Comparison of Indian Constitution with Other Countries - Know the Similarities and Differences for UPSC!

A country’s constitution is the rule book of that nation, encoding the rule of law. It lays down the framework and key functions of different organs of the government, viz., the Executive, Legislature, and Judiciary. It also builds up relations between the government and the people which is called citizenship. The creators of the Indian constitution went through all the then-existing significant constitutions of the world prior to preparing their own. The Constitution of India is frequently referred to as “a bag of borrowings” as it openly draws from various other countries.

In this article, let us look at the features of the Indian constitution, its importance, uniqueness, and the comparison of the Indian constitution with other countries for the UPSC IAS Examination in detail.

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Features of the Indian Constitution

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The major features of the Indian constitution have been listed below.

1) Federal System with Unitary Bias

• The constitution lays down a federal administration system in India. All the anticipated characteristics of a federal state such as two administration levels, partitioning of power, paramountcy, and rigidity of the constitution, written constitution, and bicameral system are present. But, the constitution also holds many features of a unitary form of administration, such as single citizenship, a powerful center, a single constitution, versatility of constitution, all-India services, integrated judiciary, the nomination of state governor by the center, emergency provisions, and so on.
• In addition, the word ‘federation’ is not cited in the constitution. Article 1 points out that India is a ‘Union of States’, inferring

• The Indian federation is not the outcome of an agreement by the states.
• States do not possess the right to break away from the federation.

2) Parliamentary Form of Administration

• The parliamentary form, picked up from the British system, is premised on the principle of cooperation and coordination between the legislative and executive. This form of government is otherwise known as the Westminster model of government. It is also termed responsible government and cabinet government. As per the constitution, not just in the center, the parliamentary form is enforced even in the states.

• In India, the features of the parliamentary form of administration are as follows:
  • Nominal and real executives
  • Rule of the majority party
  • Joint responsibility of the executive to the legislature
  • Membership of the ministers in the legislature
  • The leadership of the country’s prime minister or the state’s chief minister
  • Dissolution of the lower house

There are a few fundamental differences between the Indian and British models, even though both follow the parliamentary form of administration. The Indian parliament is not a paramount body, but the British Parliament is. Also, the Indian State has an elected head (because it is a republic), while the British head is hereditary (because Britain is a constitutional monarchy).

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A Glance at the Constitution of India

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• The Indian constitution is unique in its subject matter and spirit. India, also termed Bharat, is a Union of States. It is an Independent, Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic with a parliamentary form of government.
• The Republic of India is regulated in terms of the Constitution of India which was agreed upon by the Constituent Assembly on 26th November 1949 and came into existence on 26th January 1950.
• The Indian constitution provides for a parliamentary form of government that is federal in nature with specific unitary characteristics.
• The President is the constitutional head of the Executive of the Union. According to Article 79 of the Constitution, the council of the Parliament of the Union comprises the President and two Houses known as the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) as well as the House of the People (Lok Sabha).
• Article 74(1) of the constitution offers that there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as the head to aid and advise the President, who shall exercise his/her duties in conformity with the guidance.
• True executive power is vested in the Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as the head.

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Why is the Constitution of India called a Bag of Borrowings?

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The Indian constitution has lots of borrowed features. The nation’s founding fathers were wise enough to adopt good features from various nations and mold a constitution that best suits India. The influences from other constitutions have been tabled below.

Country	Features Borrowed
British	Parliamentary form of Government Constitutional Head of the State Lower House more powerful than the Upper House of Parliament Accountability of the Council of Ministers toward Parliament Prevalence of the rule of law
US	The Preamble Fundamental Rights Functions of the Vice-president Amendments of the Constitution Nature and Roles of the Supreme Court Independence of the Judicial System
Australia	Concurrent Powers Process of clearing deadlocks over concurrent subjects among the Center and the States
Ireland	Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) Process of selection of members to the Rajya Sabha
Weimer Constitution of Germany	Powers of the President
Canada	Provisions of a strong country The Name – Union of India Vesting of residuary powers
South Africa	The procedure of implementing amendments with a two-thirds majority in Parliament Selection of the members of the Rajya Sabha on the basis of proportional representation by the State Legislatures

