Basic Concepts of Political Science Part – II Online Test 11th Political Science Lesson 4 Questions in English

Law is the prescription of rules and regulations sanctioned by the sovereignty for the state. Law as; Bodin said is the command of the sovereign.

In order to preserve society and protect the progressive nation, law has become an integral part of the system world over. The enormous power of law could not be a complete solution to maintain an order in the society due to the limitations it is framed with.

Law is a body of rule which is enforceable by the State. The aim is to attain justice in society.

The term ‘Law’ was derived from an old Teutonic root ‘lag’ “which means something which lies fixed or evenly. The word law is used to denote ‘uniform’.

There are two kinds of laws. They are: physical and human law. Physical law regulates nature where as human law regulates human life.

Explanation Law in political science is used to mean body of rules to guide human action. The function of state is done through government and the government in turn interprets the will of the state through law.

“A law is of general rule of external human action enforced by a sovereign political authority.” Said Holland.

The term ‘Law’ is considered as a body of rules to govern human action and as well to regulate human life by the discipline Political Science. ‘It is not the issuing of law that makes the state, it is the force of the state that makes law” believe Hocking.

Protect basic human rights, Promote fairness, Help resolve conflicts Promote justice, Promote order and stability, Promote desirable social and economic behavior, Represent the will of the majority(on some issues)and Protecting the rights of minorities.

The relationship of citizens and the regulation of relations among one another are determined by private laws. Private law includes civil law such as contract law, law of torts and property law, labor law, commercial law, corporation’s law and competition law. Public law includes constitutional law, administrative law and criminal law

Statutory law is a more formal body of the legal system that consists of written legislation. Common law, on the other hand, will allow judges to decide cases based on the rulings of prior cases with similar circumstances.

Constitutional laws are the basic laws according to which the government in a state conducts itself. The laws that define interpret and regulate the functions of the government are known as constitutional laws.

The Article 13 declares that laws before the commencement of the Constitution of India, 1950 that are inconsistent with the Part III Fundamental Rights section of the Constitution as void. Also, Article 13 instructs the State to not make any law that violates the provisions under Part III.

Ordinances are generally issued by the executive branch of the government as per the law of the state. Ordinances are temporary by nature and are issued by the president in the absence of parliament especially to face the emergency.

The President of India has been empowered to promulgate Ordinances based on the advice of the central government under Article 123 of the Constitution. This legislative power is available to the President only when either of the two Houses of Parliament is not in session to enact laws.

Common laws are those laws which rest on customs but are enforced by the courts like statute law. Common laws are popular in England. The legal system of England and Wales is a common law one, so the decisions of the senior appellate courts become part of the law.

The office and responsibilities of government servants are interpreted and governed by Administrative law. It is the Administrative law that enables the public officers to separate law and procedure from private individuals. These laws also make an attempt to interpret the privileges of government officials.

Administrative laws are not popular in England, U.S.A. and India. They are popular in France and a few countries of Europe. For example when any dispute arises between a citizen and government servant the administrative court resolves the issue with administrative laws.

The rule that determine the conduct of the civilized states in their relation with other states in international arena is otherwise called International law. There are no such framed laws that govern international relations but backed by public opinion and the rule of UNO as an international body matters for any nation to enjoy its sovereign status. Sources of international law include treaties, international customs, general widely recognized principles of law, the decisions of national and lower courts, and scholarly writings

Hugo Grotius is popularly known as Father of International Law. Dutch jurist and diplomat whose writings established the basis of modern international law (1583-1645)

Customs play an important role in the framing of the laws. Most of the laws that came from customs are recognized by state later. Since ancient period we can notice that the dispute among tribal were resolved by the head of the Tribes using their customs and traditions. Customs became laws when tribes extended into the formation of state.

As per the constitution of India Article 29(1) is a fundamental right guaranteed under part III which protects the educational and cultural rights. The 2014 judgment of the Supreme Court asserts that animals as sentient beings have the fundamental right to life under Art 21 of the constitution. These contradictions have made several interpretations in formalizing the Jallikattu sport.

