Power-sharing

Overview

Chapter I
With this chapter, we resume the tour of democracy that we started last
year. We noted last year that in a democracy all power does not rest
with any one organ of the government. An intelligent sharing of power
among legislature, executive and judiciary is very important to the design
of a democracy. In this and the next two chapters, we carry this idea of
power-sharing forward. We start with two stories from Belgium and Sri
Lanka. Both these stories are about how democracies handle demands for
power-sharing. The stories yield some general conclusions about the need
for power-sharing in democracy. This allows us to discuss various forms
of power-sharing that will be taken up in the following two chapters.

Po w e r - sh a r i n g

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 Belgium and Sri Lanka
Belgium is a small country in Europe, to tensions between the Dutch-
smaller in area than the state of speaking and French-speaking
Haryana. It has borders with France, communities during the 1950s and
the Netherlands, Germany and 1960s. The tension between the
Luxembourg. It has a population of two communities was more acute
a little over one crore, about half the in Brussels. Brussels presented a
population of Haryana. The ethnic special problem: the Dutch-speaking
I have a simple composition of this small country is people constituted a majority in
equation in mind. very complex. Of the country’s total the country, but a minority in the
Sharing power = population, 59 per cent lives in the capital.
dividing power = Flemish region and speaks Dutch Let us compare this to the
weakening the language. Another 40 per cent people situation in another country. Sri
country. Why do we live in the Wallonia region and speak Lanka is an island nation, just a few
start by talking of French. Remaining one per cent of kilometres off the southern coast
this? the Belgians speak German. In the of Tamil Nadu. It has about two
capital city Brussels, 80 per cent crore people, about the same as in
people speak French while 20 per Haryana. Like other nations in the
cent are Dutch-speaking. South Asia region, Sri Lanka has a
The minority French-speaking diverse population. The major social
community was relatively rich and groups are the Sinhala-speakers (74
powerful. This was resented by the per cent) and the Tamil-speakers (18
Dutch-speaking community who got per cent). Among Tamils there are
the benefit of economic development two sub-groups. Tamil natives of
and education much later. This led the country are called ‘Sri Lankan

Communities
and
regions of
Belgium
© Wikipedia

Ethnic: A social
D e m o c ra t i c Po l i t i c s

division based on
shared culture. People
belonging to the same
ethnic group believe in
Brussels-Capital Region
their common descent
because of similarities Walloon (French-speaking)
of physical type or of
Flemish (Dutch-speaking)
culture or both. They
need not always have German-speaking Look at the maps of Belgium and Sri Lanka. In
the same religion or which region, do you find concentration of different
nationality. communities?
For more details, visit https://www.belgium.be/en

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 Tamils’ (13 per cent). The rest, the Dutch community could take
whose forefathers came from India as advantage of its numeric majority
plantation workers during colonial and force its will on the French and
period, are called ‘Indian Tamils’. German-speaking population. This
As you can see from the map, Sri would push the conflict among
Lankan Tamils are concentrated in communities further. This could
the north and east of the country. lead to a very messy partition of the
Most of the Sinhala-speaking people country; both the sides would claim
are Buddhists, while most of the control over Brussels. In Sri Lanka,
Tamils are Hindus or Muslims. There the Sinhala community enjoyed
are about 7 per cent Christians, who an even bigger majority and could
are both Tamil and Sinhala. impose its will on the entire country.
Just imagine what could happen Now, let us look at what happened
in situations like this. In Belgium, in both these countries.

Majoritarianism in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka emerged as an independent language and culture. They felt that
country in 1948. The leaders of the constitution and government
the Sinhala community sought to policies denied them equal political
secure dominance over government rights, discriminated against them in
by virtue of their majority. As a getting jobs and other opportunities
result, the democratically elected and ignored their interests. As a
government adopted a series of
majoritarian measures to establish Ethnic Communities
Sinhala supremacy. of Sri Lanka
In 1956, an Act was passed Sinhalese
Sri Lankan Tamil
to recognise Sinhala as the only Indian Tamil
Muslim
official language, thus disregarding
Tamil. The governments followed
preferential policies that favoured
Sinhala applicants for university
positions and government jobs. A
new constitution stipulated that
the state shall protect and foster
Buddhism.
Po w e r - sh a r i n g

All these government measures, Majoritarianism: A

coming one after the other, gradually belief that the majority
increased the feeling of alienation community should be
among the Sri Lankan Tamils. able to rule a country in
whichever way it wants,
They felt that none of the major by disregarding the
political parties led by the Buddhist wishes and needs of the
Sinhala leaders was sensitive to their For more details, visit https://www.gov.lk minority.

