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

Short Answer Type Questions (3 Marks)

Q1: What is meant by dynastic succession in politics?
Ans: A rule in which the family’s generation rules. Lack of internal democracy and elections leads to dynastic succession in leadership. Nepotism arises as top leaders prefer to have their family members as successors, thereby the members who work at the grassroots are neglected.

Q2: Assess the importance of political parties in democracy. [CBSE (F) 2017]
Ans: Importance of Political Parties:
(i) Parties contest elections to form government.
(ii) Parties put forward different policies and programmes and the voters choose from them.
(iii) A party reduces a vast multitude of opinions into a few basic positions which it supports.
(iv) Parties play a decisive role in making laws for a country.
(v) Parties recruit leaders, trains them and then make them ministers to run the Government.
(vi) Parties provide people access to government machinery and welfare schemes implemented by governments.

Q3: What is a multi-party system? Why has India adopted a multi-party system? Explain. [CBSE 2015]
Ans: (i) If several parties compete for power, and more than two parties have a reasonable chance of coming to power either on their own strength or in alliance with other, we call it a multiparty system.
(ii) India has evolved a multi-party system. It is because the social and geographical diversity in such a large country is not easily absorbed by two or even three parties.
(iii) Party system is not something any country can choose. It evolves over a long time depending on the nature of society, its social and regional divisions, its history of politics and its system of elections.

Q4: “Political Parties are a necessary condition for a democracy.” Analyse the statement with examples. [CBSE (Comptt) 2017]
Ans: Political parties are necessary condition for a democracy:
If political parties don’t exist then –
(i) Every candidate in the elections will be independent.
(ii) No one will be able to make any promise to the people about any major policy changes.
(iii) The government may be formed, but its utility will remain ever uncertain.
(iv) Elected representatives will be accountable to their constituency for what they do in the locality.
(v) No one will be responsible for how the country will be run.
(vi) Political parties are important for representative democracies as they bring representatives together to form the government.
(vii) It consists of people seeking to achieve their objectives through constitutional means and aims at promoting national interest.

Q5: What is the difference between a national party and a state party?
Ans: There are three major differences between a national party and regional/state party:
(i) National parties have influence all over the country or in several states of India. The influence of a state party is limited to a state or region.
(ii) National parties take interest in national as well as international issues; whereas regional or state parties are interested in promoting regional/state interest only.
(iii) The national parties have to harmonise the national as well as state interests; whereas state parties usually stand for greater autonomy for states.

Q6: What is the role of the opposition party in a democracy? [CBSE (AI) 2017]
Ans: Those parties that lose elections play the role of opposition to the parties in power. Role played by opposition is:
(i) It gives its own opinion which may oppose the ruling party.
(ii) Opposition party mobilises opposition to the government.
(iii) It puts its different views in the parliament and criticises the government for its failures or wrong policies.
(iv) By doing this, it can keep a check on the ruling party, which is made to move on the track.

Q7: Give one merit and one demerit of a single-party system.
Ans: Merit: There is no competition between parties but there is competition between candidates.
Demerit: One-party system is not a democratic option. Any democratic country must allow at least two parties to compete.

Q8: What are the main components of a political party?
Ans: (i) The leaders: A political party consists of leaders who contest elections and if they win, perform the administrative job.
(ii) The active members: They are the ones who climb a ladder from being the follower and become the assistants of the leaders to gain knowledge about the politics.
(iii) The followers: They are simply the ardent followers of the leaders and work under the able guidance of the active members.

Q9: How do parties perform the job of making laws for the country?
Ans: Parties play a decisive role in making laws for a country. Formally, laws are debated in the form of first, second and third readings and then by popular voting, the bill is passed. But since most of the members belong to a party, they follow what their leader says, irrespective of their personal opinions.

Q10: How is a government of alliances formed?
Ans: When several parties in a multi-party system join hands for the purpose of contesting elections and winning power, it is called an alliance or front. In India, there were three major alliances in 2004 parliamentary elections.
These were the National Democratic Alliance or NDA formed by BJP and its allies. Then the United Progressive Alliance or UPA led by Congress and its allies. The third one was the Left Front, which is formed by Communists or their parties like CPI and CPI(M).

Long Answer Type Questions (5 Marks)

Q11: Why does modern democracies could not exist without political parties?
Ans: (i) We can understand the necessity of political parties by imagining a situation without parties. Every candidate in the elections will be independent. So no one will be able to make any promises to the people about any major policy changes.
(ii) Elected representatives will be accountable to their constituencies for what they do in the locality. But no one will be responsible for how the country runs.
(iii) India also has non-party based elections to the panchayats in many states. Although parties do not contest formally, it is generally noticed that the village splits into more than one faction, each of which puts up a ‘panel’ of its candidates. This is exactly what the party does. That is why, we have political parties in almost all the countries in the world.
(iv) The rise of political parties is directly linked to the emergence of representative democracies. Large-scale societies need representative democracy. Large societies need some way to bring various representatives together so that a responsible government can be formed.
Thus we can say that parties are a necessary condition for a democracy.

