Minimalist IAS
Polity & governance

Prelims · Polity & governance · 36 questions

Making of the Constitution, Preamble & features

Every UPSC Prelims question on this topic, 2016–2026, newest first. Tap an option to check yourself; the answer and explanation open below it.

Making of the Constitution, Preamble & features questions per year: 2016: 0, 2017: 3, 2018: 2, 2019: 1, 2020: 2, 2021: 5, 2022: 1, 2023: 3, 2024: 4, 2025: 1, 2026: 1 Asked in 10 of 11 years · most in 2021 (5)

UPSC syllabus: “Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.” See the full syllabus →

Prelims 2020 · Q7

Easy

A constitutional government by definition is a

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) limited government

The defining idea of constitutionalism is that government power is bounded: a constitution sets limits that the government may not cross, chiefly through rights of citizens and a division of powers. A government bound by such limits is a limited government, whatever its form.

  • ✓ (d) A constitution lays down limits on what a government can impose on its citizens, and those limits cannot be trespassed; that is what makes a government 'constitutional'.
  • ✗ (b) A popular (elected or well-liked) government can still act without limits; popularity is not what defines constitutional government.
  • ✗ (a) Rule by the legislature describes where power sits, not whether it is limited; a legislature too is bound by the constitution.

Remember · Constitutionalism = limited government: the constitution restrains every organ of the State, mainly through fundamental rights and separation of powers.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Indian Constitution at Work, Ch 1 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 Indian Constitution at Work, Ch 2 (practise this chapter)

Sources

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2020 · Q8

Medium

Other than the Fundamental Rights, which of the following parts of the Constitution of India reflect/reflects the principles and provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)?

  1. 1.Preamble
  2. 2.Directive Principles of State Policy
  3. 3.Fundamental Duties

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 December 1948) covers dignity and brotherhood, social and economic rights, and the individual's duties to the community. These ideas appear in the Preamble, the Directive Principles and the Fundamental Duties respectively, not only in Part III.

  • ✓ 1. UDHR Article 1 speaks of equal dignity and a spirit of brotherhood; the Preamble promises justice, liberty and equality and a fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual.
  • ✓ 2. UDHR Article 23 gives the right to work and to equal pay for equal work; Directive Principles such as Article 39(d) (equal pay for men and women) and the right to work and education carry the same social and economic rights.
  • ✓ 3. UDHR Article 29 says everyone has duties to the community; Part IVA (Article 51A) lists citizens' duties, such as promoting the spirit of common brotherhood.

Remember · UDHR (10 December 1948) echoes across the Constitution: Fundamental Rights (civil-political), DPSP (socio-economic rights), Preamble (dignity, fraternity) and Fundamental Duties (duties to community, UDHR Art 29).

Sources

  • United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Articles 1 and 23 ↗ “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. … Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible. … Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.”
  • Constitution of India, Preamble ↗ “EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2020 · Q11

Easy

A Parliamentary System of Government is one in which

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) the Government is responsible to the Parliament and can be removed by it

The defining feature of a parliamentary system is that the executive survives only while it keeps the confidence of the legislature. In India the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha, which can remove it at any time.

  • ✓ (b) The Council of Ministers depends on majority support in the legislature and can be removed whenever it loses that support, for example through a no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha.
  • ✗ (d) A government with a fixed term that the legislature cannot remove is a feature of the presidential system, as in the USA, not the parliamentary one.
  • ✗ (c) Voters elect the legislature, not the government directly; the government is formed from the majority in the legislature and answers to it.

Remember · Parliamentary system: executive drawn from and responsible to the legislature, removable any time by loss of confidence. Presidential system: fixed-term executive not removable by the legislature (except impeachment).