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 result, the relations between the The distrust between the two
What’s wrong
Sinhala and Tamil communities communities turned into widespread
if the majority
strained over time. conflict. It soon turned into a civil
community rules?
The Sri Lankan Tamils launched war . As a result thousands of
If Sinhalas don’t
rule in Sri Lanka, parties and struggles for the people of both the communities
where else will recognition of Tamil as an official have been killed. Many families
they rule? language, for regional autonomy were forced to leave the country as
and equality of opportunity in refugees and many more lost their
securing education and jobs. But livelihoods. You have read (Chapter
their demand for more autonomy to 1 of Economics textbook, Class X)
provinces populated by the Tamils about Sri Lanka’s excellent record of
was repeatedly denied. By 1980s, economic development, education
several political organisations were and health. But the civil war has
formed demanding an independent caused a terrible setback to the social,
Tamil Eelam (state) in northern and cultural and economic life of the
eastern parts of Sri Lanka. country. It ended in 2009.

Accommodation in Belgium
The Belgian leaders took a different group. Thus, no single community
path. They recognised the existence can make decisions unilaterally.
of regional differences and cultural  Many powers of the Central
diversities. Between 1970 and 1993, Government have been given to
they amended their constitution State Governments of the two
four times so as to work out an regions of the country. The State
arrangement that would enable Governments are not subordinate
everyone to live together within the to the Central Government.
same country. The arrangement they  Brussels has a separate government
worked out is different from any in which both the communities have
Civil war: A violent
other country and is very innovative. equal representation. The French-
conflict between Here are some of the elements of the speaking people accepted equal
opposing groups Belgian model: representation in Brussels because
within a country that
becomes so intense  Constitution prescribes that the Dutch-speaking community has
that it appears like a the number of Dutch and French-
war. speaking ministers shall be equal in
the central government. Some special
D e m o c ra t i c Po l i t i c s

laws require the support of majority

of members from each linguistic
© Wikipedia

What kind of a solution

is this? I am glad our
Constitution does not say The photograph here is of a street
address in Belgium. You will notice
which minister will come from
that place names and directions in two
which community. languages – French and Dutch.

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 accepted equal representation in the
Central Government.
Apart from the Central and
the State Government, there is a
third kind of government. This
‘community government’ is elected
by people belonging to one language
community – Dutch, French and
German-speaking – no matter where
they live. This government has the
power regarding cultural, educational
and language-related issues.
You might find the Belgian model
very complicated. It indeed is very
complicated, even for people living
in Belgium. But these arrangements European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium
have worked well so far. They helped
to avoid civic strife between the two
major communities and a possible Europe came together to form the
So you are
division of the country on linguistic European Union, Brussels was
saying that
lines. When many countries of chosen as its headquarters.
sharing of power
makes us more
powerful. Sounds
odd! Let me
think.
Read any newspaper for one week and make clippings of
news related to ongoing conflicts or wars. A group of five
students could pool their clippings together and do the following:
 Classify these conflicts by their location (your state, India,
outside India).
 Find out the cause of each of these conflicts. How many of these
are related to power sharing disputes?
 Which of these conflicts could be resolved by working out power
sharing arrangements?

What do we learn from these two and regions. Such a realisation

stories of Belgium and Sri Lanka? resulted in mutually acceptable
Both are democracies. Yet, they arrangements for sharing power.
Po w e r - sh a r i n g

dealt with the question of power Sri Lanka shows us a contrasting

sharing differently. In Belgium, example. It shows us that if a
the leaders have realised that the majority community wants to
unity of the country is possible force its dominance over others
only by respecting the feelings and and refuses to share power, it can
interests of different communities undermine the unity of the country.

