CLASS X

DEMOCRATIC POLITICS II
CHAPTER 1
POWER SHARING
Prepared by: Mr RADHESH RAMACHANDRAN

Important Terms
Community Government: Community government is an elected body by the people
belonging to one language, one culture or any common property no matter where they live.
Civil War: A war which is fought between different groups of people who live in the same
country.
Check and Balances: A system, in which each organ of the government checks the others,
which results in a balance of power among various institutions.
Coalition Government: A government formed by the union of two or more political parties.
Democracy: A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members
of a state, typically through elected representatives.
Ethnic: A social division based on shared culture.
Federal Government: A general government for the entire country is usually called federal
government.
Horizontal Distribution of Power: Power is shared among different organs of government
such as Legislative, Executive and Judiciary.
Indian Tamils: The Tamilians whose forefathers came from India as plantation workers
during colonial rule and settled in Sri Lanka are called 'Indian Tamils'.
Legislature: A kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend and repeal
laws.
Legitimate Government: A legitimate government is one where citizens, through
participation, acquire a stake in the system.
Majoritarianism: Under Majoritarianism, majority community rules the country in its own
way by disregarding the wishes and needs of the minority.
Power Sharing: The division of power between different stages of government, different
organs or different communities in a country in order to ensure the smooth running of the
government and to check that all powers are not concentrated within one hand.
Prudential: Based on prudence, or on a careful calculation of gains and losses. Prudential
decisions are usually contrasted with those decisions based purely on moral considerations.
Pressure Groups: Pressure groups are those organisations that attempt to influence the
policies of the government to safeguard their own interests.
Sri Lankan Tamils: Tamil natives of Sri Lanka are called 'Sri Lankan Tamils'.
Vertical Division of Power:
Distribution of power between higher and lower levels of government such as between
Central and State Governments.
POWER SHARING: When the power does not rest with any one organ of the state rather it
is shared among legislature, executive and judiciary it is called POWER SHARING. The
two stories from Belgium and Sri Lanka tell us about how democracies handle demands for
power sharing.
In Belgium French speaking community was in minority in capital Brussels but they were
relatively richer and powerful. The Dutch got the benefit of education much later. This led to
tensions between the Dutch-speaking and French-speaking communities during the 1950s
and 1960s. In the capital city of Brussels the situation was worse. The Dutch speaking
people constituted majority in the country but minority in the capital.
Sri Lanka also has diverse population like Belgium. —
Sinhala speakers -74%,
Tamil speakers- 18%.
Among the Tamils there are two sub-groups - Tamil Natives and Indian
Tamils. Tamil Natives are called 'Sri Lankan Tamils' — 13%; the rest whose forefathers
came from India as plantation workers are called 'Indian Tamils'.
Most of the Sinhala speaking people are Buddhists while most of the Tamils are Hindus or
Muslims. Christians are about 7%. Sinhalese enjoyed majority and imposed its will on the
entire country.
When Sri Lanka emerged as an independent country in 1948, the leaders of the Sinhala
community tried to dominate and took some 'majoritarian measures' such as recognition of
Sinhala as the official language, preferences given to Sinhala.
Ethnic composition of Belgium is very complex :
(i) Of the country's total population, 59 per cent live in the Flemish region and speak the
Dutch language.
(ii) Another 40 % of people live in the Wallonia region and speak French.
(iii) Remaining 1 % of the Belgians speak German.
(iv) In the capital city Brussels, 80 percent of people speak French while 20 percent are
Dutch speaking.
Consequences of majoritarian policies adopted by the Sri Lankan Government
(i) Tamils felt the government was not sensitive about Tamil language and culture.
(ii) Tamils felt discriminated against in jobs and education.
(iii) Tamils felt the government was practicing religious discrimination.
(iv) Relations between Tamils and Sinhalese became strained.
Majoritarian measures adopted by the Sri Lankan Government to establish Sinhala
supremacy or provisions of the Act which was passed in Sri Lanka in 1956 to establish
Sinhala supremacy or were the reasons for the alienation of Sri Lankan Tamils because
(i) Government adopted majoritarian measures to establish Sinhala Supremacy. In 1956, an
Act was passed to recognise Sinhala as the only official language thus disregarding Tamil.
(ii) The governments followed preferential politics that favoured Sinhala applicants for
university positions and government jobs.
(iii) A new Constitution stipulated that the state shall protect and foster Buddhism.
(iv) Sri Lankan Tamils felt that none of the major political parties led by the Buddhist Sinhala
leaders was sensitive to their language and culture.
(v) As a result, the relations between the Sinhala and Tamil communities strained overtime
and it soon turned into a Civil War.
The Belgian leaders recognised the existence of regional and cultural diversities:
(i) They amended their Constitution four times so as to work out an innovative arrangement
that would enable everyone to live together in peace and harmony, i.e., there was sharing of
power between the Dutch and the French both in the Central Government, State
Government and Community Government. They followed a policy of accommodation.
(ii) This helped to avoid civil strife and division of the country on linguistic lines.
(iii) On the other hand, the Sinhalese who were in majority in Sri Lanka as compared to the
Tamils followed a policy of Majoritarianism and adopted a series of measures to establish
Sinhala supremacy by passing an Act of 1956. These measures alienated the Tamils leading
to civil strife between the two communities.
Power sharing is desirable in democracy because:
(i) Prudential reasons:
1. Based on prudence, or on a careful calculation of gains and losses. Prudential
decisions are usually contrasted with those decisions based purely on moral
