Compare the preamble of india south africa and usa

Compare the Preambles to the constitutions of the United States of America, India and South Africa.

(i) Make a list of ideas that are common to all three.

(ii) Note down at least one of the major differences among these.

(iii) Which of the three makes a reference to the past?

(iv) Which of these does not invoke God?

Answer:

(i)The ideas that are common to all these three are:

• Each of these preambles starts with 'We the people who show the unity and authority of the citizens in governing the country.
• In these preambles, the idea of justice is embodied.

(ii) In the preambles to the Constitution of the US, there is an idea of a more perfect union which is not there in the other two preambles.

(iii) The Preambles to the constitutions of South Africa refer to the past.

(iv) The Preamble to the constitutions of the United States of America and India does not invoke God because both constitutions believe in the freedom to follow any religion. There is no official religion to be followed.

Read the following statements about a constitution. Give reasons why each of these is true or not true.

Read the following extract from a conduct book for ‘married women’, published in 1912. ‘God has made the female species delicate and fragile both physically and emotionally, pitiably incapable of self-defense.

Here are different opinions about what made India a democracy. How much importance would you give to each of these factors?

Here are some of the guiding values of the Constitution and their meaning. Rewrite them by matching them correctly.

Which of these was the most salient underlying conflict in the making of a democratic constitution in South Africa?

Here are some false statements. Identify the mistake in each case and rewrite these correctly based on what you have read in this chapter. (i) Leaders of the freedom movement had an open mind about whether the country should be democratic or not after independence.

Read the three quotations above carefully. (i) Can you identify one idea that is common to all these three?

Read the information about all the makers of the Indian Constitution given in the side columns here. You don’t need to memorise this information. Just give examples from these to support the following statements:

Find out more about any member of the Constituent Assembly from your state or region who is not mentioned here. Collect a photograph or sketch of that leader.

Speak to your grandparents or some other elders in your locality. Ask them if they have any memory of partition or independence or the making of the constitution. What were their fears and hopes about the country at that time?

This is not fair! What was the point in having a Constituent Assembly in India if all the basics were already decided?

Approach a club or cooperative society or union or political party in your locality. Get a copy of their rule book (it is often called Rules of Association) and read it. Are these rules in accordance with the principles of democracy?

Does the story of the South African struggle for freedom remind you of the Indian national movement? Make a list of similarities and dissimilarities between the two on the following points: (i) Nature of colonialism

This image captures the spirit of South Africa today. South Africans call themselves a ‘rainbow nation’. Can you guess why?

What would have happened in South Africa if the black majority had decided to take revenge on the whites for all their oppression and exploitation?

Make a poster on the life and struggle of Nelson Mandela. If available, read some portions of his autobiography, The Long Walk to Freedom, in the classroom.