GRADE 11 NOTES

SUBJECT: POLITICAL SCIENCE (028)

SESSION 2020-21

Legislature
Q.1 Why do we need a Parliament?

Ans: 1. The Parliament is the centre of all democratic process.

2. It helps in holding representatives accountable.

3. It is recognised as one of the most democratic and open forums of debate.

4. On account of its composition, it is the most representative of all organs of government.

5. It is above all, vested with the power to choose and dismiss the government.

Q.2 Mention some instances which prove the importance of the Parliament in India.

Ans: 1. On March 11th 2002, the Finance Minister had to roll back the increases in fertilizer prices under
intense opposition pressure.

2. On 4th June 1998, the entire opposition staged a walkout of the Lok Sabha. The finance minister in his
budget proposal had proposed a hike of 50 paisa per kilogram of urea to reduce subsidy on it. This forced
the finance minister Mr. Yashwant Sinha to roll back the hike in urea prices.

3. Congress Members voiced protest against atrocities on Harijans in Andhra Pradesh on 3rd March,
1985.

4.Site one more recent example,

Q.3 Why do we need two houses of Parliament?

Ans: 1. The Parliament in India has two houses. This is called a bicameral legislature.

2. The two Houses of the Indian Parliament are the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.

3. Countries with large size and much diversity usually prefer to have two houses of the national
legislature to give representation to all sections in the society and to give representation to all
geographical regions or parts of the country.

4. A bicameral legislature makes it possible to have every decision reconsidered. Every decision taken by
one house goes to the other house for its decision. This means that every bill and policy would be
discussed twice. This ensures a double check on every matter.

5. Even if one house takes a decision in haste, that decision will come for discussion in the other house
and reconsideration will be possible.
Q.4 What is symmetrical representation?

Ans: When equal representation is given to all the parts of the country, irrespective of their size or
population, it is called symmetrical representation. In the U.S.A, every state has equal representation in
the Senate. This ensures equality of all the states.

Q.5 What would happen if we were to follow the American system of equality representation in the Rajya
Sabha?

Ans: If we followed the same system of representation as USA, Uttar Pradesh with a population of
approximately 1700 lakhs would get seats equal to that of Sikkim whose population is only about 5.7
lakhs. The framers of the Constitution wanted to prevent such a discrepancy. States with larger population
get more representatives than States with smaller population. Thus, a more populous State like Uttar
Pradesh sends 31 members to Rajya Sabha, while a smaller and less populous State like Sikkim has one
seat in the Rajya Sabha.

Q.6 Why is the Rajya Sabha called the permanent house of Parliament?

Ans: Members of the Rajya Sabha are elected for a term of six years. They can get re-elected. All
members of the Rajya Sabha do not complete their terms at the same time. Every two years, one third
members of the Rajya Sabha complete their term and elections are held for those one third seats only.
Thus, the Rajya Sabha is never fully dissolved. Therefore, it is called the permanent House of the
Parliament. The advantage of this arrangement is that even when the Lok Sabha is dissolved and elections
are yet to take place, the meeting of the Rajya Sabha can be called and urgent business can be conducted.

Q.7 What are the functions of the Parliament?

Ans: 1. Legislative Function: The Parliament enacts legislations for the country. Despite being the chief
law making body, the Parliament often merely approves legislations. The actual task of drafting the bill is
performed by the bureaucracy under the supervision of the minister concerned. The substance and even
the timing of the bill are decided by the Cabinet. No major bill is introduced in the Parliament without the
approval of the Cabinet.

2. Control of Executive and ensuring its accountability: The Parliament ensures that the executive does
not overstep its authority and remains responsible to the people who have elected them.

3. Financial Function: The legislature controls taxation and the way in which money is used by the
government. If the Government of India proposes to introduce any new tax, it has to get the approval of
the Lok Sabha. The government has to give an account to the Legislature about the money it has spent
and resources that it wishes to rise. The legislature also ensures that the government does not misspend or
overspend. This is done through the budget and annual financial statements.

4. Representation: Parliament represents the divergent views of members from different regional, social,
economic, religious groups of different parts of the country.

5. Debating Function: The Parliament is the highest forum of debate in the country. Members are free to
speak on any matter without fear. This makes it possible for the Parliament to analyse any or every issue
that faces the nation.
6. Constituent Function: The Parliament has the power of discussing and enacting changes to the
Constitution. The constituent powers of both the houses are similar. All constitutional amendments have
to be approved by a special majority of both Houses.

7. Electoral functions: The Parliament also performs some electoral functions. It elects the President and
Vice President of India.

8. Judicial functions: The judicial functions of the Parliament include considering the proposals for
removal of President, Vice-President and Judges of High Courts and Supreme Court.

Q.8 What are the special powers of the Rajya Sabha?

