Chapter 2

Institutional Representation of Democracy

Short answer type questions:

1. What is a universal Adult Franchise?

Ans: A person who is above 18 years of age, can vote irrespective of caste, religion,
race or education. This is known as the Universal Adult Franchise.

2. What are mid-term elections?

Ans. Elections held before completing the terms of 5 years are midterm elections.

3. What are bye elections?

Ans. Election held for a particular seat, when the elected candidate dies or resigns.

4. What is the role of opposition?

Ans. Opposition keeps a watch on the actions of the ruling party. They can discuss with
the ruling party any issue in the parliament. The role of opposition is very important.

Long answer type questions:

1. What is the process of elections?

Ans. a) The election commission announces the date of the election and prepares the
voter's list.
b) All eligible adult citizens register their names in the voter's list to vote.
c) People of the state are divided into different constituencies.
d) Constituencies have the same number of voters and one leader is elected from each
constituency.

2. Why do political parties organise election campaigns?

Ans. To win the elections each Candidate or political party holds a campaign.So they try
to send their messages to the people. A candidate campaigns by giving speeches in
meetings, organising rallies, going door to door, wall posters, roadside hoardings,
banners, etc.

3. What is a coalition government?

Ans. A Government formed with the alliance of two or more parties is called a coalition
government. A party that gets the majority of votes in an election forms the government.
A coalition government is formed with the alliance of two or more parties when no party
gets a clear majority.
4. What are the conditions for being a national party?
Ans. a) It should get a 6% vote share in the last assembly elections in any four states
and 4 seats in the last Lok Sabha polls.
b) It should get 2% of all Lok Sabha seats in the last election and these seats should be
from at least 3 states.

5. What are regional parties? Name a few of them.

Ans. A "regional party" is any political party with its base in a single region, whatever its
objectives and platform may be. These parties are formed on the basis of language,
caste, regional problems, etc.
Some regional parties:
a) Shiromani Akali Dal
b) Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
c) Asom Gana Parishad
d) AIADMK
e) Shiv Sena
f) Rashtriya Janata Dal