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com 1
 CONTENT
CLASS: 6 – SOCIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE - 1 ...................................................................................... 4
CHAPTER: 1 - UNDERSTANDING DIVERSITY ................................................................................... 4
CHAPTER: 2 - DIVERSITY AND DISCRIMINATION ......................................................................... 5
CHAPTER: 3 - WHAT IS GOVERNMENT .............................................................................................. 8
CHAPTER: 4 - KEY ELEMENTS OF A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT ...................................... 10
CHAPTER: 5 - PANCHAYATI RAJ ....................................................................................................... 11
CHAPTER: 6 - RURAL ADMINISTRATION ........................................................................................ 12
CHAPTER: 7 - URBAN ADMINISTRATION ........................................................................................ 13
CHAPTER: 8 - RURAL LIVELIHOODS ................................................................................................ 14
CHAPTER: 9 - URBAN LIVELIHOODS ................................................................................................ 15
CLASS: 7 – SOCIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE - II ................................................................................... 17
CHAPTER: 1 - ON EQUALITY ............................................................................................................... 17
CHAPTER: 2 - ROLE OF THE GOVERNMENT IN HEALTH ........................................................... 19
CHAPTER: 3 - HOW THE STATE GOVERNMENT WORKS ........................................................... 21
CHAPTER: 4 - GROWING UP AS BOYS AND GIRLS ........................................................................ 22
CHAPTER: 5 - WOMEN CHANGE THE WORLD ............................................................................... 23
CHAPTER: 6 - UNDERSTANDING MEDIA ......................................................................................... 25
CHAPTER: 7 - MARKETS AROUND US ............................................................................................... 27
CHAPTER: 8 - A SHIRT IN THE MARKET .......................................................................................... 27
CHAPTER: 9 - STRUGGLES FOR EQUALITY ................................................................................... 28
CLASS: 8 – SOCIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE - III ................................................................................. 30
CHAPTER: 1 - THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION ................................................................................... 30
CHAPTER: 2 - UNDERSTANDING SECULARISM ............................................................................ 32
CHAPTER: 3 - WHY DO WE NEED A PARLIAMENT ....................................................................... 33
CHAPTER: 4 - UNDERSTANDING LAWS ........................................................................................... 35
CHAPTER: 5 - JUDICIARY ..................................................................................................................... 35
CHAPTER: 6 - UNDERSTANDING OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM ..................................... 37
CHAPTER: 7 - UNDERSTANDING MARGINALISATION................................................................ 38
CHAPTER: 8 - CONFRONTING MARGINALISATION .................................................................... 40
CHAPTER: 9 - PUBLIC FACILITIES .................................................................................................... 42
CHAPTER: 10 - LAW AND SOCIAL JUSTICE .................................................................................... 44
CLASS: 9 – DEMOCRATIC POLITICS - I ............................................................................................... 46
CHAPTER: 1 - WHAT IS DEMOCRACY? WHY DEMOCRACY? .................................................... 46
CHAPTER: 2 - CONSTITUTIONAL DESIGN ...................................................................................... 49
CHAPTER: 3 - ELECTORAL POLITICS .............................................................................................. 53
CHAPTER: 4 - WORKING OF INSTITUTIONS................................................................................... 59
CHAPTER: 5 - DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS ............................................................................................... 63
CLASS: 10 – DEMOCRATIC POLITICS - II ........................................................................................... 68
CHAPTER: 1 – POWER SHARING ........................................................................................................ 68
CHAPTER: 2 - FEDERALISM................................................................................................................. 70
CHAPTER: 3 - DEMOCRACY AND DIVERSITY ................................................................................ 74
CHAPTER: 4 - GENDER, RELIGION AND CASTE ............................................................................ 76
CHAPTER: 5 - POPULAR STRUGGLES AND MOVEMENTS .......................................................... 80
CHAPTER: 6 - POLITICAL PARTIES ................................................................................................... 82
CHAPTER: 7 - OUTCOMES OF DEMOCRACY .................................................................................. 87
CHAPTER: 8 - CHALLENGES TO DEMOCRACY ............................................................................. 90
CLASS: 11 - POLITICAL THEORY .......................................................................................................... 93

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 CHAPTER: 1 - POLITICAL THEORY: AN INTRODUCTION .......................................................... 93
CHAPTER: 2 - FREEDOM ....................................................................................................................... 93
CHAPTER: 3 - EQUALITY ...................................................................................................................... 94
CHAPTER: 4 - SOCIAL JUSTICE .......................................................................................................... 95
CHAPTER: 5 - RIGHTS ............................................................................................................................ 96
CHAPTER: 6 - CITIZENSHIP ................................................................................................................. 97
CHAPTER: 7 - NATIONALISM .............................................................................................................. 98
CHAPTER: 8 - SECULARISM................................................................................................................. 99
CHAPTER: 9 - PEACE ............................................................................................................................ 101
CHAPTER: 10 - DEVELOPMENT ........................................................................................................ 101
CLASS: 11 – INDIAN CONSTITUTION AT WORK ............................................................................. 104
CHAPTER: 1 - CONSTITUTION: WHY AND HOW ......................................................................... 104
CHAPTER: 2 - RIGHTS IN THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION ............................................................ 111
CHAPTER: 3 - ELECTION AND REPRESENTATION ..................................................................... 118
CHAPTER: 4 - EXECUTIVE ................................................................................................................. 124
CHAPTER: 5 - LEGISLATURE ............................................................................................................ 131
CHAPTER: 6 - JUDICIARY ................................................................................................................... 138
CHAPTER: 7 - FEDERALISM............................................................................................................... 146
CHAPTER: 8 - LOCAL GOVERNMENTS .......................................................................................... 153
CHAPTER: 9 - CONSTITUTION AS A LIVING DOCUMENT ........................................................ 157
CLASS: 12 - CONTEMPORARY WORLD POLITICS ......................................................................... 165
CHAPTER: 1 - THE COLD WAR BRA................................................................................................. 165
CHAPTER: 2 - THE END OF BIPOLARITY ....................................................................................... 169
CHAPTER: 3 - US HEGEMONY IN WORLD POLITICS.................................................................. 172
CHAPTER: 4 - ALTERNATIVE CENTRES OF POWER .................................................................. 176
CHAPTER: 5 - CONTEMPORARY SOUTH ASIA ............................................................................. 179
CHAPTER: 6 - INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS .................................................................... 183
CHAPTER: 7 - SECURITY IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD .................................................. 186
CHAPTER: 8 - ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES ................................................... 188
CHAPTER: 9 - GLOBALISATION ....................................................................................................... 190
CLASS: 12 – POLITICS IN INDIA SINCE INDEPENDENCE ............................................................. 193
CHAPTER: 1 - CHALLENGES OF NATION BUILDING ................................................................. 193
CHAPTER: 2 - ERA OF ONE-PARTY DOMINANCE........................................................................ 195
CHAPTER: 3 - POLITICS OF PLANNED DEVELOPMENT............................................................ 197
CHAPTER: 4 - INDIA'S EXTERNAL RELATIONS ........................................................................... 199
CHAPTER: 5 - CHALLENGES TO AND RESTORATION OF THE CONGRESS SYSTEM ....... 201
CHAPTER: 6 - CRISIS OF THE DEMOCRATIC ORDER ................................................................ 204
CHAPTER: 7 - RISE OF POPULAR MOVEMENTS .......................................................................... 205
CHAPTER: 8 - REGIONAL ASPIRATIONS ....................................................................................... 207
CHAPTER: 9 - RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN INDIAN POLITICS.............................................. 209

