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

Q1: What is federalism?
Ans: Federalism is a system of government under which power is divided between a central authority and its various constituent units. The various constituent units and the central authority run their administration independently and do not interfere unnecessarily in the affairs of one another.

Q2: What is Unitary Government?
Ans: Under the unitary system, either there is only one level of government or the sub units are subordinate to the central government.

Q3: ‘The federal system has dual objective’. Mention the dual objectives.
Ans: To safeguard and promote the unity of the country, while at the same time accommodate regional diversity.

Q4: Mention any two features of federalism.
Ans: (i) There are two or more levels of government, (ii) Different tiers of government govern the same citizens.

Q5: ‘There are two kinds of routes through which federations have been formed.’ Name the two routes by giving one example of each.
Ans: (i) Coming together federations – USA
(ii) Holding together federations – India.

Q6: Name any two examples of coming together federation. [CBSE 2014]
Ans: USA and Australia.

Q7: Name any two holding together federation. [CBSE 2014]
Ans: India and Spain.

Q8: Mention the three tier system prevailing in India.
Ans: (i) Union Government
(ii) State Government
(iii) Local Government

Q9: Categorise the following under Union list or Concurrent list.
(i) Currency (ii) Education
Ans: (i) Currency – Union List
(ii) Education – Concurrent List

Q10: What is a Union List?
Ans: Subjects of national importance like defence, foreign affairs, atomic energy, banking, post and telegraph are included in the Union List. Only the central government can pass laws on the subjects mentioned in the Union List because we need a uniform policy on important or national issues throughout the country. The Union List has 97 subjects.

Q11: What is a State List?
Ans: It comprises those important subjects on which the state government can pass laws. Subjects like police, local governments, trade and commerce, agriculture within the state are included in the State List. The State List has 66 subjects.

Q12: What are Residuary Powers?
Ans: Matters which are not included in the division of powers, are known as residuary powers. It was felt that there can be subjects which are not mentioned in either of these lists. The central government has been given the power to legislate on these ‘residuary’ subjects.

Q13: Name an Indian state which enjoys a special status.
Ans: Jammu and Kashmir.

Q14: What are Union Territories?
Ans: These are areas which are too small to become an independent State but which could not be merged with any of the existing states.

Q15: Who governs the Union Territories?
Ans: The Union Government.

Q16: What is the importance of judiciary in a federal government?
Ans: The judiciary plays an important role in overseeing the implementation of constitutional provisions and procedures. In case of any dispute about the division of powers, the High Courts and the Supreme Court make a decision.

Q17: What is decentralisation?
Ans: When power is taken away from Central and State governments and given to local government, it is called decentralisation.

Q18: What is Gram Panchayat?
Ans: It is a council consisting of several ward members, often called panch and a president or sarpanch.

Q19: What is Panchayat Samiti?
Ans: A few gram panchayats are grouped together to form a Panchayat Samiti or block or mandal.

Q20: How are village Sarpanch or Panches elected?
Ans: They are directly elected by all the adult population living in that ward or village.