India's Political System
India is the world’s largest democracy in terms of citizenry. In India, the President is head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government. Politics in India take place within the framework of a federal Westminster-style Parliamentary democratic constitutional republic. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of the Parliament in India. These two chambers are the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
The Lok Sabha, or the House of people, is the most important element of India’s political system. This chamber is the Lower House of the Indian Parliament which is modeled on the British House of Commons. The Rajya Sabha, or the Council of States, too is partly modeled on the British House of Lords or the Upper House of Parliament. However, India’s federal system of government has many features which are similar to federalism as practiced by the United States of America, Canada and Australia.
The two houses share legislative powers, except in the area of Money Bill where the Lok Sabha has overriding powers. In the case of conflicting legislation, a joint sitting of the two houses is held. If there is a conflict which cannot be resolved even by the joint committee of the two houses, it is solved by vote in a joint session of the Parliament, where the will of the Lok Sabha almost always prevails over the Rajya Sabha as it is twice as large.
As with any other democracy, political parties represent different sections among the Indian society and regions, and their core values play a major role in the politics of India. Both the executive branch and the legislative branch of the government are run by the representatives of the political parties who have been elected through the elections. Through the electoral process, the people of India choose which representative and which political party is appropriate to run the government. Through this process, any party may gain simple majority in the lower house, or the Lok Sabha. Coalitions are formed by the political parties, in case no single party gains a simple majority in the lower house. Unless a party or a coalition has a majority in the lower house, a government cannot be formed by that party or the coalition.
Very similar to the United States, India’s political system is based on the principal of checks and balances of power which has a strong and independent judiciary with the Supreme Court of India as the highest judicial authority in civil, criminal and constitutional cases. India is large and highly diverse both demographically and geographically. This country operates a federal system of government. Besides the Central government, there are governments and administrative establishments in twenty-eight Indian states and seven Union territories.
Politics in India is much more corrupt than that of the European and North American democracies. Political assassination is not uncommon in this country: the revered Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, and the Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 were all killed by assassins. Communal, Caste and regional tensions continue to haunt Indian politics, sometimes threatening its long-standing democratic and secular philosophy.
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http://www.competitionmaster.com/ArticleDetail.aspx?ID=0d45c6ef-a89c-4f46-b715-024d895818de
The Lok Sabha, or the House of people, is the most important element of India’s political system. This chamber is the Lower House of the Indian Parliament which is modeled on the British House of Commons. The Rajya Sabha, or the Council of States, too is partly modeled on the British House of Lords or the Upper House of Parliament. However, India’s federal system of government has many features which are similar to federalism as practiced by the United States of America, Canada and Australia.
The two houses share legislative powers, except in the area of Money Bill where the Lok Sabha has overriding powers. In the case of conflicting legislation, a joint sitting of the two houses is held. If there is a conflict which cannot be resolved even by the joint committee of the two houses, it is solved by vote in a joint session of the Parliament, where the will of the Lok Sabha almost always prevails over the Rajya Sabha as it is twice as large.
As with any other democracy, political parties represent different sections among the Indian society and regions, and their core values play a major role in the politics of India. Both the executive branch and the legislative branch of the government are run by the representatives of the political parties who have been elected through the elections. Through the electoral process, the people of India choose which representative and which political party is appropriate to run the government. Through this process, any party may gain simple majority in the lower house, or the Lok Sabha. Coalitions are formed by the political parties, in case no single party gains a simple majority in the lower house. Unless a party or a coalition has a majority in the lower house, a government cannot be formed by that party or the coalition.
Very similar to the United States, India’s political system is based on the principal of checks and balances of power which has a strong and independent judiciary with the Supreme Court of India as the highest judicial authority in civil, criminal and constitutional cases. India is large and highly diverse both demographically and geographically. This country operates a federal system of government. Besides the Central government, there are governments and administrative establishments in twenty-eight Indian states and seven Union territories.
Politics in India is much more corrupt than that of the European and North American democracies. Political assassination is not uncommon in this country: the revered Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, and the Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 were all killed by assassins. Communal, Caste and regional tensions continue to haunt Indian politics, sometimes threatening its long-standing democratic and secular philosophy.
Link(s):
http://www.rogerdarlington.me.uk/Indianpoliticalsystem.html
http://www.competitionmaster.com/ArticleDetail.aspx?ID=0d45c6ef-a89c-4f46-b715-024d895818de