CIVICS

CIVICS
Chapter 1

Lesson Analysis
r Power sharing
Power sharing means sharing of power among differ-
ent political institutions and groups.
r Forms of power sharing
In modern democracies power sharing arrangements
can take many forms. Some of the most common ar-
The 14th SAARC Summit rangements are as follows.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the Power sharing
14th SAARC summit that India will allow
zero duty access to least developed coun-
tries of the region by the year end and re- Among different Among different
duce the sensitive list for these nations. The organs of government social groups
duty exemption will help Nepal,
Among government at
Bangladesh, Maldives and Bhutan. In an
different levels
effort to advance the ‘dream” of full regional
connectivity, the Prime Minister announced Among political parties, pressure
the unilateral liberalisation of visas for stu- groups and movements
dents, teachers, professors, journalists and r Prudential and Moral reasons of power
patients from SAARC nations. He also pro- sharing
posed linking all SAARC capitals with di- While prudential reasons stress that power sharing
will bring out better outcomes, moral reasons
rect flights. All the seven other head of state/
emphasises the very act of power sharing as valuable.
government, who spoke at the opening ses-
Ethnic: A social division based on shared culture.
sion, agreed on the need to take the group-
People belonging to the same ethnic group believe
ing towards greater reeconomic integration.
in their common descent because of similarities
Observers from China, Japan, the United of physical type or of culture or both. They need
States, South Korea and the European not always have the same religion or nationality.
Union were present for the first time at the
SAARC summit.
ACTIVITY - 1

POWER SHARING Communities

and regions of
Belgium
Of all the governmental systems that
human genius could discover, democ-
racy is the best. In a democracy all
Brussels - capital region
power does not rest with any one organ Walloon (French speaking)

of the State. An intelligent sharing of Flemish (Dutch-speaking)

German - speaking
power among legislature, executive and Look at the maps of Belgium and Sri Lanka. In which
judiciary is very important to the design region do you find concentration of different com-
of a democracy. munities?

Labour India Brilliant Student (CBSE X)

