SS Ch-1 Power sharing notes

Politics

Power sharing

 Ethnic  Composition of Belgium

·        Small country in Europe

·         Smaller in area than the state of Haryana

·         Population just over one crore

·         59% Dutch speaking people –lived in Flemish region

·         40% French speaking people  - lived in Wallonia region

·         1 % German speaking people

·         In capital city Brussel 80% French speaking and 20% Dutch speaking

·          French community was more rich and powerful

·         This was resented by Dutch community who got  educational and economic rights much later.

Ø  Dutch community who was in majority could have forced their will on French and German community. This could have led to tension and conflict and could  have led to messy partition of the country.

Ethnic Composition of Srilanka

·        Island nation

·         Located just a few kilometer off the southern coast of Tamilnadu

·         Diverse population

·         Population nearly 2 crores

·         74 % Sinhala speakers – Buddhist

·         18 % Tamil speakers – Hindus or Muslims

13% Srilankan Tamils

5 % Indian Tamils

·         7 % Christians – who are both Tamil and Sinhalas

Ø  In Srilanka Sinhala community enjoyed even bigger majority and could impose their will on the entire community.

  

Accomodation in Srilanka

After Srilanka became independent in 1948 leaders of Sinhala community soulght to secure dominance by virtue of their majority.

Act was passed in 1956

·         Recognized Sinhala as official language

·         Government  followed preferential policy that favoured Sinhala applicants for university position and government jobs.

·         State shall protect and foster Buddhism

What strained relation between Tamils and Sinhalese?

·         All these government measures coming one after the other gradually increased the feeling of alienation among the Sri-lankan Tamils.

·         They felt that none  of the political party led by Sinhala Buddhist was sensitive to their language and culture

·         They felt that the constitution and government policies denied them equal rights,

discriminated against them in getting jobs and other opportunities and ignored their   interest.

This strained the relations between Sinhalas and Tamils

Ø  Sri-lankan Tamils launched parties and struggles for the recognizing Tamil as an official language.

Ø  Demanded autonomy

Ø  Demanded equal opportunity in education and jobs

Ø  Political organization was formed demanding an independent Tamil Eelam in northern and eastern part of Sri-Lanka.

Ø  The distrust between both the communities turned into widespread conflict.

o   It soon resulted into Civil war.

o   As a result thousands of people of both the communities  killed.

o   Many were forced to leave the country as refugees.

o   Many people lost their livelihood.

Belgium accommodation

·        Number ofDutch and French speaking ministers shall be equal in the central government.

·        Some special laws require the support of majority of members from each linguistic group

·         No single community can make decisions unilaterally

·     Many powers of central government have been given to state government of two region of the country.

·         The state government are not subordinate to the central govt.

·         Brussels has a separate govt. in which both the communities have equal representation.

·         There is a third kind of govt. called community govt. which is elected by people belonging to one language community Dutch,French  and german speaking , no matter where they live.

·         The community govt. has the power regarding cultural effect.

·         It brought peace and stability in politics in entire country.

Why power sharing is necessary?

·         It reduces possibility of conflict between social groups

·         It ensures stability of political order and strengthens unity of the nation.

·         It is more beneficial and practical

·         Power sharing is the essence of democracy

·         People have a right to be consulted on how they are to be governed.

Different forms of power sharing

· 

    Horizontal division of power sharing

Power is shared among different organs of govt. legislature, executive and judiciary.this ensures that none of the organ can exercise unlimited power

·     

    Vertical division of power

Power can be shared among govt. at different levels .

Govt. general for the entire country.

Govt. at the regional and provincial level such as municipal and panchayat leverl

· Division of powers among social group

The countries having community govt. share the power among different social groups such as the religious and linguistic groups.eg. Belgium

· Division of power among politicial parties pressure groups and movements

Political parties, pressure groups and movements help in controlling or influencing those are in power.