Class 10 Civics Chapter 1 Practice Question Answers - Democratic Politics - II

Q1: How can you say that democracies are based on political equality?
Ans: Democracies are based on political equality as they provide equal rights to all the citizens to contest elections and cast vote and ensure equal opportunity to be elected. They also subscribe to one vote, one value and equal political rights.

Q2: Why is a democratic government better than other alternatives?
Ans: Democracy is a better form of government because it is legitimate, accountable, responsive, promotes equality among citizens, enhances dignity of the individual, improves quality of decision-making and allows room to correct mistakes.

Q3: What is meant by transparency?
Ans: Right or means to examine the process of decision-making is called transparency.

Q4: Which form of government is considered the best?
Ans: Democratic form of government is considered the best as it enhances dignity of the individual by giving every person equal treatment.

Q5: A democratic government is a legitimate government.’ Support the statement with arguments.
Ans: A democratic government is a legitimate government because of the following reasons.

• It may be slow, less efficient or not always responsive or clean, but it is people’s own government.
• It has planned institutions and practices for its functioning, such as:
  • free and fair elections.
  • regular public debates.
  • right to information to citizens.
  • planned legislations.
• In a democracy, decisions are taken in a very transparent manner citizens have the chance to examine the process of decision-making.

Q6: ‘Democratic governments in practice are known as accountable.’ Support the statement.
Ans: Democratic governments in practice are known as accountable because people have the right to choose their representatives and they have control over the rulers. if these elected representatives do not work properly, people have a chance to not elect them in the next election. people have the right to examine the decision-making process. The Right to Information enables the people to run a check on the government.

Q7: How is democracy accountable and responsive to the needs and expectations of the citizens? Analyse.
Ans: There is no denying the fact that democracy is accountable and responsive to the needs and expectations of the citizens.Democracy produces an accountable government in the following ways.

• A democratic government ensures that people are able to choose their leaders and keep a check on them.
• In an accountable government, people have the right to elect the leaders to form government and if possible they participate in the decision-making process.
• Citizens also have the right to evaluate the decision-making process. Democracy produces a responsive government in the following ways.
• Democracy produces a responsible government which is responsible for satisfying the needs and aspirations of people.
• It promotes the formation of public opinion, needs and expectations of the citizens.
• There are proper deliberations and negotiations before arriving at any decision.

Q8: ‘Some people think that democracy produces a less-effective government.’ Analyse the statement.
Ans: Some people think that democracy produces a less-effective government because of the following reasons.

• In democracy, decisions are delayed because of a long decision-making process.Too many people have to be consulted before reaching a consensus. , Non-democratic governments take quick decisions as they are not worried about deliberations and public opinion.
• Democratic governments do not have a very good record when it comes to sharing information with the citizens.
• Democracies often frustrate the aspirations of the people and often ignore the demands of a majority of its population.

Q9: How do democracies accommodate various social divisions? Explain with examples.
Ans: Democracies accommodate various social divisions and differences in the following ways.

• Democracy usually develops a procedure to conduct competition among social divisions. It reduces the possibility of social tensions becoming violent.
• Democracy evolves mechanisms to negotiate. No society can fully and permanently resolve conflicts among different groups. Democracies are best suited to produce this outcome.
• Democracy presents the general view. The majority always needs to work with minority so that the government functions to represent the general view. Hence majority and minority views are not permanent.
• Democratic regimes do not suppress internal social differences. They do not turn a blind eye to such differences.
• Democratic governments have the ability to handle social differences, divisions and conflicts.

Q10: ‘A democratic government is efficient and effective.’ Analyse the statement.
Ans: A democratic government is efficient and effective. This statement can be analysed giving the following arguments.

• A democratic government is mainly a government of people. It is the people who run a democracy by electing their own government.
• A democratic government works for the betterment and welfare of the people.
• A democratic government promotes equality of status and opportunity. There is no discrimination on the basis of caste, class, gender, religion, etc.
• A democratic government gives freedom of thought, expression and belief, (ie) In a democratic government, the rights of the people are protected. They can even fight if their rights are encroached.

Q11: Explain any three common features of democracies.
Ans: The following are the three common features of democracies.

• Regular elections: In a democratic government, the general elections are held to elect a new government.
• Right to vote: All the citizens of the country, of and above a certain age, have the right to vote.
• Political parties: Political parties are an essential part of democracy. They put up candidates who contest the election.
• Rule of law: Another common feature of all democracies is that it ensures rule of law. Law is supreme and all the citizens are equal in the eyes of law. No one is above the law.

Q12: ‘Democracy is seen to be good in principle but felt to be not so good in practice.’ Justify the statement.
Ans: Democracy is seen to be good in principle but felt not to be so good in practice. The following points will justify the statement.

• In a democracy, people expect to have their needs and expectations fulfilled but because every country has a diverse culture and regions, it is not possible to look after everyone’s needs.
• Even though democracy is not simply rule by majority opinion, there are instances where the minority opinions is not taken into account for a general view.
• If there is corruption, then people lose faith in the government and then do not feel the need to vote which is not healthy for the country because democracy is a people’s government.
• Regular elections may lead to change in the ruling party, which causes instability and fall of economic development.
• If people are not wise in choosing their representatives then even though there is room to correct mistakes, the country will suffer and so will the people.