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 CLASS: 6 – SOCIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE - 1
CHAPTER: 1 - UNDERSTANDING
DIVERSITY
DIVERSITY IN INDIA
• India is a country of many diversities. We
speak different languages, have various
types of food, celebrate different festivals,
practise different religions. But actually, if
you think about it, we do many things that
are similar except that we do them in
different ways.
How do we explain Diversity?
• The history of many places shows us how
many different cultural influences have
helped to shape life and culture there.
Regions became very diverse because of
their unique histories. Similarly, diversity
also comes about when people adapt their
lives to the geographical area in which they
live. For example, living near the sea is
quite different from living in a mountainous
area. Not only do people have different
clothing and eating habits, but even the
kinds of work they do are different. In cities
it is often easy to forget how closely
people's lives are tied to their physical
surroundings.
• This is because in the city people seldom
grow their own vegetables and grain.
Instead they depend on the market to buy
all the food and other goods that they need.
Let us try to understand what we mean
when we say that historical and
geographical factors influence the diversity
of a region. We can do this by reading
about life in two different parts of the
country, Kerala and Ladakh.
• Ladakh is a desert in the mountains in the
eastern part of Jammu and Kashmir. Very
little agriculture is possible here since this
region does not receive any rain and is
covered in snow for a large part of the year.
There are very few trees that can grow in
the region. For drinking water, people
depend on the melting snow during the
summer months.
• People here keep sheep and the sheep in
this region are special because they produce
pashmina wool. This wool is prized and
pashmina shawls cost a lot of money. The
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people in Ladakh carefully collect the wool
of the sheep and sell this to traders from
Kashmir. Pashmina shawls are chiefly
woven in Kashmir.
• The people eat meat and milk products like
cheese and butter. Each family owns some
goats, cows and dzos (yak-cows). Being a
desert did not mean that Ladakh did not
attract its share of traders. It was considered
a good trade route as it had many passes
through which caravans travelled to what is
today called Tibet. These caravans carried
textiles and spices, raw silk and carpets.
ODSTU.COM
Fig. The dry barren landscape of the mountainous
desert of Ladakh.
• Buddhism reached Tibet via Ladakh.
Ladakh is also called Little Tibet. Islam was
introduced in this region more than four
hundred years ago and there is a significant
Muslim population here. Ladakh has a very
rich oral tradition of songs and poems.
Local versions of the Tibetan national epic
the Kesar Saga are performed and sung by
both Muslims and Buddhists.
• Kerala is a state in the southwest corner of
India. It is surrounded by the sea on one
side and hills on the other. A number of
spices like pepper, cloves and cardamoms
are grown on the hills. It is spices that made
this region an attractive place for traders.
Jewish and Arab traders were the first to
come here. The Apostle of Christ, St.
Thomas is believed to have come here
nearly 2000 years ago and he is credited
with bringing Christianity to India.
• Many Arab traders also came and settled
down here. Ibn Battuta, who travelled here
a little less than seven hundred years ago,
wrote a travelogue in which he describes
the lives of Muslims and says that they
were a highly respected community. The
Portuguese discovered the sea route to India
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 together, there needs to be some amount of
organisation so that decisions can be made.
• Some rules have to be made that apply to
everyone. For example, there is a need to
control resources and protect the territory of
a country, so people can feel secure.
Governments do this on behalf of their
ODSTU.COM
people by exercising leadership, taking
decisions and implementing these among
Fig. Some of the members who wrote the Constitution of all the people living in their territory.
India.
LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT
• Therefore, India became a secular country • Now that you know that the government is
where people of different religions and responsible for so many different things,
faiths have the freedom to practise and can you think of how it manages to do all
follow their religion without any fear of the these? The government works at different
discrimination. This is seen as an important levels: at the local level, at the level of the
element of our unity- that we all live state and at the national level.
together and respect one other. • The local level means in your village, town
• Though these ideals are enshrined in our or locality, the state level would mean that
Constitution, this chapter points out that which covers an entire state like Haryana or
inequalities exist even today. Equality is a Assam and the national level relates to the
value that we have to keep striving for and entire country (see the maps). Later in this
not something which will happen book, you will read about how local level
automatically. People's struggles and government functions, and when you go
positive actions by the government are into the next few classes you will learn
necessary to make this a reality for all about how governments function at the state
Indians. and central levels.
CHAPTER: 3 - WHAT IS GOVERNMENT
• Every country needs a government to make
decisions and get things done. These can be ODSTU.COM
decisions about where to build roads and
schools, or how to reduce the price of
onions when they get to expensive or ways
to increase the supply of electricity. The
governmental so takes action on many
social issues, for example it has several
programmes to help the poor. It does other
important things such as running postal and
railway services.
• The government also has the job of ODSTU.COM
protecting the boundaries of the country and
maintaining peaceful relations with other
countries. It is responsible for ensuring that
all its citizens have enough to eat and have
good health facilities. If there is a dispute or
if someone has committed a crime you find
people in a court. Courts are also part of the
government. Perhaps you are wondering
how governments manage to do all this.
And why it is necessary for them to do so.
LAWS AND THE GOVERNMENT
When human beings live and work

