UPSC Prelims 2017 · Question 49 of 99
UPSC Prelims 2017 question on Cabinet Government Principle
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2017
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectPolity
- TopicParliament
- DifficultyMedium
- TypeDirect
Out of the following statements, choose the one that brings out the principle underlying the Cabinet form of Government:
Show answer
Answer: C. A mechanism of parliamentary democracy for ensuring collective responsibility of the Government to the people.
Verdict
The answer is a mechanism of parliamentary democracy for ensuring collective responsibility of the Government to the people.
Analysis
The Cabinet form of government, also called the Westminster or responsible government model, rests on collective responsibility: ministers stand or fall together before the legislature, which in turn answers to the electorate. Its features include nominal and real executives, majority party rule, ministers drawn from the legislature and leadership by the Prime Minister. The other three options describe minimising criticism, speeding up administration and strengthening a declining leader, all of which are managerial or political rationalisations rather than the underlying constitutional principle.
Source
M. Laxmikanth, Indian Polity, chapter on salient features of the Constitution.
How to crack it
When a question asks for the principle underlying an institution, discard every option framed as a practical convenience and keep the one framed as accountability, because constitutional design questions are answered by the accountability chain. Here the chain runs from ministers to Parliament to the people, and only one option traces it. The same test answers questions on why ministers must be legislators and why the Council falls when it loses the House.