India’s Constitution draws from more than 60 constitutions worldwide, yet reads as a coherent document, not a patchwork. This article covers exactly what India borrowed, and from where.
Must Know
- From Britain, India borrowed the parliamentary system of government, the rule of law, and single citizenship.
- From the USA, India borrowed Fundamental Rights, judicial review, and an independent judiciary.
- From Ireland, India borrowed the Directive Principles of State Policy, the method of indirectly electing the President, and the nomination of members to the Rajya Sabha.
- From Canada, India borrowed a federal system with a strong Centre. Residuary powers rest with the Centre, and the Centre appoints state governors.
- From Australia, India borrowed the Concurrent List and provisions on freedom of trade and commerce.
Good to Know
- From Germany’s Weimar Constitution, India borrowed provisions on the suspension of Fundamental Rights during a national Emergency.
- From France, India drew the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity, which appear directly in the Preamble.
- Canada also lent the Supreme Court’s advisory jurisdiction, the power to give opinions on matters referred by the President.
- The Constitution’s framers did not copy any single model wholesale. They adapted each borrowed mechanism to Indian conditions, deliberately avoiding flaws seen in the original source. For the broader drafting history, see Polity0016 — The Constitution’s Historical Roots and Making.
Test Yourself
Great to Know
- Borrowing from more than 60 constitutions did not produce an incoherent document. Selecting single, specific mechanisms, rather than importing entire systems wholesale, kept the result usable and internally consistent.
- The USA and Britain contributions sit in real tension with each other. Fundamental Rights (American) create individual protections a legislature cannot easily override; the parliamentary system (British) gives the legislature broad day-to-day power. India’s Constitution deliberately holds both at once.
- Choosing Ireland’s Directive Principles alongside America’s justiciable Fundamental Rights created a two-tier structure. Rights are enforceable in court; Directive Principles are not, yet both were considered essential enough to include.
- Canada’s “strong Centre” federalism, chosen over a more American-style balanced federalism, reflects a specific historical anxiety. Partition-era fears about fragmentation shaped a preference for central authority strong enough to hold a diverse, newly independent country together.
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