PREVIOUS YEAR

CIVICS
QUESTIONS-X
POLITICAL PARTIES

VERY SHORT ASWER TYPE QUESTIONS (1 Mark)

1. Why is one party political system not considered a good democratic

system? [CBSE 2016]
Ans. Because one party system has no democratic option

2. Why did India adopt multi-party system? [CBSE 2016]

Ans. India adopted multi-party system because:
a. India is a large country and has social and geographical diverges.
b. It is easy to absorb different social and geographical diversities in a multi-party
systems.

3. Name the alliance formed by the Congress Party. [CBSE 2016]

Ans. United Progressive Alliance (UPA)

4. Which party was the principal opposition party in Lok Sabha in 2004? [CBSE 2016]
Ans. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

5. Name any one political party that has national level political organization but not
recognized as the national political party. [CBSE 2016]
Ans. Samajwadi Party/Samata Party/Rashtriya Janata Dal.

6. What is meant by „Political Party‟? [CBSE 2015]

Ans. A political party is a group of people come together to contest elections to hold power
in the government.

7. What is the guiding philosophy of Bharatiya Janata Party? [CBSE 2015]

Ans. a. Cultural nationalism
b. India's ancient culture and values

8. What is the requirement laid down by the Election Commission for a political party to
be recognized as a ‟State Party'? [CBSE 2015]
Ans. A party that secures at least six percent of the total votes in an election to the
Legislative Assembly of a state and wins at least two seats is recognized as a state
party.

9. Name any two regional parties of West Bengal. [CBSE 2015]

Ans. Two regional parties of West Bengal are:
a. Marxist Forward Bloc
b. Trinamool Congress

https://www.youtube.com/@PadhleTenthies 1
https://bit.ly/padhleapp
https://t.me/padhlein
 PREVIOUS YEAR
CIVICS
QUESTIONS-X
10. If all the decisions of a political party are made by a single family and all other
members are neglected, then what challenge is being faced by that
party? [CBSE 2015]
Ans. Challenge of dynastic succession.

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS (3 Marks)

11. What is the role of the opposition party in a democracy? [CBSE (Al) 2017]
OR
Explain three functions of opposition political parties. [CBSE Delhi 2019]
Ans. Those parties that lose elections play the role of opposition to the parties in power.
The role played by the opposition is:
• It gives its own opinion which may oppose the ruling party.
• The opposition party mobilises opposition to the government.
• It puts its different views in the parliament and criticises the government for its
failures or wrong policies.
• By doing this, it can keep a check on the ruling party, which is made to move on
track.

12. What is meant by a „national political party‟? State the conditions required to be a
national political party. [CBSE 2016]
Ans. National political party have units in the various states, they follow the same policies,
programmes and strategy that is decided at the national level.
Conditions required:
a. A party that secures at least 6% of the total votes in general elections of Lok
Sabha or assembly elections in four states.
b. Wins at least 4 seats in Lok Sabha.

13. Which three challenges do you feel are being faced by political parties in India ? Give
your Opinion. [CBSE 2016]
Ans. The three challenges faced by political parties in India are:
a. Lack of internal democracy.
b. Challenge of dynastic succession.
c. Growing role of money and muscle power.
d. Often parties do not seem to offer a meaningful choice to the voters.

14. What is a multi-party system? Why has India adopted a multi-party system?
Explain. [CBSE 2015]

https://www.youtube.com/@PadhleTenthies 2
https://bit.ly/padhleapp
https://t.me/padhlein
 PREVIOUS YEAR
CIVICS
QUESTIONS-X
Ans. Multi-party system: If several parties compete for power and more than two parties
have a reasonable chance of coming to power either on their own strength or in
alliance with others, we call it a multiparty system.
India adopted a Multi-party system because:
a. There is social and geographical diversity in India.
b. India is such a large country which is not easily absorbed by two or three parties.
c. The system allows a variety of interests and opinions to enjoy political
representation.

