Notes And Questions For NCERT Class 10 Social Science Challenges to Democracy

Students can refer to Notes And Questions For NCERT Class 10 Social Science Challenges to Democracy below designed as per the latest syllabus and examination patter for CBSE Class 10 Social Science

Facts that Matter

1. Democracy today faces serious challenges all over the world. Different countries face different minds of challenges.

2. At least one-fourth of the globe is still not under democratic government. Countries that do not have democratic setup face the foundational challenge of making a transition to the democratic style of government. They need to lay the foundation in terms of laws and policies that are followed under the democratic setup. This involves bringing down the existing non-democratic regime, keeping military away from controlling government and establishing a sovereign and functional state.

3. Countries already having the democratic setup face the challenge of expansion. Such countries need to ensure that more social groups, regions and institutions follow democracy in their functioning. This involves ensuring greater power to local governments, extension of federal principle to all the units of the federations.

4. Challenge of deepening is faced by every democracy in one form or another. Every democratic country needs to strengthen the institutions that ensure democracy. This should happen in such a way that people can realise their expectations of democracy. This involves bringing down the control and influence of rich and powerful people in the making of governmental decision and strengthening those institutions that help people’s participation and control.

5. So far Indian democracy is concerned, it is facing a number of challenges. These are— poverty, unemployment, economic inequality, casteism, communalism, illiteracy, etc.

6. Some broad guidelines that can be kept in mind while devising ways and means for political reforms in India are:
— Legal ways of reforming politics: Carefully devised changes in laws can help to discourage wrong political practices and encourage good ones. But, legalconstitutional changes by themselves cannot overcome challenges to the democracy. Democratic reforms are to be carried out mainly by political activists, parties, movements and politically conscious people.
— Any legal change must carefully look at what results it will have on politics. Sometimes the results may be counter-productive. For example, many states have banned people who have more than two children from contesting Panchayat elections. This has resulted in denial of political opportunity to many poor and women, which was not intended.
— Democratic reforms are to be brought about principally through political practice. Therefore, the main focus of the reforms should be on ways to strengthen the democratic practice. The most important concern should be to increase and improve the quality of political participation by ordinary citizens.
— Any proposal of political reforms should think not only about what is a good solution but also about who will implement it and how. It is not wise to think that legislatures will pass legislations that will go against the interest of all political parties and MPs. But measures that rely on democratic movements, citizens’ organisations and the media are likely to succeed.

7. Democracy can be redefined by including the following:
(a) The rulers elected by the people must take all the major decisions.
(b) Elections must offer a choice and fair opportunity to the people to change the current rulers.
(c) The choice and opportunity should be available to all the people on equal basis
(d) The exercise of this choice must lead to a government limited by the basic rules of the constitution and citizens’ rights.

8. Various aspects of democratic government and politics are:
— Democratic rights are not limited to right to vote, stand in elections or forming organisations. Democracy should also offer some social and economic rights to its citizens.
— Power sharing (how it is being shared between government and social groups) is necessary in a democracy.
— Democracy cannot be a brute rule of majority. There is a respect for minority voice in democracy.
— Eliminating discrimination on the basis of the caste, religion and gender is important in democracy.

Flow-Learning

Words that Matter

1. Communalism: Encouraging idea of one particular religion with sense to divide society on basis of religion.
2. Economic inequality: Some people of society are rich and some are poor. This situation is known as economic inequality.
3. Challenges to democracy: Problems which come while ensuring a democratic set up in the country.
4. Illiterate: A person who is unable to read or write.
5. Regional imbalance: Some areas are economically advanced and some areas are backward.
6. Challenge: A challenge is not just a problem. It is a difficulty that carries within an opportunity for progress.
7. Democracy: It is a form of a government in which rulers are elected by the people.
8. Political reform: The suggestions and proposals about overcoming various challenges to democracy.

NCERT QUESTIONS SOLVED

Question 1. Each of these cartoons represents a challenge to democracy. Please describe what that challenge is. Also place it in one of the three categories mentioned in the first section.

