Power Sharing Class 10 CBSE notes| Civics chapter 1 | NCERT class 10|Political Science

      

                 Power Sharing

   

  Introduction:

   

   Power sharing means  the distribution of power among the three organs of government such as the Legislature, executive and Judiciary. 

      Power sharing helps in achieving the stability of political order. To understand how democracies handle demands for power sharing, we will discuss the forms of power sharing in Belgium and Sri Lanka. 

 Belgium

Belgium is a small country in  Europe with a population of over 1 crore  , about half of the population of Haryana.  Where 59% speaks Dutch language , 40 % of people speak French and 1% speak German. 

    Where as in Belgian capital ,  Brussels 80 per cent of population is French speaking and 20 per cent is Dutch speaking. 

The French- speaking minority community was relatively rich and powerful. This made the Dutch-speaking community angry because they got the benefit of economic development and education much later. From 1950s to 1960s , there were tensions between the two communities because of these differences. 

  Accommodation in Belgium

I. Belgium recognised the existence of regional differences and cultural diversities. 

II.  Between 1970s and 1993 , the Constitution of Belgium was amended four times so everyone can live together within the same country. 

   Some of the arranxxxxgements of Belgium leaders  towards Belgian model are:

a)  Equal number of Dutch and French speaking ministers in the central government. Some special laws require the support of majority members from each linguistic group. Thus no single community can make decisions unilaterally. 

b)  More powers of the central government have been given to the state governments of two regions of the country. 

c)  Brussels has a separate government, in which both the Dutch and French speaking people have equal representation. 

d)  Apart from the central and  the state government, a third kind of government is there called the Community government elected by the Dutch, French and German speaking people no matter where they live. The government has the power regarding cultural, educational and language related issues. 

     The Belgian model has worked well so far which avoided Civic strife between two major communities and country remains United. 

Sri Lanka

   Sri Lanka  is an island Nation in the Indian Ocean .  It is just a few Kilometres off the southern coast of Tamil Nadu.  Sri Lanka has a diverse population of about  two crore people with 74 percent being Sinhalese and 18 percent Tamils. 

    Tamils are divided into two groups

a) Sri Lankan Tamils /  Tamil natives of the country  13% . 

b)  Indian Tamils 5% - came from India during colonial  period as plantation workers. 

    • Most of Sinhala speaking people are Buddhist, while most of the Tamils are Hindus or Muslims. 

  •  There are about 7% Christians, who are both Sinhala and Tamils. 

  Majoritarianism in Sri Lanka

I.  When  Sri Lanka became independent in 1948, the democratically elected government  adopted a series of   Majoritarian policy measures to establish Sinhala supremacy these are :

• In 1956 an act was passed to recognise Sinhala as the only official language. 

• The government followed preferential policies that favoured Sinhala applicants for  university positions and government jobs. 

•   A new Constitution stipulated that  the state shall protect  and  promote Buddhism. 

•   All these government measures gradually increased the feeling of  alienation among Sri Lankan Tamils. 

•  The Sri Lankan Tamils launched  parties and demanded  regional autonomy and  equality of opportunity in securing education and jobs. 

•   By  the 1980s several political Organisations like LTTE ( Liberal Tigers of Tamil Eelam) demanded  an  independent Tamil Eelam ( state)  in Northern and Eastern parts of Sri Lanka. 

       The Conflict between the  two  communities continued and  soon turned into a Civil War. 

  Need of  Power Sharing || why is power sharing desirable

   Two different sets of reasons reflect the need of power sharing

                     Prudential

                      Moral

Prudential  : The first set of Reason

I.  Firstly power sharing is good because it helps to reduce the possibility of conflict between social groups.

 II.   This is a good way to ensure the stability of the political order. 

  Moral : The second set of Reason

I.  Power sharing is the spirit of democracy. People have a right to be consulted on how they are to be governed. 

II.  A legitimate government is one where citizens through participation can acquire a stake in the system. 

  Forms  of  Power Sharing

   In modern democracies, power sharing arrangements can take many forma such as 

I.. Horizontal  Distribution of power 

       

   

a. Power is shared among different organs of government, such as the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary is called  horizontal distribution of power. 

b.  Such a separation of power ensures that none of the organs can exercise unlimited power. Each organs checks the others. This results in a balance of power among institutions. This arrangement called a system of check and balances. 

II.. Federal government and vertical Division of power

Power can be shared among governments at different levels- a general government for the entire country and a government at the provincial or regional level. The division of higher and lower level government is called the vertical or federal government. 

III..   Community Government

   

Power may also be shared among different social groups such as religious and linguistic groups is a good example of community government. 

IV..  Coalition  Government

   a.  Power sharing arrangements can also be seen in the way political parties, pressure groups and movements control or influence those in power. 

b.  When two or more parties form an alliance to contest elections. If their alliance is elected, they form a Coalition Government and thus share power. 

Conclusion

In this chapter we have seen that ,  In Belgium the leaders have realised that the  unity of the country is possible only by respecting the feelings and interests of different communities and regions. 

     But Sri Lanka shows us Contrasting example, if a majority  community wants to force its dominance over others and refuses to share power it can destroy the unity of the country. 

       Power sharing an effective tool in nation building.