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 CLASS: 7 – SOCIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE - II
CHAPTER: 1 - ON EQUALITY
• Equality is the soul of Indian democracy.
Democracy is the form of Government of
the people, by the people and for the
people.
EQUAL RIGHT TO VOTE
• In a democratic country, like India, all
adults irrespective of what religion they
belong to, how much education they have
had, what caste they are, or whether they
are rich or poor are allowed to vote. This is
called universal adult franchise and is an
essential aspect of all democracies.
• The idea of universal adult franchise is
based on the idea of equality because it
states that every adult in a country,
irrespective of their wealth and the
communities she/he belongs to, has one
vote. But do you think very poor people
with hard circumstantial issues in their daily
life exercise their vote with the same
freedom as rich people does.
OTHER KINDS OF EQUALITY
• One of the more common forms of
inequality in India is the caste system. If
you live in rural India your caste identity is
something that you probably learned or
experienced very young. If you live in
urban India some of you might think that
people no longer believe in caste. Other
form of inequality is based on religions.
People have strong biases and stereotypes
which have basis in religious identities.
RECOGNISING DIGNITY
• You have understood by now that the caste
we are born into, the religion we practice,
the class background we come from,
whether we are male or female - these are
often the things that determine why some
people are treated unequally. When persons
are treated unequally, their dignity is
violated.
EQUALITY IN INDIAN DEMOCRACY
• The Indian Constitution recognises every
person as equal. This means that every
individual in the country, including male
and female persons from all castes,
religions, tribes, educational and economic
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backgrounds are recognised as equal. This
is not to say that inequality ceases to exist.
• It doesn’t. But At least, in democratic India,
the principle of the equality of all persons is
recognised. While earlier no law existed to
protect people from discrimination and ill-
treatment, now there are several that work
to see that people are treated with dignity
and as equals.
ODSTU.COM
Fig. The Parliament is the cornerstone of our democracy
and we are represented in it through our elected
representatives.
• This recognition of equality includes some
of the following provisions in the
Constitution: first that every person is equal
before the law. What this means is that
every person has to obey the same laws.
Second, no person can be discriminated
against on the basis of their religion, race,
caste, place of birth or whether they are
female or male. Third, every person has
access to all public places including
playgrounds, hotels, shops and markets. All
persons can use publicly available wells,
roads and bathing ghats. Fourth,
untouchability has been abolished.
• The two ways in which the government has
tried to implement the equality that is
guaranteed in the Constitution is first
through laws and second through
government programmes or schemes to
help disadvantaged communities. There are
several laws in India that protect every
person's right to be treated equally. In
addition to laws, the government has also
set up several schemes to improve the lives
of communities and individuals who have
been treated unequally for several centuries.
These schemes are to ensure greater
opportunity for people who have not had
this in the past.
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 • Every state in India has a legislative
Assembly. From each constituency of state
people elect one representative for the
Legislative Assembly. He/ she is called the
Member of Legislative Assembly i.e.,
MLA. These MLAs belong to different
political parties.
• A political party whose MLAs won more
than half the number of constituencies in a
state can be said to be in a majority. The
political party that has the majority is called
the ruling party and all the other members
are called the opposition. The MLAs
belonging to the ruling party elect their
leader who is called the Chief Minister. The
Chief Minister then selects other people as
Ministers.
ODSTU.COM
A DEBATE IN THE LEGISLATIVE
ASSEMBELY
• The ruling party and the opposition meet in
the Legislative Assembly. They have debate
on the current problems. During this time
the MLAS can express their opinion and
ask relevant questions from the minister
concerned.
• They may even ask supplementary
questions while the answers are being given
by minister concerned, if they are not
satisfied with the reply. They may even
give suggestions regarding the issue being
discussed. The ministers reply and try to
assure the house about the measures being
taken.
WORKING OF THE GOVERNMENT
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• A government is headed by the Chief
Minister. The Chief Minister, in order to
manage the functioning of government,
appoints ministers at various levels like
cabinet ministers, state ministers and deputy
ministers.
• Every government department is headed by
a cabinet minister who is directly
accountable for the functioning of the
particular department and responsible for
the handling of the government decisions.
The bureaucrats project and get the works
completed. The ministers give approval to
the works.
CHAPTER: 4 - GROWING UP AS BOYS AND
GIRLS
• Being a boy or a girl is an important part of
one's identity. The society we grow up in
teaches us what kind of behaviour is
acceptable for girls and boys, what boys
and girls can or cannot do. We often grow
up thinking that these things are exactly the
same everywhere. But do all societies look
at boys and girls in the same way? We will
try and answer this question in this chapter.
We will also look at how the different roles
assigned to boys and girls prepare them for
their future roles as men and women. We
will learn that most societies value men and
women differently.
• The roles women play and the work they do
are usually valued less than the roles men
play and the work they do. This chapter will
also examine how inequalities between men
and women emerge in the area of work. We
also realise that societies make clear
distinctions between boys and girls. This
begins from a very young age. We are for
example, given different toys to play with.
Boys are usually given cars to play with and
girls dolls. Both toys can be a lot of fun to
play with.
• Why are girls then given dolls and boys
cars? Toys become a way of telling children
that they will have different futures when
they become men and women. If we think
about it, this difference is created in the
smallest and most everyday things. How
girls must dress, what games boys should
play, how girls need to talk softly or boys
need to be tough. All these are ways of
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 CLASS: 8 – SOCIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE - III
CHAPTER: 1 - THE INDIAN
CONSTITUTION
WHY DOES A COUNTRY NEED A
CONSTITUTION?
• Today most countries in the world have a
Constitution. While all democratic
countries are likely to have a Constitution,
it is not necessary that all countries that
have a Constitution are democratic.
• The Constitution serves several purposes.
First, it lays out certain ideals that form the
basis of the kind of country that we as
citizens aspire to live in. Or, put another
way, a Constitution tells us what the
fundamental nature of our society is. A
country is usually made up of different
communities of people who share certain
beliefs but may not necessarily agree on all
issues.
• A Constitution helps serve as a set of rules
and principles that all persons in a country
can agree upon as the basis of the way in
which they want the country to be
governed. This includes not only the type of
government but also an agreement on
certain ideals that they all believe the
country should uphold.
• The second important purpose of a
Constitution is to define the nature of a
country's political system. For example,
Nepal's earlier Constitution stated that the
country was to be ruled by the King and his
council of ministers. In countries that have
adopted a democratic form of government
or polity, the Constitution plays a crucial
role in laying out certain important
guidelines that govern decision-making
within these societies. In a democracy, we
choose our leaders so that they can exercise
power responsibly on our behalf. However,
there is always the possibility that these
leaders might misuse their authority and the
Constitution usually provides safeguards
against this.
• In democratic societies, the Constitution
often down rules that guard against this
misuse of authority by our political leaders.
In the case of the Indian Constitution, about
which you will read more later in this
chapter, many of these laws are contained
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in the section on Fundamental Rights. You
read about how the Indian Constitution
guarantees the right to equality to all
persons and says that no citizen can be
discriminated against on grounds of
religion, race, caste, gender, and place of
birth. The Right to Equality is one of the
Fundamental Rights guaranteed by the
Indian Constitution.
• Another important function that a
Constitution plays in a democracy is to
ensure that a dominant group does not use
its power against other, less powerful
people or groups. The storyboard below
demonstrates one such situation in the
classroom.
• The third significant reason why we need a
Constitution is to save us from ourselves.
This may sound strange but what is meant
by this is that we might at times feel
strongly about an issue that might go
against our larger interests and the
Constitution helps us guard against this.
• Similarly, the Constitution helps to protect
us against certain decisions that we might
take that could have an adverse effect on
the larger principles that the country
believes in. A good Constitution does not
allow these whims to change its basic
structure. It does not allow for the easy
overthrow of provisions that guarantee
rights of citizens and protect their freedom.
• Now let us try and understand the ways in
which the above points get translated into
certain ideals and rules by studying some
key features of the Indian Constitution.
THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION: KEY
FEATURES
• By the beginning of the twentieth century,
the Indian national movement had been
active in the struggle for independence from
British rule for several decades. During the
freedom struggle the nationalists had
devoted a great deal of time to imagining
and planning what a free India would be
like. Under the British, they had been
forced to obey rules that they had had very
little role in making.
• The long experience of authoritarian rule
under the colonial state convinced Indians
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 everyone. Last year you read about two
other such facilities: healthcare and
sanitation. Similarly, there are things like
electricity, public transport, schools and
colleges that are also necessary. These are
known as public facilities.
THE GOVERNMENT'S ROLE
• Given that public facilities are o important,
someone must carry the responsibility of
providing these to the people. This
'someone' is the government. One of the
most important functions of the government
is to ensure that these public facilities are
made available to everyone. Let us try and
understand why the government (and only
the government) must bear this
responsibility.
• But, for other public facilities such as
schools and hospitals, private companies
may well be interested. In such cases,
private companies provide public facilities
but at a price that only some people can
afford. Hence, this facility is not available
to all at an affordable rate. If we go by the
rule that people will get as much as they
can pay for then many people who cannot
afford to pay for such facilities will be
deprived of the opportunity to live a decent
life.
• Clearly, this is not a desirable option.
Public facilities relate to people's basic
needs. Any modern society requires that
these facilities are provided so that people's
basic needs are met. The Right to Life that
the Constitution guarantees is for all
persons living in this country. The
responsibility to provide public facilities,
therefore, must be that of the government.
ODSTU.COM
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Where does the government get money for
public facilities?
• The main source of revenue for the
government is the taxes collected from the
people, and the government is empowered
to collect these taxes and use them for such
programmes. For instance, to supply water,
the government has to incur costs in
pumping water, carrying it over long
distances, laying down pipes for
distribution, treating the water for
impurities, and finally, collecting and
treating waste water. It meets these
expenses partly from the various taxes that
it collects and partly by charging a price for
water. This price is set so that most people
can afford a certain minimum amount of
water for daily use.
ODSTU.COM
WATER SUPPLY: IS IT AVAILABLE TO
ALL?
• While there is no doubt that public facilities
should be made available to all, in reality
we see that there is a great shortage of such
facilities. The burden of shortfalls in water
supply falls mostly on the poor. The middle
class, when faced with water shortages, are
able to cope through a variety of private
means such as digging borewells, buying
water from tankers and using bottled water
for drinking.
• Apart from the availability of water, access
to 'safe' drinking water is also available to
some and this depends on what one can
afford. Once again, the wealthy have more
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 CLASS: 9 – DEMOCRATIC POLITICS - I
CHAPTER: 1 - WHAT IS DEMOCRACY? Major decisions by elected leaders
WHY DEMOCRACY?
WHAT IS DEMOCRACY?
• We will start with a simple definition:
democracy is a form of government in
which the rulers are elected by the people.
This is a useful starting point. This
definition allows us to separate democracy
from forms of government that are clearly
not democratic. As per this definition the
following types of governments are not
democratic: the governments by army rulers
such as of Myanmar, Dictatorships, and
Monarchies such as the kings of Nepal and
Saudi Arabia.
• This simple definition is not adequate. It
reminds us that democracy is people's rule.
But if we use this definition in an
unthinking manner, we would end up
calling almost every government that holds
an election a democracy. That would be
very misleading. We need to carefully
distinguish between a government that is a
democracy and one that pretends to be one.
FEATURES OF DEMOCRACY
• We have started with a simple definition
that democracy is a form of government in
which the rulers are elected by the people.
This raises many questions:
• Who are the rulers in this definition? Which
officials must be elected for any
government to be called a democracy?
Which decisions may be taken by non-
elected officials in a democracy?
• What kind of election constitutes a
democratic election? What conditions must
be fulfilled for an election to be considered
democratic
• Who are the people who can elect the rulers
or get elected as rulers? Should this include
every citizen on an equal basis? Can a
democracy deny some citizens this right?
• Finally, what kind of a form of government
is democracy? Can elected rulers do
whatever they want in a democracy? Or
must a democratic government function
with some limits? Is it necessary for a
democracy to respect some rights of the
citizens? Let us consider each of these
questions with the help of some examples.
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• In Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf led a
military coup in October 1999. He
overthrew a democratically elected
government and declared himself the 'Chief
Executive' of the country. Later he changed
his designation to President and in 2002
held a referendum in the country that
granted him a five-year extension.
• In August 2002 he issued a Legal
Framework Order that amended the
Constitution of Pakistan. According to this
Order, the President can dismiss the
national and provincial assemblies. The
work of the civilian cabinet is supervised by
a National Security Council which is
dominated by military officers. After
passing this law, elections were held to the
national and provincial assemblies. So
Pakistan has had elections, elected
representatives have some powers. But the
final power rests with military officers and
General Musharraf himself.
• Clearly, there are many reasons why
Pakistan under General Musharraf should
not be called a democracy. But let us focus
on one of these. This happens in many
dictatorships and monarchies. They
formally have an elected parliament and
government but the real power is with those
who are not elected.
• Take the case of the role of the USSR in
communist Poland and that of the US in
contemporary Iraq. Here the real power was
with some external powers and not with
locally elected representatives. This cannot
be called people s rule. This gives us the
first feature. In a democracy the final
decision- making power must rest with
those elected by the people.
Free and fair electoral competition
• In China, elections are regularly held after
every five years for electing the country's
parliament, called Quanguo Renmin
Daibiao Dahui (National People's
Congress). The National People's Congress
has the power to appoint the President of
the country. It has nearly 3,000 members
elected from all over China. Some members
are elected by the army.
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 divided into different areas for purposes of
elections. These areas are called electoral
constituencies. The voters who live in an
area elect one representative. For Lok
Sabha elections, the country is divided into
543 constituencies. The representative
elected from each constituency is called a
Member of Parliament or an MP.One of the
features of a democratic election is that
every vote should have equal value. That is
why our Constitution requires that each ODSTU.COM
constituency should have a roughly equal
population living within it.
• Similarly, each state is divided into a
specific number of Assembly
constituencies. In this case, the elected
representative is called the Member of
Legislative Assembly or an MLA. Each
Parliamentary constituency has within it
several assembly constituencies. The same
principle applies for Panchayat and
Municipal elections. Each village or town is
divided into several 'wards' that are like
constituencies. Each ward elects one Reserved Constituencies
member of the village or the urban local
body. • Our Constitution entitles every citizen to
elect her/his representative and to be elected
as a representative. The Constitution
makers, however, were worried that in an
open electoral competition, certain weaker
sections may not stand a good chance to get
elected to the Lok Sabha and the state
Legislative Assemblies.
• If that happens, our Parliament and
Assemblies would be deprived of the voice
of a significant section of our population.
ODSTU.COM That would make our democracy less
representative and less democratic. So, the
makers of our Constitution thought of a
special system of reserved constituencies
for the weaker sections. Some
constituencies are reserved for people who
belong to the Scheduled Castes |SC] and
Scheduled Tribes |ST|.
• In a SC reserved constituency only
someone who belongs to the Scheduled
Castes can stand for election. Similarly only
those belonging to the Scheduled Tribes can
contest an election from a constituency
reserved for ST. Currently, in the Lok
Sabha, 84 seats are reserved for the
Scheduled Castes and 47 for the Scheduled

