DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL

Secunderabad
NACHARAM/ MAHENDRA HILLS
SUBJECT : SOCIAL SCIENCE Notes - Power Sharing CLASS : X

POWER SHARING
1. What do you mean by power sharing?
Distribution of power among different organs and level of governments,
among different social groups and political parties is called power sharing.
2. Explain the ethnic composition of Belgium and Srilanka.
Ethnic composition of Belgium
In the whole country
 59% Dutch speaking people live in Flemish region
 40% French speaking people live in Wallonia region
 1% German speaking people lives towards the eastern region
Ethnic composition in Brussels (capital of Belgium) is somehow different
 80% French speaking people
 20% Dutch speaking people.
Ethnic composition of Srilanka
 74% people are Sinhala speakers and most of them are Buddhist
 18% people are Tamil speakers and mostly Hindu
 Srilanka Tamils (13%) ( Tamil native of the country, occupy N-E and
mostly Hindus and Muslims)
 5% Indian Tamils whose forefathers came to Srilanka as plantation
workers.
 7% Christians who are both Tamil and Sinhala.
 1% belong to small ethnic communities
3. What do you mean by majoritarianism?
Majoritarianism is a belief that the majority community should be able to
rule a country in which way it wants by disregarding the wishes and needs
of the minority.
4. What were the majoritarian measures taken by the democratically elected
government of Sri Lanka and Why?
Majoritarian policies
 1956 act made Sinhala as the only official language.
 Preferential policies favoring Sinhalese in university positions and govt.
jobs.
 A new constitution was stipulated to protect and foster Buddhism

The government implemented majoritarian policies to establish the supremacy of

the Sinhalese.
5. Explain the consequences of majoritarian policies adopted by the Srilanka
government.
 Sri Lankan Tamils felt like alien in their own country.
 They felt that major political parties led by Buddhist Sinhala leaders was not
sensitive to their language and culture
 They felt that govt. policies and the constitution denied them equal political
right, discriminated them in govt. jobs and ignore their interest.
 Relation between Sinhala and Tamil became strained and ultimately it was
responsible for the outbreak of civil war.
6. Mention any three demands of Sri Lankan Tamils.
Or
Which three demands of Sri Lankan Tamils accepted and met with, can settle
the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka for good.
 Sri Lankan Tamils Formed political parties and demanded Tamil to be an
official language
 Demanded regional autonomy for Tamil dominated provinces.
 Equal opportunity in education and jobs.
7. Specify the impacts of the Civil war on Sri Lanka.
 Thousands of people from both the communities were killed
 Many families were forced to leave the country as refugees and many more
lost their livelihood
 The war finally got over in 2009 with decisive victory of the Sri Lankan govt.
 The civil war has caused a terrible setback to social, cultural and economic
life of the country.
8. Describe the power sharing arrangement made in Belgium.
Or
Explain the elements of the Belgian model of power sharing.
 Central Government- Number of French and Dutch speaking ministers shall
be equal in the central govt. Some special laws require the support of
 majority of members from each linguistic group. So no single community
can take the decision unilaterally.
 State Government- Many powers of central govt. are given to the state
governments of two regions of the country. State governments are not
subordinate to the central govt.
 Government at Capital- Capital Brussels has a separate govt. in which both
the communities have equal representation. French speaking people
accepted the equal representation because Dutch speaking community
accepted equal representation in central govt.
 Community Govt.
This govt. is elected by the people belonging to one language community
such as Dutch, French and German speaking, no matter where they live. This govt.
has the power regarding culture, education and language related issues.
9. Compare the different ways in which the Belgians and Sri Lankans have dealt
with the problem of cultural diversity.
The Belgian leaders recognized the existence of regional and cultural diversities
 They amended their constitution four times so as to work out an innovative
arrangement that would enable everyone to live together in peace and
harmony, i.e. there was sharing of power between Dutch and the French
both in Central Government, state government and community
government. They followed a policy of accommodation.
 This helped to avoid civic strife and the division of the country on the basis
of language.
 On the other hand Sinhalese who were in majority in Sri Lanka as compared
to the Tamils followed a policy of majoritarianism and adopted a series of
measures of measures to establish Sinhala supremacy by passing an act of
1956.
 These measures alienated the Tamils leading to civic strife between two
communities.
10. Why is power sharing desirable? Explain moral reasons and prudential
reasons in this regard.
Prudential reasons (reasons based on careful calculation of gain and loss, it
contrast with the decision based on moral consideration)
 It reduces the conflict among the social groups
 Ensures the stability of the political order by reducing social conflict,
violence and political instability
  Imposing the will of the majority may look attractive in the short run but in
the long run it will break the unity of the country
PS is desirable for the national unity and integrity
Moral reasons
 Power sharing is the spirit of democracy. A democratic rule involves the
sharing of power with those affected by its exercise and who have to live
with its effect.
 People have the right to be consulted because ultimately they are going to
be affected by its exercise.
 A legitimate govt. is one where citizens through participation acquire a
stake in the system.
11. What is power sharing? Why power sharing is important in a democracy?
When power is shared among different organs and levels of government,
among different social groups and political parties, it is called power sharing.
Power sharing is important in a democracy because
 It helps to reduce conflict between different social groups.
 It is the very spirit of democracy.
 It is a good way to ensure the stability of the political order.
12. Ina modern democracy power is often shared among different organs of the
government .Explain.
 Power is shared among different organs of the government such as
Legislative, executive and Judiciary.
 It allows different organs of government placed at the same level to
exercise different power.
 Objective of these types of separation is that none of the organs can
exercise unlimited power.
 Each organ checks the other. This result in the balance among various
institutions.
 That’s why otherwise this type of power distribution is called Check and
balance.
 Example. 1. In a democracy even though the MPs and MLAs exercise
power, they are answerable to the parliament or Assembly.
2. Judges are appointed by the executives but they can check the
functioning of the executives.
13. Explain the Vertical division of power giving examples from India.
Vertical division of power means sharing of power among different levels of
government such as Central government, State government.
In India there are three levels of Government
i) For the entire country : Central Government or Union Government
ii) At the Provincial Level : State Government
iii) At the Local level: Panchayat, Municipal Council.
14. How is power shared among different social groups in a democracy?
 Social groups mean religious groups and Linguistic groups etc.
 Community government in Belgium is good example of this type of power
sharing.
 Reserved constituency I Assemblies and Parliament, abolition of
untouchability, seat reservations etc are the some of the examples of
power sharing among different social groups.
15. How is power being distributed among different political parties and interest
groups?
 Competition among the different political parties in every election ensures
that power does not remain in the hand of one political party
 Power sharing can be direct when two or more parties form an alliance to
contest in the election and form the coalition government after winning.
 Interest groups such as unions or associations doctors, farmers, traders etc.
are also sharing the power when they influence the decision of the
government by going on strike, rally etc.
One Mark question answer
1. Define ethnic.
2. Define majoritarianism.
3. Define Civil war
4. Define Prudential. (Refer text book)