Phenomenal Collection of 5 op English Essays for students on 1. Essay on judicial independence 2. Essay on Public Interest Litigation 3. Essay on Constitutionalism 4. Essay ‘non-governing elite 5. Essay on New International Economic Order
5 Top English Essays
1. Essay on judicial independence
The Constitution seeks to ensure the independence of Supreme Court Judges in various ways. Judges are generally appointed on the basis of seniority and not on political preference.
A Judge of the Supreme Court cannot be removed from office except by an order of the President passed after an address in each House of Parliament supported by a majority of the total membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of members present and voting, and presented to the President in the same Session for such removal on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity.
The salary and allowances of a judge of the Supreme Court cannot be reduced after appointment. A person who has been a Judge of the Supreme Court is debarred from practicing in any court of law or before any other authority in India.
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Powers to punish contempt:
Under Articles 129 and 142 of the Constitution the Supreme Court has been vested with power to punish anyone for contempt of any law court in India including itself. The Supreme Court performed an unprecedented action when it directed a sitting Minister of the state of Maharashtra, Swaroop Singh Naik, to be jailed for 1 month on a charge of contempt of court on 12 May 2006. This was the first time that a serving Minister was ever jailed.
With reference to the State of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) it would be relevant to note that, J&K has for various historical reasons a special status vis-a-vis the other states of India. Article 370 of the Constitution of India carves out certain exceptions for J&K. The Constitution of India is not fully applicable to the state of J&K.
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This is the effect of Article 370. The Constitution of India is applicable to the state of J&K with various modifications and exceptions. These are provided for in the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954.
Also, Jammu and Kashmir, unlike the other Indian states, also has its own Constitution. Although the Constitution of India is applicable to Jammu and Kashmir with numerous modifications, the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954 makes Article 141 applicable to the state of J&K and hence law declared by Supreme Court is equally applicable to all courts of J&K including the High Court.
2. Essay on Public Interest Litigation
In Indian law public interest litigation means litigation for the protection of the public interest. It is litigation introduced in a court of law, not by the aggrieved party but by the court itself or by any other private party. It is not necessary, for the exercise of the court’s jurisdiction, that the person who is the victim of the violation of his or her right should personally approach the court.
Public interest litigation is the power given to the public by courts through judicial activism. However, the person filing the petition must prove to the satisfaction of the court that the petition is being filed for a public interest and not just as frivilous litigation by a busy body.
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Such cases may occur when the victim does not have the necessary resources to commence litigation or his freedom to move court has been suppressed or encroached upon. The court can itself take cognizance of the matter and precede suomotu or cases can commence on the petition of any public- spirited individual.
Prior to the 1980s, only the aggrieved party could approach the courts for justice. However, post 1980s and after the emergency era, the apex court decided to reach out to the people and hence it devised an innovative way wherein a person or a civil society group could approach the supreme court seeking legal remedies in cases where public interest is at stake. Justice P. N. Bhagwati and Justice V. R. Krishna Eyre were among the first judges to admit PIL’s in the court. Filing a PIL is not as cumbersome as any other legal case and there have been instances when even letters and telegrams addressed to the court have been taken up as PIL’s and heard by the court.
3. Essay on Constitutionalism
Constitutionalism is a modern concept that desires a political order governed by laws and regulations. It stands for the supremacy of law and not of the individuals; it imbibes the principles of nationalism, democracy and limited government. Constitutionalism in a formal sense denotes the principle and practice under which a community is governed by a constitution.
Karl Freidrich says, constitutionalism is both a theory and a practice about politics according to rule of the game. Rules of the game are needed to restraint the government. It is a system of restraint of government. Constitutionalism is based on the belief in a limited government and in the use of constitution to impose these limitations.
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Constitutionalism in the proper sense of the term is still in the process of evolution. According to Karl Loe Wenstein, the ancient great empires -Egypt, Babylonia, Persia had no constitutional process, instead evolved what he called transcendental constitutionalism where the ruler and the ruled were all subject to divine law pronounced by prophets.
However, the true origin of this concept is found in ancient Greeks thinkers who challenged mythological legitimisation of power. Subsequently Roman constitutionalism also came into being and after the decline of the Roman Empire, medieval constitutionalism sought to invoke natural law, sometimes identified it with divine law. But all these were partly sedimentary forms of constitutionalism. It was only towards the end of middle ages that significant advance was made in the direction of modern constitutionalism.
Theories of Constitutionalism
Conservative Theory Greek, Roman and Medieval:
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Greek and Roman: Both were more practice than theory. Both had certain value preferences. This value preference was stability and strength as systems. Both had preference for restraints.
Roman constitutionalism is known to us through oblivious. The Roman constitutional according to Polybius consisted of-Rule supported by laws which in turn were supported by Religion.