page 70 CMYK

Ethnic communities
of Sri Lanka
Sinhalese
Tamil Indian
Tamil Ceylon
Muslim
In Belgium concentration of dif-
ferent communities are in Wallon and
Flemish region.
In Sri Lanka, the concentration of
different communities is in the Tamil
Ceylon region.
Majoritarianism: A belief that the
majority community should be able
to rule a country in whichever way
it wants, by disregarding the wishes
and needs of the minority.
ACTIVITY - 2
Question refer to textbook, page 7
If I had the power to rewrite the
rules in Lebonon I would adopt the
regular rules followed every where
giving chance to anyone to occupy
any post. We cannot stick to the old
rules reserving some post to a particu-
lar section. Seats can be reserved to
each communities according to their
population. The top official posts can
also be reserved on rotation basis so
that each section can enjoy it for a
specific period.
Labour India Brilliant Student (CBSE X)
page 71
CMYK
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Judicial Activism - A short History
LIVELY CRITICISM
of judicial activism
encroaching on the
powers of the
legislature and the
executive has been
voiced by many
including Lok Sabha
Speaker Somnath
Chatterjee. Such
controversies are
the lifeblood of
democracy and
must be welcomed.
Judicial activism has
flourished in India
Supreme Court of India
and has acquired
enormous legitimacy with the Indian passed by the legislature was invalid
public. Some glimpses from the past as damaging or destroying its basic
and a peep into the future may be structure. The masterstroke was that
rewarding. the judgment could not be annulled
In 1608, England was ruled by the by any amendment to be made by
Stuart King James I who claimed Parliament because the basic
absolute power. On November 13, structure doctrine was vague and
1608, James entered the royal courts amorphous.
and claimed that he could take any Today, as the Indian state comes
case and decide it in his royal person. under growing pressures of
Chief Justice Coke answered that the neoliberalism and globalisation, the
case ought to be determined and gap between political aspirations of
adjudged in a court of justice. the masses and the political leaders,
In 1801, Chief Justice John Marshall and the attitude of the judiciary
highlighted and reaffirmed the power towards issues of governance
of the American Supreme Court to become all the more striking than ever
invalidate Congressional statutes. before. Today, the judiciary appears to
Chief Justice Earl Warren of the U.S. be a willing participant in the reforms
was one of the great activist judges. process and views any kind of
By his decisions he legitimised protective umbrella in favour of the
affirmative action by the courts and weaker sections.
enhanced the rights of poor accused The strength of the Indian Republic
and defendants. can be said to rest on the doctrine of
The judgment of the majority in the separation of powers between the
Keshavananda Bharati case (the legislature and the executive on the
fundamental rights case) was the one hand and the judiciary on the
high-water mark of judicial activism other. Let’s hope for a better
in India. For the first time a court held understanding and sharing of powers
that a constitutional amendment duly among the three organs of democracy.
CMYK
CIVICS
Prudential: Based on pru-
dence, or on careful calculation
of gains and losses. Prudential
decisions are usually contrasted
with those decisions based
purely on moral considerations.
ACTIVITY
Annette - 3 in a Dutch me-
studies
dium school in the northern re-
gion of Belgium. Many French-
speaking students in her school
want the medium of instruction
to be French. Selvi studies in a
school in the northern region of
Sri Lanka. All the students in her
school are Tamil-speaking and
they want the medium of instruc-
tion to be Tamil.
l If the parents of Annette and
Selvi were to approach re-
spective governments to
realise the desire of the child
who is more likely to suc-
ceed? And why?
The parents of Annette
who wants the medium of in-
struction to be French is likely to
succeed.
Both Belgium and Sri Lanka
are democracies, but the question of
power sharing is different. There is
power sharing in Belgium. Apart from
the Central and State governments
there is a third kind of government.
This ‘community government’ is
elected by the people belonging to one
language community- Dutch, French
and German speaking-no matter where
they live. This government has the
power regarding cultural, educational
and language related issues. These ar-
rangements avoid a possible division
of the country on linguistic lines.
In Sri Lanka the democratically
elected government adopted a series
of majoritarian measures to establish
Sinhala supermacy. Only Sinhala is
recognised as the official language
disreagrding Tamil. Buddhist Sinhala
leaders are sensitive to the Tamil lan-
guage and culture. There is no power
sharing in Sri Lanka.
ACTIVITY - 4
Recently some new laws were made
in Russia giving more powers to its
President. During the same time the
US President visited Russia. What, ac-
Labour India Brilliant Student (CBSE X)
cording to this cartoon, is the relation-
ship between democracy and concen-
tration of power? Can you think of
some other examples to illustrate the
point being made here?
In this cartoon democracy is de-
picted as a horse pulling a cart con-
trolled by two people. They are George
Bush and Vladimir Putin of USA and
Russia respectively. In other words,
their power is controlling the democ-
racy. According to this cartoon democ-
racy is being controlled by the elected
leaders neglecting the interests of the
common people.
In a real democracy, there is no con-
centration of power. The ultimate
power rests with the people. Consid-
ering the case of India our Constitu-
tion also provides the above mentioned
powers to the people. But at present,
Indian democracy is being harnessed
by money and muscle power of politi-
cal parties. The common people are
getting marginalised even though they
are the controllers of democracy.
ACTIVITY - 5
Here are some examples of power
sharing. Which of the four types of
power sharing do these represent?
Who is sharing power with whom?
l The Bombay High Court ordered
the Maharashtra state government
to immediately take action and
improve living conditions for the
2,000-odd children at seven
children’s homes in Mumbai.
Power sharing - Judiciary with
Executive
l The government of Ontario state in
Canada has agreed to a land claim
settlement with the aboriginal
community. The Minister respon-
sible for Native Affairs announced
that the government will work

