NCERT NOTES

FOR POLITY
10th Standard
Democratic Politics II
CONTENTS
Power-sharing ................................................................................................................................. 1 - 3

Federalism ......................................................................................................................................... 4 - 9

Gender, Religion and Caste .................................................................................................... 12 - 19

Political Parties ........................................................................................................................... 23 - 28

Outcomes of Democracy ......................................................................................................... 29 - 31

 1 POWER-SHARING
In a democracy all power does not rest with any one organ of the government. An intelligent sharing
of power among legislature, executive and judiciary is very important.

Case Study of Majoritarianism in Sri Lanka:

· Sri Lanka is an island nation, just a few kilometers off the southern coast of Tamil Nadu.
· Diverse population: The major social groups are:
➢ Sinhala-speakers (74 per cent)
➢ Tamil-speakers (18 per cent): Among Tamils there are two sub-groups.
o Tamil natives of the country are called 'Sri Lankan Tamils' (13 per cent).
They are concentrated in the north and east part of the country.
o The rest, whose forefathers came from India as plantation workers during colonial
period, are called 'Indian Tamils'.
· Religion: Most of the Sinhala speaking people are Buddhists, while most of the Tamils are
Hindus or Muslims.
· Feeling of Alienation among Sri Lankan Tamils:
➢ Sri Lanka emerged as an independent country in 1948 and adopted a series of Majoritarian
measures to establish Sinhala supremacy.
➢ The Sri Lankan Tamils launched parties and struggles for the recognition of Tamil as an
official language, for regional autonomy and equality of opportunity in securing education and
jobs but their demand for more autonomy to provinces populated by the Tamils was repeatedly
denied. ➢ By 1980s, several political organisations were formed demanding an independent
Tamil Eelam (state) in northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka.
➢ The distrust between the two communities turned into widespread conflict. It soon turned into
a Civil war which ended in 2009.

Case Study of Accommodation of various Ethnic communities in Belgium:

· Belgium is a small country in Europe. It has borders with France, the Netherlands, Germany,
and Luxembourg.
· Complex Ethnic Composition:
➢ 59 per cent people: live in the Flemish region and speaks Dutch language. ➢ 40
per cent people: live in the Wallonia region and speak French. ➢ In the Capital city
Brussels: o 80 per cent: French speakers o 20 per cent: Dutch speakers
· Tensions between the Dutch-speaking and French Speaking:
➢ The minority French-speaking community was relatively rich and powerful which
was resented by the Dutch-speaking community who got the benefit of economic
development and education much later.
· Accommodative path used by Belgium: They recognised the existence of regional differences

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 and cultural diversities. Some of the elements of the Belgian model are:
➢ No decisions by one community unilaterally: Some special laws require the support of
majority of members from each linguistic group.
➢ The state governments are not subordinate to the Central Government.
➢ There is a third kind of government called 'community government' which is elected by
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
languagerelated issues.
The arrangement in Belgian model have worked well and helped to avoid civic strife between the
two major communities and a possible division of the country on linguistic lines.
Need of Power Sharing:
· Reduce the possibility of Conflict between Social Groups:
➢ It helps in ensuring Political order as social conflict often leads to violence and political
instability. ➢ Imposing the will of majority community undermines the unity of the nation.
· Uphold the spirit of Democracy:
➢ A democratic rule involves sharing power with those affected by its exercise and who have to
live with its effects.
➢ A legitimate government is one where citizens, through participation, acquire a stake in the
system.

Forms of Power-Sharing:
· Among different Organs of the Government: Such as the legislature, executive and judiciary.
➢ Horizontal Distribution of Power: It allows different organs of government placed at the same
level to exercise different powers.
➢ Checks and Balances of power: None of the organs can exercise unlimited power.
➢ For example: Although, judges are appointed by the executive, they can check the functioning of
executive or laws made by the legislatures.
· Among the Governments at different levels:
➢ Vertical Division of power: It involves higher and lower levels of Government.
o Federal government: A general Government for the entire country. In India, they are
known as the Central or Union Government.
o Government at Provincial or Regional level: In India, they are known as State
Governments.
➢ No specific model: There are many countries where there are no provincial or state governments.
But in countries like India, the Constitution clearly lays down the powers of different levels of
government.
· Among different Social Groups: Such as the religious and linguistic groups.
➢ In some countries, there are constitutional and legal arrangements whereby socially weaker
sections and women are represented in the legislatures and administration.

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 ➢ This method is used togive minority communities a fair share in power.
· By way of Political Parties, Pressure Groups and Movements: These control or influence those in
power.
➢ Power is shared among different political parties that represent different ideologies and social
groups in a democracy. Sometimes this kind of sharing can be direct, when two or more parties form
an alliance to contest elections and forms government.
➢ In a democracy, Interest groups such as those of traders, businessmen, industrialists, farmers and
industrial workers also have a share in governmental power, either through participation in
governmental committeesor bringing influenceon the decision-making process.

· Brussels is the Headquarter of European Union.

· Beirut is thecapital of Lebanon.
· Lebanon arrangement of Power:
➢ The President must belong to the Maronite sect of Catholic Christians.
➢ The Prime Minister must be from the Sunni Muslim community.
➢ The post ofDeputy Prime Ministeris fixed for Orthodox Christian sect.
➢ The post ofSpeaker is fixed for Shi'a Muslims.