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 o EC takes decisions on every aspect • Common people in India attach a lot of
of conduct and control of elections importance to elections. They feel that
from the announcement of elections through elections they can bring pressure on
to the declaration of results. It political parties to adopt policies and
implements the Code of Conduct programmes favourable to them. They also
and punishes any candidate or party feel that their vote matters in the way things
that violates it. are run in the country.
o During the election period, the EC • The interest of voters in election-related
can order the government to follow activities has been increasing over the
some guidelines, to prevent use and years.
misuse of governmental power to
enhance its chances to win elections,
or to transfer some government
officials.
o When on election duty, government
officers work under the control of
the EC and not the government. ODSTU.COM
• It is very common now for the Election
Commission to reprimand the government
and administration for their lapses. When
election officials come to the opinion that
polling was not fair in some booths or
Popular participation
• If the election process is not free or fair,
people will not continue to participate in the ODSTU.COM
exercise. Now, read these charts and draw
some conclusions about participation in
India:
• People's participation in election is usually
measured by voter turnout figures. Turnout
indicates the per cent of eligible voters who
actually cast their vote. Over the last fifty
years, the turnout in Europe and North
America has declined. In India the turnout
has either remained stable or actually gone
up.

ODSTU.COM

ODSTU.COM

Acceptance of election outcome

• One final test of the free and fairness of
• In India the poor, illiterate and election has in the outcome itself. The
underprivileged people vote in larger outcome of India's elections speaks for
proportion as compared to the rich and itself
privileged sections.

