Class X Political Science Ch- 6 (Political Parties)

                         Social Science

                Class X (Political Science)

                                                                       
Special Notes Class X Ch- 6 (Political Parties)

VERY SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

Q1. What do you understand by partisan?

Ans- A person who is strongly committed to a party, group or faction.

Q2. What do you understand by 'Partisanship'?

Ans- It is marked by a tendency to take a side and inability to take a balanced view on an issue.

 Q3. What are the components of a political party?

Ans- 
(i) The leaders 
(ii) The active members
(iii) The followers

Q4. How do parties run the government of a country?

Ans- Parties recruit leaders, train them and then make them ministers to run the government in the way they want.

Q5. What is the role of opposition in a democracy?

Ans- Opposition parties voice different views and criticise the government for its failures or wrong policies.

 Q6. Is it true that political parties shape public opinion? Explain.

Ans- Yes, it is true as parties sometimes also launch movements for the resolution of problems faced by people. Often opinions in the society crystallise on the lines parties take.

 Q7. What is one-party system?

Ans- In some countries, only one party is allowed to control and run the government. It is called one party system.

Example: China.

Q8. Is it democratic to have one-party system?

Ans:-
(i) We cannot consider one-party system as a good option because this is not democratic option.
(ii) Any democratic system must allow at least two parties to compete in elections and provide fair chance for the competing parties to come to power.

Q9. What is a Bi-party system?

Ans- In some countries, power usually changes between two main parties. Such a party system is called bi-party system.

Example: UK and USA.

Q10. What is a multi-party system?

Ans- If several parties compete to power and more than two parties have a reasonable chance of coming to power either on their own strength or in alliance with others, we call it a multi-party system.

Q11. What is an 'alliance' or a 'front'?

 Ans- When several parties in a multi-party system join hands for the purpose of contesting elections and winning power, it is called an alliance or a front.

Q12. Name three major alliances of India.

Ans-
(i)  The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) formed by BJP.
(ii) The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) formed by Congress I.
(iii) Left Front formed by Communist Parties of India.

Q13. Give one merit of multi-party system.

Ans- This system allows a variety of interests and opinions to enjoy political representation.

Q14. Give one demerit of multi-party system.

Ans- The multi-party system often appears very messy and leads to a political instability.

Q15. How does a country choose a party system?

Ans- It evolves over a long time, depending on the nature of a society, its social and regional divisions, its history of politics and its system of elections.

Q16. Why did India choose to have a multi-party system?

Ans- India has evolved a multi-party systems because the social and geographical diversity in such a large country is not easily absorbed by two or even three parties.

Q17. What are national parties?

Ans- There are some country-wide parties, which are called national parties. All these units follow the same policies, programmes and strategy that are decided at the national level.

Q18. Define 'regional parties' on the basis of election commission of India.

Ans- A party that secures at least six percent of the total votes in an election to the Legislative Assembly of a state and wins at least two seats is recognised as a state party.

Q19. How is a party recognised as ‘national party' by the Election Commission of India?

Ans- A party that secures at least six percent of total votes in Lok Sabha elections or assembly elections in four states and wins at least four seats in Lok Sabha is recognised as a national party.

Q20. When was INC formed? What is its symbol?

Ans- Indian National Congress was formed in 1885. Its symbol is 'hand'.

Q21. Which coalition was formed by INC?

Ans- United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition government was formed by INC for the government at the centre.

Q22. When was BJP founded? What is its symbol?

Ans- BJP was founded in 1980. Its symbol is lotus.

Q23. Which coalition alliance was formed by BJP?

Ans- National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition was formed by BJP for forming government at the centre level.

Q24. When was BSP formed? What is its symbol?

Ans- Bahujan Samaj Party was formed in 1984. Its symbol is Elephant.

Q25. Which classes are represented by BSP?

Ans- It seeks to represent and secure power for the Bahujan Samaj which includes the dalits, adivasis, OBCs and religious minorities.

Q26. Name the 'National Parties’ of India.