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 2 FEDERALISM
Vertical division of power among different levels of government is one of the major forms of power
sharing in modern democracies. Federalism:
It is a system of government in which the power is divided between a central authority and various
constituent units of the country.

Table 2.1: Difference between Unitary and Federal Form of Government

Unitary Form of Government Federal Form of Government

There are multiple levels of government.

Either there is only one level of government or the
subunits are subordinate to the central government.

The central government can pass on orders to the

State government has powers of its own
provincial or the local government.
for which it is not answerable to the central
government.

Features of Federalism:
· Usually, a federation has two levels of government:
➢ Government for the entire country: It is usually responsible for a few subjects of common
national interest.
➢ Governments at the level of Provinces or States: It looks after much of the day-to-day
administration of their state.
· Different tiers of government govern the same citizens, but each tier has its own jurisdiction in
specific matters of legislation, taxation, and administration.
· The jurisdictions of the respective levels are specified in the Constitution. So, the existence and
authority of each tier of government is constitutionally guaranteed.
· The fundamental provisions of the Constitution cannot be unilaterally changed by one level of
government. Such changes require the consent of both the levels of government.
· Courts have the power to interpret the constitution and the powers of different levels of
government. The highest court acts as an umpire if disputes arise between different levels of
government in the exercise of their respective powers.
· Sources of Revenue for each level of government are clearly specified to ensure its financial
autonomy.
· Dual Objectives of Federalism:
➢ To safeguard and promote unity of the country.
➢ To Accommodate the regional diversity.
Balance of Power in Federalism:

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It varies from one federation to another. This variation depends mainly on the historical context in which
the federation was formed. Two kinds of routes through which federations have been formed:
· Coming together Federation:
➢ It involves Independent States coming together on their own to form a bigger unit, so that by
pooling sovereignty and retaining identity they can increase their security. For example- the
USA, Switzerland, and Australia.
➢ All the constituent States usually have equal power and are strong vis-à-vis the federal
government.
· Holding together Federation:
➢ A large country decides to divide its power between the constituent States and the National
Government. For example- India, Spain, and Belgium.
➢ The central government tends to be more powerful vis-à-vis the States.
o Sometimes different constituent units of the federation have unequal powers. o
Some units are granted special powers.

Federalism in India:
· The Constitution declared India as a Union of States. Although it did not use the word federation,
the Indian Union is based on the principles of federalism.
· The Constitution originally provided for a two-tier system of government, the Central Government
representing the Union of India and the State governments. Later, a third tier of federalism was
added in the form of Panchayats and Municipalities.
· Separate Jurisdiction: The Constitution clearly provided a threefold distribution of legislative
powers between the Union Government and the State Governments. It contains three lists:
➢ Union List: It includes subjects of National importance such as defence of the country, foreign
affairs, banking, communications, and currency.
o Subjects need a uniform policy on these matters throughout the country.
o The Union Government alone can make laws relating to the subjects mentioned in the
Union
List.
➢ State List: It contains subjects of State and local importance such as police, trade, commerce,
agriculture, and irrigation.
➢ Concurrent List: Both the Union as well as the State Governments can make laws on the
subjects mentioned in this list. o If their laws conflict with each other, the law made by the
Union Government will prevail. o Examples: Forest, trade unions, marriage, adoption, and
succession.
➢ Residuary subjects are legislated by the Union Government.
· Unequal Power to States: Some States like Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram enjoy a special status under
certain provisions of the Constitution (Article 371) due to their peculiar social and historical
circumstances. These special powers are especially enjoyed in relation to the protection of land
rights and culture of the indigenous peoples.
· Little power to Union Territories: These areas are too small to become an independent State and

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 could not be merged with any of the existing States. For example, Chandigarh, Lakshadweep, or
Delhi. ➢ They do not have the same powers as the States.
➢ The Central Government has special powers in running these areas.
· Procedure of Constitutional Changes: The sharing of power between the Union Government and the
State governments constitutes the basic to the structure of the Constitution.
➢ It is not easy to make changes to this power sharing arrangement.
➢ Any change to it must be first passed by both the Houses of Parliament with at least two-thirds
majority.
➢ Then, it must be ratified by the legislatures of at least half of the total States.
· Role of Judiciary: It plays an important role in overseeing the implementation of the Constitutional
provisions and procedures.

Practice of Federalism in India:

The real success of federalism in India can be attributed to its nature of democratic politics. This ensured
that the spirit of federalism, respect for diversity and desire for living together became shared ideals in
our country.
· Linguistic States:
➢ Creation of Linguistic States: It was the first major test for democratic politics in India.
➢ After Independence, the boundaries of several old States of India were changed to create new
States to ensure that people who spoke the same language lived in the same State.
➢ Some States were also created to recognise differences based on culture, ethnicity, or
geography such as Nagaland, Uttarakhand etc.
➢ The experience has shown that the formation of linguistic States has actually made the country
more united. It has also made administration easier.
· Language Policy:
➢ The Constitution did not give the status of National language to any one language.
➢ Hindi was identified as the official language, but Hindi is the mother tongue of only about 40
per cent of Indians.
➢ Besides Hindi, there are 21 other languages recognised as Scheduled Languages by the
Constitution.
➢ A candidate in an examination conducted for the Central Government positions may opt to take
the examination in any of these languages.
➢ States too have their own official languages. Much of the government work takes place in the
official language of the concerned State.
➢ Cautious attitude in spreading the use of Hindi:
o According to the Constitution, the use of English for official purposes was to stop in
1965. o But many non-Hindi speaking States demanded that the use of English
continue. o Promotion of Hindi continues to be the official policy of the
Government of India. o Promotion does not mean that the Central Government
can impose Hindi on States where people speak a different language.
· Centre-State Relations:
➢ For a long time, the same party ruled both at the Centre and in most of the States. So, the State
governments did not exercise their rights as autonomous federal units.

