Power Sharing Notes 2024-25 (1)
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SUBJECT: Political Science GRADE 10
Chapter 1- Power Sharing
1. Explain the ethnic composition of Belgium. Or Division of Population
Belgium is a small country in Europe.
• In the Flemish region Dutch speaking: 59%
• In the Wallonia region French speaking: 40%
• The remaining 1 % speak German.
• In the capital city Brussels, 80% of people speak French, while the rest speak Dutch.
2. What was the reason for the conflict between the Dutch and the French in Belgium?
• The minority French-speaking community is economically and educationally well-to-do
compared to the Dutch-speaking majority. This was resented by the Dutch-speaking
community who got the benefit of economic development and education much later.
• This led to tensions between the Dutch-speaking and French-speaking communities during
the 1950s and 1960s.
• The tension between the two communities was more acute in Brussels. Brussels presented
a special problem: the Dutch-speaking people constituted a majority in the country, but a
minority in the capital.
3. Explain the Belgian Model of Governance.
Or
How did the Belgians accommodate social diversity?
Between 1970 and 1993, they amended their constitution four times to work out an
arrangement that would enable everyone to live together within the same country. The
arrangement they worked out is different from any other country and is very innovative.
• Central Government: Equal number of members- The French and Dutch-speaking
ministers are in the central government.
Some special laws require the support of majority of members from each linguistic group.
• State Government: Many powers of the central government have been given to state
governments of the two regions of the country.
• Capital Government: Brussels has a separate government in which both the communities
(French and Dutch) have equal representation.
• Community government: A ‘community government’ exists. It is elected by people
belonging to one language community. This government engages with cultural, educational
and language-related issues. This kind of governance has prevented civil strife between the
two different linguistic communities.
4. Explain the ethnic composition of Sri Lanka.
• Sri Lanka has a diverse population with 74% Sinhala speakers and 18% Tamil speakers.
Among Tamils, 13% are called ‘Sri Lankan Tamils’ and the rest ‘Indian Tamils’.
• Most of the Sinhala-speaking people are Buddhist, while most of the Tamils are Hindus or
Muslims. There are about 7 % Christians, who are both Tamil and Sinhala.
• Sri Lanka emerged as an independent country in 1948.
5. Explain the Majoritarian measures taken by Sri Lanka.
• In 1956, Sinhala was recognised as the only official language of Sri Lanka; thus,
disregarding Tamil.
• The governments followed preferential policies that favoured Sinhala applicants for
university positions and government jobs.
• A new constitution stipulated that the state shall protect and foster Buddhism.
6. What were the reasons for the conflict between Sinhalese and the Sri Lankan Tamils?
Or
What were the causes of the Civil War in Sri Lanka?
• The government measures increased the feeling of alienation among the Sri Lankan Tamils.
They felt that none of the major political parties led by the Buddhist Sinhala leaders were
sensitive to their language and culture.
• They felt that the constitution and government policies denied them equal political rights,
discriminated against them in getting jobs and other opportunities and ignored their
interests.
• The Sri Lankan Tamils launched parties and struggled for the recognition of Tamil as an
official language, for regional autonomy and for equality of opportunity in securing
education and jobs. This was denied by the Sinhala-dominated government.
• By the 1980s, several political organizations were formed demanding an independent
Tamil Eelam (state) in northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka.
• These differences in the two different communities pushed Sri Lanka into a state of civil
war.
7. Why Power Sharing is Desirable?
OR
What are the two sets of reasons of power-sharing?
OR
Explain the Prudential & Moral reason for power sharing.
Prudential reason
• Firstly, power sharing is good because it helps to reduce the possibility of conflict between
social groups. Since social conflict often leads to violence and political instability, power
sharing is a good way to ensure the stability of political order.
• Prudential reasons stress that power sharing will bring out better outcomes.
Moral reason
• Power sharing is the very spirit of democracy.
• A democratic rule involves sharing power with those affected by its exercise, and who
have to live with its effects. People have a right to be consulted on how they are to be
governed. A legitimate government is one where citizens, through participation, acquire a
stake in the system.
• Moral reasons emphasise the very act of power sharing as valuable.
8. Explain the various forms of Power Sharing.
In modern sharing democracies, power sharing arrangements can take many forms such
as:
a) Power is shared among different organs of government, such as the legislature,
executive and judiciary. Each organ checks the others. This results in a balance of power
among various organs. This is a horizontal division of powers, as it allows different
organs of government placed at the same level to exercise different powers.
Ministers and government officials exercise power but at the same time they are
responsible to the Parliament or State; and although the Judges are appointed by the
executive, they can check the functioning of the executive or laws made by the legislature.
This arrangement is called a system of checks and balances
b) Power can be shared among governments at different levels: a general government for
the entire country and governments at the provincial or regional level. Such a government
is called the federal government. This is a vertical division of power, as the central
government delegates its powers to the state governments, and they, in turn, delegate it to
the smaller governing bodies and institutions.
The Constitution clearly lays down the powers of different levels of government. The same
principle can be extended to levels of government lower than the State government, such
as the municipality and panchayat. We call this division of powers involving higher and
lower levels of government as the vertical division of power.
c) Power may also be shared among different social groups such as the religious and
linguistic groups. In some countries, there are constitutional and legal arrangements
whereby socially weaker sections and women are represented in the legislatures and
administration.
Eg. ‘Community government’ in Belgium, ‘reserved constituencies’ in assemblies and
the parliament of our country. This method is used to give minority communities a fair
share of power.
d) Power sharing arrangements can also be seen in the way political parties, pressure
groups and movements control or influence those in power. This way the power is shared
among different parties that represent different ideologies and social groups.
When two or more parties form an alliance to contest elections, this kind of power sharing
can be direct. If their alliance is elected, they form a coalition government and thus share
power.
In a democracy, we find interest groups such as those of traders, businessmen,
industrialists, farmers and industrial workers. They also will have a share in governmental
power, either through participation in governmental committees or bringing influence on
the decision-making process.