Ans-
(i)  Indian National Congress
(ii) Disartlyn Janata Party
(iii) Bobulon Samal Party
(iv) Communist Party of India (Marxist
(v)  Communist Party of Indin (CPI)
(vi)  National Congress Party (NCP)

Q27. Name the regional parties of Jammu and Kashmir with its symbols.

Ans-
(i)  Jammu and Kashmir National Conference - Bird
(ii) Jammu and Kashmir National Panther Party - Cycle
(iii) Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party - Ink Pot and Pen

Q28. Name regional parties of Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand with symbols.

Ans-
(i)  Uttarakhand Kranti Dal - Chair
(ii)  Punjab Shiromani Akali Dal - Weighing Scale
(iii) Haryana Lok Dal - Spectacles

Q29. Name regional parties of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka with their symbols.

Ans-
(i) Maharashtra Shiv Sena - Bow and Arrow
(ii) Goa United Goan Democratic Party-Two leaves.

Q30. Name regional parties of Tamil Nadu with symbols.

Ans-

(i)  All India Anna Dmk-Two leaves

(ii) Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam - Rising Sun

(iii) Pattali Makkai Katchi-Mango

(iv) Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam - Spinning Top

Q31. Name regional parties of West Bengal with symbols.

Ans-

(i)  Forward Block - Lion

(ii) Revolutionary Socialist Party - Spade and Shovel

(iii) Trinamool Congress - A pair of flowers

Q32. Name regional partics of Bihar with their symbols.

Ans-
(i)  Janata Dal (U) - Arrow
(ii) Lok Jan Shakti Party - A hut
(iii) Rashtriya Janata Dal - Kerosene Lamp

Q33. Name regional parties of Andhra, Orissa and Sikkim with their symbols.

Ans-
(i)  Andhra Pradesh - Telugu Desam - A Bicycle
(ii) Andhra - Telangana Rashtra Samiti - A Car
(iii) Odisha - Biju Janta Dal - Sea Shell
(iv)  Sikkim - Sikkim Democratic front - Umbrella

Q34. Name regional parties of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh with their symbols.

Ans-
(i) Assam - Assam United Democratic Party - Lock and Key
(ii) Asom Gana Parishad - Elephant
(iii) Arunachal - Arunachal Congress - Two swords

Q35. How do money and muscle power tend to help the contestant of the elections?

Ans- Rich people and companies who give funds to the parties tend to have influence on the policies and decisions of the party.

Q36. What is 'defection'?

Ans- Changing party allegiance from the party on which a person got elected (to a legislative body) to a different party

Q37. Name any one political party that has national level political organisation but not recognised as the national political party.

Ans- The political party that has national level political organization but not recognized as the National Party: Samajwadi Party/Samata Party/Rashtriya Janta Dal.

Q38. Why did India adopt multi-party system?

Ans-
(i) India is a large country and has social and geographical diversities.
(ii) It is easy to absorb different diversities in a multi party system.

Q39. Why is one party political system not considered a good democratic system?

Ans- One party system has no democratic option.

               SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

Q1. Why do we need political parties?

Ans- Political parties are easily one of the most visible institutions in a democracy.
 For most ordinary citizens, democracy is equal to political parties.
Political parties in a populated country like India helped in forming the government and have become omnipresent in democracies all over the world.

Q2.  What is a multi-party system? Why has India adopted a multi-party system? Explain.

Ans.-
(i) If several parties compete to power, and more than two parties have a reasonable chance of coming to power either on their own strength or in alliance with other, we call it a multi party system.
(ii) India has evolved a multi-party system. It is because the social and geographical diversity in such a large country is not easily absorbed by two or even three parties.
(iii) Party system is not something any country can choose. It evolves over a long time depending on the nature of society, its social and regional divisions, its history of politics and its system of elections.

Q3. What is the difference between a national party and a state party?

Ans- There are three major differences between a national party and regional/state party:
(i) National parties have influence all over the country or in several states of India. The influence of a state party is limited to a state or region.
(ii) National parties take interest in national as well as international issues; whereas state parties are interested in promoting regional/state interest only.
(iii) The national parties have to harmonise the national as well as state interests: whereas state parties usually stand for greater autonomy for states.

Q4.  What is the role of the opposition party in a democracy?

Ans-
(i)  Opposition party mobilises opposition to the government.
(ii)  It puts its different views in the parliament and criticises the government for its failures or wrong policies.
(iii)  By doing this, it can keep a check on the ruling party, which is made to move on the track

Q5. Give one merit and one demerit of a single-party system.

Ans-

·        Merit- There is no competition between parties but there is competition between candidates.

·       Demerit- One-party system is not a democratic option. Any democratic country must allow at least two parties to compete.

Q6. What are the major differences between the policies of CPI (M) and CPI?

Ans-

Policies of CPI (M)		Policies of CPI
1.	Accepts democratic elections as a useful and helpful means for securing the objective of socio-economic justice in India.	Accepts parliamentary democracy as a means of promoting the interests of the working class, farmers and the poor.
2.	Critical of the new economic policies that allow free flow of foreign capital and goods into the country.	Opposed to the force of secessionism and communalism.
3.	It was formed in 1964.	It was formed in 1925.

Q7. What are the main components of a political party?

Ans-
(i) The leaders - A political party consists of leaders who contest elections and if they win, perform the administrative job.
(ii) The active members - They are the ones who climb a ladder from being the follower and become the assistants of the leaders to gain knowledge about the politics.
(iii) The followers - They are simply the ardent followers of the leaders and work under the able guidance of the active members.

 Q.8 How do parties perform the job of making laws for the country?

Ans- Parties play a decisive role in making laws for a country. Formally, laws are debated in the form of first second and third readings and then by popular voting, the bill is passed. But since most of the members belong to a party, they follow what their leader says, irrespective of their personal opinions.

Q9.  How is a government of alliances formed?

Ans- When several parties in a multi-party system join hands for the purpose of contesting elections and winning power, it is called an alliance or front. In India, there were three major alliances in 2004 parliamentary elections.These were the National Democratic Alliance or NDA formed by BJP and its allies. Then the United Progressive Alliance or UPA led by Congress and its allies. The third one was the Left Front, which is formed by Communists of their parties like CPI and CPI(M).

Q10. How does a country choose a party system?

Ans- Party system is not something any country can choose:

(i) It evolves over a long time, depending on the nature of its society, its social and regional divisions, Its history of politics and its system of elections.

(ii) These cannot be changed very quickly.

(iii) Each country develops a party system that is conditioned by its special circumstances. No system is ideal for all countries and all situations.

Q11. What are national parties?

Ans-

(i) A party that secures at least six per cent of total votes in Lok Sabha elections or Assembly elections in four states and wins at least four seats in the Lok Sabha is recognised as a national party.

(ii) These parties have their units in various states. But by and large all these units follow the same policies, programmes and strategies that are decided at the national level.

According to this classification, there were six national recognised parties in the country in 2006.

Q12.  "Lack of internal democracy within parties is the major challenge to political parties all over the world”. Analyse the statement.

Ans:- 

🔸 All over the world, there is a tendency of political parties towards the concentration of power in one or few leaders at the top. 

🔸 Parties do not keep membership register. 

🔸 They do not regularly hold organisational meetings. 

🔸 They do not conduct interval elections regularly. 

🔸 Ordinary members of the party do not have sufficient information as to what happens inside the party. 

🔸 As a result, the leaders assume greater power to make decisions in the name of the party.

Q13. What suggestions are often made to reform political parties?

Ans-

🔸 A law should be made to regulate the internal affairs of political parties. It should be made compulsory for political parties to maintain a register of its members, to follow its own constitution, to act as a judge in case or party disputes and to hold open elections to the highest post.

🔸 It should be made mandatory for political parties to give minimum number of tickets, about one-third to the women candidates.

🔸 There should be state funding of elections. The government should give parties money to support their election expenses. This support can be given in a way like; petrol, paper, telephone, etc. Or, it could be given in cash on the basis of votes, secured by the party in the last elections.

