A bill of rights gives the list of fundamental and very important rights which are important for the life and liberty of an individual.

Today, most countries in the world have a Constitution. While all democratic countries are likely to have a Constitution, it is not necessary that all countries that have a Constitution are democratic. There can be several purposes for drafting a constitution, they are: To provide a set of basic rules that allow for minimal coordination amongst members of society. To specify who has the power to make decisions in a society. It decides how the government will be constituted. To set some limits on what a government can impose on its citizens. These limits are fundamental in the sense that government may never trespass on them. To enable the government to fulfil the aspirations of a society and create conditions for a just society. Therefore, it can be understood that the constitution allows coordination and assurance. On the other hand, it can limit the powers of the government.

Constitution expresses the fundamental identity of people.This means the people as a collective entity come into being only through the basic constitution,this is done by agreeing to basic set of norms and principles then one constitute one’s basic political identity.

Second, in constitutional norms one pursues individual aspirations,goals and freedoms .It also defines the moral identity that one may not. the constitution also gives the moral identity.

Deliberative democracy, school of thought in political theory that claims that political decisions should be the product of fair and reasonable discussion and debate among citizens. ... In other words, citizens' preferences should be shaped by deliberation in advance of decision making, rather than by self-interest.

The nationalist movement was based solely on the topic of secularism and democracy. Thus, the philosophy of the nationalist movement's legacy is the notion expressed to create freedom and fundamental rights with the equality of the nation's citizens.

Merits:

•Realistic, practicable form of democracy

•Allows a level of popular participation high level of accountability

•Recent proportional electoral system has strengthened representative democracy in Scotland and Wales.

•Politicians posses expert knowledge

•It simplifies the decision-making process.

Demerits:

•Turnout is declining

•Westminster system is disproportional, therefore unrepresentative

•Government and politicians often appear remote from the general public.

•It is still a costly form of government.

•This form of government encourages deception.

Love Jihad or Romeo Jihad is an Islamophobic conspiracy theory alleging that Muslim men target women belonging to non-Muslim communities for conversion to Islam by feigning love. ... The concept rose to national attention in India in 2009 with alleged conversions first in Kerala and subsequently, in Karnataka.

We need courts to apply the law of the country. The Judiciary is also responsible for upholding the rights of citizens and seeing that no one including the government violates them.

The framers of the Constitution were fully conscious that the Constitution should not be very flexible, because, in that case, the Constitution will be a play thing in the hands of any government in the future. So they did not want to adopt the flexibility of the British Constitution. They followed the middle course. Indian Constitution is not very rigid in so far as the essential amendment of the Constitution are concerned. But at the same time it is not very flexible or simple in so far unnecessary amendments were concerned.

Procedure for the Amendment of the Indian Constitution:

1. Amendment by simple majority: The Indian Parliament has the power to amend some of the provisions of the Constitution by its own initiative or by the initiatives of some of the Legislative Assemblies of the States. Amendment in the following cases can be made by simple majority in the Parliament:

(a) Matter related to Article 3 of the Constitution whereby a new State is formed or change in the name of boundary of the State is proposed. These matters can be carried out by simple majority of both the Houses of Parliament. But such a legislation will be put before the Parliament only on the desire of the President who will consult the related states on the amendment before putting such a legislation before the Parliament. The State Reorganisation Act of 1956 was carried out by means of this Article. Afterwards many new States were formed or the name boundaries of old States were changed.

(b) Matter related to Article 169 on the formation or abolition of the second chamber or the Legislative Council of states can be decided by simple majority by the Parliament after fulfilling certain formalities.

(c) Amendment on matters related to Article 240 on the good administration of the centrally administered territories can be made by simple majority.

2. Amendment by a special majority in the Parliament: The process of amending the Constitution is given in Article 368. The article or subjects which are not given in this Article, can be amended by the Parliament alone with a special majority. The Bill for such an amendment may be introduced in any of the two Houses. If both the Houses pass it with absolute majority or 2/3 majority of the members present and voting, it will be sent to the President. The Constitution will stand amended on that point, when the Bill is signed by the President. All the subjects which are not mentioned in the first list of the amendment and as well as the third list of the amendment can be amended through this procedure.

Our Indian Constitution is unique for its content and spirit. The Constitution of India decides the rule of the land and is taken as supreme law of the land. The constituent assembly that was behind formulating our constitution has also given scope for amendments in it with time. Hence, the Indian Constitution of what it is today has undergone substantive changes on account of several amendments. The act also called The Constitution Act, 1976 is termed as one of the most controversial acts in the history of amendments to the Indian Constitution. It amended/ introduced various provisions given below:

• Attempted to reduce the power of the Supreme Court and the High Courts
• Laid down Fundamental Duties for citizens
• Terms- Socialist, Secular, and Integrity added to the Preamble

1) Nationalism arose in people of India, which raised the demand of sovereignty and own Constitution.

2)Draft of Constitution was prepared in 1928 by Motilal Nehru and his companions which reflected the belief and ideology of Indians.

3) In 1935, the Indian National Congress officially demanded a Constituent Assembly to frame the Constitution of India 

4) Constituent Assembly was constituted in 1946 and was entrusted with the responsibility of preparing India's own Constitution.

5) After the Independence, the Assembly was made fully Sovereign body, the partition raised the demand of sovereign recognition of State, the Constituent Assembly adopted Constitution on November 26, 1949.

The Local government means the institution that is made up of the members elected by the local people. The Local government lends strength to the democratic set-up. The villagers and the people of towns get a chance to take part in the Government of the country.

The system of checks and balances is an important part of the Constitution. With checks and balances, each of the three branches of government can limit the powers of the others. This way, no one branch becomes too powerful. Each branch “checks” the power of the other branches to make sure that the power is balanced between them. How does this system of checks and balances work?

The process of how laws are made (see the following page) is a good example of checks and balances in action. First, the legislative branch introduces and votes on a bill. The bill then goes to the executive branch, where the President decides whether he thinks the bill is good for the country. If so, he signs the bill, and it becomes a law.

If the President does not believe the bill is good for the country, he does not sign it. This is called a veto. But the legislative branch gets another chance. With enough votes, the legislative branch can override the executive branch's veto, and the bill becomes a law.

Once a law is in place, the people of the country can test it through the court system, which is under the control of the judicial branch. If someone believes a law is unfair, a lawsuit can be filed. Lawyers then make arguments for and against the case, and a judge decides which side has presented the most convincing arguments. The side that loses can choose to appeal to a higher court, and may eventually reach the highest court of all, the Supreme Court.

If the legislative branch does not agree with the way in which the judicial branch has interpreted the law, they can introduce a new piece of legislation, and the process starts all over again.

Marx and Engels always regarded 'equality' as a political concept and value, and moreover as one suited to promote bourgeois class interests. In place of equality, and based on his historical materialism, Marx advocated the abolition of class society, as it presently exists in the form of capitalism.

Political Equality :- Political equality is a concept that relates directly to that of a democracy. It is most commonly expressed by the phrase "one Person One Vote". More than the right to vote in free and fair elections, political equality also refers to civic freedoms - the freedom of expression, association, assembly and movement.

Social Equality :- Social equality in a society is the social state of affairs whereby all the people in the society have equal rights under the law, including right to vote, physical security, freedom of expression and assembly and the right to own property and to protect it. Social equality also includes access to education, health care, social security etc. It also means that gender, age, sexual orientation, origin, caste or class, income or property, language, religion etc do not result in unequal treatment under the law and will not reduce opportunities based on any of those.

Such questions are meant to test your writing skills and should be attempted on your own. However, these points might help you elaborate:

- Political liberty implies the right to vote, right to contest elections, have a political opinion and be able to express it.

- Economic equality does not mean equal distribution of wealth, rather it means having equal opportunities to earn wealth, and to have enough wealth to meet basic needs.

- If there is no economic equality, political liberty becomes meaningless.

- A person who is unable to meet the needs of food, shelter, clothing, basic medical facilities is least concerned with the right to vote or contest elections!

- He will continue to be exploited by the rich who will further the interest of their own class.

The two different views are examined below:

(i)Liberty and equality are opposed to each other : There is a view point that both liberty and equality are opposed to each other and they cannot go side-by-side. The main advocates of this view point are De Tocqueviflle and Lord Acton. According to Lord Acton, “The passion for equality has made vain the hope for liberty.” Equality curtails individual liberty. If everybody is considered equal in the eyes of law and equality is established in economic sphere than liberty will be curtailed. Nobody will have the liberty to earn money according to his own sweet will. If equality is established then the intelligent and hard working people will not be able to develop their personality to the full. People are of the opinion that nature has not created all the people equal. So liberty and equality cannot go side-by-side.

(ii) Liberty and equality are related to each other : In the modern age, most of the thinkers do not accept the view point that liberty and equality are closely related to each other. It is said that liberty in the absence of equality is meaningless. Prof. Laski, Prof. Towny Pollard and Maclver are the thinkers who support this view point. In fact, the liberty does not mean the same work and equal wages for all the people.

The term ‘equality’ imples that all men are equal and are entitled to equal opportunities and treatment. In simpler terms it means levelling process in which chances are given to all for development of their potential. It also means that special preference of all kinds are abolished and no discrimination are made on grounds of birth, wealth, ***, caste, creed or colour.

Types of Equality:

1. Natural Equality

2. Social Equality

3. Civil Equality

4. Political Equality

5. Economic Equality

6. Legal Equality

The article 326 defines a universal adult franchise as the basis for elections to all levels of the elected government. The universal Adult Franchise refers that all citizens who are 18 years and above irrespective of their caste or education, religion, colour, race and economic conditions are free to vote.

• In a democracy, a universal adult franchise is important, as it is based on the idea of equality. It states that every adult in a country, irrespective of their wealth and the communities she/he belongs to, has one vote.
• The Indian Constitution has adopted universal adult franchise as a basis of elections to the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies.
• Representation of States in Lok Sabha:Members are directly elected by the people from the territorial constituencies in the states
  Election Principle used – Universal Adult Franchise
  Eligibility to Vote: Any Indian Citizen of/above 18 years of age