Class 9

Social Science
Working of Institutions

Adarsh Pandey
TGT-Social Science

Democracy is not just about people electing their rulers. In a democracy the
rulers have to follow some rules and procedures. They have to work with
and within institutions. This chapter is about the working of such institutions
in a democracy.

Need for Political Institutions

● Governing a country involves various activities. To attend to all those

activities, several arrangements are made in all modern democracies.
Such arrangements are called institutions.
● A democracy works well when these institutions perform functions
assigned to them. The Constitution of any country lays down basic
rules on the powers and functions of each institution. Such as,
● The Prime Minister and the Cabinet are institutions that take all
important policy decisions.
● The Civil Servants, working together, are responsible for taking steps
to implement the ministers’ decisions.
● The Supreme Court is an institution where disputes between citizens
and the government are finally settled.
Do you know?

● The President is the head of the state and is the highest formal
authority in the country.
● The Prime Minister is the head of the government and actually
exercises all governmental powers. He takes most of the decisions
in the Cabinet meetings.
● Parliament consists of the President and two Houses, Lok Sabha
and Rajya Sabha. The Prime Minister must have the support of a
majority of Lok Sabha members.

Parliament

● In all democracies, an assembly of elected representatives exercises

supreme political authority on behalf of the people. In India such a
national assembly of elected representatives is called Parliament. At
the state level this is called Legislature or Legislative Assembly.
● It exercises political authority on behalf of the people in many ways:
● Parliament is the final authority for making laws in any country.
This task of law making or legislation is so crucial that these
assemblies
 ● are called legislatures. Parliaments all over the world can make
new laws, change existing laws, or abolish existing laws and
make new ones in their place.
● Parliaments all over the world exercise some control over those
who run the government. In some countries like India this
control is
● direct and full. Those who run the government can take
decisions only so long as they enjoy support of Parliament.
● Parliaments control all the money that governments have. In
most countries the public money can be spent only when
Parliament sanctions it.
● Parliament is the highest forum of discussion and debate on
public issues and national policy in any country. Parliament can
seek information about any matter.

Second Backward Classes Commission

● 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.
● It was asked to determine the criteria to identify the socially and
educationally backward classes in India and recommend steps to
be taken for their advancement.
● 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. The Report and recommendations were
discussed in the Parliament.

Two Houses of Parliament

● Since Parliament plays a central role in modern democracies, most

large countries divide the role and powers of Parliament in two parts.
● They are called Chambers or Houses. One House is usually directly
elected by the people and exercises the real power on behalf of the
people. The second House is usually elected indirectly and performs
some special functions.
● The most common work for the second House is to look after the
interests of various states, regions or federal units.
● In our country, Parliament consists of two Houses. The two Houses
are known as the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and the House of
the People (Lok Sabha). The President of India is a part of
Parliament, although she is not a member of either House. That is
why all laws made in the Houses come into force only after they
receive the assent of the President.

Powers of Lok Sabha

Our Constitution does give the Rajya Sabha some special powers over the
states. But on most matters, the Lok Sabha exercises supreme power.

● Any ordinary law needs to be passed by both the Houses. But if there
is a difference between the two Houses, the final decision is taken in
a joint session in which members of both the Houses sit together.
 Because of the larger number of members, the view of the Lok Sabha
is likely to prevail in such a meeting.
● Lok Sabha exercises more powers in money matters. Once the Lok
Sabha passes the budget of the government or any other money
related law, the Rajya Sabha cannot reject it. The Rajya Sabha can
only delay it by 14 days or suggest changes in it. The Lok Sabha may
or may not accept these changes.
● Most importantly, the Lok Sabha controls the Council of Ministers.
Only a person who enjoys the support of the majority of the members
in the Lok Sabha is appointed the Prime Minister. If the majority of the
Lok Sabha members say they have ‘no confidence’ in the Council of
Ministers, all ministers including the Prime Minister, have to quit. The
Rajya Sabha does not have this power.

Executive

At different levels of any government we find functionaries who take

day-to-day decisions but do not exercise supreme power on behalf of the
people. All those functionaries are collectively known as the executive.
They are called executive because they are in charge of the ‘execution’ of
the policies of the government. Thus, when we talk about ‘the government’
we usually mean the executive.

Political and Permanent Executive

In a democratic country, two categories make up the executive.

● Political Executive: It is elected by the people for a specific period.

Political leaders who take the big decisions fall in this category.
● Permanent Executive: In permanent executive, people are
appointed on a long-term basis. Civil services fall in this category.
 Persons working in civil services are called civil servants. They
remain in office even when the ruling party changes. These officers
work under political executives and assist them in carrying out the
day-to-day administration.

Prime Minister

● The Prime Minister is the most important political institution in the

country. Yet 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 a majority support.
● The Prime Minister does not have a fixed tenure. He continues in
power so long as he remains the leader of the majority party or
coalition.