15. State the conditions as laid down by the Election Commission to recognize a „state
party 1 and „national party‟. [CBSE 2014]
Ans. The difference between a state and a national party can be identified as follows:
a. In a state party, the party members aim to highlight the regional interests. On the
other hand, a national party gives due importance to national interests.
b. A state party can contest in elections only in a particular state, whereas a national
party can contest in elections all across the country.
c. Example: BJP and Congress are national parties, whereas Akali Dal and
Trinamool Congress are state level parties.

16. Name the national political party which espouses secularism and welfare of weaker
sections and minorities. Mention any four features of that party. [CBSE 2013]
Ans. The national political party which espouses secularism and welfare of weaker
sections and minorities is the Indian National Congress.
Four features of this party are listed below:
a. Founded in 1885.
b. Dominated Indian politics, both at the national and state levels, for several
decades after India‟s independence.
c. Ruling party at the centre till 1977 and then from 1980 to 1989. After 1989, its
support declined.
d. A centrist party (neither rightist nor leftist) in its ideological orientation.

17. The Bahujan Samaj Party stands for what cause? [CBSE 2011]
Ans. Securing the interest of the oppressed people.

LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS (5 Marks)

18. Describe any five major functions of political parties performed in a

democracy. [CBSE 2018]

https://www.youtube.com/@PadhleTenthies 3
https://bit.ly/padhleapp
https://t.me/padhlein
 PREVIOUS YEAR
CIVICS
QUESTIONS-X
Ans. In a democracy political parties performed the following major functions:
1. Parties contest elections: In most democracies, elections are fought mainly
among the candidates put up by political parties. Parties select their candidates in
different ways. In India top party leaders choose candidates for contesting
elections.
2. Parties put forward different policies and programmes and the voters choose
from them. In a democracy, a large number of similar opinions have to be
grouped together to provide a direction in which policies can be formulated by the
governments. A government is expected to base its policies on the line taken by
the Ruling party.
3. Parties play a decisive role in making laws for a country. Formally laws are
debated and passed in the legislature. But since most of the members belong to
a party, they go by the direction of the party leadership, irrespective of their
person opinions.
4. Parties form and run governments. Parties recruit leaders, train them and then
make them ministers to run the government in the way they want.
5. Those parties that lose in the elections play the role of opposition to the parties in
power by voicing different views and criticising government for its failure or wrong
policies.
6. Parties shape public opinion. They raise and highlight issues. Parties sometimes
also launch movements for the resolution ,of problems faced by people. Often
opinions in the society crystallise on the lines parties take.
7. Parties provide people access to government machinery and welfare schemes
implemented by governments.

19. “Political parties are a necessary condition for a democracy." Analyse the statement
with examples. [CBSE 2016]
OR
Why can‟t modern democracies exist without the political parties? Explain any four
reasons. [CBSE II, 2015, 2011]
Ans. “Political parties are a necessary condition for a democracy” because:
1. Without political parties, democracies cannot exist.
2. If we do not have political parties; in such a situation every candidate in elections
will be independent.
3. No one will be able to make any promises to the people about any major policy
changes.

https://www.youtube.com/@PadhleTenthies 4
https://bit.ly/padhleapp
https://t.me/padhlein
 PREVIOUS YEAR
CIVICS
QUESTIONS-X
4. The government may be formed but its utility will remain uncertain.
5. Elected representatives will be accountable to their constituency for what they do
in their locality.
6. But no one will be responsible for how the country will run.
7. The role of opposition party in a democracy necessitates the existence of political
parties.
8. As societies become large and complex they also need some agencies to gather
different views on various issues and to present these to the government, that‟s
why political parties are needed.

20. Explain any four problem areas in the working of political parties. [CBSE 2012]
Ans. a. Lack of internal democracy: The first challenge is lack of internal democracy
within parties. Concentration of power in one or few leaders at the top.
b. Dynastic succession: Favour people close to them or even their family members.
In many parties, the top positions are always controlled by members of one
family.
c. Money and muscle power: The third challenge is about growing role of money
and muscle power in parties, especially during elections.
d. Meaningful choice: The fourth challenge is that very often parties do not seem to
offer a meaningful choice to the voters.

https://www.youtube.com/@PadhleTenthies 5
https://bit.ly/padhleapp
https://t.me/padhlein