In the Medieval period, the role of Church is important. Church restricts the monarch from becoming a tyrant. According to Christendom ‘only those laws are good which have their base in religion’. Political thinkers followed the trend set by St. Augustine and St. Thomas in making secular authority subsequent to the authority of the Church.
This baleful mate of affairs could not be remedied until after a period of about 800 years. The national monarchs raised their heads to overthrow the discredited hold of the papacy. Liberal Theory
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Hobbes rejected the idea of constitutionalism. He was in favour of unrestricted power in the hand of Leviathan. Thomas Harrington was in favour of government of laws. He was against government of men.
Locke favoured constitutionalism, limited government, people have right to give themselves a constitution. He talks about natural rights. It restricts the government. He was in favour of division of law making power. This was an attempt to put restriction.
Western writers like Thomas Saine, James Bryce, Harold J. Laski, Herman Rines, Charles H. Mc liawain, C.F. Strong, Carl J. Friedrich etc. have taken a view that constitutionalism is both an end and a means; it is both value free and value ladden, it has normative and empirical dimension.
Whether the constitution is in the form of a document made at a particular time of history as the American constitution was made by the Philadelphia Convention in 1787, or it is in the form of numerous laws, institutions and conventions. Western concept of constitutionalism lays stress on this point that the basic laws of the land should be such that the difference between the government of the people and the constitution of the state is discernible. The constitution is more important than the government.
The western concept of constitutionalism desires a constitutional state with a well acknowledged body of laws arid conventions. It has a legislature, an executive and judiciary all required to work within the prescribed framework by following the defined procedure. If there is a change, it should be peaceful and orderly so that the political system is not subjected to violent stresses and strains.
There is the rule of law ensuring in liberty anti quality to all; there is the freedom of the press to act as the Fourth estate, there is a plural society having freedom for all interests to seek the corridors of power, there is a system that strives to promote international peace, security and justice. Marxist Theory
The Marxists begin their theory by criticising liberal theory. According to them liberal constitutional theory is status quoist. Socialist constitutionalism aims at socialist transformation. The constitutionalism is not an end in itself; it is just a means to implement the ideology of scientific socialism. It is a tool in the hands of the dictatorship of the proletariat that seeks to establish classless society that would eventually turn into a stateless condition of life.
The purpose of having the constitution is not to limit the powers of the government but to make them so vast and comprehensive that the ideal of workers state is realised and a new state comes into being. The real aim of the constitution in such a country is not to ensure liberty and equality, rights and justice for all but to see that the enemies of socialism are destroyed and the new system is firmly consolidated.
The Marxist concept of constitutionalism is based on the principles of a particular ideology of Marxism-Leninism according to which the state is viewed as a class institution whose raison is to act as an instrument of exploitation and oppression by one class over another. What the constitution of the state but the policy of communist party is supreme. State and thus constitutionalism is seen to have class character. It incorporates rights.
4. Essay ‘non-governing elite
In political science and sociology, elite theory is a theory of the state which seeks to describe and explain the power relationships in contemporary society. The theory posits that a small minority, consisting of members of the economic elite and policy-planning networks, holds the most power and that this power is independent of a state’s democratic elections process.
Through positions in corporations or on corporate boards, and influence over the policy-planning networks through financial support of foundations or positions with think tanks or policy-discussion groups, members of the “elite” are able to exert significant power over the policy decisions of corporations and governments. A recent example of this can be found in the Forbes Magazine December 2009 entitled The World’s Most Powerful People, in which Forbes purported to list the 67 most powerful people in the world.
Pareto emphasized the psychological and intellectual superiority that the Elites obtained, he believed that the elites were the highest accomplishers in any field and he discussed how there were two types of Elites:
1. Governing elites
2. Non-governing elites.
He also extended on the idea that a whole elite can be replaced by a new one and how one can circulate from being elite to nonelite.
5. Essay on New International Economic Order
The New International Economic Order (NIEO) was a set of proposals put forward during the 1970s by some developing countries through the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to promote their interests by improving their terms of trade, increasing development assistance, developed- country tariff reductions, and other means.
It was meant to be a revision of the international economic system in favour of Third World countries, replacing the Bretton Woods system, which had benefited the leading states that had created it-especially the United States.
1. Developing countries must be entitled to regulate and control the activities of multinational corporations operating within their territory.
2. They must be free to nationalize or expropriate foreign property on conditions favourable to them.
3. They must be free to set up associations of primary commodities producers similar to the OPEC; all other States must recognize this right and refrain from taking economic, military, or political measures calculated to restrict it.
4. International trade should be based on the need to ensure stable, equitable, and remunerative for raw materials, generalized non-reciprocal and non-discriminatory tariff preferences, as well as transfer of technology to developing countries; and should provide economic and technical assistance without any strings attached.
Price regulation is inefficient :
According to Professor Harry Johnson, the most efficient way to help the poor is to transfer resources from those most able to pay to those most in need. Instead of this, NIEO proposes that those poor countries that have monopoly power should be able to extort these transfers. In practice such power has caused most harm to other poor countries.
Commanding prices above their natural level usually reduces consumption and thus causes unemployment among producers. Moreover, price regulation typically gives the extra income to those in control of who is allowed to produce, e.g., to governments or land-owners.
Free trade and investments are needed instead :
The most efficient ways to promote the development of poor countries would, instead, be that their governments would govern in a reliable, predictable way and allow their citizens to invest. Also free trade would help the poor countries. This requires also the poor countries to give up protectionism.
Social change refers to an alteration in the social order of a social group or society; a change in the nature, social institutions, social behaviours or social relations of a society.
Social change is a very basic term and must be assigned further context. It may refer to the notion of social progress or sociocultural evolution; the philosophical idea that society moves forward by dialectical or evolutionary means. It may refer to a paradigmatic change in the socio-economic structure, for instance a shift away from feudalism and towards Capitalism. Accordingly it may also refer to social revolution, such as Communist revolution presented in Marxism, or to other social movements, such as women’s suffice or the Civil rights movement. Social change may be driven by cultural, religious, economic, scientific or technological forces.
Hegelian:
The classic Hegelian dialectic model of change is based on the interaction of opposing forces. Starting from a point of momentary stasis, Thesis countered by Antithesis first yields conflict, then it subsequently results in a new Synthesis.
Marxist:
Marxism presents a dialectical and materialist concept of history; Humankind’s history is a fundamental struggle between Social classes.
Kuhnian:
The philosopher of science, Thomas Kuhn argues in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions with respect to the Copernican Revolution that people are unlikely to jettison an unworkable paradigm, despite many indications that the paradigm is not functioning properly, until a better paradigm can be presented.
Heraclitan:
The Greek philosopher Heraclitus used the metaphor of a river to speak of change thus, “On those stepping into rivers staying the same other and other waters flow” (DK22B12). What Heraclitus seems to be suggesting here, later interpretations notwithstanding, is that, in order for the river to remain the river, change must constantly be taking place? Thus, one may think of the Heraclitan model as parallel to that of a living organism, which, in order to remain alive, must constantly be changing.
Daoist:
The Chinese philosophical work Dao De Jing, 1.8 and 11.78 uses the metaphor of water as the ideal agent of change. Water, although soft and yielding, will eventually wear away stone. Change in this model is to be natural, harmonious and steady, albeit imperceptible.
Resource-based economy:
Jacque Fresco’s concept of a resource-based economy that replaces the need for the current monetary economy, which is “scarcity-oriented” or “scarcity-based”. Fresco argues that the world is rich in natural resources and energy and that-with modern technology and judicious efficiency-the needs of the global population can be met with abundance, while at the same time removing the current limitations of what is deemed possible due to notions of economic viability.
Nonviolence (ahimsa) is a philosophy and strategy for social change that rejects the use of violence. Thus, nonviolence is an alternative to passive acceptance of oppression or of armed struggle against it. Nonviolence practitioners use diverse methods in their campaigns for social change, including critical forms, of education and persuasion, civil disobedience and nonviolent direct action, and targeted communication via mass media.
In modern times, nonviolence is a powerful tool for social protest. There are many examples of its use in nonviolent resistance and nonviolent revolution, including Mahatrna Gandhi leading a decades- long nonviolent struggle against British rule in India, which eventually helped win its independence in 1947, Martin Luther King’s adoption of Gandhi’s nonviolent methods in the struggle to win civil rights for African Americans, and Cesar Chavez’s campaigns of nonviolence in the 1960s to protest the treatment of farm workers in California.
The 1989 “Velvet Revolution” in Czechoslovakia that saw the overthrow of the Communist government is considered one of the most important of the largely nonviolent Revolutions of 1989. Most recently the nonviolent campaigns of Leymah Gbowee and the women of Liberia were able to achieve peace after a 14-year civil war. This story is captured in a 2008 documentary film Pray the Devil Back to Hell. In an essay, ‘To Abolish War,” evolutionary biologist Judith Hand advocated for the use of nonviolent direct action to dismantle the global war machine.
The term “nonviolence” is often linked with or even used as a synonym for pacifism; however, the two concepts are fundamentally different. Pacifism denotes the rejection of the use of violence as a personal decision on moral or spiritual grounds, but does not inherently imply any inclination toward change on a sociopolitical level. Nonviolence on the other hand, presupposes the intent of (but does not limit it to) social or political change as a reason for the rejection of violence. Also, a person may advocate nonviolence in a specific context while advocating violence in other contexts.