CHAPTER 1

POWER SHARING

1. Describe the geographical and ethnic composition of Belgium.

(a)Geographical composition:
 Belgium is a small country in Europe. It is smaller in area
than the State of Haryana in India.
 It has borders with the Netherlands, France, Luxembourg,
and Germany.
 Its population is a little over one crore. It is half of the
population of Haryana state.
(b) Ethnic composition:
 59 percent of the population lives in the Flemish region.
They speak the Dutch language.
 40 percent of people live in the Wallonia region. They
speak French.
 Remaining one percent speak German.
 Brussels is the capital of Belgium. Here, 80 percent of
people speak French, and 20 percent speak Dutch

2. Describe the geographical and ethnic composition of Sri Lanka.

a) Geographical composition:
 Sri Lanka is an island nation.
 It is in the Indian Ocean to the south-eastern tip of India.
 Its population is about 2 crores.
b) Ethnic composition:
 The major social groups are the Sinhala speakers (74 percent) and
Tamil speakers (18 percent).

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  Tamil speakers are further divided into two groups — Sri Lankan
Tamils and Indian Tamils.
 Sri Lankan Tamils are the natives of Sri Lanka. The Indian Tamils’
ancestors migrated from India as plantation workers during the
colonial period.
 Sri Lankan Tamils live in the north and east of the country.
 There are different religions in Sri Lanka, namely. Buddhism,
Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity.

3. What were the major causes of tension in Belgium?

Or
What led to tensions between the Dutch-speaking and French-
speaking communities during the 1950s and 1960s?
 The minority French-speaking community was rich and powerful
as compared to Dutch.
 The Dutch-speaking resented this as they got the benefit of
economic development and education much later.
 This led to tensions between the Dutch-speaking and French-
speaking communities during the 1950s and 1960s.
 This was more acute in Brussels.

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 4. What is Majoritarianism? Describe the majoritarian measures
taken by the leaders of the Sinhala community to establish their
supremacy. What were its results?
Or
How did The Sri Lankan Tamils struggle for their demands?

 Majoritarianism is 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.
The Sinhala community took the following majoritarian measures to
establish their supremacy.
 ln 1956, Sinhala was recognized as the only official language.
 The governments followed preferential policies that favored
Sinhalese applicants for university positions and government jobs.
 Under the new constitution, it was stated that the state shall
protect and foster Buddhism.
Results:
 These measures increased the feeling of alienation among the Sri
Lankan Tamils. The relations between the Sinhala and Tamil
communities became worse.
 Sri Lankan Tamils launched new parties, struggled against the
government, and demanded a separate Tamil State.
 The distrust between the two communities turned into
widespread conflict. It soon turned into a civil war. As a result,
thousands of people from both communities have been killed.
 Many families were forced to leave the country as refugees and
many more lost their livelihood.

5. Describe the path of accommodation adopted in Belgium. What

were its consequences?

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 Or
Describe the main elements of the Belgium model of power
sharing.

The main elements of the Belgium model of power sharing are the
following:

 Dutch and French-speaking ministers shall be equal in the Central

Government. No single community can make decisions
unilaterally.
 The state governments are not subordinate to the Central
Government. Many powers of the Central Government have been
given to State Governments.
 There is a separate government in Brussels, the capital of
Belgium. Both the communities i.e., French-speaking and Dutch-
speaking have equal representation in the Brussels government.
 A third government which is called “community government” is
elected by people belonging to one language community—
Dutch, French and German-speaking — no matter where they
live. The community government has power regarding cultural,
educational, and language-related issues.
Consequences:
 The system is complicated but useful.
 It has avoided conflicts between the two main communities and a
division of the country on linguistic lines.
 It was why the European Union has selected Brussels as its
headquarters.

6. How the composition of the capital city of Brussels is different

from Belgium as a country?

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 In Belgium, the composition of different communities is as given
below:
 Dutch-speaking — 59 percent
 French-speaking — 40 percent
 German-speaking — 01 percent
On the other hand, the composition of Brussels is as follows
 French-speaking — 80 percent
 Dutch-speaking — 20 percent

7. Give Prudential and Moral reasons in favor of power sharing.

Or
Why is power sharing desirable?