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 ➢ As and when the ruling party at the State level was different, the parties that ruled at the Centre
tried to undermine the power of the States.
➢ After 1990, there was rise of regional political parties in many States of the country. This was
also the beginning of the era of coalition governments at the centre.
➢ It led to a new culture of power sharing and respect for the autonomy of State Governments.
➢ It was supported by a major judgement of the Supreme Court that made it difficult for the
Central Government to dismiss state governments in an arbitrary manner.
Linguistic Diversity of India
· The 2011 Census of India held recorded more than 1300 distinct languages which people
mentioned as theirmother tongues.
➢ These languages were grouped together under some major languages.
➢ Languages like Bhojpuri, Magadhi, Bundelkhandi, Chhattisgarhi, Rajasthani etc. were grouped
together under 'Hindi'.
· The Census found 121 major languages and of these 22 languages are now included in the
Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution and are therefore called 'Scheduled Languages'.
Others are called 'non-Scheduled Languages'.
· Hindi is the mother tongue of only about 44 per cent Indians. If all those who knew Hindi are
added as their second or third language, the total number was still less than 50 per cent in 2011.
· As for English, only 0.02 per cent Indiansrecorded it as their mother tongue.
Table 2.2: Scheduled Languages in India

N-Stands for Negligible

When power is taken away from Central and State governments and given to local government, it is
called Decentralisation.

Need of Decentralization:

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 · There are large number of problems and issues which are best settled at the local level as people
have better knowledge of problems in their localities.
· Democratic participation: At the local level it is possible for the people to directly participate in
decision making.
· A vast country like India cannot be run only through two-tiers. States in India are as large as
independent countries of Europe.
· Federal power sharing in India needed another tier of government, below that of the State
governments which resulted a third tier of government.
· The need for decentralisation was recognised in our Constitution.

Weakness of Decentralisation before 1992:

· Local governments were directly under the control of state governments.
· No regular elections to local governments.
· Local governments did not have any powers or resources of their own.
Major step towards Decentralisation in 1992:
The Constitution was amended to make the third tier of democracy more powerful and effective.
· It is constitutionally mandatory to hold regular elections to local government bodies.
· Seats are reserved in the elected bodies and the executive heads of these institutions for the
Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.
· At least one-third of all positions are reserved for women.
· An independent institution called the State Election Commission has been created in each State to
conduct panchayat and municipal elections.
· The State governments are required to share some powers and revenue with local government
bodies. The nature of sharing varies from State to State.

Rural Local Government (Panchayati Raj)

· Gram Panchayat:
➢ It is there in each village, or a group of villages in some States.
➢ This is a Council consisting of several ward members, often called Panch, and a President or
Sarpanch.
➢ They are directly elected by all the adult population living in that ward or village.
➢ It is the decision-making body for the entire village.
➢ It works under the overall supervision of the Gram Sabha which have all the voters in the
village are its members.
➢ It has to meet at least twice or thrice in a year to approve the annual budget of the gram
panchayat and to review the performance of the gram panchayat.

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 · Block level:
➢ A few gram panchayats are grouped together to form what is usually called Panchayat
a Samiti or
Block orMandal.
➢ Its members areelected by all the Panchyat members in that area .
· District level:
➢ All the Panchayat samitis or Mandals in a districttogether constitute the Zilla (district) Parishad.
➢ Most members of the Zilla parishad
are elected.
➢ Members of the Lok Sabha and MLAs of that district and some other officials of other district level
bodies are also its members.
➢ Chairperson of Zilla parishadis the Political Head of the Zilla parishad.

Urban Local Government:

· Municipalities are set up inTowns.
· Big cities are constituted intoMunicipal Corporations.
· Both are controlled by elected bodiesconsisting of people's representatives.
· Municipal Chairperson is the Political Head of the municipality while in a Municipal Corporation
such an officeris called theMayor.

Major issues with Local Governments:

· Though elections are held regularly,
Gram Sabhas are not held regularly.
· Most state governments havenot transferred significant powersto the local governments.
· State governments has alsonot given adequate resourcesto them.

Case study of Brazil about combining Decentralization with Participative Democracy:

· A city called Porto Alegre in Brazil has set up a parallel organisation operating alongside the
Municipal Council, enabling local inhabitants to take real decisions for their city.
· The city is divided into many sectors and each sector has a meeting, like that of the Gram Sabha, in
which anyone living in that area can participate.
· There are some meetings to discuss issues that affect the entire city.Any citizen of the city can
participate in those meetings.

