the institutional design formed for the Indian Constitution?
Answer :
1. A constitution is mainly about embodying values into institutional arrangements.
2. It is a very long and detailed document. Therefore it needs to be amended quite regularly to keep it updated.
3. So, they made provisions to incorporate changes from time to time. These changes are called constitutional amendments.
4. The Constitution describes the institutional arrangements in a very legal language.
5. Like any Constitution, the Indian Constitution lays down a procedure for choosing persons to govern the country. It defines who will have how much power to take which decisions.
6. It puts limits to what the government can do by providing some rights to the citizen that cannot be violated.