The list of Fundamental Duties in the Constitution of India was inspired and largely adopted from the constitution of which country?

Introduction / Context:

The Constitution of India drew inspiration from several foreign constitutions and legal traditions. Fundamental Duties, added by the Forty Second Constitutional Amendment Act, are one such feature that was influenced by another country's constitutional framework. Knowing the origin of these duties helps in understanding comparative constitutional law and is a frequent topic in polity based examinations. This question asks you to identify the country whose constitution served as the primary inspiration for India's Fundamental Duties.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The focus is on Fundamental Duties introduced into the Indian Constitution.
• We must identify the foreign constitution that inspired these duties.
• Options include the constitutions of France, India itself, Spain, the former USSR, and the United States.
• We assume familiarity with standard sources of constitutional borrowing for India.

Concept / Approach:

The idea of including a set of duties for citizens in the Constitution was inspired primarily by the Constitution of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The Soviet constitution prominently listed duties alongside rights, reflecting a socialist emphasis on citizens responsibility towards the state and society. When the Forty Second Amendment introduced Fundamental Duties into the Indian Constitution, the drafting committee explicitly drew on this Soviet model. Although other countries influenced different parts of the Indian Constitution, the concept of Fundamental Duties is most clearly traced to the USSR.

Step-by-Step Solution:

Verification / Alternative check:

To verify, you can recall that Indian polity references often provide a table listing which features were borrowed from which countries. For example, the idea of a written constitution and judicial review has links to the United States, the Parliamentary system to the United Kingdom, and Directive Principles of State Policy to Ireland. In the same table, Fundamental Duties are consistently traced back to the Constitution of the USSR. This repeated mention across multiple standard sources confirms that the USSR is the correct origin.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

The French Constitution, and more broadly the French Revolution, inspired ideals like liberty, equality, and fraternity but not the specific concept of codified Fundamental Duties as adopted in India. The Indian Constitution cannot logically be a foreign source of inspiration for itself. The Spanish and United States constitutions were not used as the primary models for a detailed list of citizen duties in the Indian context. The United States constitution focuses more on rights and limited government, not on a formal catalogue of duties in the way the Soviet constitution did. Hence all these alternatives are incorrect in relation to Fundamental Duties.

Common Pitfalls:

Some students mix up sources of different constitutional features. For instance, they might mistakenly associate Fundamental Duties with the French Revolution because of its emphasis on civic virtue, or with the American constitution because of its importance in global constitutional history. To avoid such confusion, remember that the Soviet model stands out for listing detailed duties of citizens, and that the Forty Second Amendment was passed during a period when socialist ideas were particularly influential in India.

Final Answer:

The Fundamental Duties in the Constitution of India were inspired and largely adopted from the USSR Constitution.