· About 25 of the world's 193 countries have federal political

systems whose citizens make up 40
per cent of the world's population.
· India has about 36 lakh elected representatives
in thePanchayats and Municipalities.

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 4 GENDER, RELIGION AND CASTE
The existence of social diversity does not threaten democracy. Political expression of social differences is
possible and sometimes quite desirable in a democratic system. Social differences can take the form of
social divisions and inequalities.

Gender and Politics:

· Gender division is a form of hierarchical social division seen everywhere but is rarely recognised in
the study of politics.
· The gender division tends to be understood as natural and unchangeable.
· It is not based on biology but on social expectations and stereotypes.

Public/Private Division:
· Sexual Division of labour: Boys and girls are brought up to believe that the main responsibility of
women is housework and bringing up children.
· Low value for Women's work:
➢ Women's work is not valued to equal to the work of men.
➢ Double jeopardy: Majority of women do some sort of paid work in addition to domestic labour.
· Result of Division of labour:
➢ Although women constitute half of the humanity, their role in public life, especially politics, is
minimal in most societies.
➢ Earlier, only men were allowed to participate in public affairs, vote and contest for public offices.
➢ Feminist movements: Women in different parts of the world organised and agitated for equal
rights. These agitations demanded enhancing the political and legal status of women and
improving their educational and career opportunities.

Improvement in Women's role in Public life:

· Women are now found in working as scientists, doctors, engineers, etc. which were earlier not
considered suitable for women.
· In some parts of the world, for example in Scandinavian countries such as Sweden, Norway and
Finland, the participation of women in public life is very high. Condition of Women in India
Disadvantage, Discrimination and Oppression faced by Women:
· In education:
➢ The literacy rate among women is only 54 per cent as compared to 76 per cent among men.
➢ High dropout rates: Parents prefer to spend their resources for their boys' education.
· In jobs:
➢ The proportion of women is low in highly paid and valued jobs.

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 ➢ Their work is not valued even though, on an average an Indian woman works one hour more than
an average man every day.
· Unequal wages:
➢ They do not get equal wages for doing same work as that of men.
➢ The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 provides that equal wages should be paid to equal work
but in almost all areas of work women are paid less than men.
· Crime against Women:
➢ There are reports of various kinds of harassment, exploitation, and violence against women.
➢ Domestic violence: They are not safe even within their own home from beating and harassment.
· Preference for boys:
➢ Sex-selective abortion: In many parts of India, parents prefer to have sons and find ways to have
the girl child aborted before she is born. This led to a decline in child sex ratio to merely 919.

Women's Political Representation:

Issues related to women's well-being or otherwise are not given adequate attention. Unless women
control power, their problems will not get adequate attention.
Women as Elected Representatives:
· Less participation of women in Legislature of India:
➢ The percentage of elected women members in Lok Sabha has touched 14.36 per cent of its
total strength for the first time in 2019.
➢ Their share in the State assemblies is less than 5 per cent.
· India is among the bottom group of nations in the world. India is behind the averages for several
developing countries of Africa and Latin America.
· In the Government, Cabinets are largely all-male even when a woman becomes the Chief Minister
or the Prime Minister.

Note: Figure are for the percent of women in the directly elected
houses of Parliament as on 1 October 2018.

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Measures to improve Women participation in Legislatures:
· To make it legally binding to have a fair proportion of women in the elected bodies. For instance, in
Local Bodies, one-third of seats in local government bodies are now reserved for women.
· There has been demand for similar of at least one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and State
Assemblies for women. A bill with this proposal has been pending before the Parliament for more
than a decade.

Social and Religious Diversity of India:

The Census of India records the religion of every Indian after every ten years. Since Independence, the
total population of each community has increased substantially but their proportion in the country's
population has not changed much.
· Composition of Religious communities:
➢ The population of the Hindus, Jains and Christians has declined marginally since 1961.
➢ Common but mistaken impression about the Muslims: It is believed that the proportion
of the Muslims in the country's population is going to overtake other religious communities.

· However, in actual, the balance in composition of different religions is expected to not change in
big way.
· Expert estimates done for Sachar Committee show that the proportion of the Muslims is expected
to go up a little, by about 3 to 4 per cent, in the next 50 years.

➢ The proportion of Muslim, Sikh and Buddhist population has increased slightly.

Common but mistaken impression about the Muslims: It is believed that the proportion of the Muslims
in the country's population is going to overtake other religious communities.
· However, in actual, the balance in composition of different religions is expected to not change in big
way.
· Expert estimates done for Sachar Committee show that the proportion of the Muslims is expected to
go up a little, by about 3 to 4 per cent, in the next 50 years.

· Major Caste groups:

➢ In 2011, the Scheduled Castes were 16.6 per cent and the Scheduled Tribes were 8.6 per cent
of the country's population.
➢ The Census does not yet count the Other Backward Classes. The National Sample Survey of
2004-05 estimates their population to be around 41 per cent.
➢ The SC, ST and the OBC together account for about two-thirds of the country's population
and about three-fourths of the Hindu population.

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 Source: Census of India, 2011

Religion, Communalism and Politics:

Religious differences-based divisions are not as Universal as the Gender, but religious diversity is
widespread in the world today. Even when most of the people belong to the same religion, there can
be serious differences about the way people practice that religion. Unlike Gender differences, the
Religious differences are often expressed in the field of politics.

