Telangana TSBIE TS Inter 1st Year Political Science Study Material 11th Lesson Organs of Government Textbook Questions and Answers.
TS Inter 1st Year Political Science Study Material 11th Lesson Organs of Government
Long Answer Questions
Question 1.
Explain the structure of Bicameralism and the functions of the Legislature.
Answer:
Legislature may be Bicameral or Unicameral. In Bicameralism there are two houses, namely, lower and upper house or first chamber and second chamber. The lower house represents the will of the people. The upper house represents the interests of the states.
Ex’s in India Rajyasabha is the upper house and Loksabha is the lower house.
The members of the upper house are elected from the component states. These members represent their respective states in the central government. The people directly elect the members of the lower house .through universal adult franchise.
Functions of the legislature :
The basic function of the legislature is to enact laws as per the will of the people. The legislature in modern times is discharging certain administrative and judicial duties besides forming the laws. The functions of the legislature also depend upon the form of the government. The role of the legislature is limited ina presidential form of government. But, it has an extensive role in the parliamentary government. The functions fo the legislature can be analysed under different heads like : Legislative functions, Executive functions, Financial functions, Judicial functions, Constitutional functions and other functions.
1. Legislative functions :
To frame the laws is the basic function of the legislature. It is the important duty of the legislature to pass laws as per the will of the people. The legislature has powers to frame new laws and also to change, revise or cancel the laws which are outdated. The legislature not only makes laws but also conducts detailed discussions and consultations on different subjects. The legislature discusses extensively every bill before it becomes law.
2. Functions to control executive :
In the parliamentary government, the council of ministers is responsible to the legislature. The legislature exercises control on the council of ministers in dealing with the problems cropping up in the country, and their solutions through different resolutions and questions. It can also pull down the government through a no confidence motion if such a need arises.
3. Financial functions :
The financial functions of the legislature are of much importance in democratic countries. The legislature has to approve the income and expenditure under different heads shown in the budget. The legislature can decide the amount of expenditure under different heads. Levying new taxes or abolishing already existing taxes can be taken up with the consent of the legislature only.
4. Judicial functions :
The legislature, especially the upper house performs some judicial functions. The House of Lords in England functions as the highest court of justice. In U.S.A. and India, the legislature has to try impeachment cases against the president or the Justices of Supreme Court and High Courts. Some times the legislature conducts enquiry through separate committees on the allegations against the government. The legislature has the authority to punish anybody who commits breach of privileges of members and those who violate the rules of the house.
5. Constitutional functions :
The legislature has the right to amend the constitution besides framing the laws. It can amend the constitution as per the needs and requirements of the country which change from time to time.
6. Other functions :
Besides the above functions, the legislature has some more functions like, accepting or rejecting the ordinances declared by the government; electing the speaker, appointing necessary committees to enquire into the lapses of the government and to formulate rules and procedures of the legislative business.
Question 2.
What is Executive? What are its functions?
Answer:
Of the three organs of government, the Executive occupies the most important place. Very often it is referred to as the government. It refers to that branch of government which executes or enforces the laws of the state those are framed by the legislature that is why the executive is identified with government in modem times. Broadly speaking, the executive has three parts :
- The Head of the state
- The Council of ministers and
- The Employees.
Functions of the Executive :
Defence and Foreign affairs :
The executive takes suitable decisions and implements them in case of any threat to the national independence and sovereignty and protects the country from foreign aggression. The duties of the executive include establishing embassies in others countries, recognising newly formed states and concluding treaties and alliances with the foreign countries.
Administrative functions :
The entire administration is carried on in the name of the executive. In this context, its functions include appointment of the officers in highest ranks allotting their duties, providing training, giving directions to different administrative departments, changing the rules and regulations from time to time, to protect law and order, to appoint and advise the council of ministers in parliamentary system, to create new departments or reorganise the existing ones or abolish them altogether as deemed necessary.
Legislative functions :
The executive prepares the draft bills to be presented to the legislature and gets them enacted. In the parliamentary government as the members are directly associated with the legislature the ministers present the draft bills to the legislature and get its acceptance. After acceptance by the legislature, the draft bills can become acts with the assent of the chief executive. In the presidential government, the president sends to the legislature for its acceptance certain messages embodying the various legislative measures considered necessary by him. All the bills passed by the legislature can become acts only with the assent of the president. When the legislature does not meet, the executive can issue ordinances.
