remain there in perpetuity. But I do not find any such inhibition so far as the power of parliament or state legislatures to pass laws is concerned. Articles 245 and 246 give the power and also provide the limitation upon the power of these organs to pass laws. It is only the specific provisions enacted in the Constitution which could operate as limitation upon that power. The preamble, though a part of the Constitution, is neither a source of power nor a limitation upon that power. The preamble sets out the ideological aspirations of the people. The essential features of the great concepts set out in the preamble are delineated in the various provisions of the Constitution. It is these specific provisions in the body of the Constitution which determine the type of democracy which the founders of that instrument established, the quality and nature of justice, political, social and economic which was their desideratum, the content of liberty of thought and expression which they entrenched in that document, the scope of equality of status and of opportunity which they enshrined in it. These specific provisions enacted in the Constitution alone can determine the basic structure of the Constitution as established. These specific provisions, either separately or in combination determine the content of the great concepts set out in the preamble. It is impossible to spin out any concrete concept of basic structure out of the gossamer concepts set out in the preamble. The specific provisions of the Constitution are the stuff from which the basic structure has to be woven. The argument of counsel for the respondent proceeded on the assumption that there are certain norms for free and fair election in an ideal democracy and the law laid down by parliament or state legislatures must be tested on those norms and, if found wanting, must be struck down. The norms of election set out by parliament or state legislatures tested in the light of the provisions of the Constitution or necessary implications therefrom constitute the law of the land. That law cannot be subject to any other test, like the test of free and fair election in an ideal democracy. 348. I do not think that an ordinary law can be declared invalid for the reason that it goes against the vague concepts of democracy; justice, political, economic and social: liberty of thought, belief and expression: or equality of status and opportunity, or some invisible radiation from them. "......(N) o political terms have been so subjected to contradictory definitions as 'democracy' and 'democratic' since it has become fashionable and profitable for every and any state to style itself in this way. The Soviet Union and communist states of Eastern Europe, the Chinese People's Republic, North Korea and north Vietnam all call themselves democracies. So does Nasser's Egypt: so does General Stoessner's Paraguay; so did Sukarno's Indonesia. Yet, if anything is clear, it is that these states do not all meet the same definition of democracy". * Definitions are important, for, they are responsible in the last analysis for our image of democracy. The question is not only what does the word 'democracy' mean but also what is the thing. And, when we try to answer this latter query, we discover that the thing does not correspond to the word. So, although 'democracy' has a precise literal meaning, that does not really help