The origin of Hindu law can be traced in the code of Manu. The origin of Mohammedian law can be traced in Shariat law. Divine law is a law revealed through man from God. God is the ultimate source of divine law. For Christians Ten Commandments were the first law given by the Lord Almighty to his people and was considered as the basis of law.

The function of the Judiciary is to interpret and declare the law. While discharging its function the judiciary creates new laws. The laws later get recognized by the state. Judicial decisions thus became a source of law. Sometime the verdict of high court and Supreme Court are treated as laws.

Equity has been described as “a gloss (meaning a supplement) on the common law, filling in the graps and making the English legal system more complete. In English Law, equity means that body of rules originally enforced only by the court of chancery.

Most of the laws in the modern times are framed by legislature and it is one of the most important source of law. Indian constitution is a classic example where the best provisions of other constitutions are borrowed and made it available for the best of our nation.

The state is founded on the minds of its citizens, who are moral agents a bad people means a bad state and a bad laws.” - Gilchrist

The federal scheme, Office of the Governor, Role of federal judiciary, Emergency provisions are borrowed from the Government of India Act 1935.

UK Constitution Law making procedures in Indian Constitution, Parliamentary Government, Rule of Law, Single citizenship, Bicameral Government.

Law and morality are complimentary to each other. Ethics reveals its citizens the code of conduct. Similarly the laws framed by state also aim to achieve the same goal. The sole aim of the state lies in the promotion of the welfare of the people. As there is a close affinity between law and morality, there also exist a good relationship between law and state. Morality is concerned with the moral duties whereas the laws of the state are concerned with the legal duties

Laws are enforced by the state, if not obeyed to the commands of law he is likely to be punished by the state. Morality is concerned with both internal and external affairs of man whereas law is concerned only with the external affairs of man. Hence law punishes only those persons who violate laws by their external actions. Law punishes a person only when he commits a theft or dacoit or murder or any other physical crime.

Law cannot punish a person for telling a lie or for abusing someone. Telling lies, condemning someone and being ungrateful and many other actions of man are sins but they are not crimes. Machiavelli maintained that even the immoral practices are legal, if they are applied for the benefit of the state.

A law framed with a purpose of eliminating evils such as drinking of wine, gambling, theft, dacoit and murder are moral laws. The laws which are based on morality remain permanent.

People are not directly involved in the framing of laws, yet they could elect their representatives to legislature. People elect their representatives to execute the will of the electorate. The elected body is just expected to represent the will of the public.

The Modern state appeals to morality to religion, and to natural law as the ideological foundation of its existence. At the same time it is prepared to infringe any or all of these in the interest of self-preservation. J.M. Coetzee

In democracy laws are framed only based on the support of public opinion. People carry out peaceful demonstrations to express their opinion or resentment. Common welfare of the people and social progress are the primary considerations of public opinion.

Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. Martin Luther King. Jr.

In political theory, citizenship refers not only to a legal status as a member of a country but also a normative ideal which means the ruled are full and equal participants in the political process.

Democracy and citizenship go hand in hand. Democracy focuses on political parties, electoral systems, and rule of law while citizenship focuses on the attributes of individual citizens.

Citizens have certain rights that differ from one country to another. Today, we are following a modern state and citizenship connotes a status which is defined as a set of rights and duties of the people.

Aristotle defined citizenship with reference to the birth place, family lineage and culture. Stoics viewed citizenship as a cosmopolitan ideal. Confucius emphasized it as the restoration of commonwealth where everyone worked for harmony and welfare. In India too there persisted the concept of “Vasudeva Kutumbakam”.

Citizenship was an important theme in the ancient Greek and Roman Republics but they disappeared from the feudal systems. This was later revived as a desirable aspect of civic humanism during the Renaissance. Citizenship was considered only as participation of duties during the ancient Athens.

The laws which are not related to the forms and functions of the government and to the fundamental rights but are related to the social and economic affairs of all citizens are known as ordinary laws. For example, the abolition of child marriage and prohibition of wine etc. come under ordinary laws.

