Q. 1.What do you know about the institution of Marriage?
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What is Marriage?Explain it with definitions, and characteristics.
Ans. Marriage is the socially approved relation between male and female which forms a new family. Marriage not only gives sanction to the relationship of male and female but it also gives approval to many other relations. Meaning of family is not sex alone. Marriage is the base of family. With the help of marriage, man enters into sexual relations, makes a house, produces children and up brings them.
(1) According to Wester Mark, ‘‘Marriage is a relation of one or more men to one or more women which is recognised by the institution of law, and involves certain rights and duties both in the case of parties entering the union and in the case of children born out of it.’’
(2) According to Majumdar, ‘‘Marriage is socially approved union of male and female, or as a secondary institution by society to sanction the union and mating of male and female, for purpose of (a) establishing a household (b) entering into sex relations (c) procreating and providing care for the offsprings.’’
(3) According to Lundberg, ‘‘Marriage consists of the rules and regulations, which define the rights, duties and privileges of husband and wife with respect to each other.’’
On the basis of given definitions we can say that the institution of marriage is such institution on which the social structure of society depends. Only after the regulations of sexual relations between male and female, we can take care of upbringing of our children. If these sexual relations will be without the approval of society, they would be known as illegal or extra marital relations and the child produced by this relation would be known as illegal child. That’s why marriage not only fulfils the sexual needs but also does many functions for humans, as a memberof this institution, which are necessary for the development of society.
Characteristics of Marriage
(1) It is a universal institution. The institution of marriage exists in every society whether it was ancient or modern. It is universal in nature. We cannot imagine a permanent and static society without the institution of marriage.
(2) The relations of male and female get social sanctions with this institution. The relationship without legal or social sanction is known as illegal relationship, extramarital or premarital relationship. Man comes to know about his and other’s rights after becoming member of this institution and his scope becomes limited.
(3) Two opposite sexes give birth to this institution and with this, humans fulfill their biological needs.
(4) Marriage is not only limited to the fulfilment of sexual needs of male and female, it also limits, regulates and controls these relations.
(5) With the institution of marriage man gets social status in society. After marriage male and female are accepted as husband and wife. After the birth of their child, their social status becomes of mother and father with which family takes place.
Q. 2. Which changes are coming in the institution of marriage?Explain.
Ans. In modern society with social changes, change came in all social institutions. Change is law of nature which is necessary for everyone. Many changes also came in the institution of marriage which are given below:
1. Changes brought by the Government: When marriage got sanction of society in the form of an institution, many changes were brought in it. Many laws were passed related to marriage out of which Hindu Marriage Act 1955 was the most important. According to this law, Polygamy is restricted and Monogamy is accepted by society and is accepted as an ideal marriage. Problem of child marriage also come to an end and it was written that if any one will try to break the law, hewill be punished severely.
Law related to divorce was also passed so that the life of male and female should be without any tension. In earlier times if wife was misbehaved by the husband even then she had to live with her husband because she was dependent upon him. But now male and female both are free to use their legal right to get divorce so that they can live a happy life.
2. Marriage is related to social contract: According to ancient ideology of marriage, it was related and limited to religion and they had to live with each other even if they didn’t like each other. But according to modern ideology, if the relations between husband and wife are not good then this contract can be severed. In some cases when the marriage is done forcefully, then both can decide to break this marriage. Now it is equated with a contract that marriage is a social contract and it can be broken at will. According to T.B. Botto more, “Marriage is no longer an economic partnership, and is no longer sustained by wider kinship groups. Finally, the desire for a Hemerous progeny is replaced by the aim of deliberate aim of limiting size. Thus the marriage bond is reduced to simple relations of mutual attraction.” In modern times marriage is related with personal happiness so that the family could take care of their children properly.
3. Change in the status of women: The way in which females started to take part in other sectors of society, in that same way the form of marriage was changed. During earlier societies, females were economically dependent upon others. That’s why they had to face a lot of sufferings. But gradually, with the education of females, they became economically independent. Woman started to take her decisions herself. She got great help from the laws. Now she can take divorce from her husband and can live a happy life. In this way when a female has made her place in society then the institution of the marriage also changed. Divorce rate has increased. Now females have a better status as compared to earlier times. Now she is economically viable. She can take her decision. She takes part in the economic activities of the family and stands collectively with the husband to face the problems of life.