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Importance of Constitution

Comparison of Indian Constitution with Other Countries

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India Vs.	Similarities	Differences
France	Written Constitution: India and France have a written constitution, however, France has modified its constitution pretty often owing to instabilities. Presently, it is the 5th constitution in France’s history.   Type of Government: Both nations have elected heads for specific terms. Process of Amendments: French constitution can be amended with a 60% majority, similar to India’s amendment process. Republic: Both nations are Republics with an elected head of the State. Ideals: India has picked up ideas of freedom, equality, and fraternity in the Preamble from the French Constitution. Emergency Provisions: Both nations possess the power for emergency provision.	Political Model: France has agreed upon a semi-presidential system with the President possessing more power than the Prime Minister, while India has adopted a parliamentary form of administration with higher power vested with the Prime Minister.   Term of the Head of Government: Indian PM has a term of 5 years, while the French President has 7 years. Philosophical Features: There is no provision for Procedure constituted by law or due process of law in the French constitution. France adopted full separation of state from religion, while India maintains more of a principled distance, but not full separation. France runs on a unitary model instead of federalism as in India. Judiciary arrangement:  There is no task of the judiciary in conducting elections in India, while in France the judiciary plays a significant role. The French court is divided into two components i.e., Judicial Courts and administrative courts, but in India, there exists no such arrangement.
Canada	Unitary/Federal: Both countries possess a federal structure. Like India, Canada has residuary powers vested with the center.   Governor Appointment: Central government nominates the Governor for the States and Provinces. Executive setup: Members are chosen by the first past the post method. Both nations have an accountable government that is jointly accountable to the lower house. Judiciary arrangement: The appointment and advisory authority of the Supreme Court is similar to that of India. Legislative arrangement: Law implemented by the parliament is relevant to the entire country.	Written/Unwritten Constitution: Canada is regulated by both written and unwritten laws, while India is regulated as by the written constitution.   Political arrangement: Canada possesses a monarchical arrangement, while India has the President as the head of the State. Executive arrangement: Governor-General is nominated by the monarch under the guidance of the Prime Minister, while in India the President is chosen by an indirect election. Citizenship: There is a provision for dual citizenship in Canada, while India does not offer dual citizenship. Judicial arrangement: Canada has several legal systems, while in the case of India it is absent.
Germany	Republic: Both nations are Republics with an elected head of the State.   Political arrangement: Both nations possess a parliamentary form of government in which the Chancellor/PM is the head of the government and the president mainly possesses ceremonial and managerial duties. India has picked up emergency provisions from Germany. Both possess a federal system. Both possess the features of fundamental rights.	Germany possesses a very rigid constitution, while India has a flexible and rigid constitution.   Citizenship: Dual citizenship is permitted under specific circumstances.
Japan	Both nations possess written constitutions.   Legislative arrangement:  Both nations have parliament as their supreme legislative body. Both possess two houses in the parliament, in which the lower house is more powerful than the upper house. Similar to India, the no-confidence motion resulted in the dissolution of the house. In Japan, the upper house members possess a term of 6 years, and each year half of the members retire. Philosophical features:  Paramountcy of constitution and judicial review. Both nations possess the procedure established by law. Executive arrangement:  Similar to India, the PM of Japan can be a part of either house. The Council of Ministers is accountable to the lower house, similar to India. Judiciary arrangement: Appointment, dismissal, and specified retirement age of judges in Japan are similar to that of India.	Japan possesses a rigid constitution, while India has a flexible and rigid constitution. The Japanese constitution offers a unitary state. Executive arrangement:  Ministers are nominated by the Prime Minister, but in the case of India, they are nominated by the president under the guidance of the PM. In Japan, the parliament chooses the PM from the party holding the majority, while in India, that does not happen. Political arrangement: Japan is a constitutional monarchy, while India is a republic. In Japan, all global treaties need to be sanctioned by the Diet, which is not the same as in India. Judiciary arrangement: Judges are nominated by the Diet, however in India, there is no role of parliament.
Australia	Both nations possess written constitutions. Both India and Australia are federal parliamentary nations with states and territories. Legislative arrangement:  There is a provision for 2nd reading and the same can be referred to a committee that can give some recommendations similar to India. India picked up the concurrent list from Australia. Both nations possess a provision for joint sitting to fix the deadlocks between both houses. Judiciary arrangement: The supreme court is the apex court in Australia in all matters, similar to India. Both nations possess an independent judiciary and point out the segregation of power. The process for the appointment and dismissal of judges in Australia is the same as in India.	Unlike India, the state of emergency legislation varies in each state of Australia. There exists a provision for dual citizenship in Australia that was added on 4th April 2002. Political arrangement: In Australia, the head of the government is represented by a Governor-general. Legislative arrangement: The Australian Constitution can be revised only with the consent of the electorate through a national referendum in which all the adults of the electorate need to participate. The upper house is chosen through the list system, while in India it is chosen by Single Transferable Vote. Legislators of the lower house are chosen for a term of 3 years in Australia, while in India they are chosen for 5 years.
USA	Both nations have a written constitution. Both nations have the concept of fundamental rights. Both the nations have preamble as their constitution’s introductory statements. Both nations possess the office of Vice-President. Legislative arrangement: Both countries have representatives from their states in the legislature. Both nations possess provisions for dismissal of the President, i.e., the impeachment process. Philosophical arrangement: The idea of judicial review and the concept of the procedure established by law in India is picked up from the USA. There exists a separation of power between the various organs of the government. USA has a federal system and a supremacy of constitution similar to India.	The USA has a rigid constitution, while India possesses a rigid and flexible constitution. Political arrangement: The USA possesses a presidential form of government, while India has a Parliamentary form. Executive arrangement: In the USA, the president is straight away elected by the people, while in India the president is indirectly chosen. Amenability:  The US constitution has just been altered 27 times in 200 years. Residual power vests with the states, while in India it vests with the Union. Judiciary arrangement: In India, judges have retirement age, while in the USA judges can hold their position until they enjoy good health. Each state possesses its own constitution and supreme court, while the same is absent in India. USA provides dual citizenship, while it is absent in case of India.
UK	Type of Government:    Both nations possess a parliamentary form of government. India has borrowed the rule of law from Britain. Executive arrangement: Both the nations possess a cabinet system. Both the nations possess dual heads of government. Both the countries have representation of multiple parties in the parliament. Amendability: The British law can be enacted, revised and repealed by a simple majority like in India. Judiciary arrangement: The process of removal of judges is similar to that of India.	Written/Unwritten:   The UK has an unwritten constitution, just a small section is covered in a written document, while India has a written constitution. The UK has a flexible constitution & it is an unitary state. Political arrangement: The UK is a constitutional monarchy, while India is a republic. The UK offers dual citizenship. In the UK, the Prime Minister has to be chosen from the lower house, while in India he can belong to either house of parliament. Legislative arrangement:  In the UK, there is a convention that once a speaker is always a speaker. Thus, a former speaker holds no political membership, while in India the speaker is still a member of a party. Parliament possesses the supreme power in the UK, while in India the constitution holds the supreme power.
Russia	Executive arrangement: In both nations, the Prime Minister is nominated by the president.   Legislative arrangement: The lower house is more powerful, similar to India. They both possess a provision for fundamental rights.	Political Model: Russia has a semi-presidential form of government, while India possesses a parliamentary form.   Executive arrangement: Russian PM performs the president’s task in case of his death or resignation, while the same duty is given to the Vice-president in case of India. In Russia, the president cannot hold more than two successive terms in a row, but there exists no such constraint in India. The president is stronger in Russia, while the PM possesses more power in the case of India. The term of the Russian president is 6 years, while it is 5 years in case of India. Legislative arrangement: Members of the lower house in Russia are elected by proportional representation system, while in India they are elected by first past the post system. Judicial arrangement: There does not exist a single integrated judiciary in Russia like in India.