with aboriginal people in a spirit
of mutual respect and co-opera-
tion.
Power sharing - Executive with
groups
l Russia’s two influential political
parties, the Union of Right Forces
and the Liberal Yabloko Move-
ment, agreed to unite their
organisations into a strong right-
wing coalition. They proposed to
have a common list of candidates
in the next parliamentary elec-
tions.
Power sharing - Between groups
l The finance ministers of various
states in Nigeria got together and
demanded that the federal govern-
ment declare its sources of in-
come. They also wanted to know
the formula by which the revenue
is distributed to various state gov-
ernments.
Power sharing - Central govern-
ment to State
EXERCISES
governments
1. What are the different forms of
power sharing in modern de-
mocracies? Give an example of
each of these.
In modern democracies, power
sharing arrangements can take
many forms. The most common
arrangements are the following.
(i) Power sharing among differ-
ent organs of government such
as the legislature, executive and
judiciary. The seperation of pow-
ers ensures that none of the organs
can exercise unlimited power.
Each organ checks the others.
Eg. Though the executives exer-
cise power they are responsible to
the legislature. Though the judges
are appointed by the executives,
they can check the functioning of
Labour India Brilliant Student (CBSE X)
executive and laws made by the
legislatures. This arrangement is
called a system of ‘checks and
balances’. American constitution
is famous for separation of pow-
ers.
(ii) Power sharing among gov-
ernments at different levels - a
general government for the en-
tire country and governments at
the provincial or regional level.
Sometimes the same principle is
extended to levels of government
lower than the state government
such as municipality and
panchayat.
Eg. In India the general govern-
ment or Federal Government is
referred as central or Union Gov-
ernment and the government at
the provinces or regional level are
called state governments. There is
also local self governments at the
village level. But this system is
not followed in all countries.
(iii) Power sharing among dif-
ferent social groups such as re-
ligious and linguistic groups. In
some countries there are consti-
tutional and legal arrangements
whereby socially weaker section
and woman are represented in the
legislatures and administration.
This method is used to give a fair
share in power to minority com-
munities and diverse social
groups.
Eg. Community government in
Belgium is a good example for
power sharing among different so-
cial groups.
(iv) Political parties, pressure
groups and movements control
or influence those in power. Po-
litical parties that represent differ-
ent ideologies and social groups
share power. The interest groups
such as traders, businessmen, in-
POWER SHARING
dustrialists, etc also share in
government power. Social
movements also influence
the decision making process.
2. State one prudential reason
and one moral reason for
power sharing with an ex-
ample from the Indian con-
text.
SCs and STs of our country
are socially and economi-
cally backward even after
five decades of indepen-
dence. As per the original
Constitution the reservation
system should be stoped in
1960. But considering the
present status of those com-
munities the provision is ex-
tended for some more time.
This is a suitable example for
prudential reason for power
sharing.
In India the moral reasons is
applied in the case of reser-
vation of seats to the Anglo-
Indians if that community is
not represented in the Parlia-
ment and state Assemblies.
3. After reading this chapter,
three students drew differ-
ent conclusions. Which of
these do you agree with and
why? Give your reasons in
about 50 words.
Thomman - Power shar-
ing is neces-
sary only in
societies
which have
religiousm,
linguistic or
ethnic divi-
sions.
Mathayi – Power shar-
ing is suit-
able only for
big countries
CIVICS
that have re-
gional divi-
sions.
Ouseph – Every society
needs some
form of
power shar-
ing even if it
is small or
does not
have social
divisions.
I agree with the view of
Ouseph. Every society needs
some form of power sharing
even if it is small or does not
have social divisions. Power
sharing is good because it
helps to reduce the possibil-
ity of conflict between social
groups. Since social conflicts
often leads to violence and
political instability, power
sharing is a good way to en-
sure the stability of political
order.
The idea of power sharing
has emerged in opposition to
the notions of undivided po-
litical power. It was felt that
if the power to decide is dis-
persed it would not be pos-
sible to take quick decision
and to enforce them. But
these notions have changed
with the emergence of de-
mocracy. One basic principle
of democracy is that people
are the source of all political
power. In a good democractic
government, due respect is
given to diverse groups and
views that exist in a society.
So power sharing is the very
spirit of democracy.
4. The Mayor of Merchtem, a
town near Brussels in Bel-
gium, has defended a ban
on speaking French in the
town’s schools. He said that the
ban would help all non-Dutch
speakers integrate in this Flem-
ish town. Do you think that this
measure is in keeping with the
spirit of Belgium’s power shar-
ing arrangements? Give your
reasons in about 50 words.
The Belgium Constitution pre-
scribes that the number of Dutch
and French speaking ministers
shall be equal in the Central Gov-
ernment. Thus no single commu-
nity can make decisions unilater-
ally. Brussels has a separate gov-
ernment in which both the com-
munities have equal representa-
tion. The French speaking people
accepted equal representation in
Brussels because the Dutch
Speaking community has ac-
cepted equal representation in the
central government. The arrange-
ments helped to avoid civic strife
between the two major commu-
nities and a possible division of
the country on linguistic lines.
Therefore the decision of the
Mayor to defend the ban on
speaking French cannot be justi-
fied. The actions of the Mayor will
lead to linguistic divisions.
5. Read the following passage and
pick out any one of the pruden-
tial reasons for power sharing
offered in this.
“We need to give more power to
the panchayats to realise the
dream of Mahatma Gandhi and
the hopes of the makers of our
Constitution. Panchayati Raj es-
tablishes true democracy. It re-
stores power to the only place
where power belongs in a de-
mocracy – in the hands of the
people. Giving power to
Panchayats is also a way to re-
duce corruption and increase
Labour India Brilliant Student (CBSE X)
Civil war: A violent con-
flict between opposing
groups within a country
that becomes so intense
that it appears like a war.
administrative efficiency. When
people participate in the plan-
ning and implementation of de-
velopmental schemes, they
would naturally exercise greater
control over these schemes. This
would eliminate the corrupt
middlemen. Thus, Panchayati
Raj will strengthen the founda-
tions of our democracy.”
In the Panchayati Raj system the
people participate in the planning,
implementation and monitoring
of development schemes. This
should eliminate unwanted wast-
age of public money and the cor-
rupt middle-men. Here the pru-
dential reason for power sharing
is considered.
6. Different arguments are usually
put forth in favour of and
against power sharing. Identify
those which are in favour of
power sharing and select the an-
swer using the codes given be-
low? Power sharing:
A. reduces conflict among dif-
ferent communities
B. decreases the possibility of
arbitrariness
C. delays decision making pro-
cess
D. accommodates diversities
E. increases instability and di-
visiveness
F. promotes people’s participa-
tion in government
G. undermines the unity of a
country

