Republic

Topic: State, Government and Governance: Organs, Levels and the Citizen · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 9 "From the Rulers to the Ruled: Types of Governments"; Class 7, Ch 10 "The Constitution of India: An Introduction"; Class 7, Ch 6 "The State, the Government, and You"

Meaning

A republic is a country whose head of state is elected, directly or indirectly, instead of getting the office by birth like a king or queen, and whose rulers are limited by a constitution or by laws. The idea matters because it answers two questions: how the head of state gets power, and whether rulers must obey the law. India has been a republic since 26 January 1950.

Explanation

What makes a country a republic

• Elected head of state. The head of state is chosen by election, either directly by the people or indirectly by their representatives.

• The office is never passed down by birth.

• Rulers bound by law. The rulers are limited by a constitution or by laws. They cannot rule as they please.

• Rights of all protected. In a republic, the majority cannot take away the fundamental rights of anyone.
• A majority wins elections, but it cannot use that win to crush minorities.

Republic and democracy are two separate ideas

• Democracy (Greek demos = people, kratos = rule) answers the question "who chooses the rulers?" The people choose them through free and fair elections.
• Republic answers a different question: "how does the head of state get the office, and are rulers bound by law?"
• So a country can be one, both or neither:

	Democracy	Not a democracy
Republic	India, USA, France	People's Republic of China, North Korea (republics in name only)
Not a republic	UK, Canada, Sweden, Japan, Norway (each has a monarch)	Absolute monarchies

• India is both. People elect the government, and the head of state (the President) is also elected.

Why a republic needs more than majority vote

• Dominance of the majority means the majority pursues only its own interests and ignores or harms the rights of minorities.
• The rule of law stops this. Everyone, including rulers and majorities, is bound by the same law, and the law protects every person's rights.
• Rule by law is the opposite danger. Rulers use law as a tool to control people but do not accept that the law binds them. This fits authoritarian rule, not a republic.
• The RWA example shows the risk even in small bodies:
• A Resident Welfare Association voted by majority to ban all deliveries after 9 pm.
• An elderly resident collapsed, and urgent help could not come in.
• The RWA then exempted food and medicine.
• Lesson: majority vote alone can hurt a weaker member. Basic needs and rights must stay protected.

The spirit behind a republic: George Washington

• In 1782, after the American War of Independence, Washington refused an offer to become king.
• In 1789 he became the first President of the USA, an elected office.
• Lesson: a republic survives only when leaders accept that power comes from the people and the constitution, not from birth.

In the Constitution and practice

• Preamble: India calls itself a "sovereign … democratic republic". The Constitution came fully into force on 26 January 1950, the day India became a republic.
• Parliamentary system without the monarchy: India took the parliamentary system from Britain but not the British monarchy. The British head of state is born into the office. India's head of state is elected.
• How the President is elected (Articles 54–55):
• Article 54: an electoral college (a special group of voters chosen for one election) elects the President. It has the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States, where "State" includes the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union territory of Puducherry [2].
• Nominated members of Parliament and members of state Legislative Councils do not vote [2].
• Article 55: the states should have the same scale of representation "as far as practicable". The value of each MP's and MLA's vote depends on a formula based on the state's population [3].
• Voting is by proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (voters rank candidates in order of choice) and by secret ballot [3].

• So the President is elected indirectly, by the people's representatives and not by the people themselves.

• Republic protecting a small community: Niyamgiri (2013)

• The Dongria Kondh, a tribal community in the Niyamgiri hills of Odisha, treat the hills as sacred. The company Vedanta wanted to mine bauxite there.
• In Orissa Mining Corporation v. MoEF (2013) the Supreme Court sent the decision to the gram sabhas (village assemblies of all adult voters) under the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
• All 12 gram sabhas rejected the mining. A small community's voice was respected over a large commercial project.

• Other protections: the Fifth Schedule under Article 244(1) (special rules for Scheduled Areas, which are notified tribal areas) [7], the PESA Act, 1996, and Samatha v. State of Andhra Pradesh (1997), which held that land in Scheduled Areas should not be given to non-tribals as mining leases [8].

• Rulers bound by law: the 39th Amendment (1975)

• Background: in June 1975 the Allahabad High Court ruled against Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in an election case filed by Raj Narain. It set aside her win from Rae Bareli and barred her from politics for six years [6].
• The 39th Amendment (1975) added Article 329A. It put disputes about the election of the Prime Minister and the Speaker outside the ordinary courts [4][5]. The law was changed to protect the ruler's own election.
• In Indira Nehru Gandhi v. Raj Narain (1975) the Supreme Court struck down Article 329A(4) [4].
• Reason: it violated the basic structure (core features of the Constitution that even an amendment cannot destroy). It took away the courts' power over election disputes, which breaks separation of powers (each organ of government keeps its own work) and free and fair elections [4].
• The 44th Amendment Act, 1978 removed Article 329A completely [4].

Don't confuse with

• Democracy: democracy is about who chooses the government (the people). Republic is about an elected head of state and rulers bound by law. The UK is a democracy but not a republic.
• Constitutional monarchy: UK, Canada, Sweden, Japan and Norway have elected parliaments but a hereditary monarch (one who gets the throne by birth) as head of state. That is enough to make them not republics.
• "Republic" in name only: China and North Korea call themselves republics, but people cannot freely choose their rulers. The name does not make a country a democracy.
• Rule by law: rulers use law to control people but escape it themselves. A republic needs rule of law, where rulers are bound like everyone else.

Prelims Hooks

• "Every democracy is a republic": false. The UK, Canada, Sweden, Japan and Norway are democracies with monarchs. China and North Korea are republics but not democracies.
• India has been a republic since 26 January 1950.
• Article 54: the President's electoral college has elected MPs and elected MLAs of states, including Delhi and Puducherry [2]. Trap: nominated members and MLCs are not included [2].
• Article 55: the President is elected by proportional representation by single transferable vote and secret ballot [3].
• 39th Amendment (1975) added Art. 329A (PM's and Speaker's election beyond ordinary courts). Clause (4) was struck down in Raj Narain (1975), and the article was removed by the 44th Amendment (1978) [4].
• Washington refused a crown in 1782 and became the first US President in 1789.

Mains Points

• A republic is more than majority rule. Elections give power to the majority. Republican protections (a written Constitution, fundamental rights, judicial review) stop "dominance of the majority". Niyamgiri (Orissa Mining Corporation, 2013) shows this at the national level, and the RWA delivery ban shows it at the local level.
• Indirect election of the President (Arts. 54–55):
• It keeps India a republic, because the head of state is elected and not born into office.

• It also avoids a rival centre of power. A directly elected President could claim a separate public mandate and clash with the Cabinet, which answers to the Lok Sabha.

• Rule of law vs rule by law: the 39th Amendment (1975) shows how a constitutional amendment can be misused to protect a ruler. Indira Nehru Gandhi v. Raj Narain (1975) and the 44th Amendment (1978) show that courts and later Parliaments can correct such misuse. It is a strong GS-II example of the basic structure doctrine protecting the republic.

Related concepts

• Rule by law

Read more

• Democracy and republic: India as a democratic republic