Relationship between Religion and Politics:

· Gandhiji used to say that Religion can never be separated from Politics where the religion was not
any particular religion but moral values that inform all religions. He believed that Politics must be
guided by ethics drawn from Religion.
· Human Rights groups in India have argued that most of the victims of communal riots in our country
are people from Religious minorities.
· Women's movement has argued that family laws of all religions discriminate against women.
· It is notable that the political acts are not wrong if they treat every religion equally. Ideas, ideals
and values drawn from different religions can and perhaps should play a role in politics.

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Communalism and Religion:
Communalism becomes a problem when religion is seen as the basis of the nation.
· Communal Politics: When beliefs of one religion are presented as superior to those of other religions
and the State power is used to establish domination of one religious-group over others.
· Idea behind Communal Politics: The Religion is the principal basis of social community.
➢ The followers of a particular religion belong to one community and their fundamental interests
are the same.
➢ Also, People who follow different religions cannot belong to the same social community. Their
interests are bound to be different and involve a conflict.
· Extreme form of Communalism: It leads to the belief that people belonging to different religions
cannot live as equal citizens within one nation. Either one of them has to dominate the rest or they
have to form different nations.

Flaws in the Idea of Communalism:

People of one religion do not have the same interests and aspirations in every context. Everyone has
several other roles, positions, and identities. Any attempt to bring all followers of one religion
together in context of other than religion is bound to suppress many voices within that community.

Various forms of Communalism in Politics:

· In everyday beliefs, it involves religious prejudices, stereotypes of religious communities and belief in
the superiority of one's religion over other religions.
· Quest for Political domination of one's own religious community:
➢ For those belonging to majority community, this takes the form of majoritarian dominance.
➢ For those belonging to the minority community, it can take the form of a desire to form a separate
political unit.
· Political Mobilisation on Religious lines: It involves the use of sacred symbols, religious leaders,
emotional appeal and plain fear in order to bring the followers of one religion together in the
political arena.
· Communal violence, riots and massacre: India and Pakistan suffered some of the worst communal
riots at the time of the Partition.

Secular State:
A Secular State is one which is officially neutral in matters of religion, supporting neither religion nor
irreligion.
Reflection of Secular State in our Constitutional provisions in India: Unlike Sri Lanka where Buddhism
is the official religion of the country, India has no official religion. This could be expanded as:
· It provides to all individuals and communities freedom to profess, practice, and propagate any religion.
· It prohibits discrimination on grounds of the Religion.

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 · It allows the State to intervene in the matters of religion in order to ensure equality within religious
communities.
Secularism is not just an ideology of some parties or persons but constitutes one of the foundations of
our country. Communalism threatens the very idea of India.

Prevailing Caste inequality:

National Sample Survey shows that the Caste continues to be very strongly linked to economic status
in many important ways:
· The average economic status (measured by criteria like monthly consumption expenditure) of caste
groups still follows the old hierarchy. For example, the 'upper' castes are best off and the Dalits
and Adivasis are worst off.
· Although every caste has some poor members, the proportion living in extreme poverty (below the
official 'poverty line') is much higher for the lowest castes and much lower for the upper castes.
· The upper castes are heavily over-represented among the rich while the lower castes are severely
under-represented.

Table 4.1: Percentage of Population living below the Poverty line, 1999-2000

Note: 'Upper caste' here means those who are not from SC, ST, or OBC. Below the poverty line means
those who spent Rs. 327 or less per person per month in rural and Rs. 454 or less per person per
month in urban areas.

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 Source: National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), Government of India, 55 th Round, 1999-
2000 Caste and politics:
Basis of Caste System: Caste System is rooted in the belief that caste is the sole basis of social
community and people belonging to the same caste belong to a natural social community and have
the same interests which they do not share with anyone from another caste.

Caste Inequalities: Unlike Gender and Religion, Caste division is special to India.
· All societies have some kind of social inequality and some form of Division of labour.
➢ In most societies, occupations are passed on from one generation to another. Its extreme form
is Caste system.
➢ In Caste system, Hereditary occupational division was sanctioned by rituals.
· Members of the same caste group were supposed to form a social community that practiced the same
or similar occupation, married within the caste group etc.
· Caste system was based on exclusion of and discrimination against the 'outcaste' groups. They were
subjected to the inhuman practice of untouchability.

Changes in Caste System in Modern India:

· There is breakdown of caste hierarchy due to economic development, large scale urbanization,
growth of education, occupational mobility and the weakening of the position of landlords in the
villages.
· The Constitution of India prohibited any caste-based discrimination and laid the foundations of
policies to reverse the injustices of the caste system.

Non- disappearance of castes in the contemporary India:

· Some of the older aspects of caste have persisted like even now most people marry within their own
caste or tribe.
· Untouchability has not ended completely, despite the Constitutional prohibition.
· The Caste groups that had access to education under the old system have done very well in acquiring
modern education.
· Caste continues to be closely linked to economic status.

