THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE CONSTITUTION

P ROCEDURAL A CHIEVEMENTS All these five core features are what might be called the substantive achievements of the Constitution. However, there were also some procedural achievements. First, the Indian Constitution reflects a faith in political deliberation. We know that many groups and interests were not adequately represented in the Constituent Assembly.

But the debates in the Assembly amply show that the makers of the Constitution wanted to be as inclusive in their approach as possible. This open-ended approach indicates the willingness of people to modify their existing preferences, in short, to justify outcomes by reference not to self-interest but to reasons. It also shows a willingness to recognise creative value in difference and disagreement. Second, it reflects a spirit of compromise and accommodation.

These words, compromise and accommodation, should not always be seen with disapproval. Not all compromises are bad. “But in the long run, it would be in the interest of all to forget that there is anything like majority or minority in this country and that in India there is only one community…” Sardar Patel, CAD, Vol. VIII, p.