Financial functions :
It is the duty of the executive to prepare the annual budget containing income and expenditure of the government and gets the approval of the legislature. The legislature cannot levy new taxes without the consent of the executive. Levy or abolition of taxes, provision of capital funds, reduction of prices etc. come under the domain of executive responsibility.
Judicial functions :
The executive has the certain functions like : To implement the judgements of the courts of law, to reduce or cancel the punishment, to appoint the Judges, to appoint special courts for the enquiry of certain special problems etc. In some of the democratic countries the chief executive appoints judges of the highest courts of justice.
Welfare functions :
It is the Prime duty of the executive in the modern times to undertake welfare measures. The executive has to work for the planned development and contribute for the improvement of the standards of living.
Question 3.
Discuss Judiciary and its Functions.
Answer:
The Judiciary is the third important organ of the government. Legislature enacts the laws. The executive implements them. But it is the judiciary which decides the constitutional validity of these laws both in theory and practice. The judiciary keeps the democratic government within the constitutional limits. The judiciary also has to protect the law abiding citizens and punish the criminals. It consists of the judges and magistrates charged with the duty of administering justice. In brief, it is the branch of the government which settles disputes and administers justice.
Functions of the Judiciary :
Dispensing Justice :
It has to solve the disputes between the citizens, the citizens and the government and different governments. It punishes the criminals after due trial.
Protection of Civil rights :
The courts of law protect the fundamental rights given to the citizens by the constitution. The citizens can approach the court of law when their fundamental rights are violated. The courts issue writs for enforcement of these rights. The citizens can obtain stay orders from courts in advance when they apprehend violation of their rights. In order to protect the rights of the individuals, the courts of law can issue writs like Habeas Corpus, Mandamus, Prohibition etc.
Constitutional protection :
The Judiciary safeguards the constitution in the democratic countries. The Judiciary annuls the unconstitutional decisions of the legislature and the executive. By interpreting the constitution and laws it reviews the laws of the legislature and the actions of the executive and strikes down unconstitutional measures. This authority of the judiciary is called as ‘Judicial Review’.
Protection of equilibrium in federal system :
Judiciary plays a key role in the federal system. The courts of law solve the disputes between the provinces and the central government and also between one province and another. It supervises to see that neither the disputes between the central and provincial governments that arise due to matters relating to the division and distribution of powers.
Advisory functions :
The highest court of justice provides advice to the head of the State on request. For instance in India, the President takes the advice of the Supreme Court on certain problems of constitutional applications. Appellate Jurisdiction: The highest court of justice has to provide justice on the appeals made against the judgements of the lower courts. At times, it ratifies the judgements given in the lower courts and some other times, such judgements are reversed.
Protection of records :
The judiciary has to preserve all the cases along with their judgements. These records will help lawyers and judges in the trial of similar cases in future.
Providing service regulations :
The courts of justice prescribe service regulations of employees working in courts of law.
Functioning as the Head of State :
In some countries and under certain conditions, as identified in India, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court can function as acting Head of the State when there is no Vice-President in office.
Short Answer Questions
Question 1.
What are the reasons for the decline of the significance of legislature?
Answer:
The political thinkers opine that the legislature, which has wide powers theoretically, is losing its significance gradually in the democratic countries. There are many reasons for this.
- The executive acquired a lot of constitutional and legal powers to achieve comprehensive Socio-economic development.
- The legislature has to depend on the executive as it does not possess even the fundamental capacity to understand the novel measures introduced in the administrative system due to advancement of science and technology.
- Since the highest political offices are filled in through direct elections, the government gained importance by directly influencing the people. It could develop direct relations with the people lessening the importance of the legislature.
- Another reason for the reduction of the importance of the legislature is delegated legislation. The legislature, passess a law in a skeleton form and delegates power to the executive to fill in the details of it in the shape of rules and regulations. This is called ‘delegated legislation’. This power is used by the executive to implement plans and welfare schemes.
- Other reasons the political thinkers are worried about the fact that the significance of the legislature is further reduced due to certain reasons like lack of a powerful opposition, less duration of the sessions of the parliament, the irresponsible behaviour of the ruling party and also the misbehaviour of the legislators.
Question 2.
Discuss the reasons for the growth of importance of the Executive.
Answer:
In recent years, several factors have led to a steady increase in the powers, functions, prominence and prestige of the Executive organ all over the world. The factors are as follows :
1. Concept of welfare state :
As a result of the advent of the concept of welfare state, the functions of the modem state are gradually increasing. The present state is called upon to look after multifarious activities like labour welfare, education, social security, health, production, distribution etc., which promote the welfare of the people. Hence, the executive requires vast powers to cope with the problems of the modern welfare state.
2. Delegated legislation :
Today the legislative organ is overburdened with work. As a result, it passes laws in a skeleton farm only and empowers the executive to make detailed bye-laws, rules and regulations. This is known as delegated legislation. This has led to the growth of executive importance.
3. Party system :
The present representative system is under the control of the political parties. Parties have provided leadership to the executive and reduced the legislatures to the level of registering bodies. Now, it is the executive organ which performs most of the legislative functions by extra constitutional methods.
4. Economic planning :
For the planned economic development, the government interferes in’ all economic, aspects. As a result the executive branch is becoming more prominent.
Question 3.
Discuss Judicial Review.
Answer:
Judicial Review means reviewing the laws made by the legislatures. The laws of the legislatures (parliament, assemblies, Councils, Parishades etc.,) must not be unconstitutional. The courts of law can nullify all laws which are unconstitutional. This is the Judicial Review. The Judicial Review is not limited only to laws. It is applicable to all the activities of the executive at different levels of central, state and local government institutions. Every State will have a constitution. It is its basic law and all the laws must be within the limits of the constitution. The constitution provides the courts of law with the right to see that all laws and activities conform to the constitution. Judicial Review is not found in all the countries.
The Judicial Review first originated in United States of America in the context of the judgement given by the Supreme Court in the Marbury-Madison dispute in the beginning of the nineteenth century. The courts of law follow different theories, principles and views in reviewing the constitutional viability of the laws. The Judicial Review is based on the following theories which can be studied in detail in higher classes.
- Theory of the efficiency of law.
- Theory of separation of powers.
- Theory of constitutional dynamism.
- Theory of activity.
- Theory of decision by experience.
- Theory of constitutional development.
Question 4.
Write brief note on Rule of Law.
Answer:
Rule of law is a unique feature of British constitution. It at first originated in England later many states like India and the United States have adopted this feature. Rule of law is purely based on the principle of common law. It denotes that law should be general in form. It should be uniformly applicable to all the citizens living in a state. There should not be different types of law for various sections of the community. In other words the government must treat all the citizens equally as per the law.
The governance and administration in a particular state should be carried on in accordance with the laws. A.V Dicey in his “Law of the constitutions” (1885) gave a precise explanation of the rule of law. According to him, rule of law stands for equality before the law. This implies equal subjection of all classes including the officials or common man. Law makes no discrimination between individuals. A.V Dicey says that “Every official from Prime Minister to the attender, all are equal before the law”.
Therefore, Rule of law is helpful to all the citizens in protecting their responsibilities in a more effective manner. The constitution of India too recognizes the Rule of law as a basic feature of India constitution. The Supreme Court of India time and again declared Rule of law as a basic Structure of Indian Constitution. Articles 14 to 21 of the Indian Constitution have incorporated the spirit of this concept. However, the scope of this concept is gradually shrinking owing to the over burdening of legislative work with enormous functions. On the whole, the cardinal virtue of Rule of law is that “All are equal before law and no one must arbitrarily be punished” constitutes the core value of any democratic system in the world.
Question 5.
What is Judicial Activism?
Answer:
According to the idea of judicial activism judges should use their powers to correct injustices, especially when the other branches a Government do not act to do so. The courts play an active role in shaping social policy on such issues as civil rights, political unfairness protection of individual rights and public morality.
Judicial activism is policy making function of judiciary in competition with poilcy making by the legislative and executive. This element is associated with the doctrine of judicial review. The essence of true judicial activism lies in rendering decisions by the judiciary which are in tune with the temper and tempo of the times.
Behind every judicial decision, judicial activism and judicial restraint are the two aspects that describe the philosophy and motivation. The concept of judicial activism is the polar opposite of judicial restraint. Judicial activism refers to a theory of judgement that takes into account the spirit of the law and the changing times, whereas judicial restraint relies on a strict interpretation of the law and the importance of legal precedent.
Judicial activism is a dynamic process of judicial outlook in a changing society. Arthur Schlesinger jr. introduced the term ‘Judicial activism’ in 1947. According to Black’s Law Dictionary, “Judicial activism is a judicial philosophy which motivates judges to depart from traditional precedents in favour of progressive and new social policies”.
Very Short Answer Questions
Question 1.
How many organs of government are there? What are they?