Caste in Politics
Manifestation of Caste in Politics:
· Selection of candidates in Elections: Parties keep in mind the caste composition of the electorate and
nominate candidates from different castes to muster necessary support to win elections.
· Raising caste sentiments: Political parties and Candidates in elections make appeals based on caste
sentiment to muster support.

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 · Political mobilization: Universal Adult Franchise and the Principle of 'one-person-one-vote' have
compelled political leaders to gear up to the task of mobilising and securing political support of
particular communities.
Elections and Caste:
· Parties need support of more than one caste: No parliamentary constituency in the country has a
clear majority of one single caste.
· No party wins the votes of all the voters of a caste or community.
· Some voters have more than one candidate from their caste while many voters have no candidate
from their caste.
· The ruling party and the sitting MP or MLA frequently lose elections in our country. This signify that
all castes and communities were not frozen in their political preferences.

Flaws in the Idea of Caste Politics:

· People within the same caste or community have different interests depending on their economic
condition. Rich and poor or men and women from the same caste often vote very differently.
· People's assessment of the performance of the government and the popularity rating of the leaders
matters and are often decisive in elections.

Politics in Caste:
Politics also influences the caste system and caste identities by bringing them into the political arena.
Thus, it is not politics that gets caste-ridden, it is the caste that gets politicised.

Manifestation of Politics in Caste:

· Each caste group tries to become bigger by incorporating the neighbouring castes or sub-castes
which were earlier excluded from it.
· Various caste groups are required to enter into a coalition with other castes or communities and thus
enter into a dialogue and negotiation.
· New kinds of caste groups have come up in the political arena like 'backward' and 'forward' caste
groups.
· In some situations, expression of caste differences in politics gives many disadvantaged communities
the space to demand their share of power.

Interesting points

· Child Sex Ratio is the number of girl children per thousand boys.
· A 'Time use survey' conducted by the Government of India in six Indian states shows that an
average woman works every day for a little over seven and half hours while an average man
works for six and a half hours.

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18
 6 POLITICAL PARTIES
Political parties act as vehicles of federal sharing of political power and as negotiators of social divisions
in the arena of Democratic politics. They are easily one of the most visible institutions in a Democracy.

Political Party:
· It is a group of people who come together to contest elections and hold power in the Government.
· They agree on some policies and programmes for the society with a view to promote the collective
good.
· They try to persuade people that their policies are better than others. They seek to implement these
policies by winning popular support through elections.
· They reflect fundamental political divisions in a society. Parties are about a part of the society and
thus involve partisanship.
· Components of a Political Party: Leaders, Active members and Followers.

Functions of Political Parties:

It fills political offices and exercise political power by performing a series of functions such as:
· To contest Elections: In most Democracies, elections are fought mainly among the candidates put up
by political parties.
· To put forward different Policies and Programme: A party reduces a vast multitude of opinions into
a few basic positions which it supports. A Government is expected to base its policies on the line
taken by the Ruling party.
· To play a decisive role in law-making: Formally, Laws are debated and passed in the Legislature but
since most of the members belong to a party and go by the direction of their party leadership.
· To form and run the Government: The big policy decisions are taken by political executive that comes
from the political parties. Parties recruit leaders, train them and then make them ministers to run the
government in their own way.
· To provide voice for different opinions: Those parties that lose in the elections play the role of
opposition by voicing different views and criticizing government for its failures or wrong policies.
· To shape Public opinion: They raise and highlight issues. Many of the Pressure groups are the
extensions of political parties among different sections of society. They also launch movements for
the resolution of problems faced by people.
· To enable easy access to the Public: For an ordinary citizen, it is easy to approach a local party
leader than a Government officer. Parties have to be responsive to people's needs and demands.

Necessity of Political Parties:

Situation without Political Parties:

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 · Every candidate in the elections will be independent and no one will be able to make any promises
to the people about any major policy changes. The Government may be formed, but its utility will
remain ever uncertain.
· Elected representatives will be accountable to their constituency for what they do in the locality. But
no one will be responsible for how the country will be run.
Emergence of the Representative Democracies:
· Large societies need representative democracy: As societies became large and complex, they also
needed some agency to gather different views on various issues and to present these to the
Government.
· They needed a mechanism to support or restrain the government, make policies, justify, or oppose
them.

Party System
A party system is a concept concerning the system of government by political parties in a democratic
country. It could vary from country to country.

Evolution of the Party system:

A Party system evolves over a long period of time. It depends on the nature of society, social and
regional divisions, history of politics and system of elections.
· Each country develops a party system that is conditioned by its special circumstances.
· Example: India has evolved a multiparty system because the social and geographical diversity in such
a vast country is not easily absorbed by two or even three parties.

Types of Part System One-

Party system:
· When only one party is allowed to control and run the Government. For example, In China, only the
Communist Party is allowed to rule.
· Though legally people are free to form political parties, but it does not happen because the electoral
system does not permit free competition for power.
· Drawback: This is not a democratic option as any Democratic system must allow at least two parties
to compete in elections and provide a fair chance for the competing parties to come to power.
Two-Party system:
· In some countries, the power usually changes between two main political parties.
· Several other parties may exist, contest elections and win a few seats in the national legislatures. But
only the two main parties have a serious chance of winning majority of seats to form the
Government.
For example, USA, United Kingdom.
Multi-Party system:
· If several parties compete for power, and more than two parties have a reasonable chance of
coming to power either on their own strength or in alliance with others. For example, India.
· Advantage: It allows a variety of interests and opinions to enjoy political representation.
· Disadvantage: It often appears very messy and leads to political instability.