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Indian Constitution at Work, Ch 4 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 Indian Constitution at Work, Ch 5 (practise this chapter)

Sources

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2020 · Q13

Hard

Consider the following statements:

  1. 1.The Constitution of India defines its 'basic structure' in terms of federalism, secularism, fundamental rights and democracy.
  2. 2.The Constitution of India provides for 'judicial review' to safeguard the citizens' liberties and to preserve the ideals on which the Constitution is based.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2

UPSC's official answer: (d) · the answer UPSC accepted, and the one that counts in the exam

Also defensible: (b)

  • Statement 1 is wrong on any reading: the Constitution nowhere defines a 'basic structure'; the doctrine is the Supreme Court's (Kesavananda Bharati, 1973).
  • Statement 2 puts 'judicial review' in quotes. The term does not occur in the Constitution ('The term judicial review is nowhere mentioned in the Constitution', NCERT), and UPSC's key reads 'provides for' as asking whether the text names it, so both statements fail and the answer is (d).
  • In substance, however, the Constitution does provide for judicial review: Article 13(2) makes any law that abridges a Fundamental Right void 'to the extent of the contravention', and Article 32(1) guarantees the right to move the Supreme Court to enforce those rights. NCERT says these provisions 'implicitly' give the Court the power of judicial review, and courts strike down laws under them to safeguard liberties, which is what statement 2 says.
  • Read for substance rather than for the term, statement 2 is correct and the answer is (b).

UPSC's key treats both statements as wrong because neither 'basic structure' nor 'judicial review' is a term the Constitution uses; read for substance, statement 2 holds and the answer is (b). In the exam, when a statement puts a term in quotes and says the Constitution 'defines' or 'provides for' it, UPSC is asking whether the term is in the text.

This box is Minimalist IAS's analysis, with its sources; it does not change UPSC's answer.

Neither term is written into the Constitution. The 'basic structure' doctrine was laid down by the Supreme Court in Kesavananda Bharati (1973), and the phrase 'judicial review' appears nowhere in the Constitution: the power is implied from the written Constitution and from provisions such as Articles 13 and 32, not provided for by name. Both statements, which put the terms in quotes, are therefore incorrect.

  • ✗ 1. The Constitution does not mention or define a 'basic structure'. The Supreme Court created the doctrine in 1973, and features such as federalism and secularism have been identified case by case by the courts.
  • ✗ 2. The term 'judicial review' is not used in the Constitution. Courts derive the power from the written Constitution and from provisions that make laws violating Fundamental Rights void; the statement treats it as something the Constitution expressly provides.

Remember · Basic structure: a judge-made doctrine (Kesavananda Bharati, 1973), not listed in the Constitution. 'Judicial review' is also not a term in the Constitution; the power is implied.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Indian Constitution at Work, Ch 9 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 Indian Constitution at Work, Ch 6 (practise this chapter)

Sources

  • NCERT Class 11 · Indian Constitution at Work, Chapter 9 “If you read the Constitution, you will not find any mention of the 'basic structure' of the Constitution. Nowhere does the Constitution say that such and such are part of the basic structure.”
  • NCERT Class 11 · Indian Constitution at Work, Chapter 6 “The term judicial review is nowhere mentioned in the Constitution. However, the fact that India has a written constitution and the Supreme Court can strike down a law that goes against fundamental rights, implicitly gives the Supreme Court the power of judicial review.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2020 · Q16

Medium

The Preamble to the Constitution of India is

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) a part of the Constitution but has no legal effect independently of other parts

In Kesavananda Bharati (1973) the Supreme Court held that the Preamble is a part of the Constitution. But it is non-justiciable: it neither grants nor limits powers on its own, and is used to interpret the other provisions, so it has no legal effect independently of them.

  • ✓ (d) The Preamble is part of the Constitution but cannot be enforced in a court by itself; its force comes through helping courts read ambiguous provisions.
  • ✗ (b) The 1960 Berubari opinion had said the Preamble was not part of the Constitution, but Kesavananda Bharati (1973) overruled that view.
  • ✗ (c) It does not carry the same force as operative articles: it cannot override specific provisions, and where the two conflict, the provisions prevail.

Remember · Preamble: part of the Constitution (Kesavananda Bharati, 1973), amendable without touching the basic structure, amended once (42nd Amendment, 1976), non-justiciable, an aid to interpretation.

Sources

  • Institute of Secretariat Training and Management (ISTM), Study material on the Constitution of India ↗ “The Supreme Court in the Kesavananda Bharati Vs State of Kerala (1973) case overruled its earlier decision of 1960 and made it clear that it is a part of the Constitution … The Preamble is non-justiciable in nature, like the Directive Principles of State Policy, and cannot be enforced in a court of law. It can neither provide substantive power (definite and real power) to the three organs of the State, nor limit their powers”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

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