Election and Representation

Q.1 Differentiate between direct and

indirect democracy.
Ans:

Direct Indirect
A direct democracy is one where In an indirect democracy, citizens
citizens directly participate in the elect representatives who make
day-to-day decision-making and decisions and run the government
running of the government. on their behalf.
Citizens have a direct role to play in Citizens are not actively involved in
policy-making. policy-making.
For example: Gram sabhas For example: Parliament

Q.2 Can we hold elections without having democracy?

Ans: Yes, we can hold elections without having democracy. A large
number of non- democratic countries also hold elections. Non-
democratic rulers are very keen to present themselves as democratic.
They do so by holding election in such a way that it does not threaten
their rule.

Q.3 What rules does the constitution lay down

about election
Ans:1.Who is eligible to vote?
2.Who is eligible
to contest?
3.Who is to
supervise
elections?
4. How do the voters choose their representatives?
5. How are the votes to be counted and representatives elected?
Q.4 What do you understand by First Past the Post System?
Ans: Under this system:
1.The entire country is divided into 543 constituencies.
2.Each constituency elects one representative.
3.The candidate who secures the highest number of votes in that
constituency is declared elected. Whoever has more votes than all other
candidates is declared elected. The winning candidate need not secure a
majority of the votes. This method is called the First Past the Post
system. In the electoral race, the candidate who has the most number of
votes is the winner. This method is also called the Plurality System. This
is the method of election prescribed by the Constitution.
Q.5 What is Proportional Representation? What are its two
variants?
Ans: In Israel, once the votes are counted, each party is allotted the
share of seats in the Parliament in proportion to its share of votes. Each
party fills its quota of seats by picking those many of its nominees from a
preference list that has been declared before the elections. This system
of elections is called the Proportional Representation system. In this
system, a party gets the same proportion of seats as its proportion of
votes. In this system, people vote for a party and not a candidate. Thus,
representatives from a constituency belong to different parties. It has two
variants:
1. In some countries, like Israel or Netherlands, the entire country is
treated as one constituency and seats are allocated to each party
according to its share of votes in the national election.
2. The other method is when the country is divided into several multi-
member constituencies as in Argentina and Portugal. Each party
prepares a list of candidates for each constituency, depending on how
many have to be elected from that constituency.

In India, The Constitution prescribes a third and complex variation of the

PR system for the election of President, Vice President, and for the
election to the Rajya Sabha and Vidhan Parishads.

Q.6 Differentiate between the FPTP system and the PR

system of elections.

Ans:

