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ContentsForeword iii

A Letter for You v

Unit IChapter 1Power sharing 1Chapter 2

Federalism 13

Unit IIChapter 3Democracy and Diversity 29Chapter 4Gender, Religion and Caste 39

Unit IIIChapter 5Popular Struggles and Movements 57Chapter 6Political Parties 71

Unit IVChapter 7Outcomes of Democracy 89Chapter 8Challenges to Democracy 101

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Power sharing

Overview

With this chapter we resume the tour of democracy that we startedlast year. We noted last year that in a democracy all power does notrest with any one organ of the state. An intelligent sharing of poweramong legislature, executive and judiciary is very important to thedesign of a democracy. In this and the next two chapters we carrythis idea of power sharing forward. We start with two stories fromBelgium and Sri Lanka. Both these stories are about how democracieshandle demands for power sharing.The stories yield some generalconclusions about the need for power sharing in democracy. Thisallows us to discuss various forms of power sharing that will be takenup in the following two chapters.

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Belgium and Sri Lanka

I have a simpleequation in mind.Sharing power =dividing power =weakening thecountry. Why do westart by talking ofthis?

Ethnic: A socialdivision based onshared culture. Peoplebelonging to the sameethnic group believe intheir common descentbecause of similaritiesof physical type or ofculture or both. Theyneed not always havethe same religion ornationality.

Communitiesandregions ofBelgium

Belgium is a small country in Europe,smaller in area than the state ofHaryana. It has borders withNetherlands, France and Germany. Ithas a population of a little over onecrore, about half the population ofHaryana. The ETHNIC composition ofthis small country is very complex. Ofthe countrys total population, 59 percent lives in the Flemish region andspeaks Dutch language. Another 40 percent people live in the Wallonia regionand speak French. Remaining 1 per centof the Belgians speak German. In thecapital city Brussels, 80 per cent peoplespeak French while 20 per cent areDutch-speaking.

The minority French-speakingcommunity was relatively rich andpowerful. This was resented by theDutch-speaking community who gotthe benefit of economic development

and education much later. This led totensions between the Dutch-speakingand French-speaking communitiesduring the 1950s and 1960s. Thetension between the two communitieswas more acute in Brussels. Brusselspresented a special problem: theDutch-speaking people constituted amajority in the country, but a minorityin the capital.

Let us compare this to the situationin another country. Sri Lanka is anisland nation, just a few kilometres offthe southern coast of Tamil Nadu. Ithas about 2 crore people, about thesame as in Haryana. Like other nationsin the South Asia region, Sri Lanka hasa diverse population. The major socialgroups are the Sinhala-speakers (74 percent) and the Tamil-speakers (18 percent). Among Tamils there are two sub-groups. Tamil natives of the country

Walloon (French-speaking)

Flemish (Dutch-speaking)

German-speaking

Brussels-Capital Region

Look at the maps of Belgium and Sri Lanka. In whichregion do you find concentration of differentcommunities?

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Majoritarianism: Abelief that the majoritycommunity should beable to rule a country inwhichever way it wants,by disregarding thewishes and needs of theminority.

are called Sri Lankan Tamils (13 percent). The rest, whose forefathers camefrom India as plantation workers duringcolonial period, are called IndianTamils. As you can see from the map,Sri Lankan Tamils are concentrated inthe north and east of the country. Mostof the Sinhala-speaking people areBuddhist, while most of the Tamils areHindus or Muslims. There are about 7per cent Christians, who are both Tamiland Sinhala.

Just imagine what could happenin situations like this. In Belgium, the

Dutch community could takeadvantage of its numeric majority andforce its will on the French andGerman-speaking population. Thiswould push the conflict amongcommunities further. This could leadto a very messy partition of thecountry; both the sides would claimcontrol over Brussels. In Sri Lanka, theSinhala community enjoyed an evenbigger majority and could impose itswill on the entire country. Now, let uslook at what happened in both thesecountries.

Majoritarianism in Sri LankaSri Lanka emerged as an independentcountry in 1948. The leaders of theSinhala community sought to securedominance over government by virtueof their majority. As a result, thedemocratically elected governmentadopted a series of MAJORITARIANmeasures to establish Sinhala supremacy.

In 1956, an Act was passed torecognise Sinhala as the only officiallanguage, thus disregarding Tamil. Thegovernments followed preferentialpolicies that favoured Sinhalaapplicants for university positions andgovernment jobs. A new constitutionstipulated that the state shall protectand foster Buddhism.

All these government measures,coming one after the other, graduallyincreased the feeling of alienationamong the Sri Lankan Tamils. They feltthat none of the major political partiesled by the Buddhist Sinhala leaderswere sensitive to their language andculture. They felt that the constitution

and government policies denied themequal political rights, discriminatedagainst them in getting jobs and otheropportunities and ignored theirinterests. As a result, the relations

Ethnic Communitiesof Sri Lanka

SinhaleseSri Lankan Tamil

Indian TamilMuslim

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What kind of a solution isthis? I am glad ourConstitution does not saywhich minister will come fromwhich community.

Civil war: A violentconflict betweenopposing groups withina country that becomesso intense that it appearslike a war.

The Belgian leaders took a differentpath. They recognised the existence ofregional differences and culturaldiversities. Between 1970 and 1993,they amended their constitution fourtimes so as to work out an arrangementthat would enable everyone to livetogether within the same country. Thearrangement they worked out isdifferent from any other country andis very innovative. Here are some ofthe elements of the Belgian model:

z Constitution prescribes that thenumber of Dutch and French-speakingministers shall be equal in the centralgovernment. Some special laws requirethe support of majority of membersfrom each linguistic group. Thus, no

Whats wrong ifthe majoritycommunityrules? If Sinhalasdont rule in SriLanka, whereelse will theyrule?

single community can make decisionsunilaterally.z Many powers of the centralgovernment have been given to stategovernments of the two regions of thecountry. The state governments are notsubordinate to the Central Government.z Brussels has a separate governmentin which both the communities haveequal representation. The French-speaking people accepted equalrepresentation in Brussels because theDutch-speaking community hasaccepted equal representation in theCentral Government.

Accommodation in Belgium

between the Sinhala and Tamilcommunities strained over time.

The Sri Lankan Tamils launchedparties and struggles for the recognitionof Tamil as an official language, forregional autonomy and equality ofopportunity in securing education andjobs. But their demand for moreautonomy to provinces populated bythe Tamils was repeatedly denied. By1980s several political organisationswere formed demanding anindependent Tamil Eelam (state) innorthern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka.

The distrust between the twocommunities turned into widespreadconflict. It soon turned into a CIVIL WAR.As a result thousands of people of boththe communities have been killed. Manyfamilies were forced to leave the countryas refugees and many more lost theirlivelihoods. You have read (Chapter 1of Economics textbook, Class X) aboutSri Lankas excellent record of economicdevelopment, education and health. Butthe civil war has caused a terrible setbackto the social, cultural and economic lifeof the country.

The photograph here is of a streetaddress in Belgium. You will notice thatplace names and directions in twolanguages French and Dutch.

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So you aresaying thatsharing of powermakes us morepowerful. Soundsodd! Let methink.Read any newspaper for one week and make clippings of

news related to ongoing conflicts or wars. A group of fivestudents could pool their clippings together and do the following:z Classify these conflicts by their location (your state, India,

outside India).z Find out the cause of each of these conflicts. How many of

these are related to power sharing disputes?z Which of these conflicts could be resolved by working out power

sharing arrangements?

What do we learn from these two storiesof Belgium and Sri Lanka? Both aredemocracies. Yet, they dealt with thequestion of power sharing differently.In Belgium, the leaders have realisedthat the unity of the country is possibleonly by respecting the feelings andinterests of different communities and

regions. Such a realisation resulted inmutually acceptable arrangements forsharing power. Sri Lanka shows us acontrasting example. It shows us thatif a majority community wants to forceits dominance over others and refusesto share power, it can undermine theunity of the country.

European Union Parliament in Belgium

Apart from the Central andthe State Government, there is athird kind of government. Thiscommunity government is elected bypeople belonging to one languagecommunity Dutch, French andGerman-speaking no matter wherethey live. This government has thepower regarding cultural, educationaland language-related issues.