considerations.
(a) It helps to reduce the possibility of conflict between social groups. Since social conflict
often leads to violence and political instability.
(b) It is a good way to ensure the stability of political order.
(c) Imposing the will of the majority, community over others may look like an attractive
option in the short run, but in the long run it undermines the unity of the nation.
(ii) Moral reasons :
2. Evaluating any action based on good or bad is referred as moral reasoning. Therefore,
power sharing is always good.
(a) Power sharing is the very spirit of democracy. A democratic rule involves sharing power
with those affected by its exercise and who have to live with its effect.
(b) People have the right to be consulted on how they are to be governed.
(c) A legitimate government is one where citizens through participation, acquire a stake in
the system.
Vertical Division of Power
Vertical division of power means sharing of power among governments at different levels.
In India, there are three levels of the government:
(i) For the entire country : Central Government/Union Government.
(ii) At the provincial level : State Governments.
(iii) At the local level (i.e., rural and urban) : Local self-governments like panchayats and
municipal councils.
Power is shared between different organs of the government such as legislature, executive
and judiciary. This system of power sharing is referred to as a system of 'checks and
balances' because .
(i) All three organs are placed at the same level of power.
(ii) The power distribution ensures that no organ enjoys unlimited powers.
(iii) Each organ exercises a check on the others.
OR
Power is shared among different organs of government i.e., legislature, executive and
judiciary.
(i) Legislature: The legislature is concerned with passing the laws, controlling the finances
of the state and delivering on the matter of public importance.
(ii) Executive: The executive machinery implements the policies of the government and
executes the rules made by the legislative bodies.
(iii) Judiciary: The judiciary is concerned with the interpretation of the laws and has the
power to punish those who commit crimes or break the laws. The judiciary can also check
the functioning of the executives.
Difference in Power Sharing of Belgium and Sri Lanka :
(i) In Belgium, the government does not follow preferential policies in matters of jobs and
education. In Sri Lanka, the government follows preferential policies in matters of
government jobs and education.
(ii) In Belgium, there is a special government called 'Community Government' to look after
the cultural, educational and language related issues. In Sri Lanka, the major political
parties are not sensitive to the language and culture of the Tamils.
(iii) In Belgium, there is no discrimination between different religions. In Sri Lanka,
Buddhism is the official religion.
The Main Elements of the Power Sharing model evolved in Belgium :
(i) Constitution prescribes that the number of Dutch and French speaking ministers shall be
equal in the Central Government. Some special laws require the support of the majority of
members from each linguistic group. Thus, no single community can make decisions
unilaterally.
(ii) Many powers of the central government have been given to State Governments of the
two regions of the country. The State Governments are not subordinated to the Central
Government.
(iii) Brussels has a separate government in which both the communities have equal
representation. The French-speaking people accepted equal representation in Brussels
because the Dutch-speaking community has accepted equal representation in the Central
Government.
(iv) Apart from the central and the state governments, there is a third kind of government
called the Community Government.
(v) The community government is elected by people belonging to one language community
—Dutch, French and German speaking. This government has the power regarding cultural,
educational and language issues.
Forms of Power Sharing-
1. Power is shared among different organs of government such as
legislature (lawmakers), executive ( decision makers), judiciary (court system).
 a. This is horizontal distribution of power as no organs can use unlimited power
b. This form ensures balance of power among various institutions
2. Power can be shared among governments at different levels-
a. This levels are Central government, State government or regional
government, municipalities and panchayat
b. This is vertical distribution as power division involves higher and lower levels
of government
c. Constitution set the powers of different levels of government
3. Power may also be shared among different social groups-
a. There are different religious and linguistic groups in the country
b. This type of power sharing gives value to social groups in government and
administration
c. Minor communities shares a power by this form
4. Power sharing among various political parties, pressure groups and
movements-
a. Power is shared among different political parties representing different
ideologies and social groups
b. Groups of traders, businessmen, industrialists, farmers, workers also share
governmental power

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:

1. Apart from the Central and the State governments, which is the third type of
government practised in Belgium?
2. What measure was adopted by the democratically elected government of Sri Lanka
to establish Sinhala Supremacy?
3. What is meant by the system of ‘checks and balances’?
4. After independence, Sri Lanka witnessed the supremacy of which community?
5. What is vertical division of power?
6. Compare the different ways in which the Belgians and the Sri Lankans have dealt
with the problem of cultural diversity.
7. How far do you agree with the statement that power sharing is keeping with the spirit
of democracy?
8. Explain any three consequences of the majoritarian policies adopted by the Sri
Lankan government.
9. Why is the ethnic composition of Belgium complex?
10. How is Belgium’s power-sharing path different from any other country?
11. What is Majoritarianism? Is it wrong if a majority community in a country rules? Give
reasons to justify your answer.
12. Analyse how Majoritarianism has increased the feeling of alienation among the Sri
Lankan Tamils?
13. “Power Sharing is the very spirit of democracy”. Justify the statement.
14. Describe the vertical and horizontal forms of power sharing exercised in India