4. Changes because of development of education: During earlier times, no one was hardly bothering about the importance of education. That’s why the institution of marriage was developed to fulfil religious situation. But after the spread of education, compulsion of marriage comes to an end. Child marriage comes to an end. Now educated children marry according to their wish.
5. Changes because of development of industrialization: During ancient societies, rules related to marriage were so strict that one has to marry in his own caste. If he was breaking this rule then he was punished by caste. But with the increased importance of money, marital relations are also changed. Now purity of earliest times does not exist. Relations of male and female are generally related to money. Except this, many problems were emerged from both sides because of which the importance of marriage is reduced.
Q. 3. Why changes are coming in the forms of family?Explain.
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‘Forms of Family are changing.’ Give reasons.
Ans. Family is the basic unit of society but these days this unit is changing. But here question arises that why changes are coming in it. Actually no single reason is responsible for change but many reasons are responsible for it and these are given below:
(i) Industrialisation: Many changes came in family with the increase in industries in our society. Industrialisation and machanization led to the opening up of hotels. Cretches were opened up for the upbringing of children and laundries are opened to wash the clothes. In this way important functions of family were taken away by other institutions. People left their houses to work in industries which led to the breaking up of families. It also led to the loosening up of family control over its members. Secondary relations are becoming important. Now people don’t have enough time for their family and that’s why alternative institutions are coming forward to do the functions of family. In this way industrialisation has led to drastic changes in family.
(ii) Social Mobility: Social mobility has led to many changes in family. People are leaving their traditional occupations to adopt new occupations. That’s why they are moving towards urban areas by leaving their houses in rural areas. Joint families are disintegrating and nuclear families are coming forward. Traditional families are changing due to mobility. In urban areas, people come in contact with other cultures which lead to change in their ideals and traditions. As a result, families are changing.
(iii) Women Education: These days people give more stress on giving education to their children. They hardly differentiate between boys and girls regarding education. Girls are getting higher education and are doing jobs. They are becoming self-dependent and are helping their husbands in running their houses. In this way the status of women moves in upward direction after getting education which led to the change in the form of family.
(iv) Self-Dependency of Women: Women are getting education and are doing jobs. They are becoming self dependent. They give a lot of help to males from economic point of view. Now they oppose the atrocities of males. They do jobs with which most of the functions of family are taken away by other institution. In this way form of family has changed.
(v) Marriage a Contract: During ancient times, marriage was seen as a religious sacrament and it was the duty of every one to not to break the marriage. But now it has not remained a religious sacrament but has become a contract which could be broken at any time. Now it is possible to break the marriage at any time. In this way form of family is changing with breaking up of marriages.
(vi) Different Laws: Forms of family are changing due to the laws passed by the government. Government passed many laws with which women were given right of property after divorce and right to get her share from father’s property, right of divorce etc. In this way passing of laws led to breaking up of families.
Q. 4. Which types of changes are coming in the institution of family? Give in detail.
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Explain the changes which are coming in the structure and functions of the family.
Ans. Changes are coming in every aspect of family in modern age because the way in which changes are coming in our social structure, in that same way our family system is also changing. New circumstances have exerted a lot of impact on the structure and functions of family. Now we will see that how changes have come in the functions and structure of the family.
(i) Change in Educational functions: With the change in society, changes are also coming in the functions of all institutions. Functions of family, which family was doing for its members, have been changed completely. During ancient times, child was getting education in family and education was generally related with the traditional occupation of family. It was so because joint family system was there and whatever function father was doing, child had to adopt same occupation. Under the guidance of the father, child was getting training. But gradually, with modernization, children started going to educational institutions to get education and because of this they started moving away from the traditional occupation of family. They started adopting other occupations. In this way the traditional function of family has been changed and goes in the hands of educational institutions.
(ii) Change in the economic functions: During earlier times family was thecentre of economic activities. Every work related to earning was done by family. In this way all the means of living were available in family. But with the advent of industrialization all those functions of production were taken away by the big industries. In this way economic functions of family are taken by industries. So the responsibility of family of economic production is taken away by other institutions.
(iii) Change in religious functions: During earlier times one of the main functions of family was to give religious education to its members. Family used to tell its members about religion and morality. But with the advent of new scientific inventions and discoveries, outlook of people has been changed from religious to scientific. During earlier societies, religion was of utmost importance but today, religion has very less importance as compared to earlier time. During earlier times,people used to spend a lot of time for religious functions and religious rituals were performed for a number of days. But these days people don’t have spare time for religious functions and rituals. Instead of religious functions, people celebrate festivals. Everyone tries to spend more and more money on these festivals. Because of the importance of money, importance of religious actions has been decreased. In this way the religious functions of the family have been reduced.
(iv) Change in social functions: Social function of family have been reduced. During earlier times, husband was just like a God for wife. It was the duty of husband to keep his wife happy. Except this, family did an important function of controlling which is taken away by many agencies such as police, court, military etc. With this another function of the family was upbringing of children. Child developed in the family and all the members of the family love the child. But slowly and slowly with modernization, females started going out of house for job. So for the upbringing of children, creches came into being where children are cared by other females. In this way this function of the family has been reduced.Except this in earlier times elders of the family were protected by the family and were fully respected by the members of the family. But in present age, husband and wife both work and they are so busy that they don’t have the time to take care of their elders. Today old age homes have come into being where they are cared. In this way social function of the family has been reduced.
(v) Decreasing family unity: During earlier times joint families were there but today the unity and system of joint family has come to an end. Every one has its own ideals. No one tolerates any one’s interference. They live with each other, eat and drink with each other but hardly bother about them. Clearly they lack unity.
Q. 5. What do you mean by State?Explain with definitions.
Ans. The main subject of Political Science is state but the word state has been used in many forms because of which a layman is unable to know the exact meaning of state. Generally the meaning of state, society, government and country has been taken as same. In the same way the word state is used instead of country. But from political science's point of view, it is wrong. For example U.S.A. is known as state and its different units are also known as states. In the same way India is also known as state and its different units such as Punjab, Haryana, H.P., U.P., etc. are also known as state. But actually these are the units of state but not the state. That's why it is necessary to know the exact meaning of the word state.
Etymology of the word State: Word State has been taken from the Latin word ‘Status’. Meaning of word Status is the social level of any person. During ancient times, there was hardly any difference between state and society. That's why this word was used to tell social level. In its modern meaning this word was used first time by Italian politician ‘Machiaveli’. He used this word for Country State. In his book ‘The Prince’ he wrote that, ‘‘All the powers which have had and have authority over man are State and are either monarchies or republic’’.
So State is a part of whole society. It is right that it affects all the parts of social life but still it cannot take place of society. State is an agency which controls the social institutions. State affects all the aspects of society and it plays an important role in maintaining balance among them.
Definitions
1. According to MacIver, ‘‘The State is an association which acting through law as promulgated by a government endowed to this end with coercive power, maintenance, within a community territorially demarcated the universal external conditions of social order.’’
2. According to Max Weber, ‘‘The State is an association that claims of monopoly of the legitimate use of the violence and cannot be defined in any other manner.’’
3. According to Holland, ‘‘Numerous assemblage of human beings, generally occupying a certain territory among whom the will of the majority of an ascertainable class of persons, by the strength of such a majority is made to prevail against any of their number who oppose it.’’
In this way we can say that State is a collection of people who live in a definite geographical area means it has its own geographical area, which has one government with whose help State does its functions, it controls its population and asks the people to obey its rules and has its own sovereignty. By sovereignty, it means that it is free from any external pressure. It doesn't come under any pressure. State protects its boundary from any external aggression and if there is any rebellion in it, it uses physical force, in the form of police, which it has. State is a very old institution. No one says that how and when it came into being. But all in all we can say that State is an institution which has definite geographical area, which has some population, which has its government and sovereignty.