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 CLASS: 10 – DEMOCRATIC POLITICS - II
CHAPTER: 1 – POWER SHARING
BELGIUM AND SRI LANKA
• Belgium is a small European country.
Brussels is the capital of this country. The
ethnic composition of Belgium is very
complex. ODSTU.COM
• In Belgium people speak mainly three
languages Dutch (59 percent), French (40
percent) and German (1 percent) In
Brussels, the Dutch-speaking people are in
a minority which is the opposite of the rest
of the country, where they are in a majority.
• The minority French-speaking community MAJORITARIANISM IN SRI LANKA
was relatively rich and powerful. This was • In 1956, an act was passed to recognize
resented by the Dutch-speaking community Sinhala as the only official language of Sri
who got the benefit of economic Lanka, thus disregarding Tamil.
development and education much later. • The leaders of the Sinhala community
This led to tensions between the Dutch- sought to secure dominance over
speaking and French-speaking communities government by virtue of their majority and
during the 1950s and 1960s. The tension thus, the democratically elected government
between the two communities was more adopted a series of majoritarian measures to
acute in Brussels. Brussels presented a establish Sinhala supremacy.
special problem: the Dutch-speaking people • It followed majoritarianism.
constituted a majority in the country, but a • By 1980s several political organizations
minority in the capital. were formed demanding an independent
Communities and regions of Belgium Tamil Eelam (state) in northern and eastern
parts of Sri Lanka.
Let us compare this to the situation in another • The distrust between the two communities
country. Sri Lanka is an island country. It has a turned into wide spread conflict which
diverse population. resulted into a Civil War.
• In Sri Lanka, 74 percent people speak
Sinhala and 18 percent people speak Tamil.
• In Sri Lanka, there are four religions:
• Buddhism
• Islam
• Hinduism
• Christianity
Just imagine what could happen in situations like ODSTU.COM
this. In Belgium, the Dutch community could take
advantage of its numeric majority and force its will
on the French and German-speaking population.
This would push the conflict among communities
further. This could lead to a very messy partition of
the country; both the sides would claim control
over Brussels. In Sri Lanka, the Sinhala community
enjoyed an even bigger majority and could impose
its will on the entire country. Now, let us look at
what happened in both these countries.

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 disadvantage, discrimination and
oppression in various ways:
o The literacy rate among women is
only 54 per cent compared with 76
per cent among men. Similarly, a
smaller proportion of girl students
go for higher studies. But they drop
out because parents prefer to spend
their resources for their boys'
education rather than spending
equally on their sons and daughters.
o No wonder the proportion of women
among the highly paid and valued
jobs is still very small.
ODSTU.COM
ODSTU.COM
Women's political representation
• All this is well known. Yet issues related to
women's wellbeing or otherwise are not
given adequate attention. This has led many
feminists and women's movements to the
conclusion that unless women control
power, their problems will not get adequate
attention. One way to ensure this is to have
more women as elected
• In India, the proportion of women in
legislature has been very low. For example,
the percentage of elected women members
in Lok Sabha has crossed 10 per cent of its
total strength for the first time in 2009.
Their share in the state assemblies is less
than 5 per cent. India is behind the averages
for several developing countries of Africa
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and Latin America. In the government,
cabinets are largely all-male even when a
woman becomes the Chief Minister or the
Prime Minister.
• One way to solve this problem is to make it
binding to have a fair proportion of women
in the elected bodies. This is what the
Panchayati Raj has done in India. One-third
of seats in local government bodies - in
panchayats and municipalities are now
reserved for women.
• Gender division is an example that some
form of social division needs to be
expressed in politics. Let us now turn to a
very different kind of social division, the
division based on religious differences. This
division is not as universal as gender, but
religious diversity is fairly widespread in
the world today.
• Unlike gender differences, the religious
differences are often expressed in the field
of politics.
o Human rights groups in our country
have argued that most of the victims
of communal riots in our country are
people from religious minorities.
o Women's movement has argued that
family laws of all religions dis
criminate against women. People
should be able to express in politics
their needs, interests and demands
as a member of a religious
community.
ODSTU.COM
Communalism
• The problem begins when religion is seen
as the basis of the nation. The example of
Northern Ireland in Chapter 3 shows the
dangers of such an approach to nationalism.
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 • There are some things that democracy must provide a fair chance to everyone and in
provide. In a democracy, we are most subjecting every decision to public debate.
concerned with ensuring that people will Democratic governments do not have a very
have the right to choose their rulers and good record when it comes to sharing
people will have control over the rulers. information with citizens. All one can say
Therefore, the most basic outcome of in favour of democratic regimes is that they
democracy should be that it produces a are much better than any non-democratic
government that is accountable to the regime in these respects.
citizens, and responsive to the needs and • In substantive terms it may be reasonable to
expectations of the citizens. expect from democracy a government that
• Before we go into this question, we face is attentive to the needs and demands of the
another common question: Is the people and is largely free of corruption. The
democratic government efficient? Is it routine tales of corruption are enough to
effective? Some people think that convince us that democracy IS not free of
democracy produces less effective this evil.
government. It is, of course, true that non- • There is one respect in which democratic
democratic rulers do not have to bother government is certainly better than its
about deliberation in assemblies or worry alternatives: democratic government is
about majorities and public opinion. So, legitimate government. But a democratic
they can be very quick and efficient in government is people's own government.
decision making and implementation. People wish to be ruled by representatives
• Let us think in terms of costs. Imagine a elected by them.
government that may take decisions very
fast. But it may take
decisions that are not
accepted by the people
and may therefore face
problems. In contrast, the
democratic government
will take more time to ODSTU.COM
follow procedures before
arriving at a decision.
• Now look at the other
side - democracy ensures
that decision making will
be based on norms and
procedures. She has the
right and the means to examine the process
of decision making. This is known as
transparency. This factor is often missing
from a no democratic government.
• We can also expect that the democratic
government develops mechanisms for
citizens to hold the government accountable ODSTU.COM
and mechanisms for citizens to take part in
decision making whenever they think fit.
• The actual performance of democracies
shows a mixed record on this. Democracies
have had greater success in setting up
ECONOMIC GROWTH AND
regular and free elections and in setting up
DEVELOPMENT
conditions for open public debate. But most
democracies fall short of elections that

