CLASS 9

CHAPTER-2 (CIVICS)

CONSTITUTIONAL DESIGN

Q1. What was apartheid?

Ans. Apartheid was the official policy of racial separation and ill treatment of blacks followed by the government of South Africa between 1948 and 1989.

Q2. Why was Nelson Mandela sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964?

Ans. He was sentenced to life imprisonment because he dared to oppose the apartheid regime of the white South African government in his country.

Q3. What was called the constituent assembly?

Ans. The drafting of Indian Constitution was done by an assembly of elected representatives called the constituent assembly.

Q4. What is called the Preamble of the Constitution?

Ans. Our constitution begins with a short statement of its basic values. This is called the Preamble of the constitution. It is the preface or the introduction of the constitution.

Q5. What are constitutional amendments?

Ans. Our constitution is a very long and detailed document. Therefore it needs to be amended quite regularly to keep it updated. The makers of the Indian Constitution made provisions to incorporate changes from time to time. These changes are called constitutional amendments.

Q6. How was the apartheid system oppressive for the blacks?

Ans.

  • White rulers treated blacks as inferiors.
  • Blacks did not have right to vote.
  • Blacks were forbidden from living in white areas.
  • Trains, buses, taxis, hotels, hospitals, schools, colleges, cinema halls beaches and public places were all separate for the whites and the Blacks.
  • They could not form associations or protest against the terrible system of apartheid.

Q7. What is a constitution? What are its functions?

Ans. A constitution of a country is a set of written rules that are accepted by all the people living together in a country.

Functions-

  • It generates a degree of trust and co-ordination that is necessary for different kinds of people to live together.
  • It specifies how the government will be constituted, who will have power to take which decisions.
  • It lays down limits on the powers of the government and tells us what the rights of the citizen are.
  • It expresses the aspirations of the people about creating a good society.

Q8. Explain the guiding values of the constitution of India.

Ans.

  • We the people of India- the constitution has been drawn up and enacted by the people through their representatives and not handed down to them by a king or any outside powers.