Q13: ‘Democracies lead to peaceful and harmonious life among citizens.’ Support the statement with suitable examples.
Ans: Democracy leads to peaceful and harmonious life among citizens as it gives to its citizens a sound political system based on social equality. We can prove the statement by citing the following instances.

• Democracy provides a conducive political environment to citizens for their popular participation in politics.
• Every citizen has the right to vote and right to contest election.
• Democracy stands for equal economic status to all citizens.
• In democracy, government undertakes extensive social welfare schemes and achieve universal literacy rate.
• In the social sphere, democracy tries to help its citizens to lead a peaceful and harmonious life by accommodating various social divisions and providing social equality to its citizens.
• Democratic governments try to resolve differences, respect differences and try mechanisms which can negotiate differences.

Q14: How does Indian democracy meet the expectations of Indian people regarding democratic outcomes? Explain with examples.
Ans: Indian democracy meets the expectations of Indian people regarding democratic outcomes in the following ways.

• India can claim to be the largest democracy in the world, granting political freedom and equality to all.
• People by virtue of fundamental rights participate in the governance of the country.
• Indian democracy has ensured power sharing to all the groups and has given adequate representation to women, and diverse and weaker sections of the society. For instances, reservation policy, language policy and principle of secularism.
• It provides for smooth and legitimate transformation from one government to another by means of electoral competition.
• It is an accountable government, which ensures transparency. It is also responsive to the needs and aspirations of the citizens.

Q15: Explain any three merits of democratic governments over dictatorship.
Ans: The following are the three merits of democratic governments over dictatorship.

• Democracy conducts regular, free and fair elections, promotes equality among citizens and allows room to correct mistakes. In a dictatorship, the leader comes to power after a show of force and people are relegated to secondary positions.
• In democracy, decision-making is slow but is based on the needs and aspirations of the citizens. Decisions are taken after deliberation and negotiations. In a dictatorship, rulers do not have to consider about deliberations and assemblies or think about public opinion.
• Democratic government is a legitimate government, elected by the people (where everyone enjoys the right to vote). It is people’s own government. These factors are missing in a dictatorship.

Q16: Explain four ways in which democracies have been able to reduce inequality and poverty.
Ans: Four ways in which democracies have been able to reduce inequality and poverty are as follows.

• It ensures political equality by giving equal voting rights to every citizen,
• It provides a suitable environment for group activism which leads to equal opportunity to raise the concerns of poor people.
• It supports the redistributive mechanism for transferring economic benefits on the basis of requirement of any section of society. This leads to more equitable division of benefits to underprivileged which reduces poverty.
• It protects the rights of every citizen without discrimination on the basis of economic status ensuring social equality.

Q17: How do democratic governments ensure transparency? Explain any three points.
Ans: Democratic governments ensure transparency in the following ways.

• They make sure that decision-making will be based on norms and procedures.
• They allow every citizen to participate in decision-making, directly or indirectly, through representatives.
• Citizens can examine and find out about the correctness of the procedure of decision-making using their right to information.
• They are accountable to the people. If people are not satisfied with the way the government works, they have the right to change the government in the next general elections.
• They provide people with power to demand answers from their representatives and reduce the chances of corruption.

Q18: Explain the role of democratic governments in reducing economic disparities.
Ans: The democratic governments play an important role in reducing economic disparities by adopting the following measures.

• Government ensures equitable distribution of wealth, so as to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor.
• Government undertakes extensive social welfare schemes and strives to achieve universal literacy rate.
• Government takes care to provide equal opportunities to all. It makes sure that no discrimination is being done on the basis of economic status, caste, etc.

Q19: ‘Constant complaints by people can be seen as a testimony to the success of a democracy.’ Explain.
Ans: Complaints are treated as testimony to the success of democracy in the following ways.

• Complaints highlight the awareness of the people and their expectations from the system that has been put in place.
• It reflects that citizens are not overawed by those in power and can objectively and critically examine the difference they have made.
• It is a measure of their participation in public debates which democracy seeks to encourage.
• A public expression of dissatisfaction with democracy shows the success of the democratic project.
• It shows that people have transformed themselves from being subjects to being citizens.

Q20: ‘An ideal government would not only keep itself away from corruption but also make fighting corruption and black money a top priority.’ Justify the statement by highlighting the values attached to it.
Ans:

An ideal government would not only keep itself away from corruption but also make fighting corruption and black money a top priority. The statement can be justified by highlighting the following values attached to it.

• Legitimacy: An elected government is expected to work for the welfare of the people. Corruption and black money are the source of all social evils like poverty, inflation and poor political ethics. A government who fails to control corruption losses its legitimacy to rule.
• Responsive: It is the people’s representatives that rule. It is therefore necessary that they respond to the eradication of corruption and accumulation of black money. If not so, people get discouraged to re-elect them.
• Accountability: An elected government is accountable to the people for the management of policy and its resources. It has to get support of the people for every policy it frames. Thus, fair distribution and allocation of resources cannot be done without doing away with corruption. Transparency has to be maintained in the process of governing.