Notes can help you in revising the whole chapter in less time. If exams are near or you have class test next day then you can easily understand all the important points and concepts through notes made by our subject - expert teacher at Textual Solution. We have divided the Revision Notes in two sections - Chapter At A Glance and Important Terms & Their Explanation of Democratic Politics (Civics) Class 10 Ch 1 - Power Sharing.
Chapter At A Glance
- This chapter tells us that power sharing is very important for the smooth fuctioning of democracy. Power in democracy rests in the hands of people and by power sharing, we can ensure their participation in the running affairs of the country.
- Belgium is very small country in Europe whose population is around half of the population of Harayana and its area is also less than the area of Harayana. People residing in Belgium have to face an ethnic situation. Around 59% people speak Dutch language, 40% speak French language and 1% speak German language.
- This type of ethnic situation also exists in Sri Lanka where majority of people belong to Sinhala speakers (74%) and the Tamil Speakers are in minority (18%). Tamils are divided in two groups. Original inhabitants of Sri Lanka are Sri Lankan Tamils (13%) and rest of the Tamils are those whose forefathers went over there during colonial period from India as plantation workers. Around 7% people are Christians.
- In Sri Lanka tendency of Majoritarianism exists among Sinhalas because they are in majority. That is why they took many constitutional measures to establish Sinhala supermacy. That is why a feeling of alienation came among Sri Lankan Tamils.
- In contrast to that, Belgium introduced many constitutional reforms to reduce ethnic conflict in the country and it made many arrangements that the people should live together in the country. They gave equal representation to all the groups and ensure their participation in the country's political system.
- From these two examples it is clear that the concept of power sharing not only reduces the tension among different ethnic groups of the country but it increases peace and stability in the country. Dominance of one ethnic group can undermine the unity of the country.
- Power sharing is very much necessary because it suits to the spirit of the democracy and it involves people's participation in the government. A legitimate government is that which has enough scope of people's participation in the power.
- Power sharing is of different types. Power can be shared among different organs of government. Power could be shared among government at different levels. Power can also be shared among different social groups and it can be shared by different political parties, pressure groups and movements.
- Power sharing is good for two reasons. First one is called Prudential because it reduces the possibilty of conflict between different social groups. It is a short term arrangement and it undermines the unity of the nation. Second deeper reason is that power sharing is spirit of democracy and power should reside in the hands of the people. This reason is called as moral.
- A violent conflict between different ethnic groups of the country is known as civil war and it looks like a war due to its intensity.
Important Terms & Their Explanation
- Ethnic : Any group of nation, race or tribe that has a common cultural tradition. People of one ethnic group believes that all of them belong to common descent because of their similar physical traits. It is not necessary that all of them belong to one religion or nation.
- Majoritarianism : A feeling in the majority community of the country that they can rule the country according to their own wishes and by neglecting the feelings and needs of minority groups of that country.
- Civil War : A violent conflict between different ethnic groups of the country which looks like a war due to its intensity.
- Regional Autonomy : Demanding independence of any particular area or demanding equal power with rest of the country.
- Community Government : The government which is elected by the people belonging to one language community and which has power related to educational, cultural and linguistic issues.
- Prudential : It is a careful calculation of all the gains and losses about any particular decision or issue. Prudential decisions are generally opposite to the decisions of moral values.
- Democracy : Democracy is the government of the people, for the people and by the people.
- Power Sharing : Sharing power by different groups or levels for the smooth functioning of any system.