You might find the Belgian modelvery complicated. It indeed is verycomplicated, even for people living inBelgium. But these arrangements haveworked well so far. They helped toavoid civic strife between the twomajor communities and a possibledivision of the country on linguisticlines. When many countries of Europecame together to form the European

Union, Brussels was chosen as itsheadquarters.

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Annette studies in a Dutch medium school in thenorthern region of Belgium. Many French-speaking students inher school want the medium of instruction to be French. Selvistudies in a school in the northern region of Sri Lanka. All thestudents in her school are Tamil-speaking and they want themedium of instruction to be Tamil.

If the parents of Annette and Selvi were to approachrespective governments to realise the desire of the childwho is more likely to succeed? And why?

Why power sharing is desirable?Thus, two different sets of reasons canbe given in favour of power sharing.Firstly, power sharing is good becauseit helps to reduce the possibility ofconflict between social groups. Sincesocial conflict often leads to violenceand political instability, power sharingis a good way to ensure the stability ofpolitical order. Imposing the will ofmajority community over others maylook like an attractive option in theshort run, but in the long run itundermines the unity of the nation.

Tyranny of the majority is not justoppressive for the minority; it oftenbrings ruin to the majority as well.

There is a second, deeper reasonwhy power sharing is good fordemocracies. Power sharing is the veryspirit of democracy. A democratic ruleinvolves sharing power with thoseaffected by its exercise, and who haveto live with its effects. People have aright to be consulted on how they areto be governed. A legitimategovernment is one where citizens,through participation, acquire a stakein the system.

Let us call the first set of reasonsPRUDENTIAL and the second moral. Whileprudential reasons stress that powersharing will bring out better outcomes,moral reasons emphasises the very actof power sharing as valuable.

Prudential: Based onprudence, or on carefulcalculation of gains andlosses. Prudential decisionsare usually contrasted withthose decisions basedpurely on moralconsiderations.

The cartoon at the left refers to theproblems of running the Germanys grandcoalition government that include the twomajor parties of the country, namely theChristian Democratic Union and theSocial Democratic Party. The two partiesare historically rivals to each other. Theyhave to form a coalition governmentbecause neither of them got clear majorityof seats on their own in the 2005elections. They take divergent positionson several policy matters, but still jointlyrun the government.

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As usual, Vikrams was driving the motorbike under a vowof silence and Vetal was the pillion rider. As usual, Vetalstarted 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 parentscame from different communities. His father was an Orthodox Christian and mother aSunni Muslim. This was not so uncommon in this modern, cosmopolitan city. Peoplefrom various communities that lived in Lebanon came to live in its capital, Beirut. Theylived together, intermingled, yet fought a bitter civil war among themselves. One ofKhalils uncles was killed in that war.

At the end of this civil war, Lebanons leaders came together and agreed to some basicrules for power sharing among different communities. As per these rules the countrysPresident must belong to the Maronite sect of Catholic Christians. The Prime Ministermust be from the Sunni Muslim community. The post of Deputy Prime Minister is fixed forOrthodox Christian sect and that of the Speaker for Shia Muslim. Under this pact, theChristians agreed not to seek French protection and the Muslim agreed not to seekunification with the neighbouring state of Syria.When the Christians and Muslims came tothis agreement, they were nearly equal in population. Both sides have continued torespect 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. Butunder the present system the top position is out of his reach barred from him. He doesnot practice either his fathers or his mothers religion and does not wish to be knownby either. He cannot understand why Lebanon cant be like any other normaldemocracy. Just hold an election, allow everyone to contest and whoever winsmaximum votes becomes the president, no matter which community he comes from.Why cant we do that, like in other democracies of the world? he asks. His elders, whohave seen the bloodshed of the civil war, tell him that the present system is the bestguarantee for peace

The story was not finished, but they had reached the TVtower where they stopped every day. Vetalwrapped up quickly and posed hiscustomary question to Vikram: If you hadthe power to rewrite the rules in Lebanon,what would you do? Would you adopt theregular rules followed everywhere, as Khalilsuggests? Or stick to the old rules? Or dosomething else? Vetal did not forget toremind Vikram of their basic pact: If youhave an answer in mind and yet do not speakup, your mobike will freeze, and sowill you!

Can you help poor Vikram in answering Vetal?

Khalilsdilemma

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Recently some new laws were made in Russia giving more powers toits president. During the same time the US president visited Russia.What, according to this cartoon, is the relationship between democracyand concentration of power? Can you think of some other examples toillustrate the point being made here?

The idea of power sharing hasemerged in opposition to the notionsof undivided political power. For along time it was believed that all powerof a government must reside in oneperson or group of persons locatedat one place. It was felt that if thepower to decide is dispersed, it wouldnot be possible to take quick decisionsand to enforce them. But thesenotions have changed with theemergence of democracy. One basicprinciple of democracy is that peopleare the source of all political power.In a democracy, people rulethemselves through institutions ofself-governance. In a good democraticgovernment, due respect is given todiverse groups and views that exist ina society. Everyone has a voice in theshaping of public policies. Therefore,it follows that in a democracy political

Forms of power sharingpower should be distributed amongas many citizens as possible.

In modern democracies, powersharing arrangements can take manyforms. Let us look at some of the mostcommon arrangements that we haveor will come across.

1 Power is shared among differentorgans of government, such as thelegislature, executive and judiciary. Letus call this horizontal distribution ofpower because it allows different organsof government placed at the same levelto exercise different powers. Such aseparation ensures that none of theorgans can exercise unlimited power.Each organ checks the others. Thisresults in a balance of power amongvarious institutions. Last year we studiedthat in a democracy, even thoughministers and government officialsexercise power, they are responsible tothe Parliament or State Assemblies.Similarly, although judges are appointedby the executive, they can check thefunctioning of executive or laws madeby the legislatures. This arrangement iscalled a system of checks and balances.

2 Power can be shared amonggovernments at different levels ageneral government for the entirecountry and governments at theprovincial or regional level. Such ageneral government for the entirecountry is usually called federalgovernment. In India, we refer to itas the Central or Union Government.The governments at the provincial orregional level are called by differentnames in different countries. In India,

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In my school, theclass monitorchanges everymonth. Is thatwhat you call apower sharingarrangement?

we call them State Governments. Thissystem is not followed in all countries.There are many countries where thereare no provincial or stategovernments. But in those countrieslike ours, where there are differentlevels of governments, theconstitution clearly lays down thepowers of different levels ofgovernment. This is what they did inBelgium, but was refused in Sri Lanka.This is called federal division ofpower. The same principle can beextended to levels of governmentlower than the State government, suchas the municipality and panchayat. Letus call division of powers involvinghigher and lower levels ofgovernment vertical division ofpower. We shall study these at somelength in the next chapter.

3 Power may also be shared amongdifferent social groups, such as thereligious and linguistic groups.Community government in Belgiumis a good example of this arrangement.In some countries there areconstitutional and legal arrangementswhereby socially weaker sections andwomen are represented in thelegislatures and administration. Lastyear we studied the system of reservedconstituencies in assemblies and theparliament of our country. This typeof arrangement is meant to give spacein the government and administrationto diverse social groups who otherwise

would feel alienated from thegovernment. This method is used togive minority communities a fair sharein power. In Chapter 3, we shall lookat various ways of accommodatingsocial diversities.

4 Power sharing arrangements canalso be seen in the way politicalparties, pressure groups andmovements control or influence thosein power. In a democracy, the citizensmust have freedom to choose amongvarious contenders for power. Incontemporary democracies this takesthe form of competition amongdifferent parties. Such competitionensures that power does not remain inone hand. In the long run power isshared among different political partiesthat represent different ideologies andsocial groups. Sometimes this kind ofsharing can be direct, when two ormore parties form an alliance tocontest elections. If their alliance iselected, they form a coalitiongovernment and thus share power. Ina democracy, we find interest groupssuch as those of traders, businessmen,industrialists, farmers and industrialworkers. They also will have a share ingovernmental power, either throughparticipation in governmentalcommittees or bringing influence onthe decision making process. InChapter 4, we shall study the workingof political parties, pressure groups andsocial movements.

