CBSE Board Half Yearly Exam Question Paper Class-X Political Science 2022
ABC School
Class – X
Political Science
CBSE Board Half Yearly Exam Question Paper
CBSE Board Class-X this an Election Plan of Chapter 6 : Political Parties
SUBTOPICS
- Why do we need political parties
- How many parties should we have ?
- National & Political Parties
- Challenges to political parties
- How can parties be reformed ?
LEARNING OUTCOMES
- Each student will be able to
- Define political parties and enlist its features and components
- Justify the need for Political Parties
- Examine the functions of Political Parties
- Differentiate between National parties & regional parties
- Analyze the challenges faced by political parties
- Suggest measures to reform political parties.
WHAT IS A POLITICAL PARTY ?
A group of people who come together to contest elections is called a political party.The party which wins majority seats in legislature forms the government whereas which does not win in legislature forms the opposition.
FEATURES OF POLITICAL PARTIES
- Political parties agree on some policies and programmes for the welfare of society with a view to promote the collective good.
- Since there can be different views on what is good for all,parties try to persuade people why their policies are better than others.
- They seek to implement their policies by winning popular support through elections.
COMPONENTS OF A POLITICAL PARTY
Revision /Page 2
- The leaders
- The active Members
- The followers
FUNCTIONS OF POLITICAL PARTIES
1. CONTEST ELECTIONS: Political parties select candidates and contest elections.Eg.In USA,members and supporters of a party choose its candidates whereas in India,top party leaders choose candidates for contesting elections.
2. PROMOTION OF DIFFERENT POLICIES AND PROGRAMMES: Parties put together different policies and programmes and voters can choose from them.In a democracy,large no.of similar opinions have to be grouped together. To provide directions in which policies can be formulated by the govt.A party reduces a vast multitude of opinions into a few basic opinions it supports.A govt. is expected to make its decision on the line taken by the political party.
3. DECISIVE ROLE IN MAKING LAWS: Formally,laws are debated and passed in the legislature but since most of the members belong to a party,they go by the direction of the party leadership irrespective of their personal opinion.
4.PARTIES FORM AND RUN GOVT. The political party which gets the majority of seats in the legislature forms and runs the govt.Parties recruit leaders,train them and then make them ministers to run the govt.in the way they want.
5.PLAYS THE ROLE OF RESPONSIBLE OPPOSITION: Those political parties which do not get majority seats in legislature form the opposition. They voice different views and criticise the govt. for its failures on wrong policies.
6. SHAPE PUBLIC OPINION: They raise and highlight issues. Parties sometimes also launch movements for the resolution of problems faced by the people. Often opinions in the society crystallise on the line parties take.
7. PROVIDE PEOPLE AN ACCESS TO GOVT. MACHINERY AND WELFARE SCHEMES IMPLEMENTED BY THE GOVT.: For an ordinary citizen,it is easy to approach a local party leader than a govt.office.That is why they feel close to political parties even when they do not fully trust them. Parties have to be responsive to peoples’ needs and demands.Otherwise,people can reject those parties in the next elections.
CLASS ACTIVITY:
Alternative Academic Calendar Activity. Prepare an E Chart depicting national and regional political parties along with their symbols
THE NECESSITY OF POLITICAL PARTIES
- They bring various representatives together so that a responsible government could be formed.
- They work as a mechanism to support or restrain the government, make policies, justify or oppose them. Political parties fulfil the needs that every representative government has.
HOW MANY PARTIES SHOULD WE HAVE?
In a democracy, any group of citizens is free to form a political party. More than 750 parties are registered with the Election Commission of India. But not all these parties are serious contenders in the elections. So the question, then is: how many major or effective parties are good for democracy?
In some countries, only one party is allowed to control and run the government. These are called one-party systems. This system is not considered as a good option for democracy.
In some countries, power usually changes between the two main parties. Such a party system is called a two-party system. Eg: The United States of America and the United Kingdom.
If several parties compete for power, and more than two parties have a reasonable chance of coming to power either on their own strength or in alliance with others, it is called a multiparty system. Eg: India.
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.
Every party in the country has to register with the Election Commission. It offers some special facilities for large and established parties. 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.
NATIONAL PARTIES
| NATIONAL PARTIES | REGIONAL PARTIES/ STATE PARTIES |
| A party that secures at least 6% of the total votes in Lok Sabha elections or Assembly elections in 4 States and wins at least 4 seats in the Lok Sabha is recognised as a National Party. These are country-wide parties.They have their units in various states.By and large all their units follow the same policies,programmes and strategies that are decided at national level. EXAMPLES : Indian National CongressBhartiya Jnata Party | A party that secures at least 6% of the total votes in an election to the Legislative Assembly of a State and wins at least 2 seats is recognised as a State Party. Regional parties exist,operate and function at regional level.A regional party has a regional outlook as it gives prominence to regional issues and specific problems of people of that region and influence people of that region. EXAMPLES: Shiromani Akali DalShiv Sena |
ROLE OF REGIONAL PARTIES
- In the last three decades the no. and strength of regional parties has expanded which has made our parliament more diverse.