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 CLASS: 11 - POLITICAL THEORY
CHAPTER: 1 - POLITICAL THEORY: AN
INTRODUCTION
• Human beings are unique. They possess
reason and the ability to reflect on their
actions. Political Theory systematically
thinks about the values that inform political
life - values such as freedom, equality and
justice. The objective of political theory is
to train citizens to think rationally about
political questions and assess the political
events of our time.
WHAT IS POLITICS?
• It is unfortunate that politics has come to be
associated with the pursuit of self-interest
by any and every method.
• Politics is an important and integral part of
any society. Politics, at one level, involves
what governments do and how they relate
to the aspirations of the people, at another
level, it involves how people struggle and
influence decision making.
WHAT DO WE STUDY IN POLITICAL
THEORY?
• In the Indian Constitution, our Preamble
enshrines freedom and equality: the chapter
on Rights in the Indian Constitution
abolishes Untouchability in any form;
Gandhian principles find a place in
Directive Principles.
• Political theory deals with the ideas and the
principles that shape Constitutions,
governments and social life in a systematic
manner.
• The Fundamental rights guaranteed by our
Constitution are continually being
reinterpreted in response to new
circumstances.
• The Right to Life has been interpreted by
the Courts to include the Right to
Livelihood. The Right to Information has
been guaranteed through a new law.
• As our world changes, we may discover
new dimensions of freedom as well as new
threats to freedom. For instance, global
communications technology is making it
easier for activists to network with one
another across the world for protecting
tribal cultures of forests. But, it also enables
terrorists and criminals to network.
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PUTTING POLITICAL THEORY TO
PRACTICE
• Political theorists clarify the meaning of
political concepts by looking at how they
are understood and used in ordinary
language. They also debate and examine the
diverse meanings and opinions in a
systematic manner.
• Political theory is relevant for all the groups
to act responsibly as a citizen, it is helpful
to have a basic knowledge of the political
ideas and institutions that shape the world
we live in.
• It is crucial that we learn to be reasonable
and informed if we are to participate in
Gram Sabha or offer our views on websites
and polls. An educated and vigilant
citizenry makes those, who play politics,
more public-spirited.
WHY SHOULD WE STUDY POLITICAL
THEORY?
• As students, we have opinions about what is
right or wrong. Just or unjust, but do not
know whether they are reasonable or not.
• Theory exposes us to systematic thinking
on justice or equality so that we can polish
our opinions and argue in an informed
manner and for the sake of common
interests.
CHAPTER: 2 - FREEDOM
THE IDEAL OF FREEDOM
• The autobiography of Nelson Mandela is
titled "Long Walk to Freedom'. In this
book, he talks about his personal struggle
against the apartheid regime in South
Africa, about the resistance of his people to
the segregationist policies of the white
regime, about the humiliations, hardships
and police brutalities suffered by the black
people of South Africa. Aung San Suu Kyi,
in her book of essays bearing the title
'Freedom from Fear, states that living a
'dignified human life' requires us to be able
to overcome fear. The term 'Swaraj'
incorporates within it two words - Swa
(Self) and Raj (Rule). It can be understood
to mean both the rule of the self and rule
over self.
WHAT IS FREEDOM
Website: https://odstu.com 93
 CLASS: 11 – INDIAN CONSTITUTION AT WORK
CHAPTER: 1 - CONSTITUTION: WHY AND
HOW
After studying this chapter, you will learn:
• What a constitution means;
• What a constitution does to the society:
• How constitutions govern the allocation of
power in society; and
• What was the way in which the
Constitution of India was made?
WHY DO WE NEED A CONSTITUTION?
• What is a constitution? What are its
functions? What role does it perform for a
society? How does a constitution relate to
our daily existence? Answering these
questions is not as difficult as you might
think.
Constitution Allows Coordination and
Assurance
• Imagine society as a group of people with
full of diversity, this group has to live
together. They are dependent upon each
other in various ways. They require the
cooperation of each other. What will enable
the group to live together peacefully?
• One may say that perhaps members of a
group can live together if they can agree on
some basic rules. Why will the group need
certain basic rules? Think of what would
happen in the absence of some basic rules.
Every individual would be insecure simply
because they would not know what
members of this group could do to each
other, who could claim rights over what.
Any group will need some basic rules that
are publicly promulgated and known to all
members of that group to achieve a minimal
degree of coordination. But these rules must
not only be known, they must also be
enforceable. If citizens have no assurance
that others will follow these rules, they will
themselves have no reason to follow these
rules. Saying that the rules are legally
enforceable gives an assurance to
everybody that others will follow these, for
if they do not do so, they will be punished.
• The first function of a constitution is to
provide a set of basic rules that allow for
minimal coordination amongst members of
a society.
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Specification of Decision Making Powers
• A constitution is a body of fundamental
principles according to which a state is
constituted or governed. But what should
these fundamental rules be? And what
makes them fundamental? It specifies the
basic allocation of power in a society. It
decides who gets to decide what the laws
will be.
• In the Indian Constitution for example, it is
specified that in most instances, Parliament
gets to decide laws and policies, and that
Parliament itself be organised in a particular
manner. Before identifying what the law in
any given society is, you have to identify
who has the authority to enact it. If
Parliament has the authority to enact laws,
there must be a law that bestows this
authority on Parliament in the first place.
This is the function of the constitution. It is
an authority that constitutes government in
the first place. The second function of a
constitution is to specify who has the power
to make decisions in a society. I decides
how the government will be constituted.
Limitations On The Powers Of Government
• But this is clearly not enough. Suppose you
decided who had the authority to make
decisions. But then this authority passed
laws that you thought were patently unfair.
It prohibited you from practising your
religion for instance. Or it enjoined that
clothes of a certain colour were prohibited,
or that you were not free to sing certain
songs or that people who belonged to a
particular group (caste or religion) would
always have to serve others and would not
be allowed to retain any property. Or that
government could arbitrarily arrest
someone, or that only people of a certain
skin colour would be allowed to draw water
from wells. You would obviously think
these laws were unjust and unfair. And even
though they were passed by a government
that had come into existence based on
certain procedures there would be
something obviously unjust about that
government enacting these laws.
• So the third function of a constitution is to
set some limits on what a government can
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 • However, it must be noted that our the ground that they violated right too
Constitution does not make the enjoyment property. However, keeping in mind the
of rights dependent or conditional upon societal needs that are greater than the
fulfilment of duties. In this sense, the individual interests, the 8overnment
inclusion of fundamental duties has not amended the Constitution to give effect to
changed the status of our fundamental the Directive Principles of State Policy.
rights. This led to a long legal battle. The
executive and the judiciary took different
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN positions. The government claimed that
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND DIRECTIVE rights can be abridged for giving effect to
PRINCIPLES Directive Principles. This argument
ODSTU.COM assumed that rights were a hindrance to
welfare of the people. On the other hand,
the court held the view that Fundamental
Rights were so important and sacred that
they cannot be limited even for purposes of
implementing Directive Principles.
RIGHT TO PROPERTY
• Behind the controversy about the
relationship between rights and directive
principles, there was one important reason:
in the Constitution, originally, there was a
fundamental right to 'acquire, possess and
maintain' property. But the Constitution
made it clear that property could be taken
away by the government for public welfare.
Since 1950, government made many laws
that limited this right to property. This right
was at the centre of the long debate over the
relationship between rights and directive
principles. Finally, in 1973, the Supreme
Court gave a decision that the right to
property was not part of the basic structure
of the Constitution and therefore,
parliament had power to abridge this right
• It is possible to see both Fundamental
by an amendment. In 1978, the 44th
Rights and Directive Principles as
amendment to the Constitution removed the
complementary to each other. Fundamental
right to property from the list of
Rights restrain the government from doing
Fundamental Rights and converted it into a
certain things while Directive Principles
simple legal right under article 300 A. What
exhort the government to do certain things.
difference, do you think, this change of
Fundamental Rights mainly protect the
status makes to the right to property?
rights of individuals while directive
• This generated another complicated debate.
principles ensure the well-being of the
This related to the amendment of the
entire society. However, at times, when
Constitution. The government was saying
government intends to implement Directive
that Parliament can amend any part of the
Principles of State Policy, it can come in
Constitution. The court was saying that
conflict with the Fundamental Rights of the
Parliament cannot make an amendment that
citizen.
violated Fundamental Rights. This
• This problem arose when the government
controversy was settled by an important
sought to pass laws to abolish zamindari
decision of the Supreme Court in
system. These measures were opposed on
Kesavananda Bharati case. In this case, the