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Here are some examples of power sharing. Which of the four types of powersharing do these represent? Who is sharing power with whom?

z The Bombay High Court ordered the Maharashtra state government to immediatelytake action and improve living conditions for the 2,000-odd children at sevenchildrens homes in Mumbai.

z The government of Ontario state in Canada has agreed to a land claim settlement withthe aboriginal community. The Minister responsible for Native Affairs announced thatthe government will work with aboriginal people in a spirit of mutual respect andco-operation.

z Russias two influential political parties, the Union of Right Forces and the LiberalYabloko Movement, agreed to unite their organisations into a strong right-wingcoalition. They propose to have a common list of candidates in the nextparliamentary elections.

z The finance ministers of various states in Nigeria got together and demanded thatthe federal government declare its sources of income. They also wanted to know theformula by which the revenue is distributed to various state governments.

1. What are the different forms of power sharing in moderndemocracies? Give an example of each of these.

2. State one prudential reason and one moral reason for powersharing with an example from the Indian context.

3. After reading this chapter, three students drew differentconclusions. Which of these do you agree with and why? Giveyour reasons in about 50 words.

Thomman - Power sharing is necessary only in societies whichhave religiousm, linguistic or ethnic divisions.Mathayi Power sharing is suitable only for big countries thathave regional divisions.Ouseph Every society needs some form of power sharing evenif it is small or does not have social divisions.

4. The Mayor of Merchtem, a town near Brussels in Belgium, hasdefended a ban on speaking French in the towns schools. Hesaid that the ban would help all non-Dutch speakers integratein this Flemish town. Do you think that this measure is inkeeping with the spirit of Belgiums power sharingarrangements? Give your reasons in about 50 words.

Exercises

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5. Read the following passage and pick out any one of theprudential reasons for power sharing offered in this.

We need to give more power to the panchayats to realise thedream of Mahatma Gandhi and the hopes of the makers of ourConstitution. Panchayati Raj establishes true democracy. Itrestores power to the only place where power belongs in ademocracy in the hands of the people. Giving power toPanchayats is also a way to reduce corruption and increaseadministrative efficiency. When people participate in the planningand implementation of developmental schemes, they wouldnaturally exercise greater control over these schemes. This wouldeliminate the corrupt middlemen. Thus, Panchayati Raj willstrengthen the foundations of our democracy.

6. Different arguments are usually put forth in favour of and againstpower sharing. Identify those which are in favour of power sharingand select the answer using the codes given below? Power sharing:

A. reduces conflict among different communitiesB. decreases the possibility of arbitrarinessC. delays decision making processD. accommodates diversitiesE. increases instability and divisivenessF. promotes peoples participation in governmentG. undermines the unity of a country

7. Consider the following statements about power sharingarrangements 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 ofopportunity in education and jobs.

D. The transformation of Belgium from unitary government to afederal one prevented a possible division of the country onlinguistic 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

Exercises

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

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9. Consider the following two statements on power sharing andselect 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

List I List II

1. Power shared among differentorgans of government A. Community government

2. Power shared among governmentsat different levels B. Separation of powers

3. Power shared by different socialgroups C. Coalition government

4. Power shared by two or morepolitical parties D. Federal government

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:

Exercises

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

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Federalism

Overview

In the previous chapter, we noted that vertical division of power amongdifferent levels of governments is one of the major forms of powersharing in modern democracies. In this chapter, we focus on this formof power sharing. It is most commonly referred to as federalism. Webegin by describing federalism in general terms. The rest of the chaptertries to understand the theory and practice of federalism in India. Adiscussion of the federal constitutional provisions is followed by ananalysis of the policies and politics that has strengthened federalism inpractice. Towards the end of the chapter, we turn to the localgovernment, a new and third tier of Indian federalism.

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What is federalism?Let us get back to the contrast betweenBelgium and Sri Lanka that we saw inthe last chapter. You would recall thatone of the key changes made in theConstitution of Belgium was to reducethe power of the Central Governmentand to give these powers to the regionalgovernments. Regional governmentsexisted in Belgium even earlier. Theyhad their roles and powers. But all thesepowers were given to thesegovernments and could be withdrawnby the Central Government. Thechange that took place in 1993 was thatthe regional governments were givenconstitutional powers that were nolonger dependent on the centralgovernment. Thus, Belgium shiftedfrom a unitary to a federal form ofgovernment. Sri Lanka continues to be,

for all practical purposes, a unitarysystem where the national governmenthas all the powers. Tamil leaders wantSri Lanka to become a federal system.

Federalism is a system ofgovernment in which the power isdivided between a central authority andvarious constituent units of thecountry. Usually, a federation has twolevels of government. One is thegovernment for the entire country thatis usually responsible for a few subjectsof common national interest. Theothers are governments at the level ofprovinces or states that look aftermuch of the day-to-day administeringof their state. Both these levels ofgovernments enjoy their powerindependent of the other.

I am confused.What do we callthe Indiangovernment? Isit Union, Federalor Central?

Though only 25 of the worlds 192 countries have federal political systems, their citizens make up 40 per cent ofthe worlds population. Most of the large countries of the world are federations. Can you notice an exception to thisrule in this map?

Source: Montreal and Kingston, Handbook of Federal Countries: 2002, McGill-Queens University Press, 2002.

Federalpolitical systems

Canada

United Statesof America

Mexico

PACIFIC OCEAN

MicronesiaArgentina

Venezuela

ATLANTICOCEANBrazil

St. Kittsand Nevis

BelgiumSwitzerlandSpain

Nigeria

EthiopiaComoros

Bosnia andHerzegovina

Austria

Pakistan

Russia

India

Malaysia

Australia

INDIANOCEAN

South Africa

PACIFIC OCEANUnitedArabEmirates

Germany

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Jurisdiction: The areaover which someonehas legal authority. Thearea may be defined interms of geographicalboundaries or in termsof certain kinds ofsubjects.

7 The federal system thus has dualobjectives: to safeguard and promoteunity of the country, while at the sametime accommodate regional diversity.Therefore, two aspects are crucial forthe institutions and practice offederalism. Governments at differentlevels should agree to some rules ofpower sharing. They should also trustthat each would abide by its part ofthe agreement. An ideal federal systemhas both aspects : mutual trust andagreement to live together.

The exact balance of powerbetween the central and the stategovernment varies from one federationto another. This balance dependsmainly on the historical context in whichthe federation was formed. There aretwo kinds of routes through whichfederations have been formed. The firstroute involves independent Statescoming together on their own to forma bigger unit, so that by poolingsovereignity and retaining identity theycan increase their security. This type ofcoming together federations includethe USA, Switzerland and Australia. Inthis first category of federations, all theconstituent States usually have equalpower and are strong vis--vis thefederal government.

The second route is where a largecountry decides to divide its powerbetween the constituent States and thenational government. India, Spain andBelgium are examples of this kind ofholding together federations. Inthis second category, the centralgovernment tends to be more powerfulvis--vis the States. Very often differentconstituent units of the federation haveunequal powers. Some units aregranted special powers.

If federalismworks only in bigcountries, whydid Belgiumadopt it?

In this sense, federations arecontrasted with unitary governments.Under the unitary system, either thereis only one level of government or thesub-units are subordinate to the centralgovernment. The central governmentcan pass on orders to the provincial orthe local government. But in a federalsystem, the central government cannotorder the state government to dosomething. State government haspowers of its own for which it is notanswerable to the central government.Both these governments are separatelyanswerable to the people.

Let us look at some of the keyfeatures of federalism :1 There are two or more levels (or

tiers) of government.2 Different tiers of government

govern the same citizens, but each tierhas its own JURISDICTION in specificmatters of legislation, taxation andadministration.3 The jurisdictions of the respective

levels or tiers of government arespecified in the constitution. So theexistence and authority of each tier ofgovernment is constitutionallyguaranteed.4 The fundamental provisions of

the constitution cannot be unilaterallychanged by one level of government.Such changes require the consent ofboth the levels of government.5 Courts have the power to interpret

the constitution and the powers ofdifferent levels of government. Thehighest court acts as an umpire ifdisputes arise between different levelsof government in the exercise of theirrespective powers.

6 Sources of revenue for each levelof government are clearly specified toensure its financial autonomy.

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Isnt thatstrange? Did ourconstitutionmakers not knowaboutfederalism? Ordid they wish toavoid talkingabout it?

