Independent India Adopted a Modified Version of the Westminster Model of Government – Explained

Independent India adopted a modified version of the Westminster model of government. The most fundamental modification was, of course, the combination of the parliamentary system with federalism and Fundamental Rights of citizens and Directive Principles of State Policy.

Another equally important departure is the replacement of monarchy by a Republican Presidency, although the two are functionally comparable in their limited and strictly nominal role for all practical purposes and their pomp and pageantry.

A second feature of the Westminster model adopted by India without any modification is the fusion of powers between the Executive and the Parliament. Parliament technically means the President in Parliament, and the Prime Minister and his council of ministers spring from the Parliament itself.

The Prime Minister is the fulcrum of the cabinet, which is collectively and individually responsible to the Parliament, specifically to the Lok Sabha.

A third feature is the independence of the judiciary from the legislative and executive control.

A fourth feature of the Union Executive in India is that the ultimate responsibility of the cabinet goes beyond the Parliament to the electorate at large.

Over and above the Presidential prerogative tempered by Parliament majority, the final recourse in the last analysis is the will of the people expressed in electoral mandate and public opinion.

Indian Constitution establishes an executive at the federal level that comprises a constitutional or nominal presidency with an effective Prime Minister and his cabinet.

In a Parliamentary form of Government, the executive power rests with the Prime Minister, the President being the Head of the State. But the Prime Minister exercises the real power.

In Britain, wherein constitutional monarchy is in operation, the Prime Minister is the Head of the Government, and Queen is the Head of the State. India is a republic and as such the elected members of the legislatures elect the Head of the State, the President.

The Union Executive consists of the President, Vice-President, the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers. Unlike the American President, the Indian President only enjoys nominal powers. The Government runs in his name but his powers are to be exercised, with only rare exceptions, upon the advice of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers.