NCERT Solutions for Social Civics Class 10 Chapter 1

NCERT Solutions for Class 10
Social Science (Civics)
Chapter 1– Power Sharing

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

Answer: The different forms of power sharing are:
● Horizontal Division of Power – Sharing of power between different departments of government, example, power sharing by the executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. Here, power sharing arrangement, different departments of government, placed at the same level use different powers. This kind of separation makes sure that none of the departments use
unlimited power.

● Vertical Division of Power – Sharing of power at different levels in a government. Example, a government for the whole country, and a government for the state. In India, it is the Central Government, State Government, Municipality, Gram Panchayat etc. The Constitution helps in laying down powers of different levels of government.

● Division of Power among different Social Groups – Power can be shared among different groups which are different from religious groups. ‘Community Government’ in Belgium is an example of this kind of power sharing. Reserved constituencies in India are also another example. This kind of arrangement is used for fair share in power.

● Division of Power among Political Parties, Pressure Groups and Movements – In contemporary democracy such a division takes the form of competition among different parties, which in turn ensures that power does not remain in one hand and is shared among different political parties representing different ideologies and social groups.

2. State one prudential reason and one moral reason for power sharing with an example from the Indian context.
Answer: 
● Prudential Reason: Power sharing helps in reducing the conflict between various social groups. So, power sharing is necessary for maintaining social harmony and peace. In India, seats are reserved for weaker section.
Example: reservation of seats for SC and ST. This helps weaker sections to contribute in running the Government.

● Moral Reason: It holds the spirit of democracy. In a democratic setup, the citizens too have a stake in governance. The citizens in India come together to debate the policies and decisions of the government, this will put pressure on the government to rethink about the policies and its decisions.

3. After reading the chapter, three students drew different conclusions. Which of these do you agree with and why? Give your reason in about 50 words.
Thomman – Power sharing is necessary only in societies which have religions, linguistic or ethnic divisions.
Mathayi – Power sharing is suitable only for big countries that have regional divisions.
Ouseph – Every society needs some from of power sharing even if it is small or does not have social divisions.

Answer: