The Parliamentary System: Legislature and Executive

Why This Matters

Who makes the rules for our whole country?

Think about your school. Someone decides the rules. Someone makes sure the rules are followed. And someone settles fights when there is a problem. A whole country needs the same three jobs, but much, much bigger.

India is a huge country. Over a billion people live here. Roads, schools, hospitals, taxes, the army — all of it needs rules. And someone must run all of it every single day.

So who decides our laws? Who runs the country? And how do we stop any one person from grabbing all the power? These are big questions. Our Constitution (the big book of rules for India) answers them.

The answer is the parliamentary system. It is the way India shares power so that no single person becomes a king. Power is split up. Leaders are chosen by us. And leaders must answer to us.

In this chapter, you will meet the Parliament — the place where our laws are born. You will see how a simple idea travels a long road to become a law. And you will learn the difference between the people who make laws and the people who run the country. By the end, you will understand how India governs itself.

The Big Idea

India’s government does not put all power in one pair of hands. Instead, it splits the work three ways. The legislature (the Parliament) makes the laws. The executive (the President, the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers) runs the country and puts those laws into action. The judiciary (the courts) checks that everyone follows the Constitution. The Parliament itself has two houses — the Lok Sabha (chosen directly by the people) and the Rajya Sabha (chosen by the states). This sharing and checking is what keeps India a democracy: power flows from the people, and leaders must always answer back to the people.

Let’s Break It Down

What is the Parliament?

Let us start with a simple idea. In a democracy, the people are the boss. But over a billion people cannot all sit in one room and make laws together. That is impossible.

So we do the next best thing. We choose representatives. A representative is a person we pick to speak and act for us. We vote for them. The ones who win go to a big meeting place in Delhi to make laws on our behalf.

That big law-making body is called the Parliament. It is the supreme law-making body of India. “Supreme” means the highest — no other body in the country can make laws above it.

Here is the chain of trust. The people vote. The winners become Members of Parliament (we call them MPs). The group with the most MPs forms the government. So the government is really running with the people’s permission. That permission is the whole point.

Before we go further, let us refresh one idea you met earlier.

One more important word. Every adult Indian citizen gets to vote, no matter how rich or poor, man or woman, of any religion or background. This right is called Universal Adult Franchise (“franchise” is an old word for the right to vote). It means every adult counts the same — one person, one vote. This is what makes the choosing fair.

The two houses: Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha

Now here is something interesting. The Parliament is not one room. It has two houses (a “house” here means a chamber, a hall where members sit and debate). A two-house system has a special name: bicameral. Break the word up — “bi” means two, and “cameral” means chamber. So bicameral simply means “two chambers”.

The Parliament is made of the President plus these two houses. Figure 6.1 below shows this whole structure. Take a look first, and then we will go through each part.

Tap to zoom

Let us meet the two houses.

The Lok Sabha is the House of the People. It is also called the Lower House. Its members are chosen by you and me — by direct voting. Every adult votes, and the winners become MPs of the Lok Sabha. The Constitution allows it a maximum of 550 members. Because it comes straight from the people, the Lok Sabha is the voice of the people.

The Rajya Sabha is the Council of States. It is also called the Upper House. Its members are not chosen by direct public voting. Instead, they are chosen indirectly — the elected representatives of each state pick them. So the Rajya Sabha is the voice of the states.

But wait — why do we need a second house at all? Would one house not be simpler?

The Constitution makers thought hard about this. They felt one house, chosen only by direct vote, was not enough for a country as big and varied as India. India is a federal country. That means power is shared between the centre (the union government), the states, and local bodies. This balance keeps the whole country united while letting each state have a say.

So a second house was created on purpose, to give the states a special voice. The Rajya Sabha makes sure the smaller and quieter states are heard, and not just bulldozed by the bigger ones. It also takes a calm “second look” at every law, which catches mistakes. Two houses checking each other is safer than one house deciding alone.

Each house needs someone to run its meetings in an orderly way. We call this person the presiding officer. In the Lok Sabha, the members elect a Speaker. The Speaker conducts the sessions, decides who may speak, keeps discipline, and makes sure the rules are followed. The Rajya Sabha is presided over by the Vice President of India, who acts as its chairperson.

Let us put the two houses side by side so the differences are crystal clear. Figure 6.2 below compares them point by point.

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Here is a quick table you can use to revise the two houses together.

The legislature and the executive (and why they are separate)

Now we reach the heart of the chapter. There are two big jobs in running a country.

The first job is to make the laws. The second job is to run the country and put those laws into action. These are different jobs, done by different groups. The Constitution gives them different names.

• The legislature is the law-making body. That is the Parliament (the President plus the two houses). “Legislate” means to make laws.
• The executive is the law-running body. That is the President, the Vice President, and the Council of Ministers led by the Prime Minister. “Execute” means to carry out or do.

Think of it like building a house. The legislature is like the people who draw the plan and decide what the house should be. The executive is like the builders who actually build it brick by brick. Planning and building are two different jobs.

But here is the deep question NCERT often skips: why keep them separate at all? Why not let one powerful group both make the laws and run the country?

The answer is about safety. Imagine if the same small group could write any rule it liked and enforce it however it wished, with no one to question them. That group could easily turn into a tyrant. It could make unfair laws and force them on everyone. There would be no check.

So we deliberately split the power. This splitting has a name: separation of powers. When the work is shared, each part can watch the others. The legislature can question the executive. The executive must answer. And as we will see, the courts watch both. No single part can grow too powerful. This is the quiet genius of the system — it protects your rights by making sure power is never all in one place.

Figure 6.3 below lays out exactly who does what, and shows the checks between them.

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The President, the Prime Minister, and the Council of Ministers

Let us look more closely at the executive — the group that actually runs the country. It has a clear order.

At the top sits the President. The President is the Head of State — the highest, most respected post in the country. The President appoints the Prime Minister and the other ministers, calls (or “summons”) the Parliament to meet, and gives assent to bills (assent means the final yes that turns a bill into a law).

But here is a point that surprises many students. The President is the nominal head of the executive. “Nominal” means in name. The President holds the top position, but does not run the country day to day. The President mostly acts on the advice of the Council of Ministers. (In some rare crises — for example, when no party wins a clear majority in the Lok Sabha — the President can use their own judgement. But these are special cases.)

So who actually runs the country? The Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister is the de facto head of the executive. “De facto” means in real life, in actual practice. Here is how the Prime Minister is chosen: after an election, the President appoints the leader of the majority party or coalition in the Lok Sabha as Prime Minister. So the Prime Minister is the leader of the team that won the most seats. The PM stays in power only while a majority of Lok Sabha MPs support them.

The Prime Minister’s main jobs include:

• Leading the Council of Ministers (the team of ministers).
• Advising the President.
• Coordinating the work of the different ministries (health, defence, railways, and so on).
• Shaping national policies (the big plans for the country).

The Council of Ministers is the team that helps the PM run the country. Each minister looks after one area, like health or education. Importantly, the ministers are picked from among the MPs of both houses. And they are collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha — meaning they stand or fall together as a team, and they must answer to the elected house.

Behind the ministers stands another quiet group: the civil servants, also called administrators or bureaucrats. These are permanent officials. Ministers come and go with elections, but civil servants stay on. They work under the ministers and make sure government departments run smoothly day after day.

How a bill becomes a law (the steps)

We keep saying the legislature “makes laws”. But how, exactly? A law is not made in one quick moment. It travels a long, careful road. Let us walk it.

First, two small words. A bill is a draft of a proposed law — like a rough first version, not yet final. An act is a bill that has fully passed and become a real law. So a bill is the seed, and an act is the grown plant. The journey from bill to act is long on purpose, so that bad laws get caught before they are passed.

Figure 6.4 below shows the whole journey as a flow, step by step. Follow the arrows from top to bottom.

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Let us go through the steps in plain words.

1. Introduced in one house. Someone (usually a minister) brings the bill into the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha. This is called “tabling” the bill.
2. The bill is read. The contents of the bill are read out so the MPs know what it says. (This habit comes from old times when many members could not read, so a clerk read the bill aloud. Today MPs read it before the debate.)
3. It may go to a Standing Committee. A standing committee is a permanent group of MPs that studies the bill carefully and suggests changes. (The members may change over time, but the committee itself stays.) Note: not every bill is sent to a committee.
4. Clause-by-clause discussion. A clause is one specific part of the bill. The house goes through the bill part by part, and votes on any changes (amendments).
5. The house votes on the whole bill. If most members say yes, it passes in that house.
6. The same process is repeated in the other house. The bill now goes to the second house and goes through the same steps there. Both houses must agree.
7. The President gives assent. After both houses pass it, the bill goes to the President for the final yes.
8. Gazette notification. The new law is announced in the gazette (the official government publication). Now the bill has become an act — a real law.

There is a special rule for one kind of bill. A Money Bill deals with money matters — taxes, government borrowing, and such. A Money Bill can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha, not the Rajya Sabha. Why? Because the Lok Sabha is the house chosen directly by the people, and it is the people’s money the government is spending. So decisions about money begin with the people’s own house.

Let us trace a real example so the steps feel alive. The worked example below follows the famous Right to Education (RTE) Act.

Accountability: how the people keep a check

We have said the executive must “answer” to the legislature. This is one of the most important ideas in the whole chapter, so let us slow down and ask why it matters and how it works.

Why does it matter? Because the government spends our money and rules in our name. If no one could question the government, it could do as it pleased. So the Constitution makes the executive accountable — meaning it must explain and justify its actions. This keeps the government honest. Power is borrowed from the people, so it must answer back to the people.

