Modern democracies involves the different forms of power sharing which are given below with an example :
(1) Power sharing among different organs of government such as the legislature, executive and judiciary:
Horizontal distribution of power is done.
For example, in India Parliament enacts laws. Executive executes or implements them and the functioning of executive or laws made by the leg statues are checked by judiciary.
(2) Power sharing among governments at different levels :
There are governments at the National, State and Local levels.
Powers are divided among them. For example in India, Powers are divided between the Center and the States. There are three lists i.e., Union list, State list and Concurrent list. The residuary powers which are not included in the three lists are with the Central Government.
(3) Power sharing among different social groups :
Like in Belgium, Sometimes religious and linguistic groups share power where there is a “community government” which is elected by people belonging to a particular type of language community no matter where they live.
Such a government has power regarding cultural, educational and language related issues.
(4) Power sharing among political parties, pressure groups and movements : Sometimes power is shared by different political parties having different influences and ideologies. Such alliances form coalition governments.
(a) India has a multicultural society.
(b) India is a democratic country.
The conclusion drawn by Ouseph is correct. Each and every society needs some kind of power-sharing even if it is small or does not have social divisions because power-sharing reduces the possibility of conflicts among individuals too. For example, The differences between the members of a joint family may be resolved if responsibilities and powers are divided among them. Similarly, in societies and governments. Thus there must be power-sharing in all societies or countries.
Different communities in a country should try to accommodate each other as done in Belgium – where the French-speaking people accepted equal representation in Brussels because the Dutch-speaking community has accepted equal representation in the central government.
The ban on speaking French in the town’s schools in Merchtem is not keeping the spirit of Belgium’s power-sharing arrangements because this is a Flemish town. Dutch is spoken by the people living here. The ban is an example of the imposition of the will of the majority on the minority against the principle of accommodation under which the Belgian leaders noticed the existing regional differences and cultural diversities. However, their constitution worked out an arrangement that would ensure everyone to live together within the country. On the other hand, the ban on speaking French may result in strained relations between French-speaking and Dutch-speaking communities.
The following prudential reasons are cited into the passage for power sharing.
(a) Making people responsible for their own decisions by giving power in their hands for reducing corruption.
(b) Delegating the decision-making function to the people affected by increasing administrative efficiency.
(c) Transferring the planning and implementation to the people concerned through the Panchayat by reducing the number of middlemen thus improving the system's efficiency.
Our expert will give answer soon.
Match List I (forms of power- sharing) with List II (forms of government) and select the correct answer using codes given below the lists :
List I List II
(i) Power shared among different organs of government A. Community government
(ii) Power shared among governments at different levels B. Separation of Powers
(iii) Power shared by different social groups C. Coalition government
(iv) Power shared by two or more political parties D. Federal government
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (a) | D | A | B | C |
| (b) | B | C | D | A |
| (c) | B | D | A | C |
| (d) | C | D | A | B |
| (C) | B | D | A | C |
|---|