Power sharing Class 10 short Question Answers

Q1. With which countries does Belgium share border?
Ans. Belgium shares borders with Netherlands, France, Germany and Luxembourg.

Q2. What is the ethnic composition of Belgium?
Ans. 59 per cent of the populations lives in the Flemish region and speak Dutch language, 40 percent live in the Wallonia region and speak French, remaining one percent of the Belgians speak German.

Q3. What is the ethnic composition of capital city Brussels?
Ans. In the capital city of Brussels, 80 percent people speak French while 20 percent are Dutch speaking communities.

Q4. Why was the tension more acute in Brussels between two communities?
Ans. There was more tension in Brussels because the Dutch speaking people constituted a majority in the country, but a minority in the capital.

Q5. What is the ethnic composition of Sri Lanka?
Ans. The Sinhala speakers are 74 per cent and Tamil speakers 18 per cent and among Tamils there are two sub groups—Sri Lankan Tamils and Indian Tamils.

Q6. Which religions are followed by Sri Lankans?
Ans. Most of the Sinhala speaking are Buddhists, while most of the Tamils are Hindus or Muslims and there are about 7 percent Christians, who are both Tamils and Sinhalas.

Q7. What could have happened if Dutch community had taken advantage of its majority in Belgium?
Ans. In Belgium, the Dutch community could have taken advantage of its numeric majority and force its will on the French and German speaking population. This would have pushed the conflict among communities further.

Q8. What kind of government was adopted by Sri Lanka?
Ans. Sri Lanka emerged as an independent country in 1948. The leaders of the Sinhala community sought to secure dominance over government by virtue of their majority. As a result, the democratically elected government adopted a series of majoritarian measures to establish Sinhala supremacy.

Q9. How did Sinhalese become the official language of Sri Lanka?
Ans. In 1956, an Act was passed to recognise ‘Sinhala’ as the only official language thus disregarding Tamil.

Q10. Which religion is adopted as the state religion of Sri Lanka?
Ans. A new constitution stipulated that the state shall protect and foster Buddhism.

Q11. Why did Sri Lankan Tamils feel alienated from Sinhalese?
Ans. They felt that the constitution and government policies denied them even political rights, discriminated against them in getting jobs and other opportunities and ignored their interests.

Q12. What were the demands of Political organisations of Tamils in Sri Lanka?
Ans. By 1980s, several political organisations were formed demanding an independent Tamil Eelam (state) in northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka.

Q13. What was the result of civil war in Sri Lanka?
Ans. As a result of civil war between two communities, thousands of people from both the communities were killed. Many families were forced to leave the country as refugees and many more lost their livelihoods.

Q14. What did Belgians do to bring the ethnic groups together?
Ans. The Belgian leaders recognised the existence of regional differences and cultural diversities. Between 1970 and 1993, they amended their constitution four times so as to work out an arrangement that would enable everyone to live together within the same country.

Q15. What was the division of power between Dutch and French speaking in Belgium?
Ans. The constitution prescribed that the number of Dutch and French speaking ministers shall be equal in the central government. Thus, no single community can make decisions unilaterally.

Q16. What was the division of power between Central and State governments of Belgium?
Ans. Many powers of the Central government have been given to State government of the two regions of the country. The State governments are not subordinate to the Central Government.

Q17. What kind of government is there in Brussels?
Ans. Brussels has a separate government in which both the communities have equal representation. The French speaking people accepted equal representation in Brussels because the Dutch speaking community has accepted equal representation in the Central government.

Q18. What is the concept of ‘Community government’ of Belgium?
Ans. The ‘community government’ is elected by the 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.

Q19. How did Belgium’s accommodation help to avoid civil war?
Ans. The new arrangements of the government helped to avoid civil strife between the two major communities and a possible division of the country on linguistic lines.

Q20. What is the similarity between Belgium and Sri Lanka?
Ans. The similarity between Belgium and Sri Lanka is that both are democracies.

Q21. How did Belgians tackle the problems of different communities?
Ans. In Belgium, the leaders have realised that the unity of the country is possible only by respecting the feelings and interests of different communities and regions. Such a realisation resulted in mutually acceptable arrangements for sharing power.

Q22. How was Sri Lanka different from Belgium in making the decisions of their communities?
Ans. Sri Lanka showed us that if a majority community wants to force its dominance over others and refuses to share power, it can undermine the unity of the country.

Q23. Which prudential reasons make power sharing desirable?
Ans. Power sharing is good because it helps to reduce the possibility of conflict between social groups. Power sharing is a good way to ensure the stability of political order.

Q24. What is the moral reason behind power sharing?
Ans. Power sharing is the very spirit of democracy. A democratic rule involves sharing power with those affected by its exercise, and who have to live with its effects. People have a right to be consulted on how they are to be governed.

Q25. What is the basic principle of democracy?
Ans. Basic principle of democracy is that people are the source of all political powers. In a democracy, people rule themselves through institutions of self-governance.

