POWER SHARING

CHAPTER
O1
CIVICS
 CHAPTER AT A GLANCE
•Introduction
•Belgium and Sri Lanka
•Majoritarianism in Sri Lanka
•Accommodation in Belgium
•Why is power sharing desirable?
•Forms of Power Sharing
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• To have hands on the meaning of the following terms:
• Ethnic composition
• Majority community
• Minority community
• Accommodation
• Power Sharing
• In this light, students to infer the ethnic composition of Belgium and Sri Lanka.
• An understanding with regard to the majority and minority of Belgium and Sri Lanka respectively.
• Learners to facilitate an understanding of the accommodation policy in Belgium.
• Equal representation of Dutch/French/German
• Effective role of community government
• Learners to draw an understanding of the majoritarian policy and strategy adopted by Sri Lanka
• Domination of Sinhala over Tamil
• Aggressive discomfort caused to Tamil community
• Outbreak of Civil war
• An understanding of the relevance and desirability of power sharing.
• Learners to explore the various forms of power sharing
• Horizontal form of power sharing &Vertical form of power sharing
• Power shared among different social groups
• Power shared among pressure groups & opposition parties
 EYE CATCHING TERMS AND CONCEPTS
MAJORITY COMMUNITY ( A Community
ETHINIC COMPOSITION ( A group of which represents majority in terms of
people belonging to any caste, community caste/language/religion)
and speaking any language of their choice)

ACCOMODATION ( Recognition of all in

MINORITY COMMUNITY ( A Community the society regardless of
which represents minority population in a caste/class/language)
country, a minority in terms of
caste/language/religion)

POWER SHARING (A concept of dividing

the powers and responsibilities among
different organs of the government)
 CASE STUDY OF BELGIUM

SMALLER THAN HARYANA

BELGIUM : A
COUNTRY IN It has borders with France,
EUROPE the Netherlands, Germany
and Luxembourg.
Of the country’s total The minority French speaking
population: were rich and powerful and like
59 % lives in the Flemish wise Dutch resented it as they got
region and speaks Dutch benefits much later.
language. This led to tension b/w French &
Another 40 %people live in Dutch speaking community.
the Wallonia region and In Brussels: Dutch speaking were a
speak French. majority in the country but
minority in the capital.
Remaining 1%
speak
German.
 CASE STUDY OF SRI LANKA
SRILANKA: - An Island Nation.
Population- 2 crore (Just like
Haryana)
TAMILS:
1. SRILANKAN TAMILS- The original
natives
2. Indian Tamils- Fore fathers came to Sri
Lanka in search of job
ETHINIC COMPOSITION:
Sinhala speakers- 74%
Tamil speakers- 18%
Sinhala- Buddhist speakers
Tamils- Hindus/Muslims
7% Christians- Both Tamil and Sinhala
 MAJORITATARINISM IN SRI LANKA
Sri Lanka emerged as an independent
country in 1948.

The Sinhala community developed supremacy over the

Tamilian community with regards to the elected
representative from Sinhala community.

In 1956 an act was passed stating Sinhala as the

official language and disregarding Tamil.

The constitution was framed

to foster Buddhism.
Sinhala community acquired the benefits of development, took
employment opportunities in schools, colleges, where as
Tamils were not given the same opportunities in political and
economic spheres.
A CIVIL WAR B/W TAMILS AND
SINHALA’S- A VIOLENT MOVEMENT
DEMAND OF TAMIL ELAM
POLITICAL PROTEST BY
TAMILS ECONOMIC GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT IN SRI LANKA
ACCOMODATION POLICY IN BELGIUM
Constitution prescribes equal
number of Dutch and French
speaking in central
Government.
Thus no single community can
make decision unilaterally.
Brussels has a separate government in which
both communities have equal
representation. French speaking people
accepted equal representation in Brussels
because the Dutch speaking has equal equal
representation in central government.
Many powers of the central
government have been given to the
the state government of the two
regions of the country. The state
government was not subordinate to
central government.
Another form of government
was the ‘community
government ‘ elected by people
belonging to one language
community
(Dutch/French/German)
Also focusses on cultural,
language & educational issues.
 WHY IS POWER SHARING DESIRABLE?
PRUDENTIAL REASONS
• Reduces possibility of conflict among different social groups
• It ensures the stability of political order
• Power Sharing will contribute to better outcomes
• Tyranny of majority is oppressive to minority

MORAL REASONS

• Power Sharing is the very spirit of democracy

• Legitimate government is one where citizens through participation acquire a stake in the system
• The very act of power sharing is valuable
EMERGENCE/EVOLUTION OF POWER SHARING

UNDIVIDED POWER PRESIDED WITH

POLITICAL POWER ONE PERSON/GROUP

POWER SHARING AS
DIVISION OF POWER
AND CITIZENS AS
FINAL DECISION
MAKERS

CHANGING DYNAMICS OF
POWER SHARING WITH THE
DEMOCRACY ALLOWS EMERGENCE OF
PEOPLE’S PARTICIPATION DEMOCRACY
AND CITIZENS CAN
SHAPE PUBLIC OPINION
 FORMS OF POWER SHARING
A. POWER SHARED AMONG DIFFERENT ORGANS OF
THE OGOVERNMENT

B. POWER SHARED AMONG GOVERNMENT AT

DIFFERENT LEVELS

A. POWER SHARED AMONG SOCIAL

GROUPS

B. POWER SHARED AMONG OPPOSITION

AND PRESSURE GROUPS
POWER SHARED AMONG DIFFERENT ORGANS OF
THE GOVERNMENT
- Power shared among different organs of the government

-The different organs of the government include Legislature, Executive and judiciary

- This model is also known as HORIZONTAL FORM OF POWER SHARING

- Different organs work at same level but have different powers

- This results in BALANCE of POWER and a SYSTEM OF CHECK AND BALANCE

- EACH ORGAN IS INTERDEPENDENT YET DEPENDENT

EXAMPLE: THE President is appointed by the Executive yet the President can check
the Executive.
 POWER SHARED AMONG GOVERNMENT AT
DIFFERENT LEVELS
~ Power is shared among government at different levels.
~ VERTICAL DIVISION OF POWER SHARING

~ The government for the entire country is the CENTRAL GOVERNMENT/ UNION
GOVERNMENT

~ The government for respective states is STATE GOVERNMENT/PROVINCAL GOVERNMENT

~ The government at local level is the LOCAL GOVERNMENT

~The INDIAN CONSTITUTION has clearly specified the powers of government at each level

~ THIS IS KNOWN HAS FEDERAL DIVISION OF POWER

EXAMPLE- NARENDRA MODI HEADS THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT & YOGI ADITYA NATH
LOOKS AFTER THE AFFAIRS OF UP (STATE LEVEL)
 POWER SHARED AMONG SOCIAL GROUPS
Power shared among various groups, religious groups, linguistic groups

• Example-Community Government in Belgium

• In India various socially disadvantaged groups and women are represented in the
Parliament of our country

• This form of Power sharing allows multiple groups to be accommodated.

 POWER SHARED AMONG PRESSURE GROUPS
AND OPPOSITION PARTIES
Pressure Groups are those set of political parties which function in opposition to the
ruling party.

# Citizens must have the freedom to choose various contenders for power

# Democracy involves political competition among different political parties and this political
competition ensures that power is not limited to one person.

# In the longer run power is shared among different political parties representing different
cultures, religion & diversity

# This form of power sharing also allows the formation of alliance and coalition

A BETTER AND REPRESENTATIVE FORM OF DEMOCRACY