Some Nepalese citizens were discussing the proposals on the adoptionof federalism in their new constitution. This is what some of them said:

Khag Raj: I dont like federalism. It would lead to reservation of seats fordifferent caste groups as in India.Sarita: Ours in not a very big country. We dont need federalism.Babu Lal: I am hopeful that the Terai areas will get more autonomy if they gettheir own state government.Ram Ganesh: I like federalism because it will mean that powers that were earlierenjoyed by the king will now be exercised by our elected representatives.

If you were participating in this conversation what would be your response to eachof these? Which of these reflect a wrong understanding of what federalism is?What makes India a federal country?

We have earlier seen how smallcountries like Belgium and Sri Lankaface so many problems of managingdiversity. What about a vast country likeIndia, with so many languages, religionsand regions? What are the powersharing arrangements in our country?

Let us begin with the Constitution.India had emerged as an independentnation after a painful and bloodypartition. Soon after Independence,several princely states became a part ofthe country. The Constitution declaredIndia as a Union of States. Although itdid not use the word federation, theIndian Union is based on the principlesof federalism.

Let us go back to the seven featuresof federalism mentioned above. We cansee that all these features apply to theprovisions of the Indian Constitution.The Constitution originally providedfor a two-tier system of government,the Union Government or what we callthe Central Government, representing

the Union of India and the Stategovernments. Later, a third tier offederalism was added in the form ofPanchayats and Municipalities. As inany federation, these different tiersenjoy separate jurisdiction. TheConstitution clearly provided a three-fold distribution of legislative powersbetween the Union Government andthe State Governments. Thus, itcontains three lists:

z Union List includes subjects ofnational importance such as defenceof the country, foreign affairs, banking,communications and currency. Theyare included in this list because we needa uniform policy on these mattersthroughout the country. The UnionGovernment alone can make lawsrelating to the subjects mentioned inthe Union List.z State List contains subjects ofState and local importance such aspolice, trade, commerce, agricultureand irrigation. The State Governments

What makes India a federal country?

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alone can make laws relating to thesubjects mentioned in the State List.z Concurrent List includes subjectsof common interest to both the UnionGovernment as well as the StateGovernments, such as education, forest,trade unions, marriage, adoption andsuccession. Both the Union as well asthe State Governments can make lawson the subjects mentioned in this list.If their laws conflict with each other,the law made by the UnionGovernment will prevail.

What about subjects that do notfall in any of the three lists? Or subjectslike computer software that came upafter the constitution was made?According to our constitution, theUnion Government has the power tolegislate on these residuary subjects.

We noted above that mostfederations that are formed by holdingtogether do not give equal power toits constituent units. Thus, all States inthe Indian Union do not have identicalpowers. Some States enjoy a specialstatus. Jammu and Kashmir has its ownConstitution. Many provisions of theIndian Constitution are not applicableto this State without the approval ofthe State Assembly. Indians who arenot permanent residents of this Statecannot buy land or house here. Similarspecial provisions exist for some otherStates of India as well.

If agriculture andcommerce arestate subjects,why do we haveministers ofagriculture andcommerce in theUnion cabinet?

Listen to one national and one regional news bulletin broadcast by All IndiaRadio daily for one week. Make a list of news items related to government policies or

decisions by classifying these into the following categories:z News items that relate only to the Central Government,z News items that relate only to your or any other State Government,z News items about the relationship between the Central and State Governments.

There are some units of the IndianUnion which enjoy very little power.These are areas which are too small tobecome an independent State butwhich could not be merged with anyof the existing States. These areas, likeChandigarh, or Lakshadweep or thecapital city of Delhi, are called UnionTerritories. These territories do nothave the powers of a State. The CentralGovernment has special powers inrunning these areas.

This sharing of power between theUnion Government and the Stategovernments is basic to the structureof the Constitution. It is not easy tomake changes to this power sharingarrangement. The Parliament cannoton its own change this arrangement.Any change to it has to be first passedby both the Houses of Parliament withat least two-thirds majority. Then it hasto be ratified by the legislatures of atleast half of the total States.

The judiciary plays an importantrole in overseeing the implementationof constitutional provisions andprocedures. In case of any dispute aboutthe division of powers, the High Courtsand the Supreme Court make a decision.The Union and State governmentshave the power to raise resources bylevying taxes in order to carry on thegovernment and the responsibilitiesassigned to each of them.

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z Pokharan, the place where India conducted its nuclear tests, liesin Rajasthan. Suppose the Government of Rajasthan was opposed to

the Central Governments nuclear policy, could it prevent the Government ofIndia from conducting the nuclear tests?

z Suppose the Government of Sikkim plans to introduce new textbooks in its schools.But the Union Government does not like the style and content of the newtextbooks. In that case, does the state government need to take permission fromthe Union Government before these textbooks can be launched?

z Suppose the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa havedifferent policies on how their state police should respond to the naxalites. Can thePrime Minister of India intervene and pass an order that all the Chief Ministers willhave to obey?

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Constitutional provisions are necessaryfor the success of federalism but theseare not sufficient. If the federalexperiment has succeeded in India, itis not merely because of the clearly laidout constitutional provisions. The realsuccess of federalism in India can beattributed to the nature of democraticpolitics in our country. This ensuredthat the spirit of federalism, respectfor diversity and desire for livingtogether became a shared ideal in ourcountry. Let us look at some of themajor ways in which this happened.

Linguistic StatesThe creation of Linguistic States wasthe first and a major test for democraticpolitics in our country. If you look at

the political map of India when itbegan its journey as a democracy in1947 and that of 2006, you will besurprised by the extent of the changes.Many old States have vanished andmany new States have been created.Areas, boundaries and names of theStates have been changed.

In 1947, the boundaries of severalold States of India were changed inorder to create new States. This wasdone to ensure that people who spokethe same language lived in the sameState. Some States were created not onthe basis of language but to recognisedifferences based on culture, ethnicityor geography. These include States likeNagaland, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand.

z Has your village or townremained under the same Statesince Independence? If not,what was the name of theearlier State?

z Can you identify three Statenames in 1947 that havechanged later?

z Identify any three States whichhave been carved out of abigger State.

How is federalism practiced?

2006

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When the demand for theformation of States on the basis oflanguage was raised, some nationalleaders feared that it would lead to thedisintegration of the country. TheCentral Government resisted linguisticStates for some time. But theexperience has shown that theformation of linguistic States hasactually made the country, more united.It has also made administration easier.

Language policyA second test for Indian federation isthe language policy. Our Constitutiondid not give the status of nationallanguage to any one language. Hindi wasidentified as the official language. ButHindi is the mother tongue of onlyabout 40 per cent of Indians. Therefore,there were many safeguards to protectother languages. Besides Hindi, there are21 other languages recognised asScheduled Languages by theConstitution. A candidate in anexamination conducted for the CentralGovernment positions may opt to takethe examination in any of theselanguages. States too have their ownofficial languages. Much of thegovernment work takes place in theofficial language of the concerned State.

Unlike Sri Lanka, the leaders of ourcountry adopted a very cautiousattitude in spreading the use of Hindi.According to the Constitution, the useof English for official purposes was tostop in 1965. However, many non-Hindi speaking States demanded thatthe use of English continue. In TamilNadu, this movement took a violentform. The Central Governmentresponded by agreeing to continue theuse of English along with Hindi forofficial purposes. Many critics thinkthat this solution favoured the English-speaking elite. Promotion of Hindi

continues to be the official policy ofthe Government of India. Promotiondoes not mean that the CentralGovernment can impose Hindi onStates where people speak a differentlanguage. The flexibility shown byIndian political leaders helped ourcountry avoid the kind of situation thatSri Lanka finds itself in.

Centre-State relationsRestructuring the Centre-Staterelations is one more way in whichfederalism has been strengthened inpractice. How the constitutionalarrangements for sharing power workin reality depends to a large extent onhow the ruling parties and leadersfollow these arrangements. For a longtime, the same party ruled both at theCentre and in most of the States. Thismeant that the State governments didnot exercise their rights as autonomousfederal units. As and when the rulingparty at the State level was different,the parties that ruled at the Centre triedto undermine the power of the States.In those days, the Central Governmentwould often misuse the Constitutionto dismiss the State governments thatwere controlled by rival parties. Thisundermined the spirit of federalism.

