Intext notes Class 10 Political Science chapter 1
1. State one prudential reason and one moral reason for power sharing with an example.
Answer: Prudential reason: It reduces the possibility of conflict between social groups. Example:
Belgium avoided civil strife through power sharing.
Moral reason: Power sharing is the spirit of democracy as people have a right to be consulted.
Example: Indian democracy ensures public participation in decision-making.
2. How is power shared among the different organs of government?
Answer: Power is shared among the Legislature, Executive, and Judiciary. Each organ checks
the others and ensures a balance of power. For example, in India, Parliament makes laws,
Executive implements them, and Judiciary interprets them.
3. How is power shared among governments at different levels?
Answer: In a federal system like India, power is divided between the Central Government, State
Governments, and sometimes local governments. Each level has its own powers and
responsibilities, as defined by the Constitution.
4. Describe horizontal and vertical forms of power sharing.
Answer: Horizontal power sharing: Power is shared among organs of government at the same
level, such as Legislature, Executive, and Judiciary.
Vertical power sharing: Power is divided among different levels of government – central, state,
and local.
5. What is a community government in Belgium?
Answer: It is a power-sharing arrangement in which each linguistic community (Dutch, French,
and German) has its own government to take decisions on language, education, and cultural
issues, regardless of region.
6. What was the result of these majoritarian policies in Sri Lanka?
Answer: Tamils felt alienated and discriminated.
Demanded autonomy and equal rights.
Led to a civil war between the government and Tamil groups, causing loss of lives and property.
7. What does "ethnic" mean?
Answer: A social division based on shared culture. People belonging to the same ethnic group,
believe in their common descent because of similarities of physical type or of culture or both.
They need not always have the same religion or nationality.
8. How did the Tamils make efforts to gain power in Sri Lanka?
Answer: (i) Sri Lankan Tamils launched parties and struggles for the recognition of Tamil as the
official language.
(ii) They also made efforts for regional autonomy and equality of opportunity in securing
education and jobs.
(iii) Several political organisations were formed demanding an independent Tamil Eelam (state)
in northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka
9."Power sharing is the very spirit of democracy." Justify the statement with four suitable points.
Answer: (i)Power sharing helps to reduce the possibilities of conflicts between various ethnic
groups living in a society.
It helps in ensuring political stability, since a country can be run by all the communities without
giving preference to any majority community.
(ii) It also reduces violence and linguistic problems. In India, there is diversity in language but
our constitution gives equal weightage to all the languages.
(iii) Power sharing is actually being called the true spirit of democracy. It helps in bringing
political, economic, social and cultural stability to the nation.
10. What kind of power sharing problems could have faced by Belgians and Sri Lankans?
Ans. In Belgium, the Dutch community could have taken advantage of its numeric majority and
force its will on the Flemish and German-speaking population. This would have pushed the
conflict among all these communities further. This could have led to a very messy partition of the
country, both the sides would have tried to claim control over Brussels. In Sri Lanka, the Sinhala
community could have enjoyed an even bigger majority and had imposed its will on the entire
country.
