Consider the following statements:
A Constitutional Government is one which
- 1.places effective restrictions on individual liberty in the interest of State Authority
- 2.places effective restrictions on the Authority of the State in the interest of individual liberty
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) 2 only
Constitutional government means limited government. The constitution sets limits on what the State can do, and these limits protect the individual's rights and liberty. So statement 2 is correct. Statement 1 reverses the idea and describes an authoritarian State.
- ✗ 1. A constitution does not restrict individual liberty to serve State authority. It does the opposite. Putting liberty below State authority is the feature of authoritarian rule, not of constitutional government.
- ✓ 2. A constitution limits government power, most commonly by guaranteeing fundamental rights that no government may violate. These effective limits on the State's authority protect individual liberty.
Remember · Constitutionalism means limited government. The constitution restrains State power, for example through Fundamental Rights, to safeguard individual liberty, not the other way round.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Indian Constitution at Work, Ch 1 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 11 · Indian Constitution at Work, Chapter 1 “The most common way of limiting the power of government is to specify certain fundamental rights that all of us possess as citizens and which no government can ever be allowed to violate.”
Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·