Q12: Describe the various party systems existing in different countries.
Ans: (i) One-party system:
(a) In some countries, only one party is allowed to control and run the government. It is called one-party system.
(b) We cannot consider one-party system as a good option because this is not a democratic option.
(c) Any democratic system must allow at least two parties to compete in elections and provide a fair chance for the competing parties to come to power.
Example: Communist Party of China.

(ii) Two-party system:
(a) In some countries, power usually changes between two main parties.
(b) Here, only the two main parties have a serious chance of winning majority seats to form the government.
Example: USA and UK.

(iii) Multi-party system:
(a) If several parties compete for power and more than two parties have a reasonable chance of coming to power, either on their own or in alliance with others, it is called a multi-party system.
(b) The multi-party system often appears very messy and leads to political instability.
(c) At the same time, this system allows a variety of interests and opinions to enjoy political representation.
Example: India.
Major Coalitions—NDA, UPA, Left Front.

Q13: Describe the role of Political Parties in Indian Democracy. [CBSE (Comptt) 2017]
Ans: Role of Political Parties:
(i) The Political party or parties with majority seats form and run the government.
(ii) They contest elections and put forward different policies and programmes among which the voters opt.
(iii) They play a decisive role in law making for the country.
(iv) They also play an important role as opposition parties.
(v) They play an important role in shaping public opinion.
(vi) They provide people access to government machinery and welfare schemes.

Q14: What are recognised political parties?
Ans: (i) National parties are some countrywide parties and almost follow similar policies and programmes at the national level.
(ii) Every party in the country has to register with the Election Commission. The Commission offers some special facilities to the large and established parties. These parties are given a unique symbol—only the official candidates of that party can use that election symbol.
(iii) Parties that get this privilege and some other special facilities are ‘recognised’ by the Election Commission for this purpose. That is why these parties are called ‘Recognised Political Parties’.
(iv) The Election Commission has laid down detailed criteria of the proportion of votes and seats that a party must get in order to be a recognised party.

Q15: What are the main policies of Indian National Congress?
Ans: (i) It was founded in 1885 and played a dominant role in Indian politics at the national and state level for several decades after India’s independence.
(ii) A centrist party in its ideology, it favours secularism and welfare of weaker sections and minorities. It supports new economic reforms but with a human face.
(iii) It emerged as the largest party with 145 members in the Lok Sabha elections held in 2004. It led the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition government at the Centre.
(iv) It lost elections in 2014 and secured 44 seats. Currently, it is the principal opposition party in Lok Sabha.

Q16: What are the main features of BJP manifesto?
Ans: (i) It was founded in 1980 by reviving Bharatiya Jana Sangh.
(ii) It wants to build a strong and modern India by drawing inspiration from India’s ancient culture and values. Cultural nationalism is an important element of its manifesto.
(iii) It wants full territorial and political integration of Jammu & Kashmir with India.
(iv) It also promotes a Uniform Civil Code for all people living in the country, irrespective of religion and ban on religious conversions.

Q17: Who formed BSP? What are its main policies?
Ans:

• BSP was formed in 1984 under the leadership of Shri Kanshi Ram.
• It seeks to represent and secure power for the bahujan samaj which includes dalits, adivasis, OBCs and religious minorities.
• It draws inspiration from the ideas and teachings of Sahu Maharaj, Mahatma Phule, Periyar, Ramaswami Naiker and Babasaheb Ambedkar.
• It stands for the cause of securing the interests and welfare of the dalits and oppressed people.
• It has its main base in UP and substantial presence in neighbouring states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Punjab.
• It formed government in UP several times by taking the support of different parties at different times.

Q18: What do you know about Communist Party of India (CPI)?
Ans:

• It was formed in 1925 and believes in Marxism, Leninism, secularism and democracy.
• It opposed the forces of secessionism and communalism.
• It accepts parliamentary democracy as a means of promoting the interests of working class, farmers and the poor.
• It became independent after the split in the party in 1964 that led to the formation of CPI(M).
• It has significant presence in Kerala, West Bengal, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
• It advocates the coming together of all Left Front. Currently, it supports UPA government from outside.

Q19: Define Political Party. Describe any four challenges before the political parties in India. [CBSE (Comptt) 2017]
Ans: A political party is a group of people to contest election and hold power in the government.
Challenges before political parties in India:
(i) Lack of internal democracy.
(ii) Lack of transparency.
(iii) Dynastic succession
(iv) Money and muscle power
(v) Lack of meaningful choice.

Q20: What are the chief characteristics of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)?
Ans:

• It was founded in 1964 and believes in Marxism and Leninism.
• It supports socialism, secularism and democracy and opposes imperialism and communalism.
• It accepts democratic elections as a useful and helpful means for securing the objective of socio-economic justice in India.
• Enjoys strong support in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura, especially among the poor factory workers, farmers, agricultural labourers and intelligentsia.
• Always critical of the new economic policies that allow free flow of foreign capital and goods into the country.
• It had been in power in West Bengal without a break for 30 years and currently supports the UPA government from outside, without joining the government.