Class 10 Civics Chapter-1 Power Partnership in Democracy Question Answer - Power partnership in democracy MIQ Question Answer

    

                  long answer question?

Question 1. How can the problems arising from social diversity in Belgium be solved?

 

Answer – Dutch, French and German speaking people live in Belgium. The Belgian government has accepted these variations. Between 1970 and 1993, the Belgian government tried to create unity among the people by making four amendments to the constitution, the main things of which are as follows-

(1) There is a clear provision in the constitution that the number of Dutch and French speaking ministers in the Central Government shall be equal. Some special laws can be made only if the majority of MPs from both the linguistic groups are in its favor. Thus people of any one community cannot take a unilateral decision.

(2) Many powers of the Central Government have been handed over to the Regional Governments of the two regions of the country, that is, the State Governments are not under the Central Government. (3) Brussels has a separate government and both the communities have equal representation in it. The French-speaking people accepted this proposal of equal representation in Brussels because the Dutch-speaking people accepted equal representation in the central government.

(4) Apart from the central and state governments, a third level of government also works here, that is, the community government. This government is elected by people who speak the same language. People from the Dutch, French and German speaking communities elect this community government, wherever they live. This government has the right to take decisions on issues like culture, education and language.

This complex arrangement has put an end to the fears of civil war in Belgium, otherwise Belgium would have been divided into three parts on the basis of language. 

Question 2. Describe majoritarianism and its effects in Sri Lanka.

Answer- Sri Lanka became an independent nation in 1948 AD. Sinhalese community leaders wanted to dominate the government and power on the strength of their large numbers. The newly elected democratic government took several steps to maintain the supremacy of the Sinhalese community, which are as follows-

(1) In 1956, a law was enacted under which Sinhalese was declared as the only official language bypassing Tamil. 

(2) Preference to Sinhalese in universities and government jobs

was given.

(3) The provision was also made in the new constitution that the government would protect and promote Buddhism.

Effect – The above government decisions increased the displeasure and alienation of Sri Lankan Tamils ​​towards the rule. They felt that all political parties led by Buddhist Sinhalese were insensitive towards their language and culture. They felt that the constitution and government policies were denying them political rights. There is discrimination in jobs etc., their interests are being ignored. As a result, relations between the Tamil and Sinhalese communities deteriorated.

Sri Lankan Tamils ​​formed their own political parties and fought for Tamil as the official language, regional autonomy and equal opportunities in education and employment. By the 1980s, several political organizations were formed in north-eastern Sri Lanka with the demand of creating an independent Tamil Eelam.

The conflict between the two communities of Sri Lanka took the form of a civil war. As a result, thousands of people have died on both sides. Many families have become refugees after fleeing their country, livelihood of many people has been ruined.

In this way, due to majoritarianism, Sri Lanka which comes at a high position in terms of economic development, education and health, but the civil war there created a lot of problems in the social, cultural and economic life of the country. The civil war is over with the recent death of LTTE chief Prabhakaran in a military operation.

Question 3. How is the division of power between the different organs of the government? Explain.

Answer – There are three parts of every democratic government – ​​(1) Legislature, (2) Executive and (3) Judiciary which perform different functions. Legislature makes laws, executive implements them and judiciary interprets them. She punishes those persons who violate the law.

This division of organs of government ensures that unlimited powers are not concentrated in the hands of any organ. Each organ maintains control over the other organs, so that the possibility of arbitrariness of any organ is very less. The legislature has the right to make laws, but any bill passed by it takes the form of law only when the head of the executive gives its approval to it. Similarly, the ministers are responsible to the legislature for their policies and actions. Who has the right to remove him from the post by passing a motion of no confidence against him even before the end of his fixed term. Judiciary also gets the right to look after the work of both the other organs. If any organ does any work in violation of the constitution, then the judiciary has the right to declare it unconstitutional and cancel it. The division of power between the three organs of government results in smooth governance.

Question 4. Give a brief account of power sharing in Sri Lanka.

 

Answer - Sri Lanka came into existence as an independent country in 1948 AD. People of the majority Sinhalese community of Sri Lanka started neglecting the minority Tamils ​​who wanted to dominate the governance on the basis of their greater participation in the population. In 1956, a law was enacted according to which Tamil language was declared as the official language ignoring it. A policy of giving preference to 'Sinhalese' people in government jobs and universities was also adopted. It was arranged in the constitution that the government would adopt a policy to promote Buddhism.

 

As a result of these provisions, relations between the 'Sinhala' and Tamil communities deteriorated. Eventually, Tamils ​​formed their own political parties and started the struggle to make Tamil the official language, to give proper place to Tamils ​​in government jobs and to get autonomy. Thousands of people from both the groups have been killed in this civil war and many families have left the country and settled in other neighboring countries. Even today the same situation continues there and the 'Sinhalese' people are not ready to share power on the basis of their majority.