Marshall, a liberal-social democrat links citizenship to social class in the context of capitalism. According to Marshall, citizenship has three essential divisions: civil, political and social. Everyone individual requires a right for freedom and that is what is in as civil component. This is also an important ingredient of rule of law.

Greeks enjoyed the privilege of being governed by democracy; their government was made up of commoners and they were allowed freedom of speech to a large extent through public speaking rights.

Aristotle considers three qualities to be necessary for a man universally. They are: Loyalty to the constitution, High degree of capacity to one’s duties and Quality of goodness and justice.

Plato considers education is a cure to corruption and political instability. Hence, he speaks for effective and responsible form of education. Aristotle, Hume and Rousseau, point out that the citizens will need knowledge of the attitudes and the expectations of their fellow citizens. J.S.Mill and Tocqueville on the other hand stress upon the need of political knowledge and in order to participate and conduct the affairs of the local government, voluntary association or jury service, education is very much necessary.

In USA, dual citizenship system prevails where a citizen is both the citizen of the country (USA) and the respective state. In India single citizenship system prevails where a citizen is only the citizen of the country (India).

Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 is legislation, initiated by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India to provide more effective provision for maintenance and welfare of parents and senior citizens.

The Indian Constitution attempted to provide full citizenship to all irrespective of whichever groups they belonged to. Women, people from the Scheduled Castes and Tribes, remote communities from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, who had not enjoyed equal rights previously, were given the full citizenship rights.

The provisions about citizenship are found in Part Three and in the subsequent laws passed by the Parliament Citizenship can be acquired by birth, descent, registration, naturalization or inclusion of territory.

National citizenship assumes that our state can provide us with protection and rights we need to live. However, states today are to tackle a lot of problems and hence individual rights are guaranteed to protect the safety of the people. Global citizenship on the other hand, deals with the importance of citizenship across the national boundaries. Here, one may need the cooperative action by the people and the governments of many states.

Article 5 to Article 11 of the Indian Constitution governs Indian citizenship and the law in regard to this is the Citizenship Act of 1955. The 1955 Act was amended six times — 1986, 1992, 2003, 2005, 2015 and 2019the citizenship act, 1955 and its latest amendment.

Isaiah Berlin defines rights in terms of positive liberties and negative freedoms. A positive right is an entitlement to: A right to free expression, for instance, entitles one to voice opinions publicly. A negative right is a freedom from; Freedom of person is a right to be free of bodily interference.

Part IV of the constitution of India contains 20 directive principles of states policy. These are listed from Article 36 to Article 51.

Rights and responsibilities are inseparable. When someone is borne with a lot of responsibilities, they are automatically bestowed upon with enough rights. Rights actually enable an individual to perform their responsibilities in the different roles we play on a day to day basis.

Civil Rights: These are the rights which provide opportunity to each person to lead a civilized social life and that which are protected by the state. Right to life, liberty and equality are civil rights.

Rights are duties are interrelated to each other. “No duties, no rights.” “If I have rights it is my duty to respect the rights of others in the society”. Rights are justiciable.

To safeguard the unity and integrity of India, To protect the public property, To conserve and protect the natural resource of the country like wildlife, lakes, forests and river, To maintain the spirit of brotherhood and create harmony among all irrespective of caste, creed, color and economic status, To preserve the rich Indian culture and heritage, To maintain the spirit of brotherhood and create harmony, To respect the National Anthem and National Flag.

Natural Rights: These rights are parts of human nature and reason. Political theory explains that an individual has certain basic rights and the government cannot deny these rights. In classical political philosophy, “natural right” denotes to the objective rightness of the right things, whether the virtue of a soul the correctness of an action, or the excellence of a regime

Moral rights include rules of good conduct, courtesy and moral behavior. Moral Rights include rules of good conduct, courtesy and of moral behavior and stand for moral perfection of the people.

Legal rights are equally available to all the citizens and they follow without any discrimination. Legal rights are those which are accepted and enforced by the state. Legal rights are of three types: Civil Rights, Political Rights and Economic Rights.

