5th February 2024 (9 Topics)
'We the People' and Civil Society
Context:
Democracy is a vibrant idea with multitude of voices and opinions. The functioning of it under the constitution demands that all such voices are given space. In this aspect Civil Society plays a vital role. It not only furthers the voice but also act as an agent of maintaining popular sovereignty.
1. Popular Sovereignty in Constitutional Discourse:
- Revolutionary Potential: The revolutionary potential of the Indian Constitution lies in the concept of popular sovereignty. Constitutionalism developed as a result of inter-generational discourse in Indian political thought during the pre-founding colonial period.
- Inter-generational Discourse: The decades-long process of dialogue among political actors that led to the enactment of the Constitution, focusing on the character of the envisaged republic.
- Preamble's Anchoring: Analyzing the explicit anchoring of the republic's legitimizing ends in the Preamble, emphasizing justice, liberty, and equality for all Indian citizens.
2. Elite vs. Non-Elite Spheres in Civil Society:
- Inert Elite Public Sphere: Observing the inertia of the traditional elite public sphere, influenced by the western tradition, in the face of challenges to prevailing constitutional governance.
- Forceful Democratic Claims: Recognizing the forceful democratic claims to popular sovereignty originating from the non-elite counter-sphere, encompassing social movements, farmers, labor groups, and human rights activists.
- Need for Equality: Emphasizing the necessity of according complete equality to counter-sphere political actors within civil society for the liberatory potential of democratic forms of popular assertions.
3. Civil Society for Pluralism: Gandhi and Ambedkar's Perspectives:
- Ambedkar's Framing of the Preamble: Exploring B.R. Ambedkar's framing of the Preamble as heralding a way of life that recognizes the inseparability of liberty, equality, and fraternity.
- Gandhi's Notion of Swaraj: Understanding Mahatma Gandhi's conception of Swaraj as a creative process of self-realization and the means to achieve it through 'satyagraha' (truth force and love force).
- Pluralist Civil Society: Advocating for a pluralist civil society structured on the free and equal participation of every community, fostering honest and introspective dialogue for mutual understanding.
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