How does it work in practice? Here are the main ways.

• Question Hour. Usually the first hour of a sitting, when MPs can ask ministers direct questions about the government’s policies and actions. The minister must stand up and answer. This is a powerful spotlight.
• Committees. Special committees call ministries in to explain their work. These committees often include MPs from different political parties, so the questioning is not one-sided.
• Collective responsibility. The whole Council of Ministers stands together. If the Lok Sabha loses trust in the government, the government cannot continue.

There is also financial accountability. The Parliament approves and watches the government’s spending through the yearly budget. It checks how much money goes to each ministry. (Remember the hint from the textbook: whose money is the government spending? Ours. So Parliament keeps a close eye on it.)

Here is a moving real example of accountability in action. In 1956, Railway Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri resigned after a train accident. He was not personally blamed for it. But he believed a minister must take moral responsibility for whatever happens in their ministry. Prime Minister Nehru did not want to accept his resignation, but Shastri insisted. That is what accountability looks like when leaders take it seriously.

The judiciary: the third watchman

We have met the legislature and the executive. But there is a third branch we should not forget: the judiciary — the courts.

The judiciary’s job is to interpret and apply the laws, and to settle disputes. But it has one more special power. It is the custodian (guardian) of the Constitution. It checks that both the legislature and the executive stay inside the rules of the Constitution.

So if Parliament passes a law that breaks the Constitution, the courts can step in. And if the executive carries out a law in a way that breaks the Constitution, the courts can step in again. (You saw this guardian role in Figure 6.3 above, with the courts checking both sides.)

Now you can see the full picture. The legislature makes laws. The executive runs the country. The judiciary checks both against the Constitution. This three-way sharing, with each side watching the others, is called checks and balances. It is what makes sure no single organ becomes too powerful — and it is what protects the rights of ordinary citizens like you.

The same system in the states

One last piece. Everything we learned about the union (central) level is mirrored at the state level. Each state has its own legislature and its own executive.

• Just as the union has MPs who make laws in Parliament, each state has MLAs (Members of Legislative Assembly) who make laws for the state.
• The state’s lower house is the Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly), like the Lok Sabha.
• Some states also have an upper house, the Vidhan Parishad (Legislative Council), like the Rajya Sabha. States with two houses are bicameral; states with only the Vidhan Sabha are unicameral (one house).
• The state’s nominal head is the Governor (like the President), and its real, de facto head is the Chief Minister (like the Prime Minister).

Who makes laws on what? The Constitution sorts subjects into lists. The Union List holds subjects only the centre can legislate on (like defence). The State List holds subjects only states handle (like local police). And the Concurrent List holds subjects both can legislate on (like education). If the centre and a state clash on a Concurrent List subject, the centre’s law wins. This neat sharing of subjects is what federalism looks like in action.

Common Mistakes

Here are some slip-ups students make about this topic. Read them once, and you will not be fooled.

Quick Check

Try these quick questions. Each one checks one idea from the chapter.

Practice Problems

Try each one on your own first. Only then tap to see the full answer.

Easy

Medium

Challenge

Summary

Here is everything you can now explain to a friend:

• The Parliament is India’s supreme law-making body. We elect MPs, and the group with the most MPs forms the government, which runs with the people’s consent.
• The Parliament has two houses (a bicameral system): the Lok Sabha (House of the People, elected directly) and the Rajya Sabha (Council of States, elected indirectly to give the states a voice in our federal country).
• The Speaker presides over the Lok Sabha; the Vice President presides over the Rajya Sabha.
• The legislature (Parliament) makes the laws; the executive (President, PM and Council of Ministers) runs the country and carries out the laws. They are kept separate so that no single group becomes too powerful — this is the separation of powers.
• The President is the nominal head, while the Prime Minister is the de facto head who actually runs the government. Ministers are chosen from the MPs and are collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha.
• A bill (a draft law) becomes an act (a real law) by passing both houses, getting the President’s assent, and being notified in the gazette. A Money Bill can start only in the Lok Sabha.
• The executive is accountable to the legislature through Question Hour, committees, and the budget, so the government must always justify its actions.
• The judiciary (the courts) guards the Constitution and checks both the legislature and the executive — together this is checks and balances.
• The states copy this same design, with MLAs, a Vidhan Sabha, a Chief Minister, and a Governor.

What’s Next

Now you understand how India makes its laws and runs the country, and how power is shared so that it can never all sit in one pair of hands. That is the framework of our democracy.

But a country is not only about rules and leaders. It also needs to produce things — food, goods, and services — to feed and clothe and serve all its people. How does that happen? What do we need to make anything at all?

In the next chapter, Chapter 7 — Factors of Production, we will switch from how the country is governed to how it produces. We will meet the basic ingredients — like land, labour and capital — that go into making everything around us. Get ready to see the economy in a whole new way!