Is Constitutionalism Compatible with Socialism?

Is Constitutionalism compatible with Socialism?

This is the question raised by Shruti Rajagopalan, Assistant Professor at Purchase College, State University of New York.

Given that our constitution and socialism aim at securing a certain vision of justice and equality, one would imagine, as Granville Austin had observed, that “socialism and constitutionalism are so interdependent as to be almost synonymous.”

As Shruti articulates so well in her talk, is it not quite so. In so far as socialism conceives of an unfettered state to secure its ends, it is fundamentally incompatible with the principle of constitutionalism that seeks to limit the powers of the government. The conflict between the Socialist tendencies of our leaders and planners and constitutionalism played out quite vividly in the tussle between our judiciary and legislature in the decades following independence. The successive amendments introduced by parliament sought to undermine our freedoms and the constitution itself, highlighting the incompatibility between the two institutional frameworks.

What do you think?

(Shruti’s research paper on the topic can be accessed here: Incompatible Institutions: Socialism vs. Constitutionalism in India )