- These days not a single national party is able to secure a majority in Lok Sabha.Therefore,national parties form alliance with regional parties.
- Since 1996,state parties have got an opportunity to be a part of the national level coalition govt.This strengthened our democracy and federalism.
CHALLENGES CONFRONTING POLITICAL PARTIES
1. LACK OF INTERNAL DEMOCRACY: There is a tendency in political parties towards concentration of power in one or few leaders at the top.Parties do not hold organisational meetings or conduct internal elections.Since one or two leaders are important,those who disagree with them find it hard to continue in the party.
2.DYNASTIC SUCCESSION: There are very few ways for ordinary people or workers to rise to top in a political party.In many parties,the top positions are held by members of one family.This is bad for democracy as people who do not have enough experience and popular support come to occupy top and important positions.
3.USE OF MONEY AND MUSCLE POWER: Sometimes political parties use shortcuts to win elections.They tend to nominate those candidates who can waste a lot of money.In some cases,political parties support criminals who use their muscle power to ensure the victory of a political party in elections.
4.LACK OF MEANINGFUL CHOICE TO VOTERS: In the modern era,there has been a decline in the ideological differences among parties.Those who want different policies have no options available to them.
EFFORTS TO REFORM PARTIES
i)The constitution was amended to prevent the elected MLAs and MPs from changing the parties.It was done because elected members were indulging in defection to become ministers or for cash rewards.Now the law says that if an MLA or an MP changes his party,he will lose his seat in the legislature.
ii)The Supreme Court has passed an order to reduce the influence of money and criminals.Now a candidate is required to fill an affidavit giving details of his property and criminal cases pending against him.
iii)The Election Commission passed an order making it necessary for the parties to hold their organisational and file their income tax return
SUGGESTIONS TO REFORM POLITICAL PARTIES
i)A law should be made to regulate the internal affairs of the political parties.It should be made compulsory for political parties to maintain a register of its members,to have its independent constitution and follow it,to have an independent authority,to act as a judge in case of party disputes,to hold open elections to the higher posts.
ii)It should be made mandatory for political parties to give tickets to about 1/3rd of women candidates.
iii)There should be state funding of elections i.e.the govt.should give parties money to support their election expenses.
ROLE OF PEOPLE IN REFORMING POLITICAL PARTIES
i)People can put pressure on political parties by publicity,petitions and agitations.
ii)Ordinary citizens,pressure groups and media can play an important role as if political parties feel that they would lose public support by not taking up reforms,they would become more serious about reforms.
ASSIGNMENT
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1 A group of people who come close to each other to attain their common aim of power is known as…
(a) Political Party (b) Interest Group (c) Political leadership (d) Factional group
2 Which of these is a National Party?
(a) INC (b) BSP (c) BJP (d) All of these
3 Which of these is the main component of political party?
(a) Leaders (b) The followers (c) Active members (d) All of these
4 Any party with 6% of total votes in Lok Sabha or Assembly elections in four states and wins at least 4 seats in Lok Sabha is recognized as….
(a) National Party (b) Regional Party (c) State Party (d) Factional Party
5 Which of these is the function of political party?
(a) To contest election (b) To form and run government (c) To form public opinion (d) All of these
Give one word for the following
Q6. A signed document submitted to an officer, where a person makes a sworn statement regarding her personal information.
Q7.Changing party allegiance from the party on which a person got elected to a different party .
Q8.A person who is strongly committed to a party group or faction.
Correct the following statements
Q9.It is now mandatory according to the Supreme court guidelines to file a petition giving details of property or criminal cases pending against a candidate .
Q10.When several parties in a multi party system join hands for the purpose of contesting elections and winning power is called a defection
Q12.Given below in the picture are some female activists . Do you think they should form a political party to address their grievances . Give one reason to support your answer .
SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q13. Distinguish between a National Party and a regional party. (3 MARKS)
Q14. List and explain the three types of party system that exist in the world. (3 MARKS)
LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS (5 MARKS)
Q15. Explain the various functions performed by a political party in a democracy.
Q16.Political parties need to face and overcome challenges in order to remain effective instruments of democracy. In the light of the above statement list and explain the the various challenges faced by political Parties.
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