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 The cartoon at the left refers to the
problems of running the Germany’s grand
coalition government that includes the
two major parties of the country, namely
the Christian Democratic Union and the
Social Democratic Party. The two parties
are historically rivals to each other. They

© Tab - The Calgary Sun, Cagle Cartoons Inc.

had to form a coalition government
because neither of them got clear
majority of seats on their own in the 2005
elections. They take divergent positions
on several policy matters, but still jointly
run the government.
For details about the German Parliament,
visit https://www.bundestag.de/en

Tyranny of the majority is not just

oppressive for the minority; it often
brings ruin to the majority as well.
There is a second, deeper reason
why power sharing is good for
Why power sharing is desirable? democracies. Power sharing is
Thus, two different sets of reasons the very spirit of democracy. A
can be given in favour of power democratic rule involves sharing
sharing. Firstly, power sharing is power with those affected by its
good because it helps to reduce exercise, and who have to live with
the possibility of conflict between its effects. People have a right to be
social groups. Since social conflict consulted on how they are to be
often leads to violence and political governed. A legitimate government
instability, power sharing is a good is one where citizens, through
way to ensure the stability of political participation, acquire a stake in
order. Imposing the will of majority the system.
community over others may look Let us call the first set of reasons
like an attractive option in the prudential and the second moral.
short run, but in the long run it While prudential reasons stress
undermines the unity of the nation. that power sharing will bring out
better outcomes, moral reasons
emphasise the very act of power
sharing as valuable.
D e m o c ra t i c Po l i t i c s

Annette studies in a Dutch medium school in the

northern region of Belgium. Many French-speaking students
Prudential: Based on
in her school want the medium of instruction to be French.
prudence, or on careful
calculation of gains Selvi studies in a school in the northern region of Sri Lanka.
and losses. Prudential All the students in her school are Tamil-speaking and they
decisions are usually want the medium of instruction to be Tamil.
contrasted with decisions If the parents of Annette and Selvi were to approach
based purely on moral respective governments to realise the desire of the child
considerations.
who is more likely to succeed? And why?

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 Khalil’s As usual, Vikram was driving the motorbike under a vow
of silence and Vetal was the pillion rider. As usual, Vetal

dilemma started telling Vikram a story to keep him awake while

driving. This time the story went as follows:

“In the city of Beirut, there lived a man called Khalil. His
parents came from different communities. His father was an Orthodox Christian and
mother a Sunni Muslim. This was not so uncommon in this modern, cosmopolitan
city. People from various communities that lived in Lebanon came to live in its
capital, Beirut. They lived together, intermingled, yet fought a bitter civil war among
themselves. One of Khalil’s uncles was killed in that war.

At the end of this civil war, Lebanon’s leaders came together and agreed to some basic
rules for power sharing among different communities. As per these rules, the country’s
President must belong to the Maronite sect of Catholic Christians. The Prime Minister
must be from the Sunni Muslim community. The post of Deputy Prime Minister is fixed
for Orthodox Christian sect and that of the Speaker for Shi’a Muslims. Under this pact,
the Christians agreed not to seek French protection and the Muslims agreed not to seek
unification with the neighbouring state of Syria.When the Christians and Muslims came
to this agreement, they were nearly equal in population. Both sides have continued to
respect this agreement though now the Muslims are in clear majority.

Khalil does not like this system one bit. He is a popular man with political ambition.
But under the present system, the top position is out of his reach. He does not practise
either his father’s or his mother’s religion and does not wish to be known by either. He
cannot understand why Lebanon can’t be like any other ‘normal’ democracy. “Just hold
an election, allow everyone to contest and whoever wins maximum votes becomes the
president, no matter which community he comes from. Why can’t we do that, like in
other democracies of the world?” he asks. His elders, who have seen the bloodshed of
the civil war, tell him that the present system is the best guarantee for peace…”

The story was not finished, but they had reached the TV tower
where they stopped every day. Vetal wrapped up quickly
and posed his customary question to Vikram: “If
you had the power to rewrite the rules
in Lebanon, what would you do? Would
you adopt the ‘regular’ rules followed
everywhere, as Khalil suggests? Or stick to
the old rules? Or do something else?” Vetal
did not forget to remind Vikram of their basic
Po w e r - sh a r i n g

pact: “If you have an answer in mind and yet

do not speak up, your mobike will freeze, and
so will you!”

