POWER SHAIRING

CHAPTER -1

POLITICS

1.What is a Civil War? Explain with context to Sri Lanka.

Answer: (i) It is a violent conflict between the opposing groups within a country, for
example the Sinhalese and the Tamils.
(ii) Due to the violent conflict between both these ethnic groups thousands of
people of both the communities have been killed. Many families were forced to
leave the country as refugees and many more lost their livelihoods.
(iii) The civil war has caused a terrible setback to the social, cultural and economic
life of the country.

2. What is community government? Explain the concept of community

government with context to Belgium.

Answer: (i) A community government is one in which different social groups are
given the power to handle the affairs related to their communities. They are
expected to work jointly for the benefit of the common masses without undermining
any one community.
(ii) The ‘community government’ is elected by people belonging to one language
community-Dutch, French and German speaking – no matter where they live.
(iii) This government has the power regarding cultural, educational and language-
related issues.

3. What is the relationship between democracy and power sharing?

Answer: ‘Democracy’ means giving every citizen the right and power to make the
decisions through their elected representatives. Power sharing is dividing power
among various social groups to give them equal representation in the governance.
Power sharing is the essence of democracy where every individual, irrespective of
cultural and language differences feel involved in the political system.

4. How did the Sri Lankan and the Belgium government try to solve the ethnic
problem?
Or
Explain any two important differences between the power sharing model
accepted by Belgium and Sri Lanka.

Answer: (i) The Belgium leaders tried to solve the ethnic problem by respecting the
feelings and interests of different communities and regions, whereas the Sri Lankan
government tried to solve the problem through majoritarianism.
(ii) Belgium leaders established a federal structure under which power was shared
between the Union Government and its other constituent units whereas Sri Lankan
leaders adopted Unitary Government structure.
(iii) The Belgium solution helped in avoiding civic strife whereas the majoritarianism
in Sri Lanka led to the civil war.

5. “Both Belgium and Sri Lanka are democracies but they follow different
systems of power sharing. ” Support the statement by giving three points of
difference.

Answer: (i) Type of Government: Sri Lanka continues to be, for all practical purpose,
a unitary system where the national government has all the powers. Tamil leaders
want Sri Lanka to become a federal system under which the regional governments
were given constitutional powers that were no longer dependent on the central
‘government. Belgium shifted from a unitary to a federal form of government.

(ii) Religion and Government : To accommodate people belonging to different ethnic

groups Belgium formed a ‘community government’ whereas Sri Lankan government
passed a law to protect and promote Buddhism.

(iii) Language and government : In 1956 Sri Lankan government passed an act to
recognize Sinhala as the only official language whereas Belgium government “tried
to protect and foster all the languages spoken by the people.

6. What is power sharing? Explain.

Answer: (i) The concept of providing a permanent share of power in the government
different communities or regions is termed as power sharing.
(ii) Under this the people and the leaders of the nation respect the feelings and
interests of different commodities and regions.
(iii) The principle of power sharing is very important for the unity and growth of
democracy.

7. Explain the principle of federal division of power.

Answer: (i) Under the federal division of power the power is divided among different
levels of government; for example in India the power is shared among the three
levels of governments, i.e., Union government, the state governments and the local
governments.
(ii) This type of system is known as vertical division of power.
(iii) Under this the Constitution clearly lays down the power of each level of
government

8. “Power may also be shared among different social groups”. Explain by giving
examples.

Answer: (i) Power may also be shared among different social groups such as the
religious and linguistic groups. ‘Community government’ in Belgium is a good
example of this arrangement.
(ii) In some countries there are constitutional and legal arrangements whereby
socially weaker sections and women are represented in the legislatures and
administration. For example in India we follow the principle of ‘reserved
constituencies’ in assemblies and the parliament of our country. This type of
arrangement is meant to give space in the government and administration to diverse
social groups who otherwise would feel alienated from the’ government.
(iii) This method is used to give minority communities a fair share in power.