Haryana State Board HBSE 10th Class Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 1 Power Sharing Notes
Haryana Board 10th Class Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 1 Power Sharing
→ Summary Of The Lesson
- Power sharing among the three organs of state viz, legislature, executive and judiciary is most important for the proper functioning of democracy.
- To understand how democracies handle demands for power sharing, the form of power sharing in Belgium and Sri Lanka are discussed in this chapter.
→ Belgium and Sri Lanka
- Belgium is a small country in Europe. Area-wise, it is smaller than the state of Haryana.
- Its population is about half the population of Haryana.
- It shares borders with France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
- Of the country’s total population, 59 per cent people live in the Flemish region and speak Dutch while 40 per cent people live in the Wallonia region and speak French.
Power Sharing Notes HBSE 10th Class
→ 1 per cent of people speak German.
- The capital of Belgium is Brussels, where 80 percent of people speak French, while 20 percent speak Dutch.
- Tension grew between ‘Dutch-speaking’ and ‘French-speaking’ communities during the 1950s and 1960s, especially in capital city, Brussels.
- Brussels presented a special problem that the Dutch-speaking people constituted a majority in the country, but a minority in the capital.
- Sri Lanka 1 an island nation with a diverse population having mainly, Sinhala speakers (74 per ceñt) and Tamil speakers (18 per cent).
- Tamils are divided into two groups- ‘Sri Lankan Tamils’ and ‘Indian Tamils’.
- Most of the Sinhalas are Buddhist, while most of the Tamils are Hindus or Muslims.
- In Belgium, the Dutch Community and in Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese Community could take advantage of their majority, by imposing their will on other communities.
Power Sharing Class 10 Notes HBSE
→ Majoritarianism in Sri Lanka
- In 1948, Sri Lanka became an independent country.
- Sinhala community adopted Majoritarian measures to secure dominance over the government.
- The Act of 1956 declared Sinhala as the only official language.
- Tamils felt that the government was discriminating and ignoring their interests.
- Sri Lankan Tamils established parties and demanded the following :
(a) Tamil as an official language.
(b) Regional autonomy.
(c) Equal opportunities in the field of education and jobs. - Gradually, in 1980s many political organizations were formed and the demand for an independent Tamil-Eelam (state) was raised.
- The relations between the Sinhalese and the Tamils became so strained that a civil war broke out.
Accommodation in Belgium - Between 1970 and 1993, the Belgian leaders amended their constitution four times, in order to remove regional differences and cultural diversities.
- They made various arrangements, as-
(a) The number of Dutch and French-speaking ministers shall be equal in the Central Government.
(b) To pass some special laws, the majority of each linguistic group is essential.
(c) The state governments are not subordinate to the central government.
(d) Both the communities have equal representation in the separate Government of Brussels.
(e) Apart from the central and state governments, there is also a third kind of government, i.e. ‘community government’. - Though the Belgian model is very complicated, yet it has worked well and helped to avoid civic strife between the two major communities.
- Belgium and Sri Lanka, both are democracies, yet they dealt with the question of power sharing differently.
- Why is Power Sharing Desirable?
- Power sharing is good because it helps to reduce the possibility of conflict among social groups.
- Power sharing ensures the stability of the political order. It is a very essential element for the spirit of democracy.
Class 10 Power Sharing Notes HBSE
→ Forms of Power-Sharing
- In a democracy, people are the source of all political power. People rule themselves through institutions of self-government.
- In a good democratic government, everyone has a role in the shaping of public policies. So, in a democracy, political power should be distributed among as many citizens as possible.
- The most common forms of power sharing in modern democracies are as given below-
(a) Power sharing among different organs of government, such as the legislature, executive and judiciary. This arrangement is also known as a system of ‘checks and balances’.
(b) Power sharing among central and provincial governments is called ‘federal division of power’.
(c) Power sharing among different social groups, such as religious and linguistic groups. ‘Community government’ in Belgium is a good example of this arrangement.
(d) Power sharing among different political parties, pressure groups and movements. It can be seen in the form of competition among various parties and groups. It can also be seen in the form of alliances.
→ Important Terms
1. Power Sharing: The division of power between different tiers of government, different organs, or different communities in a country, in order to ensure smooth running of the government and to check that all powers are not concentrated within one hand.
2. Democracy: A government formed by the representatives, who are directly elected by the people.
3. Legislature: A deliberative body of persons, usually elective, who are empowered to make, change or repeal the laws of a country or state.
Notes Of Chapter Power Sharing HBSE 10th Class
4. Executive: The part of government that has sole authority and reponsibility for the daily administration of the state. The executive branch
executes the law.
5. Judiciary: It is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. It also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes.
6. Ethnic: A social division based on similarities of physical type, or of culture, or both. They may not be of the same religion or nationality.
7. Flemish: Of or relating to Flanders, its people or their language, i.e. Dutch-speaking people.
8. Minority Community: A group of people, whose number in the total population of a country is less than one half.
9. Island Nation: A country which is surrounded by water is known as an island nation.
10. Sri Lankan Tamils: Tamil natives of Sri Lanka are called Sri Lankan Tamils. They consitute 13 per cent of the population and are concentrated in the Northern and Eastern part of Sri Lanka.
11. Indian Tamils: The Tamilians, whose forefathers came from India as plantation work¬ers during colonial rule, and settled in Sri Lanka, are called Indian Tamils. They consitute 5 per cent of the population.
12. Majoritarianism: A belief, that the majority community should be able to rule over a country, in whatever way it wants, by disregarding the wishes and needs of the minority.
Chapter 1 Civics Class 10 Notes HBSE
13. Constitution: A set of rules and basic principles which governs a nation is called constitution.
14. Political Party: A group of persons who come together to contest elections and hold power in the government.
15. Regional Autonomy: Decentralization of governance to constituent regions.
16. Civil war: A violent conflict between opposing groups within a country that becomes so intense that it appears like war.
17. Refugee: One who flees for shelter is called a refugee.
18. Unilateral: Decisions taken without the agreement of the people.
19. Civic strife: Conflict and fighting between groups of the same country.
20. Tyranny: Oppressive or cruel rule, use of power and excessive control.
21. Prudential: Based on prudence, or on careful calculation of gains and losses. Prudential decisions are usually contrasted with those decisions which are based purely on moral considerations.
22. Legitimate Government: A Legitimate Government is one where, citizens, through participation, acquire a stake in the system.
23. Horizontal Distribution of Power: Power is shared among different organs of government, i.e. legislative, executive and judiciary.
24. Checks and balances: A system in which each organ of the government checks the others. It results in a balance of power among various institutions and ensures that none of the organs can exercise unlimited power or control.
25. Federal Government: It is based upon division of power between central government and state governments. Though states have control over their own affairs, yet centre has overall control over these units.
26. Vertical Division of Power: Distribution of power between higher and lower levels of government, i.e. between central and state governments.
27. Community Government: A type of government which is elected by the people belonging to one language community.
28. Reserved Constituencies: Some of the constituencies are reserved for the SCs (Scheduled Castes) and the STs (Scheduled Tribes), where only the weaker sections can contest elections.
Class 10 Chapter Power Sharing Notes HBSE
29. Pressure Groups: Pressure groups are those organisations that attempt to influence the policies of the government to safeguard their own interests.
30. Ideologies: The body of doctrines, myths, beliefs, etc that guides an individual, social movement or large group.
31. Alliance: A group of countries or political parties united together, formally to achieve similar objectives.
32. Coalition Government: A government formed by the alliance of two or more political parties.