Ans. (i) Prudential Reasons

They stress that power-sharing will bring out better customers.
(a) They feel that power-sharing is good because it helps to
reduce the possibility of conflict between social groups.
(b) Power sharing is an effective way to ensure the stability of
political order.
(c) Besides, power sharing is also desirable to the promotion of
national unity and integrity.
(ii) Moral Reasons
They emphasize the very act of power sharing as valuable.
(a) They feel that power sharing is the very spirit of democracy. A
democratic rule involves sharing powers with those affected by its
exercise and who must live with it.
(b) So, a legitimate government is one where citizens, through
participation, acquire a role in the system.

Q. 8 How Majoritarianism in Sri Lanka was practiced?

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Ans.
 Sri Lanka emerged as an independent nation in 1948.
 The democratically elected government adopted Majoritarianism
measures to establish Sinhala’s supremacy.
 In 1956, an act was passed to recognize Sinhala, as the only
official language, thus disregarding Tamil.
 The government followed policies that favored Sinhala applicants
for university positions and government jobs.
 With a new constitution, Buddhism was adopted as a state
religion.

Q9. What factors led to civil war in Sri Lanka?

Ans.
 Measures taken in Majoritarianism gradually increased the
feeling of alienation among Sri Lankan Tamils.
 They feel that the constitution and government policies denied
them equal political rights, discriminated against them in getting
jobs and other opportunities, and ignored their interests.
 As a result, the relations between Sinhala’s and Tamil
communities got strained over time.
 The Sri Lankan Tamils launched parties and struggles for the
recognition of Tamil as an official language, regional autonomy,
and equality of opportunities in getting education and jobs.
 By 1980’s several political organizations were formed demanding
an independent Tamil Elam (state) in northern and northeastern
parts of Sri Lanka.
 The distrust between the two communities turned into
widespread conflict. It soon turned into a civil war. As a result,
thousands of people of both the communities have been killed.

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Q.10. How Belgian government solved its ethnic problem?
Ans.
 Constitution says that several Dutch and French-speaking
ministers shall be equal in the Central government. Thus, no
single community can make decisions unilaterally.
 Many powers of the central government have been given to the
state government of the two regions of the country. The State
governments are not subordinate to the Central government.
 Brussels has a separate government in which both communities
have equal representation.
 There is a third kind of government, called ‘Community
Government.’ This government is elected by 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.

Q.11 What are the different forms of power sharing in modern

democracies? Give an example of each of them.
Ans.
Power shared among different organs of the government.
(a) It is called horizontal distribution of power.
(b) Here the power is shared in legislature, executive and
judiciary.
(c) It allows different organs of the government placed at the
same level to exercise different powers.
(d) ln, this kind of government each organ checks the others. This
results in a balance of power among various institutions.
(e) This arrangement is called a system of checks and balances.
e.g., India.
Power is shared among governments at distinct levels

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 (a) It is also called Vertical distribution of power.
(b) There is a government at the central level and the government
at the state level also.
(c) This kind of government is also called a federal division of
power or federal government.
(d) Here subjects or their functions are divided, and they work at
their own levels within their own limits. e.g. — India.
Power shared among different social groups
(a) It is practiced when power is shared in religious and linguistic
groups.
(b) In some countries socially weaker sections and women are
represented in the legislatures and administration.
(c) In India there is a system of reserved constituencies, to give
space in the government and administration to diverse social
groups.
(d) This method is used to give minority communities a fair share
of power.
Power is shared in political parties, pressure groups, and movements
(a) In a democracy, the citizens must have the freedom to choose
various contenders for power.
(b) In contemporary democracy, this takes place in competition
among different parties. Such competition ensures that power
does not remain in one hand.
(c) Sometimes the power is shared among various political parties,
which is called coalition government.
(d) In a democracy, we find interest groups of traders,
businesspeople, industrialists, farmers, and industrial workers.
They also have a share of governmental powers, either through
participation or bringing influence on the decision-making
process.

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Q. 12. What are the main principles of democracy?
Ans. (i) One basic principle of democracy is that people are the source
of all political power.
(ii) In a democracy people rule themselves through institutions of
self-governance.
(iii) In democracy due respect is given to diverse groups and views
that exist in a society.
(iv) Everyone has a voice in the shaping of public policies.

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