FPTP PR
The country is divided into small Large geographical areas are
geographical units called demarcated as constituencies. The
constituencies. entire country may be a single
constituency.
Every constituency elects one More than one representative may
 representative. be elected from one constituency.
Voters vote for a candidate. Voters vote for a party.
A party may get more seats than Every party gets seats in the
votes in the legislature. legislature in proportion to the
percentage of votes it gets.
A candidate who wins the election A candidate who wins the election
may not get the majority of the gets the majority of the votes.
votes.
For example: USA, India For Example: Israel, Netherlands
Q.7 Why did India adopt the FPTP system?
Ans: 1.The entire election system is extremely simple to understand even
for common voters who may have no specialised knowledge about politics
and elections.
2. There is also a clear choice presented to the voters at the time of
elections. Voters have to simply endorse a candidate or a party while
voting.
3. The FPTP system offers voters a choice not simply between parties but
specific candidates. In other electoral systems, voters are often asked to
choose a party and the representatives are elected on the basis of party
lists.
4. As a result, there is no one representative who represents and is
responsible for one locality. In constituency based system like the FPTP, the
voters know who their own representative is and can hold him or her
accountable.
a.The makers of our Constitution also felt that PR based election may not
be suitable for giving a stable government in a parliamentary system.
b.The FPTP system generally gives the largest party or coalition some
extra bonus seats, more than their share of votes would allow. Thus this
system makes it possible for parliamentary government to function
smoothly and effectively by facilitating the formation of a stable
government.
Q.8 What has been the result of the FPTP system?
Ans: 1.The FPTP system has proved to be simple and familiar to ordinary
voters.
2. It has helped larger parties to win clear majorities at the centre and the
State level.
3. The system has also discouraged political parties that get all their
votes only from one caste or community.
Q.9 Why did the framers of the Constitution decide to reserve
constituencies?
Ans: 1.Our Constitution-makers were aware of the need to provide a way
to ensure fair and just representation to the oppressed social groups.
2. Initially, there was a plan for ‘separate electorates’. This meant that for
electing a representative from a particular community, only those voters
would be eligible who belong to that community.
3. In the constituent assembly, many members expressed a fear that this
will not suit our purposes. Therefore, it was decided to adopt the system
of reserved constituencies.
4. In this system, all voters in a constituency are eligible to vote but the
candidates must belong to only a particular community or social section
for which the seat is reserved.
5. There are certain social groups which may be spread across the
country. In a particular constituency, their numbers may not be sufficient
to be able to influence a victory of a candidate. However, taken across
the country they are a significantly sizeable group. To ensure their proper
representation, a system of reservation becomes necessary.
6. This provision was made initially for a period of 10 years and as a result
of successive constitutional amendments, has been extended up to 2010.
The Parliament can take a decision to further extend it, when the period
of reservation expires.
7. The number of seats reserved for both of these groups is in proportion
to their share in the population of India. Today, of the 543 elected seats in
the Lok Sabha, 79 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and 41 are reserved
for Scheduled Tribes.
Q.10 Who decides which constituency is to be reserved?
Ans: 1.This decision is taken by an independent body called
the Delimitation Commission.
2. The Delimitation Commission is appointed by the President of India and
works in collaboration with the Election Commission of India.
3. It is appointed for the purpose of drawing up the boundaries of
constituencies all over the country.
4.A quota of constituencies to be reserved in each State is fixed
depending on the proportion of SC or ST in that State.
5. After drawing the boundaries, the Delimitation Commission looks at the
composition of population in each constituency. Those constituencies that
have the highest proportion of Scheduled Tribe population are reserved
for ST.
6. In the case of Scheduled Castes, the Delimitation Commission looks at
two things: It picks constituencies that have higher proportion of
Scheduled Caste population, but it also spreads these constituencies in
different regions of the State. This is done because the Scheduled Caste
population is generally spread evenly throughout the country. These
reserved constituencies can be rotated each time the Delimitation
exercise is undertaken.
Q.11 What do you understand by ‘universal adult franchise’?
Ans: Democratic elections require that all adult citizens of the country
must be eligible to vote in the elections. This is known as universal adult
franchise. It ensures that all citizens are able to participate in the process
of selecting their representatives.
Q.12 Who has the right to contest elections?
Ans:1.All citizens have the right to stand for election and become the
representative of the people. However, there are different minimum age
requirements for contesting elections. For example, in order to stand for
Lok Sabha or Assembly election, a candidate must be at least 25 years
old.
2. There are some other restrictions also. For instance, there is a legal
provision that a person who has undergone imprisonment for two or more
years for some offence is disqualified from contesting elections.
3. There are no restrictions of income, education or class or gender on the
right to contest elections. In this sense, our system of election is open to
all citizens.
Q.13 What are the functions of the Election Commission?
Ans:1.It supervises the preparation of up-to-date voters’ list. It makes
every effort to ensure that the voters’ list is free of errors like
nonexistence of names of registered voters or existence of names of
those non-eligible or non-existent.
2. It also determines the timing of elections and prepares the election
schedule. The election schedule includes the notification of elections,
date from which nominations can be filed, last date for filing nominations,
last date of scrutiny, last date of withdrawal, date of polling and date of
counting and declaration of results.
3. During this entire process, the Election Commission has the power to
take decisions to ensure a free and fair poll. It can postpone or cancel the
election in the entire country or a specific State or constituency on the
grounds that the atmosphere is vitiated and therefore, a free and fair
election may not be possible. The Commission also implements a model
code of conduct for parties and candidates. It can order a re-poll in a
specific constituency. It can also order a recount of votes when it feels
that the counting process has not been fully fair and just.
4. The Election Commission accords recognition to political parties and
allots symbols to each of them.
Q.14 Suggest some reforms to the electoral system in India.
Ans:1.Our system of elections should be changed from the FPTP to some
variant of the PR system. This would ensure that parties get seats, as far
as possible, in proportion to the votes they get.
2. There should be a special provision to ensure that at least one-third
women are elected to the parliament and assemblies.
3. There should be stricter provisions to control the role of money in
electoral politics. The elections expenses should be paid by the
government out of a special fund.
4. Candidates with any criminal case should be barred from contesting
elections, even if their appeal is pending before a court.
5. There should be complete ban on the use of caste and religious appeals
in the campaign.
6. There should be a law to regulate the functioning of political parties
and to ensure that they function in a transparent and democratic manner.