Q26. What is a good democracy?
Ans. In a good democracy, due respect is given to diverse groups and views that exist in a society. Everyone has a voice in the shaping of public policies.

Q27. What is the horizontal distribution of power?
Ans. The power is shared among different organs of government such as legislative, executive and judiciary.

Q28. Why is power sharing between different organs called horizontal distribution of power?
Ans. It is called horizontal distribution of power because it allows different organs of government placed at the same level to exercise different powers.

Q29. Why is horizontal power sharing also called a ‘system of checks and balances’?
Ans. Each organ checks the other. This results in a balance of power among various institutions. In it, ministers are responsible to parliament or state assemblies and judges are appointed by executive but can check the functioning of executive or laws made by legislatures.

Q30. What is vertical division of power?
Ans. Power can be shared among governments at different levels—a general government for the entire country and government at the provincial or regional level. This is also called federal division of power as well as vertical division of power.

Q31. How is power shared among different social groups?
Ans. Power is also shared among different social groups, such as the religious and linguistic groups. Socially weaker sections and women are also represent in the legislatures and administration.

3) ________ is an island nation just a few kilometres off the southern coast of Tamil Nadu.

Ans) Sri Lanka

4) State the percentage of Sinhala and Tamil Speakers in Sri Lanka.

Ans) Sinhala: 74% and Tamil: 18%

5) Sri Lanka emerged as an independent country in the year ______.

Ans) 1948

6) _______ reason stresses that power-sharing will bring out better outcomes while ______ reasons emphasize the very act of power-sharing.

Ans) Prudential, Moral

7) In modern democracies, power is shared among different organs of the government and they are the _______, ______ and ________.

Ans) Executive, Legislature, Judiciary

8) A general government for the entire country is known as ______.

Ans) Federal Government

9) Division of power having higher and lower levels of governments is known as _________.

Ans) Vertical Division of Power

10) Name two of Russia’s important political parties.

Ans) The union of Right Forces, The Liberal Yabloko Movement

11) _______ measure was adopted by the democratically elected government to establish Sinhala supremacy in Sri Lanka.

Ans) Majoritarian

12) Name the state religion of Sri Lanka.

Ans) Buddhism

13) _______ percentage of people speak the German language in Belgium.

Ans) Only 1%

14) Sinhala was recognized as the only official language of Sri Lanka after an act passed in the year _________.

Ans) 1956

15) _________ can be considered as a good example of power-sharing among different social groups in Belgium.

Ans) Community Government

16) System of ________ has been adopted in India to give representation to socially and economically backward classes in government institutions.

Ans) Reserved Constituencies

Class 10 Civics Chapter 1 Extra Questions and Answers – Short Type Questions: [2-4 marks]

1) Give two different sets of reasons in favour of power-sharing.

How far do you agree with the statement that power-sharing is keeping with the spirit of democracy? (CBSE 2012)

Ans) Power-sharing can be described as the most important feature of democracy because of the following reasons:

The feature of power-sharing helps in minimizing the likelihoods of clashes among various political and social groups and also protects the government from turning into an authoritarian ruler.
In a democracy, people must get to know about their queries regarding the steps taken by the government and when there is a system of power-sharing then the government becomes more responsible as there are other organs of powers who can otherwise charge the government for not being responsible and answering the queries of the people.

2) What is the horizontal distribution of power?

What is known as the system of Checks and Balances? (CBSE 2015)

Ans) Horizontal distribution of power refers to the sharing of powers among the three different organs of the government i.e. the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. It is called so because it allows different organs of government to be placed at the same level to exercise a different set of powers. This type of separation ensures a system of checks and balances and restricts accumulation of powers to one particular organ and as a result, helps to keep the notion of democracy alive.

3) What is meant by Majoritarianism?

Sri Lanka adopted many majoritarian rules to enhance the importance of the Sinhala community. What do you mean by the term Majoritarianism?

Ans) Majoritarianism can be defined as a belief where the majority community is given more importance and respect and is also allowed to rule the country according to their wishes and fancies disregarding the needs and desires of the minority community. Example: Sri Lanka.

4) What do you mean by the term Ethnic? Give two examples.

Ans) When a social separation is based on communal beliefs and people belonging to this particular group have faith in each other’s common ancestries owing to some physical or cultural similarities who might or might not have the same religion or nationality can be termed as an ethnic group. For example, Indo Aryans and Dravidians of India.

5) Mention any two different forms of power-sharing that we come across in Democracies.

Ans) Power sharing is one of the most important features of democracy which helps to maintain a system of checks and balances. There are many ways in which power is shared in a democracy, some of which are mentioned below:

Horizontal Distribution of Power: When power is shared among the three different organs of government i.e. the legislature, the executive and the judiciary.
Vertical Division of power: The vertical division of power includes the different higher and lower levels of government like central government, state government, village panchayats etc.

6) To establish the supremacy of the Sinhala community the government of Sri Lanka took many steps. State any three of them.