Can you help poor Vikram in answering Vetal?

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 Forms of power-sharing
The idea of power-sharing has power should be distributed among
emerged in opposition to the notions as many citizens as possible.
of undivided political power. For a In modern democracies, power
long time, it was believed that all sharing arrangements can take many
power of a government must reside forms. Let us look at some of the
in one person or group of persons most common arrangements that we
located at one place. It was felt that have or will come across.
if the power to decide is dispersed,
1 Power is shared among different
it would not be possible to take
organs of government, such as the
quick decisions and to enforce them.
legislature, executive and judiciary.
But these notions have changed
Let us call this horizontal distribution
with the emergence of democracy.
of power because it allows different
One basic principle of democracy
organs of government placed at
is that people are the source of all
the same level to exercise different
political power. In a democracy,
powers. Such a separation ensures
people rule themselves through
that none of the organs can exercise
institutions of self-government. In
unlimited power. Each organ checks
a good democratic government, due
the others. This results in a balance
respect is given to diverse groups
of power among various institutions.
and views that exist in a society.
Last year, we studied that in a
Everyone has a voice in the shaping
democracy, even though ministers
of public policies. Therefore, it
and government officials exercise
follows that in a democracy, political
power, they are responsible to the
Reigning the Reins
Parliament or State Assemblies.
© Olle Johansson - Sweden, Cagle Cartoons Inc., 25 Feb. 2005

Similarly, although judges are

appointed by the executive, they can
check the functioning of executive or
laws made by the legislatures. This
arrangement is called a system of
checks and balances.
2 Power can be shared among
governments at different levels –
a general government for the entire
D e m o c ra t i c Po l i t i c s

country and governments at the

provincial or regional level. Such a
general government for the entire
country is usually called federal
government. In India, we refer to it as
In 2005, some new laws were made in Russia giving more powers to the Central or Union Government.
its president. During the same time, the US president visited Russia.
What, according to this cartoon, is the relationship between democracy The governments at the provincial or
and concentration of power? Can you think of some other examples to regional level are called by different
illustrate the point being made here?
names in different countries.

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 In India, we call them State groups, who otherwise, would feel
Governments. This system is not alienated from the government. This
followed in all countries. There are method is used to give minority
many countries where there are no communities a fair share in power. In
provincial or state governments. Unit II, we shall look at various ways
But in those countries like ours, of accommodating social diversities.
where there are different levels 4 Power sharing arrangements
of government, the constitution can also be seen in the way political
clearly lays down the powers of parties, pressure groups and
different levels of government. This movements control or influence
is what they did in Belgium, but was those in power. In a democracy,
refused in Sri Lanka. This is called the citizens must have freedom to
federal division of power. The same choose among various contenders
principle can be extended to levels f or power . In contempor ar y
of government lower than the State democracies, this takes the form
government, such as the municipality of competition among different
and panchayat. Let us call division of parties. Such competition ensures
powers involving higher and lower that power does not remain in
levels of government vertical division one hand. In the long run, power
of power. We shall study these at is shared among different political
some length in the next chapter. parties that represent different
3 Power may also be shared ideologies and social groups.
among different social groups, Sometimes this kind of sharing can
such as the religious and linguistic be direct, when two or more parties
groups. ‘Community government’ form an alliance to contest elections.
in Belgium is a good example of this If their alliance is elected, they form
arrangement. In some countries, a coalition government and thus
there are constitutional and legal share power. In a democracy, we
arrangements, whereby socially find interest groups, such as those of
weaker sections and women are traders, businessmen, industrialists,
represented in the legislatures farmers and industrial workers.
and administration. Last year, we They also will have a share in In my school,
studied the system of ‘reserved governmental power, either through the class monitor
constituencies’ in assemblies and participation in governmental changes every
month. Is that
the parliament of our country. This committees or bringing influence on
what you call a
type of arrangement is meant to the decision-making process. In Unit
power sharing
give space in the government and III, we shall study the working of
arrangement?
administration to diverse social political parties.
Po w e r - sh a r i n g

