The Parliamentary System: Legislature and Executive

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The story in six terms

Government has its own vocabulary. Tap each term to see what it means and how the ideas — Parliament, the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha, the executive, how a law is made and accountability — fit together.

Explore · Key terms of Parliamenttap a term

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The three big ideas

The legislature — Parliament is India’s legislature, the body that debates and makes laws for the whole country. It consists of the President and two houses.
The Lok Sabha (House of the People) — its members are directly elected by the people from constituencies across India. It normally has a term of five years and is the more powerful house in matters of money and the survival of the government.
The Rajya Sabha (Council of States) — it represents the states; its members are mostly elected by the elected members of the state assemblies. It is a permanent house that is never fully dissolved, with members retiring in turns.
Why two houses — having two houses means a law is examined twice and from two points of view — that of the people directly, and that of the states — giving more careful law-making.

Forming the government — after a general election, the party or coalition with a majority in the Lok Sabha forms the government. The President appoints its leader as Prime Minister.
The Council of Ministers — the Prime Minister chooses a team of ministers, each usually in charge of a department such as health, education or defence. Together they are the Council of Ministers.
What the executive does — the executive runs the country: it makes policies, takes daily decisions and carries out the laws Parliament passes.
Legislature vs executive — the legislature makes the laws; the executive implements them. The same people can sit in Parliament and be ministers, but the two roles are different.

Worked example. How is a government formed after a general election?

Step 1 — count the seats. Find which party or coalition has won a majority in the Lok Sabha.

Step 2 — appoint the PM. The President invites the leader of that majority to become Prime Minister.

Step 3 — form the council. The PM picks the Council of Ministers, and together they form the executive that runs the country.

Common mistake: do not mix up the legislature (Parliament, which makes laws) with the executive (the PM and ministers, who carry them out). They work together, but they are two distinct parts of government.

From idea to bill — a proposal for a new law is written up as a bill and introduced in Parliament.
Debate and voting — the bill is discussed and voted on in both houses. Members of the ruling side and the opposition argue its merits, and it may be examined closely by committees.
Becoming a law — once both houses pass the bill, it goes to the President for assent. After assent, the bill becomes an Act — a law everyone must follow.
Accountability — the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha. Ministers must answer questions and explain their actions; if the government loses the confidence of the Lok Sabha, it must resign.
Why this matters — debate, the opposition and the duty to answer keep those in power in check, so government is carried on openly and in the people’s name.

Common mistake: a bill is not yet a law. It becomes a law (an Act) only after both houses pass it and the President gives assent — passing one house alone is not enough.

Where you'll meet it

Parliament, in everyday life

Following the news

When the news says a bill was "passed by the Lok Sabha" or a minister "answered in Parliament," you now know exactly what is happening — law-making and accountability at work. This chapter turns headlines into something you understand.

Rules that shape your day

The school year, road safety rules, taxes and clean-air measures all begin as bills debated in Parliament. Seeing how a bill becomes an Act shows where the rules of daily life actually come from.

Holding power to account

Because ministers must answer to the elected Lok Sabha, citizens have a way to question decisions through their representatives. Accountability is how a democracy keeps even the most powerful answerable.

Check yourself

Competency quiz

Modelled on the competency-based pattern — MCQ, assertion–reason and a case study, testing whether you can use the ideas, not just recall them.

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