Ans: Any matter that affects the States must be referred to the Rajya Sabha for its consent and approval.
Thus, if the Union Parliament wishes to remove a matter from the State list (over which only the State
Legislature can make law) to either the Union List or Concurrent List in the interest of the nation, the
approval of the Rajya Sabha is necessary.

Q.9 What are the powers exercised by only the Lok Sabha?

Ans: The Rajya Sabha cannot initiate, reject or amend money bills. The Council of Ministers is
responsible to the Lok Sabha and not Rajya Sabha. Therefore, Rajya Sabha can criticise the government
but cannot remove it.

Q.10 Why does the Lok Sabha have more power than the Rajya Sabha?

Ans: The Rajya Sabha is elected by the MLAs and not directly by the people. Therefore, the Constitution
stopped short of giving certain powers to the Rajya Sabha. In a democratic form as adopted by our
Constitution, the people are the final authority. So, the representatives, directly elected by the people,
should have the crucial powers of removing a government and controlling the finances.

Q.11 What are the different stages in the life of a bill?

Ans: 1. A bill is a draft of the proposed law. When a non-minister proposes a bill, it is called private
member’s Bill. A bill proposed by a minister is described as Government Bill.

2. The preparation of a bill itself involves many considerations such as resources required to implement
the law, the support or opposition that the bill is likely to produce, the impact that the law may have on
the electoral prospect of the ruling party etc. In the era of coalition politics especially, a bill proposed by
the government has to be acceptable to all the partners of the coalition.

3. Once the Cabinet approves the policy behind the legislation, the task of drafting the legislation begins.
The draft of any bill is prepared by the concerned ministry.

4. Within the Parliament, a bill may be introduced in the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha by a member of the
House. A money bill can be introduced only in Lok Sabha. Once passed there, it is sent to the Rajya
Sabha.

5. A large part of the discussion on the bills takes place in the committees. The recommendation of the
committee is then sent to the House.
6. Finally, the bill is voted upon. If a non-money bill is passed by one House, it is sent to the other House
where it goes through exactly the same procedure.

7. A bill has to be passed by both Houses for enactment. If there is disagreement between the two Houses
on the proposed bill, an attempt is made to resolve it through Joint Session of Parliament.

8. If it is a money bill, the Rajya Sabha can either approve the bill or suggest changes but cannot reject it.

9. When a bill is passed by both Houses, it is sent to the President for his assent. The assent of the
President results in the enactment of a bill into a law.

Q12. How does the Parliament control the Executive?

The legislature does this through the use of a variety of devices:
1. Deliberation and discussion: During the process of law making, members in legislature deliberate on
these bills. Apart from discussing, control is exercised through-
a) Question Hour- Question Hour is the first hour (11 a.m.) everyday during the sessions of the
parliament where members can raise questions about any aspect of administrative activity;ministers have
to respond to the questions raised by the members. It is often known as the liveliest part of the sitting in
the Parliament.

b) Zero hour- The time which begins soon after the question hour, i.e. 12 pm is known as Zero Hour,
where members are free to raise any matter that they think is important, without any permission or prior
notice (though the ministers are not bound to reply). Sometimes, they raise questions for publicity. Hence,
it leads to obstruction of regular proceeding and business of the house.

c) Half-an- hour discussion- A Half-an-Hour Discussion can be raised on a matter of public importance

d) Adjournment motion- adjournment motion proposes that the house should lay aside all other business
and take up the matter of urgent public importance. Thus it interrupts the regular business of the house.

2. Approval and ratification of laws: Parliamentary control is also exercised through its power of
ratification.
A bill can become a law only with the approval of the Parliament. Many bills, such as the Lok Pal Bill
have failed enactment, Prevention of Terrorism bill (2002) was rejected by the RajyaSabha.

3. Financial control:Preparation and presentation of budget needs the approval of the legislature.The
legislature may refuse to grant resources to the government. This seldom happens because the
government ordinarily enjoys support of the majority in the parliamentary system. Nevertheless, before
granting money the LokSabha can discuss the reasons for which the government requires money.
Through financial control, the legislature controls the policy of the government.

4. No-confident motion- If the majority of the LokSabha members say they have ‘no confidence’ in the
Council of Ministers, all ministers including the Prime Minister, have to quit. After 1989, several
governments have been forced to resign due to lack of confidence of the house. Each of these
governments lost the confidence of the LokSabha because they failed to retain the support of their
coalition partners.
Thus, the Parliament can effectively control the executive and ensure a more responsive government.

Q.13 What do the committees in Parliament do?

Ans: 1. These committees play a vital role not merely in law making, but also in the day-to-day business
of the House.

2. They are responsible for studying the demands for grants made by various ministries, looking into
expenditure incurred by various departments, investigating cases of corruption etc.