All this changed significantlyafter 1990. This period saw the riseof regional political parties in manyStates of the country. This was alsothe beginning of the era ofCOALITION GOVERNMENTS at theCentre. Since no single party got aclear majority in the Lok Sabha, themajor national parties had to enterinto an alliance with many partiesincluding several regional parties toform a government at the Centre.This led to a new culture of powersharing and respect for the autonomyof State Governments. This trend was

Coalition government:A government formedby the coming togetherof at least two politicalparties. Usually partnersin a coalition form apolitical alliance andadopt a commonprogramme.

Why Hindi?Why notBangla orTelugu?

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Here are two cartoons showing the relationship between Centre and States. Should theState go to the Centre with a begging bowl? How can the leader of a coalition keep thepartners of government satisfied?

Are yousuggesting thatregionalism isgood for ourdemocracy? Areyou serious?

The States Plead for More Powers

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supported by a major judgement ofthe Supreme Court that made itdifficult for the Central Governmentto dismiss state governments in an

arbitrary manner. Thus, federalpower sharing is more effective todaythan it was in the early years afterthe Constitution came into force.

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Linguistic diversity of IndiaLinguistic diversity of IndiaLinguistic diversity of IndiaLinguistic diversity of IndiaLinguistic diversity of India

How many languages do we havein India? The answer depends onhow one counts it. The latestinformation that we have is fromthe Census of India held in 1991.This census recorded more than1500 distinct languages whichpeople mentioned as their mothertongues. These languages weregrouped together under somemajor languages. For examplelanguages like Bhojpuri, Magadhi,Bundelkhandi, Chhattisgarhi,Rajasthani, Bhili and many otherswere grouped together underHindi. Even after this grouping,the Census found 114 majorlanguages. Of these 22 languagesare now included in the EighthSchedule of the Indian Constitutionand are therefore called ScheduledLanguages. Others are called non-Scheduled Languages. In terms oflanguages, India is perhaps themost diverse country in the world.

A look at the enclosed tablemakes it clear that no onelanguage is the mother tongue ofthe majority of our population. Thelargest language, Hindi, is themother tongue of only about 40per cent Indians. If we add to thatall those who knew Hindi as theirsecond or third language, the totalnumber was still less than 50 percent in 1991. As for English, only0.02 per cent Indians recorded it astheir mother tongue. Another 11per cent knew it as a second orthird language.

Read this table carefully, butyou do not need to memorise it.Just do the following:

z Make a bar or pie chart onthe basis of this information.z Prepare a map of linguisticdiversity of India by shading theregion where each of theselanguages is spoken on the mapof India.z Find out about threelanguages that are spoken inIndia but are not included in thistable.

Scheduled Languages of IndiaLanguage Proportion of

speakers (%)Assamese 1.6Bangla 8.3Bodo 0.1Dogri 0.2Gujarati 4.9Hindi 40.2Kannada 3.9Kashmiri 0.5Konkani 0.2Maithili 0.9Malayalam 3.6Manipuri 0.2Marathi 7.5Nepali 0.3Oriya 3.4Punjabi 2.8Sanskrit 0.01Santhali 0.6Sindhi 0.3Tamil 6.3Telugu 7.9Urdu 5.2Note: The first column in this table lists all the languagescurrently included in the Eighth Schedule of the IndianConstitution. The second column gives the proportion of thespeakers of each of these languages as per cent of the totalpopulation of India. These figures are based on the Census ofIndia, 1991. The figures for Kashmiri and Dogri are based onestimates, as the Census was not conducted in Jammu andKashmir in 1991.

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Read the following excerpts from an article by noted historian,Ramachandra Guha, that appeared in the Times of India on November 1,2006:

Take the example of your own state or any other state that was affected bylinguistic reorganisation. Write a short note for or against the argument given bythe author here on the basis of that example.

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We noted above that federalgovernments have two or more tiersof governments. We have so fardiscussed the two-tiers of governmentin our country. But a vast country likeIndia cannot be run only through thesetwo-tiers. States in India are as large asindependent countries of Europe. Interms of population, Uttar Pradesh isbigger than Russia, Maharashtra isabout as big as Germany. Many ofthese States are internally very diverse.There is thus a need for power sharingwithin these States. Federal powersharing in India needs another tier ofgovernment, below that of the Stategovernments. This is the rationale fordecentralisation of power. Thus,resulted a third-tier of government,called local government.

When power is taken away fromCentral and State governments and givento local government, it is calleddecentralisation. The basic idea behinddecentralisation is that there are a largenumber of problems and issues whichare best settled at the local level. Peoplehave better knowledge of problems intheir localities. They also have better ideason where to spend money and how tomanage things more efficiently. Besides,at the local level it is possible for thepeople to directly participate in decisionmaking. This helps to inculcate a habitof democratic participation. Localgovernment is the best way to realise oneimportant principle of democracy,namely local self-government.

The need for decentralisation wasrecognised in our Constitution. Sincethen, there have been several attemptsto decentralise power to the level ofvillages and towns. Panchayats in

So, we are like athree-tier coachin a train! Ialways prefer thelower berth!

villages and municipalities in urbanareas were set up in all the States. Butthese were directly under the controlof state governments. Elections tothese local governments were not heldregularly. Local governments did nothave any powers or resources of theirown. Thus, there was very littledecentralisation in effective terms.

A major step towards decentra-lisation was taken in 1992. TheConstitution was amended to make thethird-tier of democracy more powerfuland effective.z Now it is constitutionallymandatory to hold regular elections tolocal government bodies.z Seats are reserved in the electedbodies and the executive heads ofthese institutions for the ScheduledCastes, Scheduled Tribes and OtherBackward Classes.z At least one-third of all positionsare reserved for women.z An independent institution calledthe State Election Commission hasbeen created in each State to conductpanchayat and municipal elections.z The State governments are requiredto share some powers and revenue withlocal government bodies. The nature ofsharing varies from State to State.

Rural local government ispopularly known by the namepanchayati raj. Each village, or a groupof villages in some States, has a grampanchayat. This is a council consistingof several ward members, often calledpanch, and a president or sarpanch.They are directly elected by all theadult population living in that ward

Decentralisation in India

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or village. It is the decision-makingbody for the entire village. Thepanchayat works under the overallsupervision of the gram sabha. All thevoters in the village are its members.It has to meet at least twice or thricein a year to approve the annual budgetof the gram panchayat and to reviewthe performance of the grampanchayat.

The local government structuregoes right up to the district level. Afew gram panchayats are groupedtogether to form what is usually calleda panchayat samiti or block or mandal.The members of this representativebody are elected by all the panchyatmembers in that area. All the panchayatsamitis or mandals in a district together

constitute the zilla (district) parishad.Most members of the zilla parishad areelected. Members of the Lok Sabhaand MLAs of that district and someother officials of other district levelbodies are also its members. Zillaparishad chairperson is the politicalhead of the zilla parishad.

Similarly, local government bodiesexist for urban areas as well.Municipalities are set up in towns. Bigcities are constituted into municipalcorporations. Both municipalities andmunicipal corporations are controlledby elected bodies consisting of peoplesrepresentatives. Municipal chairpersonis the political head of the municipality.In a municipal corporation such anofficer is called the mayor.

Prime Minister runsthe country. ChiefMinister runs thestate. Logically,then, thechairperson of ZillaParishad shouldrun the district.Why does the D.M.or Collectoradminister thedistrict?

What do these newspaper clippings have to say about efforts of decentralisation in India?

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This new system of localgovernment is the largest experimentin democracy conducted anywhere inthe world. There are now about 36 lakhelected representatives in thepanchayats and municipalities etc., allover the country. This number is biggerthan the population of many countriesin the world. Constitutional status forlocal government has helped to deependemocracy in our country. It has also

increased womens representation andvoice in our democracy. At the sametime, there are many difficulties. Whileelections are held regularly andenthusiastically, gram sabhas are notheld regularly. Most state governmentshave not transferred significant powersto the local governments. Nor havethey given adequate resources. We arethus still a long way from realising theideal of self-government.

Find out about the local government in the village or town you live in.

If you live in a village, find out the names of the following: your panch or wardmember, your sarpanch, your panchayat samiti, the chairperson of your zillaparishad. Also find out when did the last meeting of the gram sabha take place andhow many people took part in that.

If you live in urban areas, find out the name of your municipal councillor, and themunicipal chairperson or mayor. Also find out about the budget of your municipalcorporation, municipality and the major items on which money was spent.