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 Here are some examples of power sharing. Which of the four types of power
sharing do these represent? Who is sharing power with whom?
 The Bombay High Court ordered the Maharashtra State Government to immediately
take action and improve living conditions for the 2,000-odd children at seven
children’s homes in Mumbai.
 The government of Ontario state in Canada has agreed to a land claim settlement
with the aboriginal community. The Minister responsible for Native Affairs announced
that the government will work with aboriginal people in a spirit of mutual respect
and cooperation.
 Russia’s two influential political parties, the Union of Right Forces and the Liberal
Yabloko Movement, agreed to unite their organisations into a strong right-
wing coalition. They propose to have a common list of candidates in the next
parliamentary elections.
 The finance ministers of various states in Nigeria got together and demanded that
the federal government declare its sources of income. They also wanted to know the
formula by which the revenue is distributed to various State Governments.
Exercises

1. What are the different forms of power sharing in modern

democracies? Give an example of each of these.
2. State one prudential reason and one moral reason for power sharing
with an example from the Indian context.
3. After reading this chapter, three students drew different
conclusions. Which of these do you agree with and why? Give
your reasons in about 50 words.
Thomman - Power sharing is necessary only in societies which
have religious, linguistic or ethnic divisions.
Mathayi – Power sharing is suitable only for big countries that
D e m o c ra t i c Po l i t i c s

have regional divisions.

Ouseph – Every society needs some form of power sharing even
if it is small or does not have social divisions.
4. The Mayor of Merchtem, a town near Brussels in Belgium, has
defended a ban on speaking French in the town’s schools. He
said that the ban would help all non-Dutch speakers integrate
in this Flemish town. Do you think that this measure is in
keeping with the spirit of Belgium’s power sharing
arrangements? Give your reasons in about 50 words.

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 5. Read the following passage and pick out any one of the
prudential reasons for power sharing offered in this.
“We need to give more power to the panchayats to realise the
dream of Mahatma Gandhi and the hopes of the makers of
our Constitution. Panchayati Raj establishes true democracy.
It restores power to the only place where power belongs in
a democracy – in the hands of the people. Giving power to
Panchayats is also a way to reduce corruption and increase
administrative efficiency. When people participate in the planning
and implementation of developmental schemes, they would
naturally exercise greater control over these schemes. This
would eliminate the corrupt middlemen. Thus, Panchayati Raj will
strengthen the foundations of our democracy.”
6. Different arguments are usually put forth in favour of and against

Exercises
power sharing. Identify those which are in favour of power sharing
and select the answer using the codes given below? Power sharing:
A. reduces conflict among different communities
B. decreases the possibility of arbitrariness
C. delays decision making process
D. accommodates diversities
E. increases instability and divisiveness
F. promotes people’s participation in government
G. undermines the unity of a country

(a) A B D F
(b) A C E F
(c) A B D G
(d) B C D G

7. Consider the following statements about power sharing

arrangements in Belgium and Sri Lanka.
A. In Belgium, the Dutch-speaking majority people tried to impose
their domination on the minority French-speaking community.
B. In Sri Lanka, the policies of the government sought to ensure the
dominance of the Sinhala-speaking majority.
C. The Tamils in Sri Lanka demanded a federal arrangement of
power sharing to protect their culture, language and equality of
opportunity in education and jobs.
D. The transformation of Belgium from unitary government to
a federal one prevented a possible division of the country on
Po w e r - sh a r i n g

linguistic lines.
Which of the statements given above are correct?

(a) A, B, C and D (b) A, B and D (c) C and D (d) B, C and D

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 8. Match List I (forms of power sharing) with List II (forms of government)
and select the correct answer using the codes given below in the lists:

List I List II
1. Power shared among different A. Community government
organs of government
2. Power shared among B. Separation of powers
governments at different levels
3. Power shared by different social C. Coalition government
groups
4. Power shared by two or more D. Federal government
Exercises
political parties

1 2 3 4
(a) D A B C
(b) B C D A
(c) B D A C
(d) C D A B

9. Consider the following two statements on power sharing and

select the answer using the codes given below:
A. Power sharing is good for democracy.
B. It helps to reduce the possibility of conflict between social groups.
Which of these statements are true and false?

(a) A is true but B is false

(b) Both A and B are true
(c) Both A and B are false
(d) A is false but B is true
D e m o c ra t i c Po l i t i c s

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