(a) A B D F
(b) A C E F
(c) A B D G
(d) B C D G
Ans. (a) ABDF
7. Consider the following
statements about power
sharing arrangements in
Belgium and Sri Lanka.
A. In Belgium, the Dutch-
speaking majority people
tried to impose their
domination on the minor-
ity French-speaking com-
munity.
B. In Sri Lanka, the policies
of the government sought
to ensure the dominance
of the Sinhala-speaking
majority.
C. The Tamils in Sri Lanka
demanded a federal ar-
rangement of power shar-
ing to protect their culture,
language and equality of
opportunity in education
and jobs.
D. The transformation of
Belgium from unitary
government to a federal
one prevented a possible
Additional Questions and Answers
1. Differentiate between ‘Sri
Lankan Tamils’ ; and ‘Indian
Tamils’ of Sri Lanka.
In Sri Lanka, there are two sub
groups among the Tamils. Tamil
natives of the country are called
‘Sri Lankan Tamils’. The rest
whose forefathers came from In-
dia as plantation workers during
colonial period are called ‘Indian
Tamils’.
division of the country on lin-
guistic lines.
Which of the statements given
above are correct?
(a) A, B, C and D
(b) A, B and D
(c) C and D (d) B, C and D
Ans: (d) B, C and D
8. Match List I (forms of power
sharing) with List II (forms of
government) and select the cor-
rect answer using the codes
given below in the lists:
List I List II
1. Power shared A. Com-
among differ- munity
ent organs of govern-
government ment
2. Power shared B. Sepa-
among gov- ration of
ernments at powers
different lev-
els
3. Power shared C. Coali-
by different tion gov-
social groups ernment
4. Power shared D. Fed-
by two or eral Gov-
more political ernment
parties
2. Enumerate the reason for the
feeling of alienation of the Sri
Lankan Tamils.
In 1956 an Act was passed to
recognise Sinhala as the only of-
ficial language degrading Tamil.
The governments followed pref-
erential policies that favoured
Sinhala applicants for university
positions and government jobs.
The new constitution stipulated
Labour India Brilliant Student (CBSE X)
1 2 3 4
(a) D A B C
(b) B C D A
(c) B D A C
(d) C D A B
Ans: (c) 1 2 3 4
B D A C
9. Consider the following two state-
ments on power sharing and se-
lect the answer using the codes
given below:
A. Power sharing is good for de-
mocracy.
B. It helps to reduce the possi-
bility of conflict between social
groups.
Which of these statements are
true and false?
(a) A is true but B is false
(b) Both A and B are true
(c) Both A and B are false
(d) A is false but B is true
Ans: (b) Both A and B are true.
that the State shall protect and
foster Budhism. All these mea-
sures increased feeling of alien-
ation of among the Sri Lankan
Tamils. They felt that none of the
major political parties led by the
Budhist Sinhala leaders were sen-
sitive to their language and cul-
ture. They felt that the constitu-
tion and government policies de-
nied them equal political rights,
 CIVICS
discriminated against them in get-
ting jobs and other opportunities
and ignored their interests.
3. What is known as ‘Community
Government’ in Belgium?
Apart from the Central and the
State Government there is a third
kind of government in Belgium.
Labour India Brilliant Student (CBSE X)
This ‘Community Government’ is
elected by people belonging to
one language community- Dutch,
French and German speaking - no
matter where they live. This gov-
ernment has the power regarding
cultural, educational and language
related issues.
4. What is the difference between
prudential and moral reasons of
power sharing?
While prudential reasons stress
that power sharing will bring out
better outcomes, moral reasons
emphasis the very act of power
sharing as valuable.