Polity & Governance is a comprehensive concept (concept) that defines the political system, administration, and jurisdiction of the government in India. It encompasses the structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions, as well as the fundamental rights and duties of citizens. The modern Indian polity is rooted in the Constitution of India, which was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on November 26, 1949, and came into force on January 26, 1950. This framework was created to establish a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic and solve the problem of governing a diverse nation, superseding the Government of India Act 1935 and the Indian Independence Act 1947.
The system works through a federal parliamentary republic, where power is distributed among the three organs: the legislature (Parliament), the executive (Council of Ministers), and the judiciary (Supreme Court). Key provisions include the Fundamental Rights in Part III (Articles 12-35), which promote political democracy, and the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) in Part IV (Articles 36-51), which are fundamental in the country's governance. The system is described as quasi-federal, blending federal features like the division of powers with unitary features like a single constitution and integrated judiciary.
Polity and Governance connects to institutions like the Election Commission of India and concepts such as Constitutional Morality and the Basic Structure Doctrine, established in the 1973 judgment of Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, which held that certain core features of the Constitution cannot be abridged or abolished. A significant recent change occurred with the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which revoked the special status under Article 370 and reorganised the state into two Union Territories. Another recent amendment is the Constitution (One Hundred and Fifth Amendment) Act, 2021, which restored the power of state governments to prepare their own list of Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC).