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Exercises · Q1

Q.Which of these is not a function of the constitution? (MCQ a-d)

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A constitution structures power, sets limits, and expresses shared values — but it cannot guarantee that the individuals who eventually win power are good people.

The chapter identifies several genuine functions a constitution performs: it gives a guarantee of citizens' rights (the limitations-on-government function, protecting fundamental rights like freedom of speech and protection from arbitrary arrest); it marks out different spheres of power for different branches of government (the balanced-institutional-design function, fragmenting power across the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary so no single institution dominates); and it gives expression to some shared values (the aspirations-and-identity functions, reflected in India's Preamble, Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles). Each of these is a real, textually grounded function the chapter discusses at length.

What a constitution cannot do is guarantee that "good people" — in the sense of personally virtuous or competent individuals — actually come to power. Who wins elections, who gets chosen as a representative, and how capable or honest that person turns out to be, depends on the working of the political process itself (voters' choices, party politics, campaigns) rather than on the constitutional text. A constitution can specify how decision-making power is allocated and limited, but it has no mechanism to screen for the personal quality of the people who eventually occupy those offices.

✓Final answer

Option (c) is correct: "It ensures that good people come to power" is NOT a function of the constitution, because a constitution can structure and limit power but cannot determine the personal character of whoever comes to hold it.

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