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Kinds of Political Parties in Federal System:
· Parties that are present in only one of the federal units.
· Parties that are present in several or all units of the federation.

National Parties:
In India, there are some countrywide parties known as 'National Parties'. These parties have their units
in various states but by and large, all these units follow the same policies, programmes and strategy
that is decided at the National level. Following are some procedures regarding Political parties in India:
· Every party has to register with the Election Commission of India (ECI).
· While the ECI treats all parties equally, it offers some special facilities to large and established
parties:
➢ They are given a Unique symbol and only the Official candidates of that party can use that
election symbol.
➢ Parties that get this privilege and some other special facilities are 'recognised' by the Election
Commission for this purpose. That is why these parties are called, 'Recognised Political Parties'.
· Conditions laid down by the ECI to be as a recognized party:
➢ A party that secures at least six per cent of the total votes in an election to the Legislative
Assembly of a State and wins at least two seats is recognised as a State party.
➢ A party that secures at least six per cent of the total votes in Lok Sabha elections or Assembly
elections in four States and wins at least four seats in the Lok Sabha is recognised as a National
party.
➢ According to this classification, there were seven recognised national parties in the country in
2018:

Table: 6.1: Recognised National Parties in India (in 2018)

National Party Details

Launched on 1 January 1998 under the leadership of Mamata

All India Trinamool ·
Banerjee. Recognised as a National party in 2016.
Congress (AITC) ·
· The party’s symbol is flowers and grass.

Bahujan Samaj · Formed in 1984 under the leadership of Kanshi Ram.

Party (BSP) · The party's symbol is Elephant.
· Seeks to represent and secure power for the Bahujan Samaj which
includes the dalits, adivasis, OBCs and religious minorities.
· Draws inspiration from the ideas and teachings of Sahu Maharaj,
Mahatma Phule, Periyar Ramaswami Naicker and Babasaheb
Ambedkar.

·
Bharatiya Janata Founded in 1980 by reviving the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh,
Party (BJP) formed by Syama Prasad Mukherjee in 1951.

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 · Wants to build a strong and modern India by drawing inspiration from
India's ancient culture and values, and Deendayal Upadhyaya's ideas
of integral humanism and Antyodaya.

Communist Party of · Formed in 1925.

India (CPI) · Believes in Marxism-Leninism, secularism, and democracy.
· Accepts parliamentary democracy as a means of promoting the
interests of the working class, farmers, and the poor.

Communist Party of ·
Founded in 1964.
India - Marxist (CPI- ·
Believes in Marxism-Leninism.
M) ·
Accepts democratic elections as a useful and helpful means for
securing the objective of socioeconomic justice in India.
· Enjoys strong support among the poor, factory workers, farmers,
agricultural labourers and the intelligentsia.

Indian National · Founded in 1885 and popularly known as the Congress Party.
Congress (INC) · One of the oldest parties of the world.
· A centrist party (neither rightist nor leftist) in its ideological
orientation.
· Formed in 1999 following a split in the Congress party.
Nationalist
Congress Party
(NCP)

State Parties:
· Other than these seven national parties, most of the major parties of the country are classified by
the Election Commission as 'State Parties'. These are commonly referred to as Regional Parties.
· These parties need not be regional in their ideology or outlook. Some of these parties are all India
parties that happen to have succeeded only in some states.

Journey of Regional parties:

· As over the last three decades, the number and strength of regional parties has expanded. It has led
to bring more diversity in the Parliament.
· Since 1996, nearly every one of the State parties has got an opportunity to be a part of one or the
other National level coalition government.

Issues with Political Parties

· Lack of Internal democracy within parties:

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 ➢ All over the world, there is a tendency in political parties towards the concentration of power
in one or few leaders at the top.
➢ Parties do not keep membership registers, do not hold organisational meetings, and do not
conduct internal elections regularly.
➢ Ordinary members of the party do not get sufficient information on what happens inside the
party.
· Dynastic succession:
➢ Since most political parties do not practice open and transparent procedures for their
functioning, there are very few ways for an ordinary worker to rise to the top in a party.
➢ In many parties, the top positions are always controlled by members of one family.
➢ People who do not have adequate experience or popular support come to occupy positions of
power.
· Role of Money and Muscle power:
➢ Parties tend to use short-cuts to win elections. They tend to nominate those candidates who
have or can raise lots of money.
➢ Rich people and companies who give funds to the parties tend to have influence on the policies
and decisions of the party.
➢ In some cases, parties support criminals who can win elections.
· Lack of meaningful choices to the voters: In recent years there has been a decline in the ideological
differences among parties in most parts of the world. For example, In India, the differences among
all the major parties on the economic policies have reduced. Those who want really different policies
have no option available to them.