+ An experiment in BrazilA city called Porto Alegre in Brazil has carried out an extraordinary experimentin combining decentralisation with participative democracy. The city has set up aparallel organisation operating alongside the municipal council, enabling localinhabitants to take real decisions for their city. The nearly 13 lakh people in thiscity get to participate in making the budget for their own city. The city is dividedinto many sectors or what we call wards. Each sector has a meeting, like that ofthe gram sabha, in which anyone living in that area can participate. There aresome meetings to discuss issues that affect the entire city. Any citizen of the citycan participate in those meetings. The budget of the city is discussed in thesemeetings. The proposals are put to the municipality that takes a final decisionabout it.

About 20,000 people participate in this decision making exercise every year.This method has ensured that the money cannot be spent only for the benefit ofthe colonies where rich people live. Buses now run to the poor colonies andbuilders cannot evict slum-dwellers without resettling them.

In our own country, a similar experiment has taken place in some areas inKerala. Ordinary people have participated in making a plan for the developmentof their locality.

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Exercises

1. Locate the following States on a blank outline political map of India:Manipur, Sikkim, Chhattisgarh and Goa.

2. Identify and shade three federal countries (other than India) on ablank outline political map of the world.

3. Point out one feature in the practice of federalism in India that issimilar to and one feature that is different from that of Belgium.

4. What is the main difference between a federal form of governmentand a unitary one? Explain with an example.

5. State any two differences between the local government before andafter the Constitutional amendment in 1992.

6. Fill in the blanks:

Since the United States is a ___________________ type offederation, all the constituent States have equal powers and Statesare ______________vis--vis the federal government. But India is a_____________________ type of federation and some States havemore power than others. In India, the ____________ governmenthas more powers.

7. Here are three reactions to the language policy followed in India.Give an argument and an example to support any of these positions.

Sangeeta: The policy of accommodation have strengthenednational unity.Arman: Language based States has divided us by makingeveryone conscious of their language.Harish: This policy has only helped to consolidate thedominance of English over all other languages.

8. The distinguishing feature of a federal government is:(a) National government gives some powers to the provincial

government.(b) Power is distributed among the legislature, executive and

judiciary.(c) Elected officials exercise supreme power in the government.(d) Governmental power is divided between different levels of

government.

9. A few subjects in various Lists of the Indian Constitution are givenhere. Group them under the Union, State and Concurrent Lists asprovided in the table below.

A. Defence; B. Police; C. Agriculture; D. Education;E. Banking; F. Forests; G. Communications; H. Trade; I. Marriages

Union ListState ListConcurrent List

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

(a) State government State List(b) Central government Union List(c) Central and State governments Concurrent List(d) Local governments Residuary powers

Exercises

10. Examine the following pairs that give the level of government inIndia and the powers of the government at that level to make lawson the subjects mentioned against each. Which of the following pairsis not correctly matched?

11. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer usingthe codes given below the lists:

List I List II1. Union of India A. Prime Minister2. State B. Sarpanch3. Municipal Corporation C. Governor4. Gram Panchayat D. Mayor

12. Consider the following two statements.A. In a federation the powers of the federal and provincial

governments are clearly demarcated.B. India is a federation because the powers of the Union and State

Governments are specified in the Constitution and they haveexclusive jurisdiction on their respective subjects.

C. Sri Lanka is a federation because the country is divided intoprovinces.

D. India is no longer a federation because some powers of the Stateshave been devolved to the local government bodies.

Which of the statements given above are correct?(a) A, B and C (b) A, C and D (c) A and B only (d) B and C only

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DemocracyandDiversity

Overview

In the last chapter, we saw how power can be distributed toaccommodate linguistic and regional diversities. But language andregion are not the only features that give a distinct identity topeople. Sometimes, people also identify themselves and relate withothers on the basis of their physical appearance, class, religion,gender, caste, tribe, etc. In this chapter, we study how democracyresponds to social differences, divisions and inequalities. We beginwith an example of public expression of social divisions. We thendraw some general lessons about how social differences can takevarious forms. We then turn to how democratic politics affects andis affected by these social diversities.

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A Story from Mexico Olympics

Civil Rights Movementin the USA (1954-1968)refers to a set of eventsand reform movementsaimed at abolishing legalracial discriminationagainst African-Americans.Led by Martin LutherKing Jr., this movementpracticed non-violentmethods of civildisobedience againstracially discriminatorylaws and practices.African-American,Afro-American, BlackAmerican, or Black are theterms used to refer mainlyto the descendants ofAfricans who werebrought into America asslaves between the 17thcentury and early 19thcentury.The Black Powermovement emerged in1966 and lasted till 1975,which was a more militantanti-racist movement,advocating even violenceif necessary to end racismin the US.

The pictures on thispage depict animportant landmark inthe history of the CIVILRIGHTS MOVEMENT INTHE UNITED STATES.

These represent the medal ceremonyof the 200 metres race in the 1968Olympics held at Mexico City. The twomen standing with clenched fistsupraised and heads bowed, while theAmerican national anthem wasplayed, are the US athletes, TommieSmith and John Carlos. They areAFRICAN-AMERICANS. They had won thegold and bronze medals respectively.They received their medals wearingblack socks and no shoes to representBlack poverty. With this gesture, they

tried to draw international attention toracial discrimination in the UnitedStates. The black-gloved and raisedclenched fists were meant to symboliseBLACK POWER. The silver medallist,white Australian athlete, Peter Norman,wore a human rights badge on his shirtduring the ceremony to show hissupport to the two Americans.

Do you think that Carlos andSmith should have raised an internalmatter of American society in aninternational forum? Would you saythat what they did was political? Whydo you think Peter Norman, who wasneither Black nor American, joined inthe gesture of protest? If you were inNormans place what would you do?

In 2005, the San Jose State University installed a 20-foot high sculpture representing theprotest by Tommie Smith and John Carlos. A photograph of the original medal ceremonyin 1968 is on the top.

My salute toCarlos andSmith! Will I everhave the courageto do what theydid?

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The International OlympicAssociation held Carlos and Smith guiltyof violating the Olympic spirit bymaking a political statement. Theirmedals were taken back. Back home,they were subjected to a lot of criticism.Norman too suffered for his action andwas not included in the Australian teamfor the next Olympic. But their action

succeeded in gaining internationalattention for the Civil Rights Movementin the US. Recently, the San Jose(pronounced Saan Hoze) StateUniversity, of which they were formerstudents, honoured them and installedtheir statue in the University campus.When Norman died in 2006, Smith andCarlos were pallbearers at his funeral.

Some Dalit groups decided to participate in the UN ConferenceAgainst Racism in Durban in 2001, demanding the inclusion of caste

in the agenda of this conference. Here are three reactions to this move:Amandeep Kaur (a government official): Our Constitution declarescaste discrimination to be illegal. If some caste discriminationcontinues, it is an internal matter. I am opposed to this being raised inan international forum.Oinam (a sociologist): I am opposed to this because caste and race arenot similar divisions. Caste is a social division, while race is a biologicalone. Raising caste in this conference on racism would mean equatingthe two.Ashok (a Dalit activist): The argument about internal matter is away of preventing open discussion of oppression anddiscrimination. Race is not purely biological. It is as much a legaland sociological category as caste. Caste discrimination must beraised in this conference.

Which of the three opinions do you agree with most and why?

Differences, similarities, divisions

The athletes in the example above wereresponding to social divisions andsocial inequalities. But does thathappen only in societies which haveracial divisions? In the previous twochapters we have already noted someother forms of social divisions. Theexamples of Belgium and Sri Lanka

show both regional and social divisions.In the case of Belgium we noted thatpeople who live in different regionsspeak different languages. In Sri Lanka,we noted linguistic as well as religiousdifferences. Thus social diversity cantake different forms in differentsocieties.

I met this groupof girls fromPakistan and feltthat I had morein common withthem than manygirls from otherparts of my owncountry. Is thisanti-national tofeel so?

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A cartoon like this can be read by differentpeople to mean different things. What doesthis cartoon mean to you? How do otherstudents in your class read this?