Answer:
The powers of Government are separated among these three organs – legislature, executive and judiciary. They are inter-related and sometimes independent of each other. Political philosophers like Cicero, Jean Bodin and John Locke wrote treatises on the inter-relationship of three organs of government.
Question 2.
What is meant by the theory of separation of powers?
Answer:
Montesquieu stated that concentration of powers in one person or a body of persons would result in despotism and negate individual liberty. He suggested separation of powers among the three organs of government in a balanced manner. Every organ must check the misuse of powers of other organs. Then only individuals enjoy their liberties without fear from the governmental interference.
Question 3.
What is meant by Plural Executive?
Answer:
Among various types of Executive, Plural Executive is one. If the executive powers are exercised by a body of persons having co-equal authority, it is called “Plural Executive”. The Swiss Federal Council and the President in the former U.S.S.R. are the examples of Plural Executives. This Plural Executive combines the merits of both the parliamentary and the presidential executives, avoiding their defects.
Question 4.
What is independence of the Judiciary?
Answer:
Independence of judiciary implies an opportunity to the judges to perform their duties without fear or favour and act impartially. The judges should have no relation with the legislature and the executive. Both the organs should not interfere in the functioning of the judiciary. It should be protected from political pressure and influence. Otherwise, the very purpose of judiciary stands defeated.
Question 5.
What is Judicial Review?
Answer:
It is the power of a court to enquire whether a law passed by legislature or executive order or other official action is in accordance with the constitution or not If a law, or order or action is against the constitution then the court declares it as “Unconstitutional” and “Invalid”. The Judicial Review power originated in the USA in 1803. The American Supreme God Court and the Indian Supreme Court are some of the courts having this power.
Question 6.
Senate.
Answer:
Senate is the Upper House of United States Congress, which is a small group of elected people who decide the laws of the country. It consists of 100 members. Every U.S. state elects two people to represent them in the U.S. Senate. These people are called senators.
Question 7.
Council of States
Answer:
Council of States is the Upper House of Indian Parliament. It is also known as the Rajya Sabha. It consists of 250 members out of them 238 members are elected by the members of state legislative assemblies through the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote. The remaining 12 members are nominated by the President of India from the fields of Arts, Literature, Social Service, Cooperative Movement, Science and Technology. It is a permanent house and it can never be dissolved. Each member shall remain in office for a period of 6 years. For every 2 years 1/3 of its members shall retire.
Question 8.
House of lords.
Answer:
The House of Lords, also known as The House of peers, is the upper House of the parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is granted by appointment or else by heredity. Like the House of common, it meets in the palace of West Minister. Currently, there are 300 members in the House of Lords members of whom 240 are Elected members and 60 appointed. Independent members upto 12 Church of England Bishops may sit in the House as ex officio Lords spiritual. Elected members will serve a single non-renewable term of 15 years.
Question 9.
Independent Judiciary.
Answer:
Independence of Judiciary implies an opportunity to the Judges to perform their duties without fear or favour and act impartially. The Judges should have no relation with the Legislature and the Executive. Both the organs should not interfere in the functioning of the Judiciary. It should be protected from political pressure and influence. Otherwise the very purpose of Judiciary stands defeated.
Question 10.
Parliamentary Executive.
Answer:
A parliamentary System of government means that the Executive branch of government has the direct or indirect support of the parliament. This support is usually shown by a vote of confidence. The Relationship between the executive and the Legislature in a parliamentary system is called Responsible government. According to this system, there is a President who is the formal Head of the State, and the Prime Minister and the council of ministers, which run the government.
Question 11.
What is Uni-bicameralism?
Answer:
In government, the first organ is the Legislature, it may be unicameral or Bicameral. Unicameralism is derived from two Latin words namely uni, which means one, and camera, which means, the chamber is the practice of having one Legislative or parliamentary chamber. Thus, a unicameral parliament of the unicameral legislature is a legislature that consists of one chamber or house.
Ex.: Armenia, Bulgaria, Denmark, Sweden etc.
Question 12.
What is Bi-bicameralism?
Answer:
‘Bi’ means two and Cameral means house or chamber. If a Legislature consists of two houses or chambers, it is called a Bi-cameral legislature, and such an arrangement is called Bi-cameralism. The bi-cameral legislature is necessary for a federal government as the second chamber gives representation to the states. In the Bi-cameral setup, the upper house is less powerful than the lower house.
Ex.: Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha in India, Senate and House of Representatives in America.