 

Question 5. Explain majoritarianism. How has Sri Lanka accepted majoritarianism?

 

 Answer - Community composition in Sri Lanka - The percentage of Sinhalese community in the total population of Sri Lanka is 74 while the percentage of Tamils ​​is 18.

The majority Sinhalese are wealthy and powerful. They enjoy relatively more constitutional rights, while the minority Tamils ​​remain backward in social, economic and political spheres. So here majority people dominate the minorities.

Majoritarianism in Sri Lanka - This is the belief that the majority community should be able to rule the country however they wish. The majority usually disregards the wishes and needs of the minority.

Reasons for civil war in Sri Lanka – Following are the majority or preferred policies of Sri Lanka, due to which the civil war started in the country –

 (1) Reasons for establishing Sinhalese supremacy - The Sri Lankan government has adopted several measures to establish Sinhala supremacy in the social, economic and political fields.

(2) Due to the declaration of Sinhala as the official language - In 1956, an act was passed in Sri Lanka, under which Sinhala was accepted as the only official language. Thus the Tamil language was neglected.

(3) Reasons for giving priority to Sinhalese people – In the field of education, Sinhala applicants were given priority in various posts in the university and in government jobs.

(4) Reasons for giving recognition to Buddhism as the state religion- Under the constitutional provisions in the field of religion, the government has to

Had to protect and care for. This was a humiliating move for Tamil Hindus.

Thus the priority policies of the Sri Lankan government denied Tamils ​​equal political, social and economic rights and discriminated against them in these areas. This led to a conflict between the majority Sinhala and the minority Tamils, and a civil war-like situation arose in the country.

 

Question 6. What are the different modes of power sharing in modern democracies? Also give an example of each of these.

 

There can be many forms of power sharing in post-modern democratic systems which are as follows-

1. Division of power by political parties and pressure groups- Under a democratic political system, power keeps on coming and going in the hands of different political parties alternately. In a democracy, we also see many organized interest groups like businessmen, industrialists, farmers and industrial workers actively working, pressure groups.

also share in power. America is a good example of this. There are two major political parties in America that seek to gain power by contesting elections and pressure groups share power by influencing public policies, by funding political parties at the time of elections and after winning elections.

2. Division among various organs of governance - Power is divided among various organs of governance, such as the legislature, executive and judiciary. In this, different parts of the government use their respective powers by staying at the same level. In this, no one organ makes unlimited use of power, each organ keeps a check on the other. Due to this, the balance of power is maintained among various institutions. The best examples of this are America and India. Here the legislature makes laws, the executive follows the laws and the judiciary administers justice. In India, the executive is accountable to the Parliament, the judiciary is appointed by the executive, the judiciary checks and controls the laws of the executive and the legislature.

3. Division into different levels of government - There is one government for the whole country, which is called the central government or the union government. Then separate governments are formed at the provincial or regional level, which are called by different names. In India they are called State Government. In countries with this power-sharing, the constitution clearly mentions how power will be divided between the central and state governments. Such distribution of power is called vertical distribution. Apart from the central and state level, local governments also work in India. The division of power between them is clearly written in the constitution so that there is no tension between different governments regarding powers.

4. Distribution of power among different social groups - In some countries, there is a provision in the constitution that socially weaker communities and women should be given a share in the legislature and administration so that people do not consider themselves separate from governance. Minority communities are also given a fair share of power in the same manner. Community government in Belgium is a good example of this system.

 

7. Giving one example of power sharing in the Indian context, give one logical and one moral reason for it. 

 

Answer – Two reasons are given for the participation of power in a democracy –

(1) rational reason and (2) moral reason. Of these, rational reasons emphasize the beneficial consequences of the sharing of power, while ethical reasons emphasize its inherent merit.

(1) Logical reason- - Many social groups exist in India on the basis of religion, caste, gender, language etc. In such a situation, sharing of power helps in reducing the possibility of tension and conflict situation between different social groups. The system of reservation in legislatures and government jobs for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other backward classes is a fair example of this.

(2) Ethical reason- It is argued on the basis of morality that the soul of democracy lies in the division and sharing of power. It is an established belief of democracy that the ruling people who rule must take the opinion of those people that what is their expectation from the government, what kind of laws and policies they want from the government to be implemented. Representatives of different political parties sit together in the legislatures and participate in the work of the government. These representatives are involved in the process of making laws to solve the problems faced by the society. For example, almost all political parties supported the laws made to control corruption, terrorism, bribery, dowry system etc.