2. WHAT IS DEMOCRACY ?
• A system in which the government of a country is elected by the
people.
• A government which is for the people, of the people and by the people.
It was saidby ABRAMHAM LINCOLN (1809-1865).
• The definition of the term Democracy, is opposite to monarchy
(A monarchyis a form of government in which sovereignty is actually
or nominally embodied in one or several individual(s) reigning until
death or abdication. They are calledthe monarchs) and aristocracy
(rule of the best group of people).
3. WHAT IS POWER ?
• The abilitytocontrol peopleor things or todo something.
WHAT IS POWER SHARING?
• When theabilitytocontrol peopleor thingsis divided ontomore
then twoparts is calledpowersharing.
• In thiscontext/chaptertheword power sharing refers tothe
division ofgovernmentpower atevery part of levels.
4. WHY IS POWER SHARING NECESSARY?
• Power sharing is necessary toensurethe stabilityofpoliticalorder
in a democracy.
• It isdesirabletoreduce thepossibilityofconflictbetweensocial
groups .
• It ensures stabilityofgovernmentand unity of thenation.
5. WHAT ARE THE FORMS OF POWER
SHARING?
• Power sharing can be betweenthefollowing:-
Organs of thegovernment.
Governmentat differentlevels.
Social groups.
Politicalpartiesand pressure groups.
8. ABOUT BELGIUM .
• Belgiumisa smallcountry in Europesmallerinarea than thestate
ofHaryana, it has boards with Netherlands,France,Germany and
Luxembourger.
• This smallcountry is very complex.In thetotalpopulation ,59%
lives in theFlemishregionand speaksDutch language.
• Theother 40% peoplelives in theWalloniaregionand speaks
French.
• Theremaining1% of theBelgiumspeaksGerman.
9. MAP OF BELGIUM ACCORDING TO THE
% OF LANGUAGE.
As you cansee an
orange dot in the
middle. It is the
capitalof the
country Brussels.
In the capital
80% people
speaks French,
while 20% are
Dutch.
DUTCH SPEAKER 59%
FRENCH SPEAKER 40%
GERMAN SPEAKING 1%
10. THE PROBLEMS OF BELGIUM.
• The minorityFrench-speakingcommunitywas relativelyrich and
power full.
• This was resentedby the Dutch-speakingcommunitywho gotthe
benefitofeconomicdevelopmentand educationmuch later.
• This ledtotensionsbetweenthe Dutch-speakingand the French-
speakingcommunityduringthe 1950sand 1960s.
• Brussels presenteda specialproblem:the Dutch-speakingpeople
constituteda majority,but aminority in thecapital.
13. ABOUT SRILANKA
• SriLanka isan islandnation,just a few kilometresoff the southern coastof
Tamil Nadu. Ithas about 2 crorepeople. Likeother nations in thesouth Asia
region,SriLanka has a diversepopulation.
• Themajorsocial groupsarethe Sinhala-speakers (74%) and the Tamil-
speakers(18%).
• Among Tamils thereare twosub-groups. Tamil natives ofthe country are called
‘SriLankan Tamils’(13%).
• Therest,whose forefatherscame from India asplantationworkersduring
colonial periodare called ‘Indian Tamils’.
• There areabout 7% Christians,who arebothTamil andSinhala.
• TheSinhala-speaking people aremostly Buddhist, whilemost of theTamils are
Hindus and Muslims.
14. % OF LANGUAGES OF SRI LANKA
SINHALA-SPEAKERS 74%
TAMIL SPEAKERS 18%
15. SRI LANKA’S PROBLEM
• Sri-Lankaemerged asanindependent countryin1948.
• Theleaders of theSinhalacommunity soughtto secure dominanceover government byvirtue of their
majority
• As aresult, thedemocraticallyelected government adopted a serriedof MAJORTARIAN measures to
established Sinhalasupremacy.
• In 1956, anActwas passed to recognise Sinhalaastheonly official language,thusdisregarding Tamil.
• Thegovernments followed preferentialpolicies thatfavouredSinhalaapplicantsfor universitypositions
andgovernment jobs.
• A newconstitutionstipulated thatthestateshallprotectand foster Buddhism.
• TheTamils felt thatnoneof themajor political partiesled bythe BuddhistSinhalaleaders wee sensitive
to theirlanguageand culture.
• Theyfelt thatthe constitutionandgovernment policies denied them equal political rights,discriminated
againstthem in gettingjobs andother opportunities andignored theirinterests.Asa result,therelations
between theSinhalaand Tamilscommunities strainedover times.
16. WHAT DID THE TAMILS DO NOW?
• The SriLankan Tamils launched partiesand struggledfor the recognitionof
Tamil asan official language, forregionalautonomy and equality of
opportunity in securing education and jobs.
• Buttheirdemand formore autonomy to provinces populatedby theTamils was
repeatedlydenied.
• By 1980s severalpolitical organisationswereformeddemanding an
independent TamilEelam (state) in northernand easternpartsofSriLanka.
17. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT:-
• At last thedistrust betweenthetwo communitiesturned into
widespread conflict.
• It soon turnedinto a……………….
18. THE PATH TAKEN BY BELGIUM
• The Belgiumleaderstookdifferentpath.They recognisedthe
existenceofregionaldifferencesand culturaldiversities.
• Between1970 and1993,they amendedtheir constitutionfour
timesso as towork out anarrangementthatwouldenable
everyone tolivetogetherwith in thesamecountry.
19. THE FOLLOWING ARE THE PROCESS
DONE BY BELGIUM.
• Constitutionprescribethatthenumber of Dutch and French
speakingministersshallbeequal in thecentregovernment.Some
speciallaws require thesupportofmajorityofmembersfrom each
linguisticgroups.Thus, nosinglecommunitycan makedecisions
unilaterally.
• Manypowers ofthe centralgovernmenthave beengiven tostate
governmentsofthetworegions ofthe country. The state
governmentsare notsubordinatetothe CentralGovernments.
20. • Brussels has aseparategovernmentin which both the
communitieshave equalrepresentation.The French speaking
peopleacceptedequal representationin Brusselsbecause the
Dutch speakingcommunityhas acceptedequal representationin
theCentral Government.
• Apartfrom thecentral and thestategovernment,thereis a third
kindofgovernment.This ‘communitygovernment’is electedby
peoplebelongingtoonelanguagecommunity–Dutch,French
and German speaking–no matterwherethey live.This
governmenthasthe powerregardingcultural,educationaland
languagerelatedissues.
21. WHY POWER SHARING IS DESIRABLE ?
• There aretwo different sets of reasons can be givenin favour of power sharing.
Firstly, power sharing is good because it helps to reduce the possibility of conflict
between social groups. Since social conflict often leads to violence and political
instability, power sharing is a good way to ensure the stability of political order.
Imposing the will of majority community over others may look like and attractive
option in the short run, but in the long runit undermines the unity of the nation.
There is a second, deeper reason why power sharing is good for democracies. Power
sharing is the very spirit of democracy. A democratic rule involves sharing power with
those affected by its exercise, and who have to live with its effects .people have a
right to be consulate on how they are to be governed. A legitimate government is one
where citizens, through participation, acquire a stake in the system.