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Due Process of Law or the Procedure established by law

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Procedure Established by Law	Due Process of Law
It means a law that is appropriately adopted by the legislature or the body in question is valid if the procedure to establish it has been properly followed.	Due process of law checks whether any law in question is reasonable and not arbitrary.
The judiciary would evaluate whether the legislature is qualified to frame the law and whether it had followed the process laid down to legislate and would not evaluate the purpose of the said law.	If the supreme court of India decides any law as not reasonable, it will declare it as null and void. This principle offers for more fair handling of individual rights.
Compared to ‘due process of law’ it is limited in scope as it does not question if the law concerned is contrary to the principles of justice and equity.	The due process of law provides broad scope to the supreme court to grant protection to the rights of its citizens.
The supreme court, while determining the constitutionality of the law assesses only the substantive question, i.e., if the law is within the powers of the authority concerned or not.	The supreme court can proclaim laws as violative of fundamental rights and render them void not only on substantive grounds of being illegal, but also on procedural grounds of being unfair.
A stringent and inflexible following of the procedure constituted by law may increase the risk of compromise to life and personal freedom of individuals due to unfair laws made by the law-making authorities. Thus, the procedure constituted by law protects the individual against the arbitrary action of just the executive.	Under due process, it is the legitimate requirement that the state must comply with all of the legal rights that are attributable to a person and laws that states pass must comply with the laws of the land.

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s a book consisting of more than 250 pages.

• In our constitution, Indian citizens have been offered six fundamental rights. For the creation of social and economic democracy and for the well-being of its citizens, some directives have been granted to the central and the state governments.
• According to the constitution, India has been declared federal and it looks federal, but it has a unitary bias. Thus, the Indian constitution is federal in form, but unitary in spirit.
• Through the 42nd amendment of 1976, 10 fundamental duties have also been included in the Indian constitution.
• The Indian constitution is a combination of flexibility and rigidity. Some of the articles like, modification in the name of any state or in its boundaries, etc. are modified by a simple majority of the parliament.

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UPSC Practice Questions on the Comparison of Indian Constitution with Other Countries

1. What can France learn from the Indian constitution’s approach to secularism?
2. Judicial legislation is contradictory to the doctrine of separation of powers as envisaged in the Indian constitution. In this context, substantiate the filing of a large number of public interest petitions praying for delivering guidelines to executive authorities.

Also learn about difference between written constitution and unwritten constitution.

We hope that all your doubts regarding the Comparision of Indian Constitution with other Countries have been addressed after going through this article. Testbook provides a good quality of comprehensive preparation material for several competitive examinations. Ace your preparations for the UPSC exams by downloading the Testbook App here!

Check out the linked article on the Directive Principle of the State Policy for the UPSC exams now!