Q14. What is meant by dynastic succession in politics?

Ans- A rule in which the family's generation rules forever and there can be no change. This is against the democracy. This is one of the major problems that political parties have to confront with and is a hindrance for ordinary citizens, who aspire to join politics.

Q15.  What is meant by regional political party? State the conditions required to be recognised as a 'regional political party'.

Ans-  A regional Party is a party that is present in only some states.

Conditions required for a party to be recognised as a regional political party are:

(i)  A party that secures at least six per cent of the total votes in an election to the Legislative Assembly of a state.

(ii) Party should win atleast two seats in the Legislative Assembly.

Q16. Analyse the three components of a political party.

Ans- The three components of political party are:

(i)  The leaders

(ii)  The Active members

(iii) The followers

Q17. What is a political party? State any two points of the ideology of Bhartiya Janata Party.

Ans- A political party is a group of people who come together to contest elections and hold power in the government. They agree on some policies and programmes for the society with a view to promote the collective good ideology of BJP:

(i)  Wants full territorial and political integration of Jammu & Kashmir with India.

(ii) A uniform civil code for all people living in the country irrespective of religion.

(iii) Cultural nationalism.

                  Long Answer Questions

Q1. Why does modern democracies could not exist without political parties?

Ans:-

(i)  We can understand the necessity of political parties by imagining a situation without parties. Every candidate in the elections will be independent. So no one will be able to make any promises to the people about any major policy changes.

(ii)  Elected representatives will be accountable to their constituencies for what they do in the locality. But no one will be responsible for how the country runs.

(iii) India also has non-party based elections to the panchayats in many states. Although parties do not contest formally, it is generally noticed that the village splits into more than one faction, each of which puts up a ‘panel' of its candidates. This is exactly what the party does. That is why, we have political parties in almost all the countries in the world.

(iv) The rise of political parties is directly linked to the emergence of representative democracies Large-scale societies need representative democracy. Large societies need some way to bring various representatives together so that a responsible government can be formed.

Thus we can say that parties are a necessary condition for a democracy.

Q2. Describe the various party systems existing in different countries.

Ans. Party systems:

(i)  One-party system:

   (a) In some countries, only one party is allowed to control and   run the government. It is called one-party system.
   (b) We cannot consider one-party system as a good option because this is not a democratic option.

   (c)  Any democratic system must allow at least two parties to compete in elections and provide a fair chance for the competing parties to come to power.

Example: Communist Party of China.

(ii)  Two-party system:

     (a)  In some countries, power usually changes between two main parties.

     (b)  Here, only the two main parties have a serious chance of winning majority seats to form the government.

       Example: USA and UK.

      (iii)  Multi-party system:

     (a)  If several parties compete for power and more than two parties have a reasonable chance of coming to power, either on their own or in alliance with others, it is called a multi-party system.

     (b)  The multi-party system often appears very messy and leads to political instability.

     (c) At the same time, this system allows a variety of interests and opinions to enjoy political representation.

 Example: India.

Major Coalitions-NDA, UPA, Left Front.

Q. 3. What are recognised political parties?

 Ans-

(i)  National parties are some countrywide parties and almost follow similar policies and programmes at the national level.

(ii)  Every party in the country has to register with the Election Commission. The Commission offers some special facilities to the large and established parties. These parties are given a unique symbol - only the official candidates of that party can use that election symbol

(iii) Parties that get this privilege and some other special facilities are 'recognised' by the Election Commission for this purpose. That is why these parties are called 'Recognised Political Parties’.

(iv) The Election Commission has laid down detailed criteria of the proportion of votes and seats that a party must get in order to be a recognised party.

Q4.  What are the main policies of Indian National Congress?

Ans-

(i)  It was founded in 1885 and played a dominant role in Indian politics at the national and state level for several decades after India's independence.

(ii) A centrist party in its ideology, it favours secularism and welfare of weaker sections and minorities. It supports new economic reforms but with a human face.

