WORK SHEET

ACADEMIC SESSION 2024 – 2025

GRADE – 9 (Democratic Politics)
Chapter-Constitutional Design
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Q1. What is apartheid?
(a) Election in proportion to population
(b) Official policy of discrimination against the Blacks
(c) Equality among all
(d) None of the above
Q2.In which way did the system of apartheid discriminate among the South
Africans?
(a) Restricted social contacts between the races
(b) Segregation of public facilities
(c) Created race-specific job categories
(d) All the above
Q3.Name the organization that led the struggle against the policies of
segregation.
(a) African National Conference
(b) African Neutral Congress
(c) African National Congress
(d) All National Party
Q4.Why did the white regime decide to change its policies?
(a) Increase in protests and struggles
(b) Government realized that repression was becoming difficult
(c) Rise of sympathetic attitude in government for the blacks
(d) Both (a) and (b)
Q5.Which of these did not form a part of the changed attitude of South African
government?
(a) Discriminatory laws were repealed
(b) Ban on political parties and media was lifted
(c) Nelson Mandela was freed from imprisonment
(d) More discriminatory laws were passed
Q6.When did South Africa become a democratic country?
(a) 26 April 1995 (b) 26 April 1994 (c) 24 March 1994 (d) 27 April 1996
Q7.With the end of apartheid, who became the first President of South African
Republic?
(a) F.W. de Klerk (b) P.W. Botha (c) Nelson Mandela (d) None of the above
Q8.Name the autobiography of Nelson Mandela.
(a) The Long Walk to Freedom (b) South Africa Wins Freedom (c) Walk to
Freedom (d) Our Freedom
Q9.Match these guiding values with their meanings.
(A) Sovereign (i)Government will not favor any religion
(B) Republic (ii)People will have supreme right to make decisions without
Outside Interference
(C) Fraternity (iii)Head of the state is an elected person
(D) Secular (iv)There should be a feeling of brotherhood among all the people
Q10.The Indian constitution has borrowed from
(i) Ideas from French Revolution (ii) The British Constitution (iii) The Bill of Rights
of the US (iv) Israeli Constitution
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 (a) i, ii, iv (b) i, ii, iii (c) ii, iii, iv (d) i, ii, iv

Q11.An introductory statement in a constitution which states the reasons and

guiding values of the constitution is Preamble

Q1. What were the steps involved in the framing of the Indian Constitution?
Answer:
i. The drafting of the document called the constitution was done by an
assembly of elected representatives called the Constituent Assembly.
ii. Elections to the Constituent Assembly were held in July 1946. Its first
meeting was held in December 1946.
iii. Soon after, the country was divided into India and Pakistan. The
Constituent Assembly was also divided into the Constituent Assembly of
India and that of Pakistan.
iv. The Constituent Assembly that wrote the Indian Constitution had 299
members.
v. The Assembly adopted the Constitution on 26 November 1949, and it
came into force on 26 January 1950.

Q2. What are the four main ideals enshrined in the Preamble of the Indian
constitution?
Answer: The ideals written in the Preamble of the Constitution are as under:
 Justice: Every citizen of India will have social, economic, and political
justice.
 Liberty: Every citizen will have the liberty of thought, expression, belief,
faith, and worship.
 Equality: Every citizen will be provided with the equality of status and
opportunity.
 fraternity: All the citizens of India have been assured about the dignity of
individual and the unity and integrity of the nation.

Q3. What are the various functions of a constitution? Or why do we need

Constitution? Or explain the significance of Constitution.
Answer: A Constitution performs several functions such as:
 It generates a degree of trust and coordination that is necessary for
different kind of people to live together.
 It specifies how the government will be constituted, and who will have
power of taking which decisions.
 It lays down limits on the powers of the government and tells us what the
rights of the citizens are.
 It expresses the aspirations of the people about creating a good society.

Q4. Why should we accept the Constitution made by the Assembly more than
fifty years ago?
Answer:
i. The Constitution does not reflect the views of its members alone. It
expresses a broad consensus of its time. Many countries of the world
have had to rewrite their Constitution afresh because the basic rules were
not accepted to all major social groups or political parties. Over the last
half a century, several groups have questioned some provisions of the

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 Constitution. But no large social group or political party has ever
questioned the legitimacy of the Constitution itself. This is an unusual
achievement for any constitution.
ii. The second reason for accepting the Constitution is that the Constituent
Assembly represented the people of India. There was no universal adult
franchise at that time. So, the Constituent Assembly could not have been
chosen directly by all the people of India.

Q5. Why is the Preamble called the soul of the Indian Constitution?
Answer: The Preamble called the soul of the Indian Constitution because:
i. It contains the philosophy on which the entire constitution has been built.
ii. It provides a standard to examine and evaluate any law and action of
government, to find out whether it is good or bad. It is the soul of the
Indian Constitution.

Q6. Why did the South African people need a constitution?

Answer:
The people of South Africa, need a constitution because:
 The oppressor and the oppressed in this new democracy were planning to
live together as equals. It was not going to be easy for them to trust each
other. They had their fears.
 They wanted to safeguard their interests. The Black majority was keen to
ensure that the democratic principle of majority rule was not
compromised.
 They wanted substantial social and economic rights.

Rajendra Prasad (1884-1963) born: Bihar. President of the Constituent

Assembly. Lawyer, known for his role in the Champaran satyagraha. Three times
the president of Congress. Later: the first President of India.

Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891-1956) born: Madhya Pradesh. Chairman of

the Drafting Committee. Social revolutionary thinker and agitator against caste
divisions and caste-based inequalities. Later: Law minister in the first cabinet of
post-independence India. Founder of Republican Party of India.

Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (1901-1953) born: West Bengal. Minister for Industry
and Supply in the Interim Government. Educationist and lawyer. Active in Hindu
Mahasabha. Later: Founder President of Bhartiya Jansangh.

Sarojini Naidu-(1879-1949) born: Andhra Pradesh. Poet, writer and political

activist. Among the foremost women leaders in the Congress. Later: Governor of
Uttar Pradesh.

Jawaharlal Nehru- (1889-1964) born: Uttar Pradesh. Prime Minister of the interim
government. Lawyer and Congress leader. Advocate of socialism, democracy
and anti-imperialism. Later: First Prime Minister of India.

Kanhaiyalal Maniklal Munshi (1887-1971) born: Gujarat. Advocate, historian and

linguist. Congress leader and Gandhian. Later: Minister in the Union Cabinet.
Founder of the Swatantra Party.

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 Define the following Terms:
a) Apartheid: The official policy of racial separation and ill treatment of blacks
followed by the government of South Africa between 1948 and 1989.

b) Clause: A distinct section of a document.

Constituent Assembly: An assembly of people’s representatives that writes a

constitution for a country.

c)Constitution: Supreme law of a country, containing fundamental rules

governing the politics and society in a country. Constitutional

d)Constitutional amendment: A change in the constitution made by the supreme

legislative body in a country.

e) Draft: A preliminary version of a legal document. Philosophy: The most

fundamental principles underlying one’s thoughts and actions.

f) Preamble: An introductory statement in a constitution which states the reasons

and guiding values of the constitution.

g) Treason: The offence of attempting to overthrow the government of the state

to which the offender owes allegiance.

h) Tryst: A meeting or meeting place that has been agreed upon

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