These are some of the illustrations. Many more I can give you which would show that the actual doctrine of a working democracy is anything but fulfilled in this Constitution that we are now passing. The mutual relation, for instance, of the several bodies, the formation of the several organs and even the scope for local self-Government I mean, are extremely limited. If you scrutinise the schedules relating to the functions of the Centre–the subjects they are called–and of the local units, you will see that the local units are made utterly powerless. They have neither power nor funds to do their duties effectively. A previous speaker actually mentioned that real self-government, real democracy, can only be in the unit. In the Centre you should have only representatives of the representatives of the representatives; you see there only delegated power from the units. Now that alone would be real responsible popular government. It may be that the overwhelming majority of a single party and the position of its leader may help you at the moment to obscure the actual fact that in the Constitution as it stands there is room rather for the development of Fascism, than for the development of a working, real democracy. And that danger is much greater at the Centre than in the units. The Concentration of powers that you have in the Constitution in the head of the State,–who will really be a nominal figure-head but in whose, name the Prime Minister functions,–is such that, if he was so minded, the Prime Minister for the time being may become an actual dictator; and his colleagues in the Cabinet and the Parliament even as a whole may become nothing but the registry office of such a dictator.
