Constitutional History of India: Federalism, Elections, Government and Rule of Law (History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization, Vol. XIV, Part 5B)

The volumes of the PROJECT ON THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY AND CULTURE IN INDIAN CIVILIZATION aim at discovering the main aspects of India’s heritage and present them in an interrelated way. In spite of their unitary look, these volumes recognize the difference between the areas of material civilization and those of ideational culture. The project is not being executed by a single group of thinkers and writers who are methodologically uniform or ideologically identical in their commitments. The Project is marked by what may be called ‘methodological pluralism’. Inspite of its primarily historical character, this project, both in its conceptualization and execution, has been shaped by scholars drawn from different disciplines. It is for the first time that an endeavour of such a unique and comprehensive character has been undertaken to study critically a major world civilization. The subject matter of the present volume in two parts concerns every ordinary citizen inasmuch as it is a foundational right and a duty of everyone to know and understand the polity and constitutional culture under which we are governed. This volume is divided into two Parts—Part 5A on “Indian Polity, Governance and The Constitution” and Part 5B on “Federalism, Elections, Government and Rule of Law”. Both the parts start with an Introduction which presents the overview theme paper. Part 5A starts with Section I on the Philosophy of the Constitution and Concept of Indian Polity. Section II is on the Making of the Constitution. Section III deals with the Principles of Governance, Human Rights, Directive Principles and Fundamental Duties. Section IV consists of one comprehensive chapter on Impact of India’s Constitution on Her Foreign Policy and Constitutional Building in other states. Part 5B begins with Section I which deals with Federalism and Union-State Relations. It is followed by Section II on Law and Justice. Part III and IV are on Government and Administration and Elections and Electoral Processes respectively.