डॉ. बी. आर. अम्बेडकर विश्‍वविद्यालय दिल्ली
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University Delhi
Established by The Government of NCT of Delhi

Course Details:

1. Summary This course is unique in offering you an equal emphasis on Constitution, politics, and history, This course looks India as a case study Especially the Indian constitution it's history and politics, The Indian constitutional history Revolves mainly on the drafting of Indian constitution by the constituent assembly, In the post independent India The politics revolved around especially the Powers Struggle Between the state and the Supreme Court of India will be a very significant discussion, It will be of interest to Students who wants to understand constitutions from a number of different disciplines.
2. Objective

• to appreciate the meaning of values and specific terms enshrined in the Constitution.
• to draw linkages between the theory and practice of the Constitution.
• to expose students to the working of Indian democracy.
• to understand constitutions from a number of different disciplines.

3. Learning Outcomes:

On successful completion of this course. The students will be able to

1. 1. develop a basic understanding of Indian political structures and its interactions with democracy. The Constitution is believed to be a living document so the idea is not to just focus on the legal mechanism of the Constitution rather how it engages with social and political processes.
   2. Concepts of federalism, sovereignty, rights, equality, justice and decentralization have been introduced by drawing upon experiences from Indian politics.
   3. The Course focused on the evolution and features of the Indian Constitution. It discussed Constitutional practices through roles, functions, checks and balances of the national and federal Government.
   4. The democratic struggles of a segmented Indian society were discussed. The Students learned on fundamental rights experienced by citizens and brings in debates on reservation issues, gender representation in politics and expansion of decentralized local governance.
   5. Students will acquire Cognitive skills based on the different assessments like Presentations, Discussions, Case Commentary Assignment etc.
   6. Students will acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to think critically and solve complex problems.
2. Overall structure

This Course explores the fundamentals of the Indian constitution, including the institution of judicial review, the constitutional roles of the legislative and executive branches and individual rights under the Constitution, This course is designed to provide an introduction to the Indian Constitution. Students will study the Separation of powers, the system of checks and balances, and the concepts of individual rights, liberties, and protection.

Brief description of modules/ Main modules:

Module 1 (Week 1 and 2): The Constituent Assembly and the Constitution - The module talks about the political history of framing the Constitution and the formation of Constituent Assembly. It focuses about how past and present, aims and events, ideals and personalities moved the members of the Constituent Assembly to write the constitution as they did. It shall discuss the Indian model of Constitutionalism.

Module 2 (Week 3 and 4): Features of the Constitution -In this module, the Preamble of the Constitution of India will be taken as the basic text. The fundamental Constitutional principles and concepts like Individual freedom, Justice, Equality etc will be discussed.

Module 3 (Week 5): Separation of Power -The separation of power is generally the mode of governance of democratic states, in a way to check and balance the Legislature and the Executive. This module shall introduce to concept of Parliamentary Executive. It shall focus on functions, accountability, political relationship and limitations of the Parliament and the Government, including role of Presidency.

Module 4 (Week 6): Indian Judiciary- The role of the judiciary is also analogous to the separation of power along with the executive and the legislature. The module discusses the independence, uniformity and integrated judicial system of India. The module takes further than formal allocation of power to discuss how the role of judiciary has been evolving and expanding.

Module 5 (Week 7): Federalism and Centre-State Relations -India's commitment to federalism strengthened in the wake of demands from States, strong assertion of regional politics and decentralisation needs. The module shall introduce to the students the design and working of the Indian federal system. It shall discuss the political and administrative relation between Centre and states and introduce briefly the third tier of federalism.

Module 6 (Week 8 and 9): Fundamental Rights - Any democracy is strengthened by the charter of rights that it provides to its citizens. India has made historic commitments by expanding its constitutional provision of rights. The module shall discuss the meaning of rights and probe its importance in everyday life, discuss in details the Fundamental Rights guaranteed by the Constitution and parallel to it debates on its realization and restrictions will be further probed.

Module 7 (Week 10): Reservation as a Constitutional provision- The Constitutional scheme of compensatory preference was initiated to undo the unequal social structure. Reservation is given as a Constitutional right however the matter doesn't rest by the very fact that it is given. The module shall introduce to students the idea of reservation and affirmative action; and throw light of its various dimensions of understanding in the present context. The issue of women's reservation will also feature in this module.

Module 8 (Week 11): Social Movements- Various movements and struggles have been waged by socio-economic groups like peasants, farmers, women, dalits, workers', etc since independence. The idea of this module is to explore the social and political context in which the movements arose and how they have been shaped by the push and pull of democratic practices in India. A detailed discussion of any one genre of social movement will be focused.

Module 9 (Week 12): Grassroots Democracy- The module discusses about history, importance and Acts of local governance. The grassroots aspirations, realities and working of panchayats and Gram Sabha shall be discussed. It shall focus on the renewal of Panchayati Raj with special attention to women's empowerment in the local self-government.

8. Pedagogy:

1. 1. Instructional design

The course will be a combination of lectures, thematic discussions and presentations.

1. 2. Special needs (facilities, requirements in terms of software, studio, lab, clinic, library, classroom/others instructional space; any other – please specify) None
2. 3. Expertise in AUD faculty or outside

The core faculty has academic training in the field of Constitutional Law.

1. 4. Linkages with external agencies (e.g., with field-based organizations, hospital; any others) None
2. Assessment structure (modes and frequency of assessments)

• Mid-term Exam: 20%

Students will be asked to write essay type answers based on the lectures discussed in the class room, they have to explain the rights included in the Indian Constitution as well as learn about the basic statutes employed to implement these rights.

• Class participation: 10%

Students will be judged paste on their Different skills like communication, argumentations etc

• Oral presentation: 20%

Students will be provided specific readings by which they have to do the

presentations Which will improve Their cognitive skills, the topics will revolve on the discussion related to fundamental rights, Constitutional assembly debates, Local governance etc

• Assignment: 30%

Students should submit a case commentary assignment around 1500 words on the landmark judgements of Supreme Court of India which will Develop the ability to analyse a Court case using various "tools" of interpretation such as: precedent, text, and original meaning.

• End-term Exam: 20%

A combination of multiple choice questions short notes and Essay type questions Will be given to test Students knowledge.

Readings

• Austin, Granville (1999): Selected Chapters in Working a Democratic Constitution- A History of the Indian Experience (Oxford: OUP).