Ans) To establish the supremacy of the Sinhala community, the government of Sri Lanka took many majoritarian measures. A few of them are as follows:

In the year 1956, an act was passed which recognized Sinhala as the only official language.
The government followed preferential policies for university admissions and government jobs where applicants from the Sinhala community were prioritized.
The new constitution adopted stipulated that the state was supposed to protect and foster the religion Buddhism.

7) Mention three measures that Belgium took to solve the existing regional and cultural diversities of the nation.

How did Belgium successfully kept its culturally diverse population united?

Ans) To address the existing regional and cultural differences, the Belgian government took many steps. Some of them are as follows:

An equal number of ministers from both communities of Dutch and French-speaking were given responsibility so that both the groups get equal representation.
Setting up of community government addressing issues related to culture, education and languages. It included members of all the three communities i.e. Dutch, French and German-speaking.
Provisions of a fair share of power for both central and state government and equal representation of power in the capital city of Brussels were also among the measures that ensured equality of opportunities for all the communities.

8) What were the reasons behind the strained relationship between the Tamil and the Sinhala communities in Sri Lanka?

Ans)

The ethnic composition of Sri Lanka consists of 74% Sinhala community and 14% Tamil community, people constituting a clear case of majority of one community over the other. On the other hand, the government of Sri Lanka adopted a few majoritarian measures to establish the supremacy of the Sinhala community over the Tamils leaving them neglected and dissatisfied.
Discrimination based on religion and culture, biased and preferential policy measures practised in universities and government institutions, adopting a particular official language all made the Tamils feel inferior and ignored.
Even after repeated protests, narrating their demand for equality, they were not provided with justice as a result of which a civil war between the two communities took place.

All these resulted in the strained relationship of the Tamil community and the Sinhala community.

Class 10 Civics Chapter 1 Extra Questions and Answers – Long Type Questions: [4-6 marks]

1. Explain the ethnic compositions of the following nations:

a) Belgium
b) Sri Lanka

Ans)

BELGIUM: Belgium is a small country in Europe and shares its borders with France, Netherlands, Germany, and Luxemburg.
The ethnic composition of this country is very complex owing to the presence of many different communities.
Of the country’s total population, 59% lives in the Flemish region and speaks the Dutch language. Another 40% of people live in Wallonia region and speak French. Remaining 1% of the Belgians speaks German.
In the capital city of Brussels, 80% of people speak French while 20% speaks Dutch.
SRI LANKA: Sri Lanka is also a country with a diverse population. On the one hand, 74% of the population is Sinhala speaking on the other hand 14% are Tamil speaking.
Among Tamils, there are two subgroups: The Sri Lankan Tamils and the Indian Tamils. Most of the Sinhala speaking community are Buddhists while most of the Tamils are Hindus are Muslims.
There are a total of 7% Christians in the country from both Tamils and Sinhala Communities.

2) Differentiate between the Belgian and The Sri Lankan democracies.

Compare the different ways in which the Belgians and the Sri Lankans have dealt with the problem of cultural diversity. (CBSE 2012)

Ans) Both Belgium and Sri Lanka are among countries with a mixed and complex ethnic composition. However, the governments of both countries dealt very differently with the issue and while on one hand, one could successfully maintain peace among its citizens the other’s decisions resulted in a civil war. Below are a few points of differences between the two government approaches:

Belgium adopted a policy of accommodation of all social and economic divisions while the Sri Lankan government adopted a set of majoritarian policies.
Belgium provided equal representation to both the ethnic communities of Dutch and French while Sri Lanka decided to adopt features for the majority only.
Belgium provided equal power status to all its communities while Sri Lanka adopted the language of the majority as the official language.
Belgium set up a third government known as the community government to address issues related to culture language and education while on the other hand, Sri Lankan government decided to safeguard and protect the religion of the majority ignoring the demands of the minority.

3) What were the demands and struggles of the Sri Lankan people?

Explain any three consequences of the majoritarian policies adopted by the Sri Lankan government. (CBSE 2013)

Analyze how Majoritarianism has increased the feeling of alienation among the Sri Lankan Tamils? (CBSE 2014, CBSE 2015)

Ans) In Sri Lanka, the Tamil speaking community is the minority with only 14% of the total population speaking the language. The Sri Lankan Tamils had the following demands which they wanted their government to fulfil:

They wanted equality of opportunities for all and ban on the preference system that was carried out during university admissions or government job selection where Sinhala speaking community was given preference over Tamil speaking candidates.
Tamils wanted recognition of their mother tongue Tamil and demanded equal status and respect for their language as was given to the Sinhala language.
They also wanted their religion to be equally recognized by the government as was done in case of Buddhism which was the main religion of the Sinhala community.
Tamils with the help of a few political parties in the year 1980 demanded a separate independent Tamil state.
As a result of the clash between the two communities, a civil war took place which resulted in massive economic, social and political losses.

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