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 one constituency and seats are allocated to The voters are the MLAs in that State.
each party according to its share of votes in Every voter is required to rank candidates
the national election. The other method is according to her or his preference. To be
when the country is divided into several declared the Winner, a candidate must
multi-member constituencies as in secure a minimum quota of votes, which is
Argentina and Portugal. Each party determined by a formula: Formula [Total
prepares a list of candidates for each votes polled / (Total number of candidates
constituency, depending on how many have to be elected +1)] +1
to be elected from that constituency. In both • For example, if 4 Rajya Sabha members
these variations, voters exercise their have to be elected by the 200 MLAs in
preference for a party and not a candidate. Rajasthan, the winner would require
The seats in a constituency are distributed (200/4+1- 40+1)4l votes. When the votes
on the basis of votes polled by a party. are counted it is done on the basis of first
Thus, representatives from a constituency, preference votes secured by each candidate,
would and do belong to different parties. In of which the candidate has secured the first
India, we have adopted PR system on a preference votes. If after the counting of all
limited scale for indirect elections. The first preference votes, required number of
Constitution prescribes a third and complex candidates fail to fulfil the quota, the
variation of the PR system for the election candidate who secured the lowest votes of
of President, Vice President, and for the first preference is eliminated and his/her
election to the Rajya Sabha and Vidhan votes are transferred to those who are
Parishads. mentioned as second preference on those
FPTP PR ballot papers. This process continues till the
The country is divided Large geographical areas required number of candidates are declared
into small geographical are demarcated as elected.
units called constituencies. The entire
Why did India adopt the FPTP system?
constituencies or country may be a single
districts. constituency. • The reason for the popularity and success of
Every constituency' More than one the FPTP system is its simplicity. The entire
elects one representative may be election system is extremely simple to
representative. Voter elected from one understand even for common voters who
votes for a candidate constituency Voter votes may have no specialised knowledge about
A party may get more for the party. politics and elections. There is also a clear
seats than votes in the Every party gets seats in choice presented to the voters at the time of
legislature Candidate the legislature in elections. The FPTP system offers voters a
who wins the election proportion the percentage choice not simply between parties but
may not get majority of votes that it gets specific candidates. In other electoral
(50%+1) votes Candidate who wins the systems, especially PR systems, voters are
Examples: U.K., India elections gets majority of
often asked to choose a party and the
votes. Examples: Israel.
Netherlands. representatives are elected on the basis of
party lists. As a result, there is no one
representative who represents and is
responsible for one locality. In constituency
based system like the FPTP, the voters
HOW DOES PR WORK IN RAJYA SABHA know who their own representative is and
ELECTIONS? can hold him or her accountable.
• More importantly, the makers of our
• A third variant of PR, the Single Constitution also felt that PR based election
Transferable Vote system (STV), is may not be suitable for giving a stable
followed for Rajya Sabha elections. Every government in a parliamentary system. This
State has a specific quota of seats in the system requires that the executive has
Rajya Sabha. The members are elected by majority in the legislature. You will notice
the respective State legislative assemblies. that the PR system may not produce a clear

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JURISDICTION OF SUPREME COURT
• The Supreme Court of India is one of the
very powerful courts anywhere in the
world. However, it functions within the
limitations imposed by the Constitution.
The functions and responsibilities of the
Supreme Court are defined by the
Constitution. The Supreme Court has
specific jurisdiction or scope of powers.
ODSTU.COM
ORIGINAL JURISDICTION
• Original jurisdiction means cases that can
be directly considered by the Supreme
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Court without going to the lower courts
before that. Form the diagram above, you
will notice that cases involving federal
relations go directly to the Supreme Court.
The Original Jurisdiction of the Supreme
Court establishes it as an umpire in all
disputes regarding federal matters. In any
federal country, legal disputes are bound to
arise between the Union and the States; and
among the States themselves. The power to
resolve such cases is entrusted to the
Supreme Court of India. It is called original
jurisdiction because the Supreme Court
alone has the power to deal with such cases.
Neither the High Courts nor the lower
courts can deal with such cases. In this
capacity, the Supreme Court not just settles
disputes but also interprets the powers of
Union and State government as laid down
in the Constitution.
WRIT JURISDICTION
• As you have already studied in the chapter
on fundamental rights, any individual,
whose fundamental right has been violated,
can directly move the Supreme Court for
remedy. The Supreme Court can give
special orders in the form of writs. The
High Courts can also issue writs, but the
persons whose rights are violated have the
choice of either approaching the High Court
or approaching the Supreme Court directly.
Through such Writs, the Court can give
orders to the executive to act or not to act in
a particular way.
APPELLATE JURISDICTION
• The Supreme Court is the highest court of
appeal. A person can appeal to the Supreme
Court against the decisions of the High
Court. However, High Court must certify
that the case is fit for appeal that is to say
that it involves a serious matter of
interpretation of law or Constitution. In
addition, in criminal cases, if the lower
court has sentenced a person to death then
an appeal can be made to the High Court or
Supreme Court of course, the Supreme
Court holds the powers to decide whether to
admit appeals even when appeal is not
allowed by the High Court. Appellate
jurisdiction means that the Supreme Court
Website: https://odstu.com 141
 CLASS: 12 - CONTEMPORARY WORLD POLITICS
CHAPTER: 1 - THE COLD WAR BRA Allied Forces led by the US, Soviet Union,
Britain and France defeated the Axis
CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS
Powers led by Germany, Italy and Japan.
• In April 1961, the leaders of the Union of
The War had involved almost all the major
Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) were
powers of the world and spread out to
apprehensive of an American attack on
regions outside Europe including South-
Cuba.
east Asia, China, Myanmar (Burma) and
• Cuba was a communist ruled country.
parts of India's North-east.
Fidel Castro was the President of Cuba at
• The end of the Second World War was
that time. Cuba is a small island nation off
also the beginning of the Cold War. The
the coast of the United States. Cuba was an
Second World War came to an end when
ally of the Soviet Union and received both
the United States of America dropped two
diplomatic and financial aid from it.
atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of
• Nikita Khrushchev was the leader of the
Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August, 1945.
Soviet Union. In order to convert Cuba
• The consequence of the end of the Second
into a Russian base Nikita Khrushchev
World War was the rise of two new
placed nuclear missiles in Cuba in the year
powers on the global stage- these were the
1962.In order to get Khrushchev remove
United States of America and the Soviet
these missiles and nuclear weapons, the
Union. The two superpowers and the
American President, John F. Kennedy
countries in the rival blocs led by the
ordered American warships to intercept
superpowers were expected to behave in a
any Soviet ships heading to Cuba.
rational and responsible manner in the
• This move of Kennedy was a way of
sense that they understood the risks in
warning the USSR of his seriousness. This
fighting wars that might involve the two
situation is known as the Cuban Missile
superpowers.
Crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a
• In a world sharply divided between two
high point of what came to be known as
alliance systems, a state was supposed to
the Cold War.
remain tied to its protective superpower to
• The Cold War is referred to the
the limit the influence of the other
competition, the tensions and a series of
superpower and its allies.
confrontations between the United States
and the Soviet Union, backed by their THE EMERGENCE OF TWO POWER
respective allies. BLOCS
• The Cold War was accompanied by a real • The smaller states in the alliances used the
ideological conflict as well as difference link to the superpowers for their own
over the best and the most appropriate way purposes. The alliance systems led by the
of organising political,
economic and social life all
over the world.
• The Western Alliance, headed
by the US, represented the
ideology of liberal democracy
and capitalism. The Eastern
Alliance, headed by the Soviet
Union, was committed to the
ideology of socialism and
communism. ODSTU.COM

COLD WAR
• The Second World War came
to an end in the year 1945.The

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 two superpowers divided the world almost
into two camps. The western alliance was
formalised into an organisation called
NATO.NATO came into existence in the
year 1949.
• The eastern alliance, known as the Warsaw
Pact, was led by the Soviet Union. Warsaw
Pact was created in the year 1955.In some
cases, the superpowers used their military
power to bring countries into their
respective alliances.
o Mutual suspicions led the two
superpowers to arm themselves to the
teeth and to constantly prepare for the
war. The circumstances forced the two
superpowers to collaborate in limiting
or eliminating certain kinds of nuclear
and non-nuclear weapons.
o The two sides signed three significant
agreements within a decade-these were
(a) The Limited Test Ban Treaty. (b)
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and
(c) the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

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• In east and south-east and west Asia, the

United States built an alliance system
called the Southeast Asian Treaty
Organisation (SEATO).The newly
independent countries feared of losing
their freedom to either of the superpowers
in this era. Cracks and splits appeared
within the alliances. The emergence of
Non-Aligned Movement gave the newly
independent countries, a way of staying
out the alliance.
ARENAS OF THE COLD WAR
• The Cold War also led to several shooting
wars. The two superpowers were poised
for direct confrontation in Korea, Berlin,
and the Congo and in several other places.
o The arenas of the Cold War refer to the
areas where crisis and war occurred or
threatened to occur between the
alliances systems but did not cross
certain limits.
o Sometimes countries outside the two
blocs, like NAM countries, played a
significant role in reducing Cold War
conflicts and averting some grave
crisis. Jawaharlal Nehru-one of the key
CHALLENGE TO BIPOLARITY
leaders of the NAM-played a crucial
role in meditating between the two
Koreas.

