Test: Class 9 Polity NCERT Based-1 - UPSC MCQ

• A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to vote on a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new law. Referendums can be further classified by who initiates them: mandatory referendums prescribed by law, voluntary referendums initiated by the legislature or government, and referendums initiated by citizens.

• Veto: The right of a person, party or nation to stop a certain decision or law. The word comes from Latin, which means ‘I forbid’. A veto gives unlimited power to stop a decision, but not to adopt one.

Hence, the correct option is 'b'.

• The disintegration of the Soviet Union accelerated the process of democracy in the 1990s. The Soviet Union controlled many of its neighbouring communist countries in Eastern Europe.

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  Poland and several other countries became free from the control of the Soviet Union during 1989-90. They chose to become democracies.Finally the Soviet Union itself broke down in 1991.

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  The Soviet Union comprised 15 Republics. All the constituent Republics emerged as independent countries. Most of them became democracies. Thus the end of Soviet control on East Europe and the break up of the Soviet Union led to a big change in the political map of the world.

• Urge towards global democracy comes from people who get more opportunities to come in touch with one another. Over the last few years the people of different countries have come together without their governments’ support.

• As in the case of democracy within the nations, the initiative for democracy among nations has come from the struggles of the people.

• For a very long time most countries in Asia and Africa were colonies under the control of European nations. End of colonialism made democracy flourish in these counties. Foreign countries invaded these countries and them their coloniesPeople of the colonised countries had to wage struggles to achieve independence.

• Democracy has been expanding to more and more regions and countries all over the world. Thus, more and more countries are becoming democratic. By 2020 about 167 countries were holding multi-party elections. This number was higher than ever before.

• More than 80 previously non-democratic countries have made significant advances towards democracy since 1980.But, even today, there are many countries where people cannot express their opinion freely.They still cannot elect their leaders. They cannot make big decisions about their present and future life.

• There are many institutions at the world level that perform some of the functions in a democratic way.

• The yardstick here is whether each of the countries has free and equal say in the decisions that affect them.

• For example: Every one of the 193 member states of the United Nation has one vote in the UN General Assembly. It meets in regular yearly sessions under a president elected from among the representatives of the member countries.General Assembly is like the parliament where all the discussion takes place. In that sense the UN appears to be a very democratic organisation.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 1991 to Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar (Burma) for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights.

• 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. Before contesting elections, a candidate needs the approval of the Chinese Communist Party.Only those who are members of the Chinese Communist Party or eight smaller parties allied to it were allowed to contest elections held in 2002-03. The government is always formed by the Communist Party.

So, the correct option is 'C'

1. Democracy is better than any other form of government in responding to the needs of the people. A nondemocratic government may and can respond to the people’s needs, but in a democracy it requires that the rulers have to attend to the needs of the people. A democratic government is a better government because it is a more accountable form of government. Democracy is based on consultation and discussion.

2. A democratic decision always involves many people, discussions and meetings. When a number of people put their heads together, they are able to point out possible mistakes in any decision. This takes time, but this reduces the chances of rash or irresponsible decisions. Thus democracy improves the quality of decision-making.

3. Democracy provides a method to deal with differences and conflicts. In any society people are bound to have differences of opinions and interests. Democracy provides the only peaceful solution to this problem. In democracy, no one is a permanent winner. No one is a permanent loser. Different groups can live with one another peacefully. In a diverse country like India, democracy keeps our country together.

4. Democracy is better than other forms of government because it allows us to correct its own mistakes. The advantage in a democracy is that such mistakes cannot be hidden for long. There is a space for public discussion on these mistakes. And there is a room for correction. Either the rulers have to change their decisions, or the rulers can be changed. This cannot happen in a non-democratic government.

• In the nineteenth century struggles for democracy often centred round political equality, freedom and justice. One major demand was the right for every adult citizen to vote.

• Those struggling for democracy wanted this right granted universally to all adults — men or women, rich or poor, white or black. This is called ‘universal adult franchise’ or ‘universal suffrage’.

• Many European countries that were becoming more democratic did not initially allow all people to vote. In some countries only people owning property had the right to vote. Often women did not have the right to vote.

• In the United States of America, the blacks all over the country could not exercise the right to vote until 1965. By 1900 New Zealand was the only country where every adult had voting right.

In a democracy the basic rights of the minorities should not be violated by the action of majorities.

Hence, the correct option is 'D'.

• Deliberative democracy or deliberative engagement is all about placing people (citizens, residents, affected individuals) closer to the affairs of government and decision makers.

• Deliberative processes are built around a number of key principles including:

1. Participants will have access to the information they need to have an in-depth conversation and information will be neutral, balanced and from a range of different sources.

2. The process is representative. Participants are selected randomly via a random, stratified selection process.

3. Participants are given the time they need to deliberate, which allows them to consider complex information, grapple with trade-offs and impacts and weigh up options and ideas

4. The deliberative group is given a high level of influence over outcomes or decisions.