(iii) It emerged as the largest party with 145 members in the Lok Sabha elections held in 2004. It led the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition government at the Centre.

(iv) It lost elections in 2014 and secured 44 seats. Currently, it is the principal opposition party in Lok Sabha.

Q5.  What are the main features of BJP manifesto?

Ans-

(i)  It was founded in 1980 by reviving Bharatiya Jana Sangh.

(ii) It wants to build a strong and modern India by drawing inspiration from India's ancient, culture and values. Cultural nationalism is an important element of its manifesto.

(iii) It wants full territorial and political integration of Jammu & Kashmir with India.

(iv) It also promotes a Uniform Civil Code for all people living in the country, irrespective of religion and ban on religious conversions.

Q6.  Who formed BSP? What are its main policies?

Ans- BSP was formed in 1984 under the leadership of Shri Kanshi Ram.

🔸  It seeks to represent and secure power for the bahujan sanaj which includes dalits, adivasis. OBCs and religious minorities.
🔸It draws inspiration from the ideas and teachings of Sahu Maharaj, Mahatma Phule, Periyar, Ramaswami Naiker and Babasaheb Ambedkar.
🔸It stands for the cause of securing the interests and welfare of the dalits and oppressed people.
🔸It has its main base in UP and substantial presence in neighbouring states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Punjab.
🔸It formed government in UP several times by taking the support of different parties at different times.

Q. 7. What are the chief characteristics of Communist Party of India (Marxist)?

 Ans-  

·       
🔸It was founded in 1964 and believes in Marxism and Leninism.
🔸It supports socialism, secularism and democracy and opposes imperialism and communalism.
🔸It accepts democratic elections as a useful and helpful means for securing the objective of socio-economic justice in India.
🔸Enjoys strong support in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura, especially among the poor factory workers, farmers, agricultural labourers and intelligentsia.
🔸Always critical of the new economic policies that allow free flow of foreign capital and goods into the country.
🔸It had been in power in West Bengal without a break for 30 years and currently supports the UPA government from outside, without joining the government.

Q8. What do you know about Communist Party of India?

Ans-

·       🔸 It was formed in 1925 and believes in Marxism, Leninism, secularism and democracy.

·       🔸 It opposed the forces of secessionism and communalism.

·       🔸It accepts parliamentary democracy as a means of promoting the interests of working class, farmers and the poor.

·       🔸It became independent after the split in the party in 1964 that led to the formation of CPI(M).

·       🔸It has significant presence in Kerala, West Bengal, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

·       🔸 It advocates the coming together of all Left Front. Currently, it supports UPA government from outside.

Q9. How was Nationalist Congress Party formed? What are its policies?

Ans-

·        🔸 It was formed in 1999 following a split in the Congress Party.

·        🔸 It supports democracy, Gandhian secularism, equality, social justice and federalism.

·        🔸 It wants that high offices in government should be confined to natural born citizens of the country.

·        🔸 A major party in Maharashtra and has a significant presence in Meghalaya, Manipur and Assam.

·        🔸 It's a coalition partner in Maharashtra government with Congress.

·        🔸 Since 2004, it is also a member of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

Q10.  What is the status of regional parties in India?

Ans- Some of the regional parties have succeeded only in some states. Parties like the Samajwadi Party, Samata Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal have national level political organisation with units in several states. Over the years, the number and strength of these parties have expanded. No single national party is able to secure majority on its own in Lok Sabha. As a result, the national parties are compelled to form alliances with state parties. Since 1996, nearly everyone of the state parties got an opportunity to be a part of one or the other national level coalition government. This has contributed to the strengthening of federalism and democracy in our country.

Q11. Suggest and explain any five measures to reform political parties.

Ans- Five measures/suggestions to reform political parties are:

(i)  To follow its own constitution.

(ii)  To hold open elections to the highest post.

(iii)  It should be made mandatory for all political parties to give a minimum number of tickets, about 1/3rd to women candidates.

(iv)  There should be a quota for women in the decision making bodies of the party.

(v)   Minimum qualification should be high school pass.