In a conversation over snacks, a colleague commented that our current political system is flawed. He suggested some remedies. Among them were having a constitutional review every x years so that the constitution can keep up with the times, requiring that a winning candidate has a minimum percentage of the votes from his constituency by conducting a multi-stage polling [...]
Filed under: Conversations | Tagged: Constitution, Politics | Leave a Comment »
The Times of India reports
The Supreme Court has ruled that a person’s reputation is an inseparable part of his fundamental right to life and liberty and hence, the police and other authorities with the power to detain should be very sure of their facts against an individual before taking him into preventive detention and lodging [...]
Filed under: Current Events, Media articles | Tagged: Constitution, Laws, Pragmatism, Reputation, Rights | 3 Comments »
Summary
Fareed Zakaria’s book “The Future of Freedom – Illiberal Democracy at Home & Abroad” is a critique of democracy. Zakaria notes that democracy is not the same thing as constitutional liberty. He notes that democracy is a process of selecting governments whereas constitutional liberalism is about selecting government’s goals and refers to the Western tradition [...]
Filed under: Book Reviews | Tagged: Capitalism, Constitution, Culture, Democracy, Economics, Egoism, Ethics, Liberalism, Politics | 2 Comments »
Part 2 of this series examined the contradictions and ambiguities in the Indian constitution.
A contradictory and ambiguous constitution has direct effects on the functioning of the judiciary and the legislatures. With no firm principles to guide them, judges have no standards other than their own convictions. With no clear limits on the powers of the [...]
Filed under: Concepts, Media articles | Tagged: Bureaucracy, Civil Service, Constitution, Government | Leave a Comment »
Part 1 of this series concluded with
“The Indian constitution grants parliament almost unlimited powers to enact laws. It is this that allows politicians and thus the bureaucracy to get away with anything. It is this that breeds corruption.”
This post seeks to elaborate. A constitution is a document that establishes the structure, procedures, powers and duties of a [...]
Filed under: Concepts, Media articles | Tagged: Civil Sevice, Constitution, State | 7 Comments »
In an article in The Indian Express, Meeta Rajivlochan says that civil servants should “owe allegiance to the constitution first and foremost”. She goes on to say
“Overt neutrality and strong commitment to the Constitution and the rules of the land make a bureaucrat function much better”.
and concludes
“It is the danger of relinquishing a commitment to the [...]
Filed under: Concepts, Media articles | Tagged: Bureaucracy, Constitution, Corruption | Leave a Comment »
