Power-sharing

The opening chapter of Class 10 Political Science (Democratic Politics-II) resumes our study of democracy by exploring the idea of power-sharing. It opens with two contrasting stories from Belgium and Sri Lanka. Belgium, with its complex mix of Dutch, French and German speakers, chose accommodation: its leaders amended the constitution four times between 1970 and 1993 to share power among communities and regions, keeping the country united. Sri Lanka, with a large Sinhala majority and a Tamil minority, chose majoritarianism, imposing Sinhala supremacy through language, job and religious policies that alienated the Tamils and led to a devastating civil war ending in 2009. From these stories the chapter draws the lesson that sharing power strengthens rather than weakens a nation. It then explains two sets of reasons for power-sharing, prudential (reducing conflict and ensuring stability) and moral (power-sharing as the very spirit of democracy). Finally it sets out the four forms of power-sharing in modern democracies: horizontal (among the legislature, executive and judiciary), vertical or federal (among different levels of government), among social groups (religious and linguistic), and among political parties, pressure groups and movements. A foundational and high-scoring chapter of the Board syllabus.