Public reason
Also called: Principle of deliberation · Topic: Making of the Constitution: Constituent Assembly, Sources and Salient Features · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 1 "Constitution: Why and How?"
Meaning
Public reason means arguing from principles and giving reasons that others can accept, instead of pushing narrow group interests. Class 11, Constitution: Why and How? uses it to explain why the Constituent Assembly's work carries authority. Members argued with the whole nation in mind. Their disputes were about principles, such as centralised or decentralised government, Centre–state relations, the powers of courts and property rights. NCERT ranks these debates alongside those of the French and American revolutions.
Example
Universal adult franchise passed "without virtually any debate", because members broadly agreed that every adult should vote. Other clauses were argued over at length, and the second reading of the draft went clause by clause.
Don't confuse with
- Consensus and accommodation: Granville Austin's phrase for how the Assembly reached decisions by seeking agreement. Public reason is about the way members argued. Consensus is about how they settled their differences.