1. The document discusses power sharing in democracies using examples from Belgium and Sri Lanka. 2. In Belgium, power is shared between the Dutch-speaking Flemish and French-speaking Wallonian communities to avoid tensions over language and representation. 3. In Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese majority imposed their language and culture on Tamils, leading to conflict and civil war as Tamils felt discriminated against and their culture threatened.

1. CLASS – X.
SOCIAL SCIENCE.
DEMOCRATIC POLITICS – II.
POWER SHARING
(PART – ONE)
BY- NITA.I

2. Children, we are aware about the meaning & peculiarities of
‘democracy’. In a democracy, all power does not rest with
any one organ of the state.
But, it is very important to understand that an intelligent
sharing of power among legislature, executive & judiciary
are very important to design a democracy.
“Sharing of Power?”
Let, us study the concept of “Sharing of Power”.

3. • Power sharing refers to a technique to share the
power at different levels. It is an idea inculcated
in democracy so that the power is not
concentrated at one hand only.
• The different forms can keep a check on each
other.
• India is an example of ‘holding together’
federations, where the power is shared between
central govt. & different constituent states.

4. • So, students, to understand the concept of
‘Power sharing’. We consider the two
stories from Belgium & Sri Lanka.
• What can we understand from these two
stories?
→ My dear students, these democracies
handle demands for power sharing.
The stories will yield some general
conclusions about the need for power
sharing in democracy. This allows us to
discuss various forms of power sharing that
will be taken in this & the next chapter.

5. ❑Belgium is a small country in Europe, smaller in area than
the state of Haryana. It has borders with France,
Netherlands, Germany, & Luxembourg.
❑It has a population of a little over 1 crore about half the
population of Haryana.

6. ❑The ETHNIC composition of this small country is very
complex.
❑Of the country's total 59% lives in the Flemish region &
speaks Dutch language.
❑Another 40% people live in the Wallonia region & speak
French. Remaining 1% of the Belgians speak German.
❑In the capital city Brussels, 80% people speak French
while 20% are Dutch speaking.
40%
59%
1%
Dutch
Language
French Language
German Language
ETHNIC COMPOSITION OF BELGIUM

7. ❑The minority French speaking community was relatively rich &
powerful. This was resented by Dutch speaking community who
got the benefit of economic development & education much later.
❑This led to tensions between Dutch & French speaking
communities during 1950 – 1960. The tensions between the two
communities was more acute in Brussels.
❑Brussels presented a special problem the Dutch speaking people
constituted a majority in the country, but a minority in the
capital.

8. • Sri Lanka is an island
nation, just a few
kilometers off the
southern coast of Tamil
Nadu.
• It has about 2 crore
people as about the
same as in case of
Haryana.
• Like other Asian
Nations, Sri Lanka has
a diversity in
population.

9. • The major social group are the
Sinhala – speakers (74%) and
the Tamil speakers (18%).
• Among Tamils there are 2 sub –
groups.
• Tamil natives of the country are
‘Sri Lankan Tamils’ (13%). The
rest, whose forefathers came
from India as plantation
workers during the colonial
period are called Indian Tamils.
• As you can see from the map,
Sri Lankan Tamils are
concentrated in the north & east
of country.

10. • Most of the Sinhala – speaking
people are Buddhist, while most of
Tamils are Hindus or Muslims.
• There are about 7% Christians, who
are both Tamil & Sinhala.
• Just imagine what could happen in
situations like this.

11. • In Belgium, the Dutch community could like to take the
advantage of its numeric majority & force its will on the
French & German speaking population.
• This would push the conflict among the communities further.
• This could lead to a very messy partition of the country; both
the sides would claim control over Brussels.
• In Sri Lanka, the Sinhala community enjoyed an even bigger
majority & could impose its will on the entire country.
• Now let us see what happens in both the countries !

12. ➢ The new Constitution gave protection & fostered Buddhism.

13. 1. The 1956 Act introduced by Sinhalese
government made Sinhala as the only official
language of Sri Lanka which increased the
feeling of alienation among the Sri Lankan
Tamils.
2. The Tamils felt that the Sinhalese are
insensitive to their language and culture.
3. The Tamils felt that they are being
discriminated in government jobs and higher
education.
4. The Tamils felt that Government is Changing
the demography of Tamil dominated regions.

15. ❑ The distrust between the
two communities turned into
widespread conflict.
❑ A Civil War broke out.
❑ As a result thousands of
people of both the
communities have been
killed.
❑ Many families were forced to
leave the country as
refugees and many more lost
their livelihoods.
❑ The civil war has caused a
terrible setback to the social,
cultural and economic life of
the country.

16. ACCOMMODATION IN BELGIUM COUNTRY.
• The Belgian Leaders recognized the existence of regional differences &
cultural diversities.
• They amended their constitution 4 times between 1970 & 1993.
ELEMENTS OF BELGIAN MODEL.
• Constitution prescribes that the no. of Dutch and French speaking ministers
shall be equal in the central government.
• These state government are not the sub – ordinate to central government.
• Brussels has a separate government in which both the communities have
equal representation.
• Apart from the central & state government. there is a 3rd kind of government
called as “community government” elected by people belonging to one
language community- Dutch, French & German-speaking –no matter where
they live. This government has the power regarding cultural, educational and
language – related issues.

17. ❖Belgian model is indeed very
complicated, even for people living in
Belgium.
❖But these arrangements have worked
very well so far.
❖They helped to avoid civic strife
between the two major communities
and a possible division of the country
on linguistic lines.
❖When many countries of Europe came
together to form the European Union,
Brussels was chosen as its
headquarters. EUROPEAN UNION
HEAD OFFICE
EUROPEAN UNION
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