Steps undertaken to reform Political Parties:

· Constitution amendment:
➢ The Constitution was amended to prevent elected MLAs and MPs from changing parties as
many elected representatives were indulging in defection in order to become ministers or for
cash rewards.
➢ Now, the Law says that if any MLA or MP changes parties, he or she will lose the seat in the
legislature. But this has made any dissent even more difficult as MPs and MLAs have to accept
whatever the party leaders decide.
· Supreme Court (SC) orders: SC passed an order to reduce the influence of money and criminals. It is
made mandatory for every candidate who contests elections to file an affidavit giving details of
his property and criminal cases pending against him. But there is no system of check if the
information given by the candidates is true.
· Election Commission orders: It passed an order making it necessary for political parties to hold their
organisational elections and file their income tax returns. Though the parties have started doing
so but sometimes it is mere formality.
Measures to reform Political Parties:
· A law should be made to regulate the internal affairs of political parties. It should be made
compulsory for political parties to maintain a register of its members, to follow its own constitution,
to hold open elections to the highest posts etc.
· It should be made mandatory for political parties to give a minimum number of tickets, about
onethird, to women candidates.

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· There should be state funding of elections in the forms of kind such as petrol, paper, telephone etc.
or in cash on the basis of the votes secured by the party in the last election.
· People can put pressure on political parties through petitions, publicity and agitations. If political
parties feel that they would lose public support by not taking up reforms, they will become more
serious about the reforms.
· Political parties can improve if those who want to improve the situation join political parties. The
quality of Democracy depends on the degree of public participation.

Interesting points

· Election Commission of India has officially banned wall-writing by parties during election times.
· More than 750 parties are registered with the Election Commission of India.

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 7 OUTCOMES OF
DEMOCRACY
Democracy has some expected and actual outcomes of democracy in various respects such as quality of
government, economic well-being, inequality, social differences and conflict and finally freedom and
dignity. Democracy: A better form of Government
Following characteristics of the Democracy makes it a better form of a
Government: · It promotes equality among citizens.
· It enhances the dignity of the individuals.
· It improves the quality of decision making.
· It provides a method to resolve conflicts.
· It allows room to correct mistakes.

Ideals of the Democracy

Accountable, Responsive, and Legitimate Government:
Democracy should produce a government that is accountable to the citizens, and responsive to the needs
and expectations of the citizens.
· Democracy is concerned with ensuring that People will have the right to choose and control their
rulers.
· Whenever possible and necessary, Citizens should be able to participate in decision making, that
affects them all.
· It follows the laid procedures.
· A Citizen can know if a decision was taken through the correct procedures. One has the right and the
means to examine the process of decision making.
· It develops mechanisms for citizens to hold the government accountable and mechanisms for citizens
to take part in decision making whenever they think fit.
· Democracies have had greater success in setting up regular and free elections and in setting up
conditions for open public debate.

Economic growth and development:

If democracies are expected to produce Good Governments, then is it fair to expect that they would also
produce development.
· Factors affecting economic development: Country's population size, global situation, cooperation
from other countries, economic priorities adopted by the country, etc.
· The difference in the rates of economic development between less developed countries with
dictatorships and democracies is negligible. Democracy is expected not to lag behind dictatorships
in this respect.

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Reduction of inequality and poverty:
Perhaps more than development, it is reasonable to expect democracies to reduce economic disparities.
· Political equality: All individuals have equal weight in electing representatives.
· Reducing Economic inequalities: The poor constitute a large proportion of voters and no party would

like to lose their votes. Yet democratically elected governments do not appear to be as keen to
address the question of poverty. However, a good Democracy must deal with such issues.
Accommodation of Social diversity:
Democracy should produce a harmonious social life.
· Accommodate Social divisions: Democracies usually develop a procedure to conduct their
competition. This reduces the possibility of these tensions becoming explosive or violent.
· Handle Conflicts: Democracy has ability to handle social differences, divisions and conflicts.
Nondemocratic regimes often turn a blind eye to or suppress internal social differences. A
democracy must fulfil two conditions in order to achieve this outcome:
➢ The majority always needs to work with the minority so that Government functions to represent
the general view.
➢ In terms of religion or race or linguistic group, Rule by majority means that in case of every
decision or in case of every election, different persons and groups may and can form a majority.

Dignity and Freedom of the Individuals:

Democracy stands much superior to any other form of government in promoting the Dignity and Freedom
of the Individuals.
· The passion for respect and freedom are the basis of democracy. Democracies throughout the world
have recognised this, at least in principle, and it has been achieved in various degrees in various
democracies.
· For Societies which have been built for long on the basis of subordination and domination, it is not a
simple matter to recognize that all individuals are equal. For instance, the Democracy in India has
strengthened the claims of the disadvantaged and discriminated castes for equal status and equal
opportunity.

Success of the Democracy:

People have developed awareness and the ability to expect and to look critically at Power holders. A
Public expression of dissatisfaction with democracy shows the success of the democratic project. It
transforms people from the status of a Subject into that of a Citizen.

· Economic outcomes of Dictatorial regimes and Democracy:

➢ Dictatorial regimes: On an average, the dictatorial regimes have had a slightly better record of
economic growth.

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 Table 7.1: Rates of economic growth for different countries

➢ Democratic regimes: Within democracies there can be very high degree of inequalities. In Democratic
countries like South Africa and Brazil, the top 20 per cent people take away more than 60 per cent
of the national income, leaving less than 3 per cent for the bottom 20 per cent population.

Table 7.2: Inequality of income in selected countries

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