Powers of the Prime Minister

The Prime Minister has wide ranging powers:

● He chairs Cabinet meetings. He coordinates the work of different

Departments.
● His decisions are final in case disagreements arise between
Departments.
● He exercises general supervision of different ministries.All ministers
work under his leadership. The Prime Minister distributes and
redistributes work to the ministers. He also has the power to dismiss
ministers. When the Prime Minister quits, the entire ministry quits.

Thus, if the Cabinet is the most powerful institution in India, within the
Cabinet it is the Prime Minister
Council of Ministers

● After the appointment of the Prime Minister, the President appoints

other ministers on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Ministers are
usually from the party or the coalition that has the majority in the Lok
Sabha. The Prime Minister is free to choose ministers, as long as
they are members of Parliament. Sometimes, a person who is not a
member of Parliament can also become a minister. But such a person
has to get elected to one of the Houses of Parliament within six
months of appointment as minister.
● Council of Ministers is the official name for the body that includes all
the Ministers. It usually has 60 to 80 Ministers of different ranks.
● Cabinet Ministers: Cabinet Ministers are usually top level
leaders of the ruling party or parties who are in charge of the
major ministries. Usually the Cabinet Ministers meet to take
decisions in the name of the Council of Ministers. Cabinet is
thus the inner ring of the Council of Ministers. It comprises
about 25 ministers.
● Ministers of State with independent charge: Ministers of
State with independent charge are usually in-charge of smaller
Ministries. They participate in the Cabinet meetings only when
specially invited.
● Ministers of State: Ministers of State are attached to and
required to assist Cabinet Ministers.
● Since it is not practical for all ministers to meet regularly and discuss
everything, the decisions are taken in Cabinet meetings. That is why
parliamentary democracy in most countries is often known as the
Cabinet form of government. The Cabinet works as a team. No
minister can openly criticise any decision of the government, even if it
is about another Ministry or Department.

The President
 ● While the Prime Minister is the head of the government, the President
is the head of the State. In our political system the head of the State
exercises only nominal powers.
● The President of India is like the Queen of Britain whose functions
are to a large extent ceremonial. The President supervises the overall
functioning of all the political institutions in the country so that they
operate in harmony to achieve the objectives of the State.
● The President is not elected directly by the people. The elected
Members of Parliament (MPs) and the elected Members of the
Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) elect her.
● A candidate standing for President’s post has to get a majority of
votes to win the election.

Powers of the President

● All governmental activities take place in the name of the President. All
laws and major policy decisions of the government are issued in her
name.
● All major appointments are made in the name of the President. These
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.
● A bill passed by the Parliament becomes a law only after the
President gives assent to it. If the President wants, she can delay this
for some time and send the bill back to Parliament for
reconsideration. But if Parliament passes the bill again, she has to
sign it.

The President exercises all these powers only on the advice of the Council
of Ministers. The President can ask the Council of Ministers to reconsider
its advice. But if the same advice is given again, she is bound to act
according to it.

The Presidential System

● Presidents all over the world are not always nominal executives like
the President of India. In many countries of the world, the President
is both the head of the state and the head of the government. The
President of the United States of America is the most well known
example of this kind of President.
● The US President is directly elected by the people. He personally
chooses and appoints all Ministers. The law making is still done by
the legislature (called the Congress in the US), but the president
can veto any law. Most importantly, the president does not need the
support of the majority of members in the Congress and neither is
he answerable to them. He has a fixed tenure of four years and
completes it even if his party does not have a majority in the
Congress.
● This model is followed in most of the countries of Latin America and
many of the ex-Soviet Union countries. Given the centrality of the
President, this system of government is called the Presidential form
of government.

The Judiciary

● An independent and powerful judiciary is considered essential for

democracies. 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, District Courts and the courts at local level.
● India has an integrated judiciary. It means the Supreme Court
controls the judicial administration in the country. Its decisions are
binding on all other courts of the country. It can take up any dispute:
● Between citizens of the country;
● Between citizens and government;
● Between two or more state governments; and
● Between governments at the union and state level.
● The Supreme Court is the highest court of appeal in civil and criminal
cases. It can hear appeals against the decisions of the High Courts.
● The judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts are appointed
by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister.

Judicial Review

● The judiciary in India is also one of the most powerful in the world.
Supreme Court is the guardian of Fundamental Rights.
● The Supreme Court and the High Courts have the power to interpret
the Constitution of the country. They can declare invalid any law of
the legislature or the actions of the executive, whether at the Union
level or at the state level, if they find such a law or action is against
the Constitution. Thus they can determine the Constitutional validity
of any legislation or action of the executive in the country, when it is
challenged before them.
● This is known as the judicial review. The Supreme Court of India has
also ruled that the core or basic principles of the Constitution cannot
be changed by the Parliament.