Origins of social differencesThese social differences are mostlybased on accident of birth. Normallywe dont choose to belong to ourcommunity. We belong to it simplybecause we were born into it. We allexperience social differences based onaccident of birth in our everyday lives.People around us are male or female,they are tall and short, have differentkinds of complexions, or have differentphysical abilities or disabilities. But allkinds of social differences are notbased on accident of birth. Some ofthe differences are based on ourchoices. For example, some people areatheists. They dont believe in God orany religion. Some people choose to

follow a religion other than the one inwhich they were born. Most of uschoose what to study, whichoccupation to take up and whichgames or cultural activities to take partin. All these lead to formation of socialgroups that are based on our choices.

Every social difference does notlead to social division. Socialdifferences divide similar people fromone another, but they also unite verydifferent people. People belonging todifferent social groups sharedifferences and similarities cuttingacross the boundaries of their groups.In the instance above, Carlos andSmith were similar in one way (bothwere African-American) and thusdifferent from Norman who waswhite. But they were also all similar inother ways they were all athletes whostood against racial discrimination.

It is fairly common for peoplebelonging to the same religion to feelthat they do not belong to the samecommunity, because their caste or sectis very different. It is also possible forpeople from different religions to havethe same caste and feel close to eachother. Rich and poor persons from thesame family often do not keep closerelations with each other for they feelthey are very different. Thus, we allhave more than one identity and canbelong to more than one social group.We have different identities in differentcontexts.

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Overlapping and cross-cuttingdifferencesSocial division takes place when somesocial difference overlaps with otherdifferences. The difference betweenthe Blacks and Whites becomes a socialdivision in the US because the Blackstend to be poor, homeless anddiscriminated against. In our countryDalits tend to be poor and landless.They often face discrimination andinjustice. Situations of this kindproduce social divisions, when onekind of social difference becomesmore important than the other andpeople start feeling that they belong todifferent communities.

If social differences cross cut oneanother, it is difficult to pit one groupof people against the other. It meansthat groups that share a commoninterest on one issue are likely to be indifferent sides on a different issue.Consider the cases of NorthernIreland and the Netherlands. Both arepredominantly Christian but dividedbetween Catholics and Protestants. InNorthern Ireland, class and religionoverlap with each other. If you areCatholic, you are also more likely to bepoor, and you may have suffered ahistory of discrimination. In theNetherlands, class and religion tend tocut across each other. Catholics andProtestants are about equally likely tobe poor or rich. The result is thatCatholics and Protestants have hadconflicts in Northern Ireland, whilethey do not do so in the Netherlands.Overlapping social differences createpossibilities of deep social divisionsand tensions. Cross-cutting socialdifferences are easier to accommodate.

Social divisions of one kind oranother exist in most countries. It doesnot matter whether the country is smallor big. India is a vast country with manycommunities. Belgium is a small countrywith many communities. Even thosecountries such as Germany and Sweden,that were once highly HOMOGENEOUS, areundergoing rapid change with influx ofpeople from other parts of the world.MIGRANTS bring with them their ownculture and tend to form a differentsocial community. In this sense mostcountries of the world are multi-cultural.

Homeogenous society:A society that has similarkinds of people,especially where thereare no significant ethnicdifferences.Migrant: Anybody whoshifts from one regionor country to anotherregion within a countryor to another country,usually for work or othereconomic opportunities.

Read these two poems by Dalit writers. Why do you think theposter is titled Hidden Apartheid ?

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Politics of social divisionsHow do these social divisions affectpolitics? What does politics do to thesesocial divisions? At first sight, it wouldappear that the combination of politicsand social divisions is very dangerousand explosive. Democracy involvescompetition among various politicalparties. Their competition tends todivide any society. If they startcompeting in terms of some existingsocial divisions, it can make socialdivisions into political divisions andlead to conflict, violence or evendisintegration of a country. This hashappened in many countries.

Range of outcomesTake the case of Northern Ireland thatwe referred to above. This region ofthe United Kingdom has been for many

years the site of a violent and bitterethno-political conflict. Its populationis divided into two major sects ofChristianity: 53 per cent areProtestants, while 44 per cent areRoman Catholics. The Catholics wererepresented by Nationalist parties whodemanded that Northern Ireland beunified with the Republic of Ireland,a predominantly Catholic country. TheProtestants were represented byUnionists who wanted to remain withthe UK, which is predominantlyprotestant. Hundreds of civilians,militants and security forces were killedin the fight between Unionists andNationalists and between the securityforces of the UK and the Nationalists.It was only in 1998, that the UKgovernment and the Nationalists

Imrana is a student of Class X, section B. She and all her classmates areplanning to help students of Class XI in giving a farewell party to the

students of Class XII. Last month she played for section team in a game ofkho-kho against the team of Class X, section A. She goes back home in a busand joins all the students from various classes. They all come from trans-Yamuna area in Delhi. Back home, she often joins her elder sister, Naima, incomplaining against her brother who does no work at home, while the sistersare asked to help their mother. Her father is looking for a good match for herelder sister, from a Muslim family with a similar economic status from theirown biradari.

Can you list the various kinds of identities Imrana has?At home she is a girlIn terms of religion she is .In the school she is . she is . she is .

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India?India?India?India?India?RomaniaRomaniaRomaniaRomaniaRomaniaororororor

Bulgaria,Bulgaria,Bulgaria,Bulgaria,Bulgaria, Ganesh had come back from his trip and was talking to Mahashwetaabout the Roma people who live in many countries of EasternEurope. He met Yordanka who works as a nurse in Bulgaria. This iswhat she has to say about Roma people:

Being a nurse you cant refuse to look after some people, butthese Roma people are very dirty. Even when something small

happens to any one in their family, all the family and even theneighbours just march to our hospital. And once they are in the hospital

they dont know how to keep quiet. They talk aloud, smoke and drop ashes allover and spit on the wall! They have no patience, and they just start pestering ourdoctors! And when they are just hanging out like that any way they look soaggressive. After all these dark skinned people dont look like us. They have astrange sense of colour. Look at their dress, why cant they try to look likeeveryone else in the country? And we all know they are thieves. I have heardpeople say that these Roma people live by selling their blood. None of them canafford the hospital fees. But when they are ill they just rush to hospital at the costof good Bulgarians who pay their taxes!

That sounds familiar said Mahashweta.

Ganesh went on to talk about Modruzeni, a Romani who lives in Romania. Whenshe was eighteen years old, she went to the hospital, to give birth to her firstchild. She had no money to pay to the doctor or nurse. Though she was in thehospital, nobody bothered to come and take care of her. Finally the sweeper, whowas also a Romani, helped her give birth to a boy. And then the nurse appeared onthe scene and said, Here we have another criminal. Talking about how the Romapeople are treated in public hospitals, she says: These doctors keep us waiting

outside their cabins. On one occasion one doctor asked me to take a bath if Ineeded to be examined! Of course, I smelled. During the pregnancy I ate

from the garbage containers, because I was so hungry all the time. Myhusband had left me. I had two children, and I was pregnant with thethird.The social worker refused my request for food assistance. My neighbourhelped me to deliver the baby. I often feel it is better not to visit these

hospitals.

Mahashweta heard him out and said, Ganesh, why do you have to travelhalfway across the world to find this out? This is not a story about Romania

and Bulgaria or about the Roma people. This is as much a story about ourown country and about our people who are branded as criminals by our

system.

z Do you think Mahashweta is right? Do you know of some communityin your area that is treated like the Romas?z Have you heard people say things similar to what Yordanka or

Modruzeni say here? If yes, try to think of what the story would sound like ifyou heard it from the other side?

Do you think the Bulgarian government should try to ensure that theRoma people dress and behave like other people from Bulgaria?

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reached a peace treaty after which thelatter suspended their armed struggle.In Yugoslavia, the story did not have ahappy end. Political competition alongreligious and ethnic lines led to thedisintegration of Yugoslavia into sixindependent countries.

Such examples lead some peopleto conclude that politics and socialdivisions must not be allowed to mix.They think that it would be best if thereare no social divisions in any country.If social divisions do exist in a country,they must never be expressed in politics.

