Indian Polity is an interesting topic to study. Not just because we gain deeper knowledge about our Constitution but also because it is actually fun to read and compare the various provisions of the Indian Constitution. But apart from the interest part, Polity is also quite rewarding for IAS Prelims exam. You can expect anywhere between 8-20 questions on Indian Polity in paper 1 and if you’ve prepared it well you can get most, if not all, questions right. This gives you a nice boost of 16-40 marks in the final tally which can make a huge difference to your chances of clearing the Prelims.
But aspirants just starting out don’t know how to prepare Polity, that’s why this post will be useful to your Prelims preparation. Initially I will explain the basic terminology so you feel comfortable when studying polity and then I will touch upon the important topics within Polity that you should focus more on.
But first things first. Make sure your get Constitution of India by P.M Bakshi and Our Constitution by Subhash Kashyap as the two main reference books for Indian Polity. For other books for Prelims, refer this post. Also to get the most out of this short tutorial make sure you enroll in my Question Series for Prelims course so you can test yourself with actual Prelims-like questions with negative marking on Indian Polity that I have prepared for IAS aspirants.
OK, let’s get started.
Basic Terminology in Indian Polity
Like any other subject, Polity too has its own vocabulary that is in its most raw form quite high sounding laden with difficult legal words. But fortunately we don’t have to familiarize ourselves with these words and terms rather we should be comfortable with a working knowledge of Constitutional terms and concepts that I list below.
Article: Articles are the various provisions in our constitution. There are 395 articles in all. Although there have been additions throughout the years, the new articles have been appended with letters like Article 51A and so on. So the total number of articles still remains the same at 395.
Remember, what I am saying will make more sense if you have P.M Bakshi’s Constitution book in your hand as it contains all the articles in their unmodified form.
Clause: Articles in the Constitution can have clauses. It tells more and lists additional provisions of the main article under which it is listed. It is enclosed within brackets. For instance, 15(4) is read as Article 15, clause 4.
Sub-clause: Going further, a clause can have sub clause(s) within it listing even additional provisions related to that clause. For instance Article 19 (Fundamental Right to Freedom) has various sub-clauses under clause 1 like 19(1)(a). As you can see a sub-clause like the main clause is also enclosed in brackets. The article then is read as Article 19, clause 1, sub-clause a. You can easily infer that a clause is a number whereas a sub-clause is an alphabet.
Schedule: Schedules are not Articles of the Constitution but they have to be read along with them. They contain detailed provisions, lists that are too long to be contained under an Article and require a separate mention. There are 12 schedules as of now and more could be added later. The first schedule deals with the States and Ut’s, the second with remuneration of important dignitaries and so on.
Amendment: Amendments as the term implies are modifications of the provisions of the Constitution. The procedure for amendment is listed under Art. 368. Till date 97 amendments have been carried out under this article. In reality many more amendments have been effected under different provisions which do not require a Constitutional Amendment Bill under Art. 368 to be passed.
State: This term is a tricky one. In the constitution a state could be a state like Kerala or it could imply nation state particularly the authority of the Union government. What is the actual meaning of the word has to be inferred from the reading of the Constitutional provision itself and no pre-defined meaning can be adduced. But it’s not so difficult as it seems. Once you have read the Constitutional provisions twice or thrice you will be able to make out the difference quite easily.
Parts of Constitution: Just like any book, the Constitution too is divided into various parts; 22 to be precise. Various related articles are grouped under a single part. For instance Part III relates to Fundamental Rights, Part IV to Directive Principles and so on.
Important Topics to Prepare in Polity
Fundamental Rights: This is considered as the most important aspect of our constitution. Go through all the Fundamental Rights (FR) many times over until you grasp the essence of each FR. Also try to remember which article corresponds to which FR and what are the provisions therein. I have framed questions in my Question Series course keeping this important aspect of Prelims paper in mind so students get a real feel of the questions that will be asked in the Prelims.
Directive Principles: After the FR’s these are a very important part of the Constitution and you should try to remember the main provisions of the important DPSP’s by heart. This does not mean rote the exact sentences, rather know what the article is about. For instance Article 44 talks about a Uniform Civil Code across the territory of India.
Part V and VI: The entire part V and VI dealing with the Executive, Bills, Judiciary and States are very important and you should go through the articles carefully.
Public Service Commissions, Elections, Emergency Provisions and Amendment of the Constitution: Each of these chapters is again very important from not only the Prelims perspective but from the Mains as well. Questions related to Emergency are routinely asked in Paper 2 of Public Administration as well.
Amendments and Schedules: Finally, you should know the important amendments of the constitution, the year in which the Act was passed along with their important provisions. The two most important amendment acts are the 42nd and 44th passed in 1976 and 1978 respectively. Also, go through all the schedules of the constitution listed at the end as questions from these are also asked in the Prelims.