Presidium Indirapuram
Class -XI Subject - Political Science
Assignment – 3 Topics - Election and Representation
1. What is the meaning of the term ‘election’?
2. Why are elections important?
3. Define the terms-
a) Direct Democracy
b) Indirect Democracy
4. Define ‘First Past the Post’ system. How does this system work in India?
5. Explain Proportional Representation system as followed in Israel and Argentina.
6. Compare FPTP and PR system of election.
7. Why did India adopt the FPTP system?
8. What is the meaning of separate electorate?
9. What is the difference in separate electorate and reserved constituency?
10. For which legislative bodies does our constitution provide for reservation?
11. How many seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes?
12. Who decides which constituency is to be reserved? On what basis is this
decision taken?
13. What is the present status of reservation for women?
14. Which article of the Indian constitution provide for an independent Election
Commission?
15. What are the functions of Election Commission?
16. What kind of electoral reforms are needed in India?

Chapter 3
Election and Representation

Q1 What is an ‘Election’? (1)

Q2 How many seats are reserved for SC and ST’s? (1)
Q3 Differentiate between ‘Separate Electorate’ and ‘Reserved
Constituencies’. (1)
Q4 Which article of Indian constitution provide for an
independent Election commission? (1)
Q5 Is democracy possible without elections? (1)
Q6 Correct the statement:
‘In FPTP system electors vote for a party’. (1)
Q7 What are the criteria for contesting Lok Sabha election? (1)
Q8 What do you understand by the term ‘Universal Adult
Franchise’? (1)
Q9 When was the voting age reduced to18 from 21? (1)
Q10 What is simple majority representation system? (1)
Q11 How is secret ballot ensured in India? (1)
Q12 Who appoints the Chief Election Commissioner of India?(1)
Q13 Who decides which constituency is to be reserved in India?
On what basis is this decision taken? (2)
Q14 Distinguish between Direct Democracy and Indirect
Democracy. (2)
Q15 How is independence of election commission ensured? (2)
Q16 Why did people in India oppose the idea of Universal Adult
franchise? How did our constitution makers resolve this
issue? (2)
Q17 Distinguish between PR and FPTP system of election. (4)
Q18 Elaborate how are the members of Rajya Sabha elected?(4)
Q19 Explain the electoral process in India. (4)
Q20 Give reason, why India adopted FPTP system? (6)
Q21 “The Election Commission of India has a wide range of
Functions”. Comment (6)
Q22 Discuss the various electoral reforms suggested steps
suggested. (6)
Read the cartoon
1.
 a) What does the above cartoon reflect about the election
system?
b) Do you think that this is good for democracy? Give
reasons for the same.

2.

a) Name any three leaders leaning forward to the tiny person.

b) What does the tiny person in the cartoon symbolizes?
c) Which electoral defect does the cartoon reflect upon?
3

a) Why is universal adult franchise compared to an elephant?