About This Section
This is a collection of important questions with complete model answers covering the whole of Chapter 1 — Power-sharing. Use it to revise the key ideas: the stories of Belgium and Sri Lanka, majoritarianism and accommodation, the prudential and moral reasons for power sharing, and the four forms of power sharing in modern democracies.
Questions and Answers
Q1. What are the different forms of power sharing in modern democracies? Give an example of each.
Answer: There are four main forms:
- Horizontal distribution — power shared among the legislature, executive and judiciary (example: the system of checks and balances).
- Vertical (federal) division — power shared among different levels of government (example: Union, State and local governments in India).
- Among social groups — power shared among religious and linguistic communities (example: the community government in Belgium; reserved constituencies in India).
- Among political parties, pressure groups and movements (example: a coalition government formed by an alliance of parties).
Q2. State one prudential and one moral reason for power sharing, each with an example.
Answer: Prudential reason: Power sharing reduces conflict between social groups and ensures political stability — for instance, sharing power between the Union and the States keeps India's diverse society peaceful. Moral reason: Power sharing is the very spirit of democracy and gives people the right to be consulted — for instance, giving power to panchayats lets ordinary citizens participate directly in the decisions that affect them. Prudential reasons value the outcomes; moral reasons value the act of sharing itself.
Q3. Compare and contrast the situation in Belgium and Sri Lanka before the reforms.
Answer: Both countries had social diversity and a majority community that could dominate. In Belgium, the Dutch were a majority in the country but a minority in Brussels, and the French minority was rich and powerful, causing tension. In Sri Lanka, the Sinhala majority (74 per cent) faced a Tamil minority (18 per cent). The crucial difference came in the response: Belgium chose accommodation and shared power, while Sri Lanka chose majoritarianism and imposed Sinhala supremacy, leading to civil war.
Q4. 'Belgium transformed itself from a unitary to a federal set-up and prevented a possible division of the country.' Explain.
Answer: Earlier, most powers in Belgium lay with the central government. Through four constitutional amendments (1970-1993), Belgium gave many powers to the State Governments of its two regions, making them not subordinate to the centre, and created a community government for language matters. This shift from a unitary to a federal arrangement recognised the country's diversity and ensured that no community could dominate, thereby preventing a possible division of Belgium along linguistic lines.
Q5. Why do we say that 'power sharing is the very spirit of democracy'?
Answer: A democracy is a rule of the people, so a democratic government must share power with those affected by its decisions and who must live with its effects. People have a right to be consulted about how they are governed, and a government is legitimate only when citizens, through participation, acquire a stake in the system. Because power sharing follows directly from the basic idea of rule by the people, it is called the very spirit of democracy.
Q6. Explain the horizontal distribution of power and the system of checks and balances.
Answer: In the horizontal distribution of power, power is shared among the legislature, executive and judiciary, which are placed at the same level and hold different powers. So that none becomes all-powerful, each organ checks the others — for example, ministers are responsible to Parliament, and judges (though appointed by the executive) can review the actions of the executive and the laws of the legislature. This mutual watchfulness is called the system of checks and balances, and it prevents the misuse of power.
Q7. How did majoritarianism in Sri Lanka affect the country?
Answer: The Sinhala majority adopted a series of majoritarian measures: making Sinhala the only official language (1956), giving preferential treatment to Sinhalas in jobs and universities, and protecting Buddhism in the constitution. These deepened the alienation of the Sri Lankan Tamils, who demanded a separate Tamil Eelam. Distrust turned into a civil war in which thousands died and many became refugees, causing a terrible social, economic and cultural setback until the war ended in 2009.