Question

Provide a brief overview of the political system in a country of your choice. Please choose a country other than that in which you have lived most of your life. Describe a political or legal change that is having (or has had) a role in shaping the history of the country of your choice. (one page)

Answer 1

The country that I have chosen is India.

Overview-

India is the largest democratic country and is headed by the President. The prime minister heads the government and is nominated by the majority party in the Lok Sabha. The other ministers are recommended by the prime minster and the president appoints them.

There are two houses in parliament- Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Lok Sabha has 520 members and Rajya Sabha has 250 members. Both the houses share legislative powers, except in monetary matters where Lok Sabha has overriding powers.

Every five years, elections are held where every citizen votes to elect the next government. Many political parties participate in elections and the party with majority votes forms the government.

India has a federal form of government, and there are three levels- central, state and local. The head of central government is prime minister, head of state government is chief minister and head of local government is sarpanch. Each of these layers have different powers and duties to perform.

Describe a political or legal change that is having (or has had) a role in shaping the history of the country of your choice.

In 1947, India gained independence from Britishers, this marked a milestone in shaping the political environment of the country. Before 1947, India was a colony of Britishers and post 1947, India became a democratic country. India's constitution came into force in 1950 and since then it is the largest democracy in the world. The constitution seeks to establish a self-governing, democratic republic that is based on three basic points, namely - a parliamentary form of government, the existence of multiparty system and a federal structure.

Before Independence, citizens did not had a role in electing the government and there was monarchy rule of the Britishers. So, while forming the new constitution in 1950 in post-independence era, the noteworthy change was to have ‘rule of majority’. All, irrespective of caste, creed, religion, gender, will have power to elect their representatives to born the government.