POWER SHARING

1. Describe the ethnic compositions of Belgium.

The ethnic composition of the small country like Belgium is very complex because of
various languages speaking people like:
• Of the country’s total population, 59% lives in the Flemish region and speak Dutch
language.
• Another 40 %live in the Wallonia region and speak French.
• Remaining 1% of the Belgians speak German..
• Besides, in the capital city of Brussels, 80% people speak French while 20% are Dutch
speaking.
2. Give an account of ethnic composition of Sri Lanka.
• Sinhala speaking accounts for 74% of total population.
• Another community is Tamil speaking which account 18%. It has two sub-groups:
(a ) The Sri Lankan Tamils, account for 13% .They are the native of Sri Lanka.
(b) The Indian Tamils, account for 5%.They are Indian origin.

3. What led to tension between the Dutch speaking and French speaking communities
during 1950s and 1960s?
• The Dutch speaking people constituted majority in the country, but a minority in the
capital. in the capital city of Brussels, 80% people speak French while 20% are Dutch
speaking.
• The French speaking community was relatively rich and powerful than Dutch speaking
community who 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.
4. What is majoritarianism?What were the series of majoritarian measures adopted in
SriLanka?.
• Majoritarianism is a belief that the majority community should be able to rule a country
in whichever way it wants. In this type of rule they disregard the wishes and needs of
the minority.
• 1n 1956 an Act was passed to recognize Sinhala as the only official language thus
disregarding tamil.
• The government followed preferential policies that favoured Sinhala applicant for
university positions and government jobs.
• A new constitution advocated that the state shall protect and foster Buddhism.
 5. What made Sri Lankan Tamils feel alienated?
• They felt that none of the major political parties led by Buddhist Sinhalese were
sensitive to their language and culture.
• The constitution and government policies denied them equal political rights.
• Thus, they realized that government has discriminated against them in getting hobs and
other opportunities by ignoring their interests.
6. Describe any three demands of the Sri Lankan Tamils. How did they struggle for their
demands?
• Recognition of Tamil as an official language.
• Regional autonomy
• Equality of opportunity in securing education and jobs.
In order to protest for their demand they started a political struggle in the way of conflict
with the government.
• By 1980s several political organization were formed and demanded an independent
Tamil Elam (state) in northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka.
• The distrust between the two communities turned into wide spread conflict which soon
turned into a civil war.
7. Why is power sharing desirable?
Prudential reasons:
• It helps to reduce the possibility of conflict between social groups.
• It helps to ensure the unity of nation.
• It helps to ensure the political stability.
Moral reasons;
• It is the spirit of democracy
• It produces accountable and legitimate government.
• Every citizen get equal rights.
• Everyone should have the right to voice and help in the shaping of public policies.
8. Describe the Belgium model of power sharing.
i. Central government: the constitution provides that the number of Dutch and French
speaking ministers shall be equal in the central government.
ii. State government: Many powers of the central government have been given to the state
government for the two regions of the country. The state governments are not
subordinate to the central government.
iii. Brussels has a separate government: in which both the communities have equal
representation.
 iv. Community government: There is a third kind of government which has the power
regarding cultural, educational and language related issues.

9. What are the different forms of power sharing in modern democracies? Give an
example of each of these.
1) Power sharing among different organs of government:-
• In this form of power sharing power is assigned by the constitution among different
organs of government such as the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary.
• It is also known as horizontal distribution of powers.
• Distribution ensures separation of powers among the organs at the same level so
none of the organs can exercise unlimited power.
• Each organ puts check on others in order to maintain balance of power under the
system of check and balance. For eg: legislature puts check on executive through
no confidence motion adjournment motion etc.
2) Power sharing among different levels of government;-
• In this form of power sharing power is shared at different levels of government like
central government, state government etc
• In this form of power sharing involves the sharing of power from higher to lower
levels, so, it is known as the vertical division of power sharing.
3) Power sharing among different social groups:-
• Power sharing among different social groups like religious and linguistic groups
• Among the minorities the power is shared through the provision of reserved
constituencies and women are given empowerment through reserved seats.
4) Power sharing among political parties:
• Sometimes power sharing arrangements can also be seen in the way political parties
and pressure groups control the power.
• This can be seen when a coalition government is formed where power is shared by
various political parties.

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