- Parliamentary form of Government
In order to represent the interest of the Country, the framers of the Indian Constitution have adopted the British parliamentary system of government rather than the American Presidential system of government. This parliamentary form of government ensures participation of the citizens in electing their representatives who in turn are responsible for the welfare of the citizen.
2. Federal Polity with a Unitary Spirit
The India Constitution is considered as federal during normal circumstances while during the time of emergency, it has the possibilities and provisions of being converted into a unitary one. Some of the features of Indian Constitution being a blend of federal unitary can be listed as below:
Federal
- One Government at the centre and other at the State level.
- Distribution of power between both the government.
- Written Constitution.
- Supremacy of Constitution.
- Independent judiciary and bicameralism.
Unitary
- Presence of strong Central Government
- Single Constitution
- Single Citizenship
- Appointment of State Government by the Centre
- All-India services
- Emergency provisions
However, the term ‘Federal’ has not been used anywhere in the Constitution and – ‘Article – I’ describes India as a ‘Union of States’ which is not the result of an agreement by the States; and no State has the secede from the federation. Hence, our Constitution is described as ‘quasi-federal’, i.e. federal in form but unitary in spirit.