At the same time every expressionof social divisions in politics does notlead to such disasters. We have alreadyseen that social divisions of one kindor another exist in most countries ofthe world. Wherever they exist, thesedivisions are reflected in politics. In ademocracy it is only natural thatpolitical parties would talk about these

So, it happens allover the world,even in Europe!I thought it wasonly in countrieslike India that wehave socialdivisions.

divisions, make different promises todifferent communities, look after duerepresentation of various communitiesand make policies to redress thegrievances of the disadvantagedcommunities. Social divisions affectvoting in most countries. People fromone community tend to prefer someparty more than others. In manycountries there are parties that focusonly on one community. Yet all thisdoes not lead to disintegration of thecountry.

Three determinantsThree factors are crucial in decidingthe outcome of politics of socialdivisions. First of all the outcomedepends on how people perceive theiridentities. If people see their identitiesin singular and exclusive terms, itbecomes very difficult toaccommodate. As long as people innorthern Ireland saw themselves asonly Catholic or Protestant, theirdifferences were difficult to reconcile.It is much easier if the people see thattheir identities are multiple and arecomplementary with the nationalidentity. A majority of Belgians nowfeel that they are as much Belgian asthey are Dutch or German-speaking.This helps them to stay together. Thisis how most people in our country seetheir identity: they think of themselvesas Indian as well as belonging to a stateor a language group or a social orreligious community.

Second, it depends on howpolitical leaders raise the demands ofany community. It is easier toaccommodate demands that are withinthe constitutional framework and arenot at the cost of another community.

In some societies of Northern Ireland, the colonies of Protestant andCatholic communities are divided by walls. These walls are sometimesfilled with graffiti as you can see here. The Irish Republican Army andBritish Government signed an agreement in 2005. What does the graffitihere tell about the conflict in the society?

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The demand for only Sinhala was atthe cost of the interest and identity ofthe Tamil community in Sri Lanka. InYugoslavia, the leaders of differentethnic communities presented theirdemands in such a way that these couldnot be accommodated within a singlecountry.

Third, it depends on the how thegovernment reacts to demands ofdifferent groups. As we saw in theexamples of Belgium and Sri Lanka,if the rulers are willing to share powerand accommodate the reasonabledemands of minority community,social divisions become lessthreatening for the country. But if theytry to suppress such a demand in thename of national unity, the end resultis often quite the opposite. Suchattempts at forced integration oftensow the seeds of disintegration.

Thus the assertion of socialdiversities in a country need not be seenas a source of danger. In a democracy,political expression of social divisionsis very normal and can be healthy. Thisallows various disadvantaged andmarginal social groups to express theirgrievances and get the government toattend to these. Expression of variouskinds of social divisions in politicsoften results in their cancelling oneanother out and thus reducing their

intensity. This leads to strengtheningof a democracy.

But a positive attitude towardsdiversity and a willingness toaccommodate it do not come abouteasily. People who feel marginalised,deprived and discriminated have tofight against the injustices. Such a fightoften takes the democratic path,voicing their demands in a peaceful andconstitutional manner and seeking afair position through elections.Sometimes social differences can takethe form of unacceptable level ofsocial inequality and injustice. Thestruggle against such inequalitiessometimes takes the path of violenceand defiance of state power. Howeverhistory shows that democracy is thebest way to fight for recognition andalso to accommodate diversity.

Draw or collect someimages of social divisionsin different aspects of life.Can you think of someexamples of socialdivision or discriminationin the field of sports?

So, you aresaying that toomany smalldivisions arebetter than asingle bigdivision? Are youalso saying thatpolitics is a forceof unity?

1. Discuss three factors that determine the outcomes of politics ofsocial divisions.

2. When does a social difference become a social division?

3. How do social divisions affect politics? Give two examples.

4. ________________ social differences create possibilities of deepsocial divisions and tensions. ___________________ socialdifferences do not usually lead to conflicts.

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5. In dealing with social divisions which one of the following statementsis NOT correct about democracy?(a) Due to political competition in a democracy, social divisions get

reflected in politics.(b) In a democracy it is possible for communities to voice their

grievances in a peaceful manner.(c) Democracy is the best way to accommodate social diversity.(d) Democracy always leads to disintegration of society on the basis

of social divisions.

6. Consider the following three statements.A. Social divisions take place when social differences overlap.B. It is possible that a person can have multiple identities.C. Social divisions exist in only big countries like India.

Which of the statements is/are correct?(a) A, B and C (b) A and B (c) B and C (d) Only C

7. Arrange the following statements in a logical sequence and selectthe right answers by using the code given below.A. But all political expression of social divisions need not be always

dangerous.B. Social divisions of one kind or the other exist in most countries.C. Parties try to win political support by appealing to social

divisions.D. Some social differences may result in social divisions.

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

8. Among the following, which country suffered disintegration due topolitical fights on the basis of religious and ethnic identities?

(a) Belgium (b) India (c) Yugoslavia (d) Netherlands

9. Read the following passage from a famous speech by Martin LutherKing Jr. in 1963. Which social division is he talking about? What arehis aspirations and anxieties? Do you see a relationship between thisspeech and the incident in Mexico Olympics mentioned in thischapter?

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in anation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skinbut by the content of their character. Let freedom ring. And whenthis happens, and when we allow freedom ringwhen we let itring from every village and every hamlet, from every state andevery city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of Godschildrenblack men and white men, Jews and Gentiles,Protestants and Catholicswill be able to join hands and sing inthe words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last!Thank God Almighty, we are free at last! I have a dream thatone day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning ofits creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all menare created equal.

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Gender,Religion andCaste

Overview

In the previous chapter we noted that the existence of social diversitydoes not threaten democracy. Political expression of social differencesis possible and sometimes quite desirable in a democratic system. Inthis chapter we apply these ideas to the practice of democracy inIndia. We look at three kinds of social differences that can take theform of social divisions and inequalities. These are social differencesbased on gender, religion and caste. In each case we look at thenature of this division in India and how it gets expressed in politics.We also ask whether different expressions based on these differencesare healthy or otherwise in a democracy.

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Gender and politics

Let us begin with gender division. Thisis a form of hierarchical social divisionseen everywhere, but is rarely recognisedin the study of politics. The genderdivision tends to be understood as naturaland unchangeable. However, it is notbased on biology but on socialexpectations and stereotypes.

Public/private divisionBoys and girls are brought up to believethat the main responsibility of women ishousework and bringing up children.This is reflected in a SEXUAL DIVISION OFLABOUR in most families: women do allwork inside the home such as cooking,cleaning, washing clothes, tailoring,looking after children, etc., and men doall the work outside the home. It is notthat men cannot do housework; theysimply think that it is for women toattend to these things. When these jobsare paid for, men are ready to take upthese works. Most tailors or cooks inhotels are men. Similarly, it is not thatwomen do not work outside their home.In villages, women fetch water, collectfuel and work in the fields. In urbanareas, poor women work as domestichelper in middle class homes, whilemiddle class women work in offices. Infact the majority of women do somesort of paid work in addition todomestic labour. But their work is notvalued and does not get recognition.

The result of this division of labouris that although women constitute halfof the humanity, their role in public life,especially politics, is minimal in mostsocieties. Earlier, only men were allowedto participate in public affairs, vote andcontest for public offices. Gradually thegender issue was raised in politics.Women in different parts of the worldorganised and agitated for equal rights.There were agitations in differentcountries for the extension of votingrights to women. These agitationsdemanded enhancing the political andlegal status of women and improving

A poster from Bengal affirming womensstrength.

Sexual division of labour:A system in which all workinside the home is eitherdone by the women of thefamily, or organised bythem through thedomestic helpers.

Why not? Ifpolitics is aboutpower, thensurely maledominance in thehousehold shouldbe consideredpolitical.

Why are wediscussing thingslike householdwork in thistextbook onPolitical Science?Is this politics?

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their educational and careeropportunities. More radical womensmovements aimed at equality in personaland family life as well. These movementsare called FEMINIST movements.

Political expression of genderdivision and political mobilisation on this

Discuss all these perceptions of an ideal woman that prevail in our society. Do youagree with any of these? If not, what is your image of an ideal woman?

Feminist: A womanor a man whobelieves in equal rightsand opportunities forwomen and men.

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question helped to improve womensrole in public life. We now find womenworking as scientists, doctors, engineers,lawyers, managers and college anduniversity teachers which were earlier notconsidered suitable for women. In someparts of the world, for example in

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Patriarchy: Literally,rule by father, thisconcept is used to referto a system that valuesmen more and givesthem power overwomen.

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