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 • Attack was also made on Pentagon, the superiority of its military power.
headquarters of the US defence American military dominance
department. today is both absolute and relative.
• As a part of its 'Global War on Terror, the The military dominance of the US
US launched Operation Enduring is not just based on higher military
Freedom' against all those suspected to be spending, but on a qualitative gap,
behind this attack, mainly AI-Qaeda and a technological charm that no other
the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. power can at present conceivably
• Some suspected persons were brought to span.
Guantanamo Bay, a US naval base in o The structural power of hegemony
Cuba, where the prisoners did not enjoy is related to world economy. For
the protection of international law or the structural hegemony, the hegemon
law of their own country or
that of the US. Even the UN
representatives were not
allowed to meet these
prisoners.
IRAQ INVASION
• On 19th March 2003, the US
launched its invasion of Iraq
under the code name ODSTU.COM
"Operation Iraqi Freedom. The
ostensible purpose of the
invasion was to prevent Iraq
from developing weapons of
mass destruction. It is now widely must possess both the ability and
accepted that the US invasion of Iraq was, the desire to establish certain
in some crucial respects, both a military norms for order and must sustain
and political failure. the global structure.
o A classical example of the
HEGEMONY, ITS TYPES AND structural power of the US is the
CONSTRAINTS academic degree called the Masters
in Business Administration
• For understanding world politics, it is
(MBA).
necessary that we understand the
o The idea that business is a
distribution of power among the countries
profession that can be taught in a
of the world.
university is uniquely American.
o An international system with only
The first business school in the
one centre of power may be
world, the Wharton School at the
described as hegemony.
University of Pennsylvania, was
o The word hegemony implies the
established in 1881.The first MBA
leadership or predominance of one
course was initiated around
state. The first meaning of
1900.The first MBA course outside
hegemony relates to the relations,
the US was established only in
patterns and balances of military
1950.
capability between states.
o The third sense of hegemony is
o There are three types of hegemony-
about the capacity to manufacture
Hegemony as hard power,
consent. The third sense of
Hegemony as structural power, and
hegemony implies class
Hegemony as soft power.
ascendancy in the social, political
o The bedrock of contemporary US
and particularly ideological
power lies in the Overwhelming
spheres. The notion, Hegemony as

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 with respect to nature, levels of use and the
maintenance of a given resource with
mutual understanding and practices, i.e.,
management of sacred groves on state-
owned forest land.
INDIA'S STAND ON ENVIRONMENTAL
ISSUES
ODSTU.COM
• India plays a dominating role in the
environmental issues as it signed and
ratified the Kyoto Protocol, 1997 in
August 2002 to follow common but
differentiated responsibilities.
• India is wary of its discussions with
UNFCCC about introducing binding
commitments. It participated in global
efforts by introducing National Auto Fuel
Policy Electricity Act and National
Mission on Biodiesel.
• India supports to adopt a common position
by the SAARC countries on major
environmental issues to have a greater say
region wise.
RESOURCE GEOPOLITICS, INDIGENOUS
• Environmental movements are the
PEOPLE AND THEIR RIGHTS
movements of groups which are
environmentally conscious to challenge
environmental degradation at national or
Telegram: https://t.me/odstueverydayupdate
international level. These movements are
categorised as forest movements,
movements against mining and mineral
industry for creating water pollution and
anti- dam movement.
• The forest movements of the South in
Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Malaysia,
Indonesia, continental Africa and India
have faced enormous pressures.
• Another group of movements are those
involved in struggles against mega-dams.
In every country, where a mega-dam is
being built, one is likely to find an
environmental movement opposing it.
• The early 1980s witnessed the first anti-
dam movement launched in the North, by
the name of campaign to save the Franklin
river and its surrounding forests in
Australia. India has had some of the
leading anti-dam, pro-river movements.
Narmada Bachao Aandolan is one of the
best known of these movements.
• Resource geopolitics is all about who gets
what, when, where and how The practices
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 CLASS: 12 – POLITICS IN INDIA SINCE INDEPENDENCE
CHAPTER: 1 - CHALLENGES OF NATION o The likely difficulties that might be
BUILDING faced by minority population in both the
newly developed nation states.
CHALLENGES OF NATION-BUILDING
• Results of Partition: Though the Partition of
• "Tryst with Destiny"-The famous speech
British India was foreseen, yet it resulted in
of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime
the largest, most tragic and highly
Minister of India, on the midnight of India's
unplanned partition of a nation. It resulted
independence, 14th-15th August 1947.
in communal riots between Hindus and
• Challenges before India - India got
Muslims, torture and mass killing of people,
independence with a very difficult situation
separation of families, increase in number
upfront. The three main challenges posed
of refugees on both sides of the border,
before independent India were to shape a
economic recession, unemployment,
united country, to develop democratic
poverty, etc.
practices and to ensure removal of
economic evils like poverty, • Effect of Mahatma Gandhi's death:
Mahatma Gandhi's death on January 30,
unemployment, instability, etc.
1948 put an end to communal riots taking
LEGACY OF
PARTITION
• Partition of India:
On 14th-15th
August 1947, India
was partitioned into
two nation states -
India and Pakistan.
This was based on
Two-Nation theory
propounded by
Muslim League.
Initially, Congress
did not accept this
theory but in 1940s, ODSTU.COM
gave consent for
Partition of India.
• Problems of
Partition: Partition
of India into two
nation states was
not easy. It faced
place on both sides of the border.
many difficulties.
• Stand of Government of India: Indian
o All the Indian Muslims did not want to
Government believed in communal
shift to Pakistan.
harmony and equality of religion for all.
o Muslim population was concentrated in
This highly important belief also found its
both Eastern and Western parts of
place in the Constitution of India where
erstwhile British India. There was no
India was declared a secular nation and the
possible way to unite these areas.
Fundamental Right of Right to Religion
o The Muslim as well as non-Muslim
was given to all citizens of India.
population was concentrated in various
provinces of Punjab and Bengal. A
partition of country meant a partition of
these provinces also.

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 o You will notice that since the 1989
election, the votes polled by the two
parties, Congress and the BJP do not
add up to more than fifty per cent.
The seats won by them too, do not
add up to more than half the seats in
the Lok Sabha. So, where did the
rest of the votes and seats go.
o Look at both the charts showing
Congress and Janata ‘family’ of
parties. Which among the parties
that exist today are neither part of
Congress family of parties nor part
of Janata family of parties.

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