Human Rights are the rights of highest order. They are morally important and are possessed in virtue of the universal moral status of human beings. They are protected and supported by international and national laws and treaties.

The Bill of Rights, in the United States, was adopted as a single unit on December 15, 1791, and they constitute a collection of mutually reinforcing guarantees of individual rights and limitations on federal and state governments.

James Madison proposed the Bill of Rights. Bill of Rights was influenced by George Mason’s 1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights & 1689 English Bill of Rights.

The Bill of Rights derives from the Magna Carta (1215), the English Bill of Rights (1689), the colonial struggle against king and Parliament. The United States Bill of Rights plays a central role in American law and government, and remains a fundamental symbol of the freedoms and culture of the nation

On August 29, 1947, the Constituent Assembly set up a drafting committee under the chairmanship of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. The total number of amendments that were made were approximately 7635, out of which nearly 2473 were actually moved.

The 12th session of the Assembly held on January 24, 1950 elected Rajendra Prasad as the first President of the Indian Union. The legal and political luminaries of the Assembly affixed their signatures on the official copies of the Indian Constitution.

The Fundamental Rights, embodied in Part III of the Constitution, guarantee civil rights to all Indians, Seven fundamental rights were originally provided by the Constitution – the right to equality, right to freedom, right against exploitation, right to freedom of religion, cultural and educational rights, right to property and right to constitutional remedies. However, the right to property was removed from Part III of the Constitution by the 44th Amendment in 1978.

Right to Equality guarantees equality before law to all the people irrespective of their caste, creed, gender and race etc. Article 16 guarantees equality of opportunity in matters of public employment and prevents the State from discriminating against anyone in matters of employment on the grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, place of residence or any of them.

The Supreme Court struck down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, relating to restrictions on online speech, as unconstitutional on grounds of violating the freedom of speech guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India. The Court further held that the Section was not saved by virtue of being a 'reasonable restriction' on the freedom of speech under Article 19(2).

In the Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala case in 1973, the Supreme Court, overruling a previous decision of 1967, held that the Fundamental Rights could be amended, subject to judicial review in case such an amendment violated the basic structure of the Constitution. The Fundamental Rights can be enhanced, removed or otherwise altered through a constitutional amendment, passed by a two-thirds majority of each House of Parliament.

The imposition of a state of emergency may lead to a temporary suspension any of the Fundamental Rights, excluding Articles 20 and 21, by order of the President. The President may, by order, suspend the right to constitutional remedies as well, thereby barring citizens from approaching the Supreme Court for the enforcement of any of the Fundamental Rights, except Articles 20 and 21, during the period of the emergency.

Article 24 prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 years in factories, mines and other hazardous jobs. Parliament has enacted the Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, providing regulations for the abolition of and penalties for employing child labor as well as provisions for rehabilitation of former child laborers.

Cultural and Educational Rights There are certain non-political rights of religious, cultural and linguistic minorities, groups or sections of people. Constitution guarantees these rights for them.

Constitutional Remedies provides the rights to the citizens to move the Supreme Court or the High Court to protect their rights. Article 32 provides the remedies to the citizens at the Supreme Court while Article 226 by the High Court. The courts can issue writs or orders in the nature of Habeas Corpus, Mandamus, Certiorari, Quo Warranto and Prohibition or Injunction.

Right to Information Act of 2005 provides you this with this mandate of posing queries to the working of the Government. This is to empower the citizens and initiate transparency and accountability. An informed citizen is kept more vigil on the instruments governing the functions of the government thereby making them accountable.

Right to Privacy People of India will surely not surrender the most precious aspects of human persona, like, life, liberty and freedom. The citizen will surely not surrender all these rights to the emergency of the state. Right to privacy is moreover an integral part of human dignity. “The right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and as a part of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution.

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 is an act of the Parliament of India with the objective to provide for protection of rights of transgender persons, their welfare, and other related matters. The act was introduced in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament, on 19 July 2019 by the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Article 21A is a Fundamental Right [Part III] and Article 45 is a Directive Principle of State Policy [ Part IV] Both were inserted in our constitution by the 86th Amendment, 2002. Article 21A: RIGHT TO EDUCATION: The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the State may, by law, determine. Article 45: The State shall endeavor to provide early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age of six years.

The Constitution of India does not formally classify the Directive Principles of State Policy but for better understanding and on the basis of content and direction- they can be classified into three categories: Socialistic Principles, Gandhian Principles, and Liberal-Intellectual Principles.

Political Obligation is related to moral affair. Every individual has to perform certain duties such as payment of taxes, participate in voting, perform judicial and military functions; It is in order to maintain the political institutions of the country

T.H. Green states political obligation as “it is intended to include the obligation of the subject towards the sovereign, the obligation of the citizen toward the state and the obligation of the individual to each other as enforces by the political superior.

Political obligation otherwise involves three major aspects: The identifiable authority to which political obligation is rendered, To what extent political obligation can be rendered: The basis of Political Obligation

The basis of Political Obligation: Political obligations have gained momentum only after the sixteenth century. Earlier, the people considered Political obligation as the will of God. But modern political theory differs in its explanation. This theory says that no person is forced to do a work but they voluntarily assume their own duties as their valid obligations.

Features of Political Obligation: There prevails a source of political spirit and social service, Honesty and integrity are the essential aspects when it comes to the performance of public duty, There must prevail political legitimacy and effectiveness, The citizens also have the responsibility of guarding their guardians.

Moral Obligation, Legal Obligation, Positive Obligation and Negative Obligation are the four types of political obligations.

There are certain rules made by the state which cannot be disobeyed and hence they are considered as the positive obligation. Paying tax and serving the defense are some of the examples under positive obligation. Negative Obligation is the direct opposite of positive obligation. Here an individual is not permissible to do what the government prevents him from doing so.

The Divine theory, in the olden day’s people thought that the God created the state and the king was his representative. But this theory could be popular only during the ancient and middle ages but not during the modern era.

The Consent Theory proposes that the authority of the state is based on the people’s consent. Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau justified this theory on the grounds that the authority of power was dependent on the people’s consent.

The Prescriptive Theory states that the respect to the political authority is based on the principle of customary rights

The Idealistic Theory regards man and the state as two entities. “Man” is regarded as a political and rational creature while “state” is considered as a self-sufficing community. This idealistic theory propounds that when the individual receives his rights from the state, he can have no rights that can conflict with the state.

The Marxian theory is actually different from the other theories. It has been classified into three stages: Pre- revolutionary stage- This stage explains political non-obligation Revolutionary Stage- It is an eventual change from political non-obligation stage to a stage of total political obligation. Post- revolutionary stage-This stage is a complete transition from total political obligation to social development.

The Hindu Succession Act of 1956 granted daughters equal inheritance rights with sons in their father’s share of the undivided family property.

Property is considered as a natural right which is necessary for human dignity, freedom and dignity of life. Property refers to the legal relations between the persons with respect to specific things which may be material or abstract.

Other forms of property include the public property, common property or the state property. Property rights grant the owner an exclusive power to decide what will happen to a particular thing or resource. Public properties include transport, railways, etc.

According to Locke, the Government’s main function is to guarantee every citizen the protection of their individual rights and secure conditions to enjoy their properties peacefully.

Most of the developed and developing nations practiced social welfare policies after World War II. The main components of these policies entailed taxation on property, transfer of basic industries and basic public amenities like health and education to state control.

The Indian Constitution does not recognize property right as a fundamental right. In the year 1977, the 44th amendment eliminated the right to acquire, hold and dispose of property as a fundamental right.

Article 300 (A) was inserted in another part of the Constitution. This was to affirm that no person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law. Hence, this has become a statutory right now.

Cultural and Educational Rights There are certain non-political rights of religious, cultural and linguistic minorities, groups or sections of people. Constitution guarantees these rights for them.