3. There are over twenty departmentally-related committees.

4. Standing Committees supervise the work of various departments, their budget, their expenditure and
bills that come up in the house relating to the department.

5. Joint Parliamentary Committees (JPCs) can be set up for the purpose of discussing a particular bill or
for the purpose of investigating financial irregularities.

6. Members of these committees are selected from both Houses. The committee system has reduced the
burden on the Parliament. Many important bills have been referred to committees. The Parliament has
merely approved the work done in the committees with few occasional alterations.

Q.14 What is the anti-defection amendment?

Ans: Most of the members of the legislatures are elected on the ticket of some political party. However,
often, many members would leave that political party after getting elected. For many years after
independence, this issue was unresolved. Finally there was an agreement among the parties that a
legislator who is elected on one party’s ticket must be restricted from ‘defecting’ to another party. So, an
amendment to the Constitution was made known as the anti-defection amendment. The presiding officer
of the House is the authority who takes final decisions on all such cases. If it is proved that a member has
‘defected’, then such member loses the membership of the House. Besides, such a person is also
disqualified from holding any political office like ministership, etc

Q.15 What is defection?

Ans: If a member remains absent in the House when asked by the party leadership to remain present or
votes against the instructions of the party or voluntarily leaves the membership of the party, it is called
defection.

Q16. Differentiate between

A) The money bill and non-money bill.

MONEY BILL NON- MONEY BILL

1. Money bill can be introduced in LokSabha 1. Non- money can be introduced in any of the
two houses.
2. Prior permission of the President is needed for 2. No such condition is needed in case of non-
presentation of the money bill money bill.
 3. After being passed from the LokSabha, the money 3. Both the houses enjoy the same power if the
bill is sent to the RajyaSabha. It may return the bill bill is not passed by any one house, the bill
with certain suggestions. However after 14 days, the cannot become a law. In case of disagreement
bill will be considered as passed by RajyaSabha between the two houses, a joint sitting can be
automatically. called by the President, which is presided over
by the speaker in order to remove deadlock.
4. In case of money bill, there is only one bill. 4. Non- money bill are of two types-
a) Private billb) Government bill

B) Private and government bill

Private bills Government Bills

1. When a private member i.e. non-minister 1. A bill proposed by the government i.e. a
proposes a bill, it is called private member’s Bill. minister is described as Government Bill.

2. Generally, does not turn into a law because it 2. Generally becomes a law because it gets the
lacks support in the house support of the majority of the house.

TWO HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT

LOK SABHA RAJYA SABHA
1) MAXIMUM 550 members can be the maximum 250 members can be the maximum
STRENGTH strength. strength.

543 elected members+ 2 Anglo- Indian 233 elected members+ 12 nominated

nominated by the President. by the President.

2) TERM 5 years. 6 years.

House of people; get dissolves after 5 Council of state (Permanent house)

year i.e. elections are held after 5 years. 1/3rd members retire after every 2
In case of no-confidence motion, can years.
dissolve before the term of 5 years.
3) ELECTIONS Direct elections ( by the people of India).
4) MINIMUM 25 years. 30 years.
AGE FOR
MEMBERSHIP
5) PRESIDING Speaker- elected by the members of the Chairman- Vice President of India is
OFFICER House. the ex-officio chairman of
RajyaSabha.
6) POWERS Lok Sabha is more powerful than Rajya Powers of Rajya Sabha
Sabha as-
a) A bill is required to be passed by
a) ORDINARY LAW- Any ordinary RajyaSabha also Indirect elections
law needs to be passed by both the (by elected Members of State
Houses. But if there is a difference Legislative Assembly of various
between the two Houses, the final states).
decision is taken in a joint session in and it suggests amendments to
which members of both the Houses sit money bills.
together. Because of the larger number of
members, the view of the LokSabha is b) RajyaSabha functions as
likely to prevail in such a meeting. representative of Indian states.

b) CONTROL OVER COUNCIL OF c) No power to reject or amend

MINISTERS- LokSabha controls the money bills. The RajyaSabhacan
council of ministers. The leader of the only delay the money bill by 14 days.
majority members in the LokSabha is
appointed the Prime Minister. d) Participants in the election and
removal of the President, Vice
c) MONEY BILL- Money bill can be President, Judges of Supreme Court
introduced in LokSabha. Once the and High Court. It can alone initiate
LokSabha passes the budget the the procedure for removal of Vice
RajyaSabha cannot reject it. It can hold it President.
only for 14 days.
e) Can give the Union parliament
d) NO CONFIDENCE MOTION- If power to make laws on matters
the majority of the LokSabha members included in the State list.
say they have ‘no confidence’ in the
Council of Ministers, all ministers
including the Prime Minister, has to quit.
The RajyaSabha does not have this
power.

The LokSabha is more powerful than the

RajyaSabha because the members of the
LokSabha are directly elected by the
people; it is the house of people.