KSLU Solved Question Papers
Political Science (Organisation and Institutions)
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 2
2021 Oct (100 marks) Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 2 Political Science (Organisation and Institutions) 2021 Oct (100 marks) Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2021 Oct (100 marks) examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2021 Oct (100 marks) examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 3 hours · Total marks 100 · 15 questions answered
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
Q1What is Constitution ? Explain the features of good Constitution.[16]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the meaning of a constitution with definitions (Cooley, Borgeaud, Bryce, Garner); the constitution in its two senses and its main kinds; why its quality matters; the features of a good constitution, each explained, under five heads (content, form, method of change, safeguards, foundations); what a good constitution should leave out; how the Indian Constitution measures against these features, with two cases (Kesavananda Bharati, Minerva Mills); and a conclusion.
What is a constitution
Garner explains that the word came to mean "the body of fundamental law, either written or customary, which has to do with the organization of the state". Every state has one: "The state, in short, is unthinkable without a constitution of some kind."
Definitions:
- Judge Cooley: "the fundamental law of the state, containing the principles upon which government is founded, regulating the division of the sovereign powers and directing to what persons each of these powers is to be confided and the manner in which it is to be exercised."
- Borgeaud: "the fundamental law according to which the government of a state is organized and agreeably to which the relations of individuals or moral persons to the community are determined."
- Bryce: the rules "which determine the form of its government and the respective rights and duties of it toward its citizens and of the citizens toward the government."
So a constitution creates the organs of government, gives and limits their powers, and fixes the rights and duties of citizens.
Two senses and main kinds
In a wide sense every state has a constitution, its actual make-up. In the narrow sense it is the body of fundamental rules, written or unwritten. Constitutions are classed as written (India, the United States) or unwritten (Britain), rigid or flexible, enacted or evolved, and unitary or federal. Garner warns that the difference between written and unwritten is one of degree. The test of rigidity is the method of change. A flexible constitution is amended like ordinary law, as in Britain. A rigid one needs a special procedure, as in the United States.
Why quality matters
A constitution may be good or bad. A good one secures liberty, gives effective government and lasts. A bad one is ignored, overthrown or replaced. Garner records that France, after 1789, passed through constitution after constitution because many broke with the nation's past.
Features of a good constitution
A. Content
1. A declaration of rights. A good constitution guarantees the fundamental rights of citizens and limits government to secure them. Garner calls this part "the constitution of liberty". Borgeaud calls a written constitution "a law of guarantees, guaranteeing the people against the government and the minority against the majority."
2. A clear frame of government. It should set up the legislature, executive and judiciary, define their powers and relations, and fix the electorate. Garner calls this "the constitution of government".
3. Limits on power. It should list what government may not do, so that no organ becomes supreme.
B. Form
4. Definiteness. Its language should be precise. Garner praises the American Constitution as "remarkably free from redundant and ambiguous phrases". The chief advantages of a written constitution, he says, are "certainty, definiteness, and stability."
5. Brevity. It should contain only fundamental matters and leave details to ordinary law. Garner calls the American Constitution "a model of brevity". He criticises State constitutions that grew into "codes of ordinary statute law".
6. Comprehensiveness. Brief as it is, it must cover every essential matter, so that the main questions of government are not left in doubt.
C. Method of change
7. A balanced amending process. Garner calls the amending clause "the constitution of sovereignty". No written constitution "is complete without such a provision". It should be "neither so rigid as to make needed changes practically impossible nor so flexible as to encourage frequent and unnecessary change."
8. Capacity to grow. Lord Brougham: "Constitutions must grow, if they are of any value". Garner names three ways of growth: usage, judicial interpretation and formal amendment. The American Constitution has grown far more by interpretation than by its 27 amendments.
D. Safeguards
9. An independent judiciary, to interpret the constitution, protect rights and keep each organ within its limits. A constitution's limits are only words unless someone can enforce them. Hamilton described the courts as "an intermediate body between the people and the legislature", keeping the latter "within the limits assigned to their authority."
10. Separation of powers with checks and balances, so that liberty is not threatened by concentration of power. Madison warned that "the accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands" may be "pronounced the very definition of tyranny."
11. Federal balance, in a federation, so that neither centre nor units can override the other. Dicey names "the supremacy of the constitution" as the first mark of federalism: both levels must be bound by it.
E. Foundations
12. Popular sanction. It should be made or accepted by the people, through a constituent assembly or a referendum. A ruler's grant that he can withdraw is weak; Cooley, as Garner notes, denied such grants were true constitutions.
13. Harmony with national life. Cooley said the best constitution is "the natural outgrowth of the national life". Maine compared a state forced into a foreign system to a traveller made "to eat a dinner with chopsticks."
14. A statement of national ideals. A preamble or statement of aims tells citizens and courts what the constitution is for. It guides interpretation and gives the people a shared purpose.
| Head | Features |
|---|---|
| Content | Rights, frame of government, limits on power |
| Form | Definiteness, brevity, comprehensiveness |
| Change | Balanced amendment, capacity to grow |
| Safeguards | Independent judiciary, checks and balances, federal balance |
| Foundations | Popular sanction, harmony with national life, national ideals |
Lessons from history
History bears out these features. The early French constitutions of the 1790s were framed as if the nation could "cut loose entirely from its past", in Garner's words, and none lasted long. The American Constitution of 1787, brief, clear and with a workable amending clause, has endured, growing through interpretation and usage. Britain's unwritten constitution has lasted because it grew out of the national life and adapts by convention. The lesson is that clear rights and sound machinery matter, but so do roots in the people and the capacity to grow.
What a good constitution leaves out
It should not crowd itself with temporary or detailed matters such as rules of trade or administration. Such detail ages quickly, forces frequent amendment and blurs "the distinction between the constitution and ordinary statutory legislation" (Garner).
The Indian Constitution measured
- Rights: Part III guarantees fundamental rights, and article 32 makes their enforcement itself a fundamental right.
- Frame of government: it sets up the Union and State governments in detail.
- Form: it is comprehensive and precise but long, a deliberate choice for a new and diverse nation.
- Change: article 368 provides simple majority, special majority and State ratification for different provisions.
- Safeguards: an independent Supreme Court and High Courts with judicial review.
- Foundations: it was framed by the Constituent Assembly and begins, "WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA".
- Ideals: the Preamble promises justice, liberty, equality and fraternity, and the Directive Principles in Part IV set the goals of State policy.
- Federal balance: three Lists divide power, with a strong centre suited to national unity.
The courts have protected its balance. In Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, AIR 1973 SC 1461, the Supreme Court held by seven to six that the amending power does not extend to altering the basic structure. Khanna J said the power "does not include power to abrogate the Constitution". In Minerva Mills Ltd. v. Union of India, AIR 1980 SC 1789, Parliament had added clauses to article 368 removing all limits on amendment. The Court struck them down, holding that "a limited amending power is one of the basic features of our Constitution."
Conclusion. A constitution is the fundamental law that organises the state, limits its government and fixes the rights of citizens. A good one declares rights, sets up a clear frame of government and limits power. It is definite, brief and complete, and can be amended in a balanced way and grow. It is guarded by independent courts and checks, and rests on the people's consent and the nation's life. India's Constitution meets most of these features, and Kesavananda Bharati and Minerva Mills guard its balance.
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