Civics Chapter 1 NOTES

CLASS 10
Social
Civics
Chapter 1
Power – Sharing
STORY OF BELGIUM
Belgium is a small country in Europe with a population of over 1 crore, about half
the population of Haryana. Of the country's total population, Dutch-speaking
(59%), French-speaking (40%) and remaining German-speaking (1%). The minority
French-speaking community was rich and powerful, so they got the benefit of
economic development and education. This created tensions between the Dutch-
speaking and French-speaking communities during the 1950s and 1960s.
ACCOMMODATION IN BELGIUM
In Belgium, the government handled the community difference very well. Between
1970 and 1993, Belgian leaders amended their constitution four times and came up
with a new model to run the government.
Here are some of the elements of the Belgian model:
• The Constitution prescribes that the number of Dutch and French-speaking
ministers shall be equal in the Central Government. Some special laws require
the support of the majority of members from each linguistic group. Thus, no
single community can make decisions unilaterally.
• The state governments are not subordinate to the Central Government.
• Brussels has a separate government in which both communities have equal
representation. 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
people, no matter where they live. This government has the power regarding
cultural, educational, and language-related issues.
The Belgium model was very complicated, but it helped to avoid civic strife
between the two major communities.
STORY OF SRI LANKA

Sri Lanka is an island nation having a population of 2 crores, about the same as in
Haryana. Sri Lanka has a diverse population. The major social groups are the
Sinhala-speakers (74%) and the Tamil-speakers (18%). Among Tamils, there are
two subgroups, "Sri Lankan Tamils" and "Indian Tamils".
In Sri Lanka, the Sinhala community enjoyed the bigger majority and imposed its
will on the entire country.
MAJORITARIANISM IN SRI LANKA

→ Sri Lanka emerged as an independent country in 1948. The Sinhala community
was in the majority, so they had formed the government. They also followed
preferential policies that favored Sinhala applicants for university positions and
government jobs.
→ These measures taken by the government gradually increased the feeling of
alienation among the Sri Lankan Tamils.
→ Sri Lankan Tamils felt that constitution and government policies denied them
equal political rights, discriminated against them in getting jobs and other
opportunities and ignored their interests. Due to this, the relationship between
the Sinhala and Tamil communities become poor.
→ Sri Lankan Tamils launched parties and struggles for the recognition of Tamil as
an official language, for regional autonomy and equality of opportunity in
securing education and jobs. But their demand was repeatedly denied by the
government.
→ The distrust between the two communities turned into widespread conflict and
turned into a CIVIL WAR.
→ As a result, thousands of people of both the communities have been killed. Many
families were forced to leave the country as refugees and many more lost their
livelihoods. The civil war ended in 2009 and caused a terrible setback to the
social, cultural, and economic life of the country.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM THE STORIES OF

BELGIUM AND SRI LANKA?
• Both countries are democracies, but they dealt differently with the concept of
power sharing.
• In Belgium, the leaders have realized that the unity of the country is possible
only by respecting the feelings and interests of different communities and
regions. This resulted in mutually acceptable arrangements for sharing power.
• Sri Lanka shows that, if a majority community wants to force its dominance
over others and refuses to share power, it can undermine the unity of the
country.
WHY IS POWER SHARING DESIRABLE?

→ Power sharing is good because it helps to reduce the possibility of conflict
between social groups.
→ A democratic rule involves sharing power with those affected by its exercise,
and who must live with its effects. People have a right to be consulted on how
they are to be governed.
The first set of reasons are called Prudential and the second is Moral. The
prudential reasons stress that power sharing will bring out better outcomes,
whereas the moral reasons emphasize the act of power sharing as valuable.
FORMS OF POWER SHARING

Sharing power = dividing power = weakening the country.
A similar thing was believed in the past. It was assumed that all the power of a
government must reside in a person or group of people located at one place.
Otherwise, it would be very difficult to make quick decisions and to enforce them.
But these notions have changed with the emergence of democracy. In a democracy,
people rule themselves through institutions of self-government. Everyone has a
voice in the shaping of public policies. Therefore, in a democratic country, political
power should be distributed among citizens.
In modern democracies, power sharing can take many forms, as mentioned below:
• Power is shared among different organs of government, such as the legislature,
executive and judiciary. This is called horizontal distribution of power because
it allows different organs of government placed at the same level to exercise
different powers. Such separation ensures that none of the organs can exercise
unlimited power. Each organ checks the others. This arrangement is called a
system of checks and balances.
• Power can be shared among governments at different levels - a general
government for the entire country and governments at the provincial or regional
level is called federal government.
• Power may also be shared among different social groups such as the religious
and linguistic groups. 'Community government' in Belgium is a good example of
this arrangement. This method is used to give minority communities a fair share
of power.
• Power sharing arrangements can also be seen in the way political parties,
pressure groups and movements control or influence those in power. When two
or more parties form an alliance to contest elections and if they get elected,
they form a coalition government and thus share power.
Word Meanings
→ Subordinate: Placed in or occupying a lower class, rank, or position.
→ Unilaterally: Doing something unilaterally means it's done without the
agreement or participation of other people it might affect.
→ Linguistic: Social groups categorized based on spoken and written language are
called linguistic groups. The term 'linguistic' is derived from the word
'language'.
→ Coalition government: A coalition government is a type of government where two
or more political parties come together to form a government. This type of
government is formed when no single political party has a clear majority in
parliament.

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CLASS 10

STORY OF SRI LANKA

MAJORITARIANISM IN SRI LANKA

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM THE STORIES OF

WHY IS POWER SHARING DESIRABLE?

FORMS OF POWER SHARING

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