Democratic Politics

1. Constitution : The fundamental legal document according to which the government of a country functions. This contains the basic laws or set of rules which define the main organs and their jurisdiction as well as the basic rights of the citizen.
2. Cabinet Mission : In February 1946, the British government sent the cabinet mission to India. It proposed the formation of a federation, with a union government and three types of states and also proposed the formation of a Constituent Assembly and an interim government.
3. Objective Resolution : On December 13, 1946 Jawaharlal Nehru moved a resolution in the constituents Assembly proposing the main objectives or aims of the new constitution to be made for free India. It is known as the Objective Resolution.
4. Drafting Committee : A committee set up to draft a constitution.
5. Amendment : The term means change or modification. It is used in connection with changes made in the constitution of a country. The procedure of amendment of the Indian constitution is given in Article 368 of the constitution itself.
6. Democracy : A form of government which is chosen by the people to work for their welfare and can be changed by them.
7. Preamble : In is an introduction to the constitution which explains the aims and objectives of the constitution.
8. Republic : A country in which the head of the state is elected and not hereditary.
9. Secularism : It implies religious freedom. The state does not have any official religion of its own. Everyone has the right to preach, practice & profess any religion.
10. Universal Adult suffrage : It refers to the right to vote for all the adult citizen of a country without any discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, colour, sex or education. It is based on the principle of the one person one vote.
11. Apartheid : A system of reagregation of whites from blacks on the basis of race. Each group had to live in separate areas, go to separate schools and non white had no voting rights.
12. Constituent Assembly : An assembly of people’s representatives that writes a constitution for a country.
13. Philosophy : The most fundamental principles underlying one’s thought and actions.
14. Treason : The offence of attempting to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance.
15. Tryst : A meeting or meeting place that has been agreed upon.