(a) Sovereign: The word “sovereign” implies that India is neither a dependency nor a dominion of any other nation, but an independent State. There is no authority above it, and it is free to conduct its own affairs (both internal and external). Being a Sovereign State, Indian can either acquire a foreign territory or cede a part of its territory in favour of a foreign state.
(b) Socialist: Even before the term was added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976, the Constitution had a Socialist content in the form of certain Directive Principles of state policy. In other words, what was hitherto implicit in the Constitution has now been made explicit. Moreover, the Congress Party itself adopted a resolution to establish a ‘socialistic pattern of society’ in its Avadi Session as early as in 1955 and took measures accordingly. Notably, the Indian brand of Socialism is a ‘Democratic Socialism’ and not a ‘Communistic Socialism’ which involves the nationalization of all means of production and distribution and the abolition of private property.
(c) Democratic: A democratic polity, as stipulated in the Preamble, is based on the doctrine of popular Sovereignty, that is possession of supreme power by the people. The Indian Constitution provides for representative parliamentary Democracy under which the Executive is responsible to the Legislative for all its policies and actions. Universal Adult Franchise, periodic elections, rule of law, independence of Judiciary and absence of discrimination on certain grounds are the manifestation of the democratic character of the Indian Polity. The term ‘Democracy’ is used in the Preamble in the broader sense embracing not only political democracy but also social and economic democracy.
(d) Republic: A democratic polity can be classified into two categories – Monarchy and Republic. In a Monarchy the head of the state enjoys a hereditary position, that is, he comes into office through succession, eg. Britain. In a Republic on the other hand the head of the state is always elected directly or indirectly for a fixed period. Therefore, the term ‘Republic’ in our Preamble indicates that India has an elected head called the President. He is elected indirectly for a fixed period of five years