Question 2. Complete the table given below:

Ans.

Question 3. Given below are some spheres or sites of democratic politics. You may place against each of these the specific challenges that you noted for one or more countries or cartoons in the previous section. In addition to that write one item for India for each of these spheres. In case you find that some challenges do not fit into any of the categories given below, you can create new categories and put some items under that.

Ans.

Question 4. Let us group these again, this time by the nature of these challenges as per the classification suggested in the first section. For each of these categories, find at least one example from India as well.

Ans.

Question 5. Now let us think only about India. Think of all the challenges that democracy faces in contemporary India. List those five that should be addressed first of all. The listing should be in order of priority, i.e., the challenge you find most important or pressing should be mentioned at number 1, and so on. Give one example of that challenge and your reasons for assigning it the priority.
Ans.

Question 6. Here are some challenges that require political reforms. Discuss these challenges in detail. Study the reform options offered here and give your preferred solution with reasons. Remember that none of the options offered here is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. You can opt for a mix of more than one option, or come up with something that is not offered here. But you must give your solution in details and offer reasons for your choice.
Ans.

Question 7. Here is your space for writing your own definition of good democracy. (Write your name here) ………………… ’s definition of good democracy (not more than 50 words). Features (use only as many points as you want. Try to compress it in as few points as possible)
Ans. Good democracy. A form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them.
Features
1. Constitutional design
2. Democratic rights
3. People’s rule
4. Free and fair elections
5. Federalism-decentralisation
6. Accommodation of diversities
7. Political organisations

MORE QUESTIONS SOLVED

I. MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
Choose the correct option:

1. What type of challenge is faced by a non-democratic country for democratic set up?
(a) Foundational challenge
(b) Challenge of deepening
(c) Challenge of expansion
(d) Challenge of money power

2. What is the ratio of non-democratic countries in the world?
(a) One-third
(b) One-fourth
(c) Half of the countries
(d) Two-third

3. Where did the most cases of doctor absenteeism take place?
(a) Andhra Pradesh
(b) Bihar
(c) Uttar Pradesh
(d) Gujarat

4. Which are the two countries that face challenge of expansion of democracy?
(a) China and Nepal
(b) Myanmar and Pakistan
(c) India and US
(d) France and Nepal

5. At least one-fourth of the globe is facing the ………. .
(a) foundational challenge
(b) challenge of expansion
(c) challenge of deepening of democracy
(d) all of the above.

II. VERY SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

Question 1. Which challenge is being faced by every democracy is one form or the other?
Ans. The challenge of deepening of democracy.

Question 2. What should be the main focus of political reforms?
Ans. The main focus of political reforms should be an ways to strengthen democratic practice.

Question 3. Mention two points about which any proposal for political reforms should think.
Ans. (i) It should think about what is a good solution.
(ii) It should think about who will implement it and how.

Question 4. Name two countries which face the challenge of expansion of democracy.
Ans. India and USA.

Question 5. Define the challenge of deepening of democracy in general terms.
Ans. It means strengthening those institutions that help people’s participation and control.

III. SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

Question 1. What are the various aspects of democratic government and politics?
Ans. Various aspects of democratic government and politics:
1. Democratic rights are not limited to right to vote, stand in elections or forming organisations. Democracy should also offer some social and economic rights to its citizens.
2. Power sharing (how it is being shared between governments and social groups) is necessary in a democracy.
3. Democracy cannot be a brute rule of majority and that respect for minority voice is necessary for democracy.
4. Eliminating discrimination on the basis of the caste, religion and gender is important in democracy.

Question 2. What are the reforms needed to decrease doctors’ absenteeism?
Ans. 1. The government should make it compulsory for the doctors to live in the village where they are posted; otherwise their service should be terminated.
2. Surprise raids to check the attendance of the doctors by district administration and police should be carried out.
3. Village panchayat should be given the power to write the annual report of the doctor which should be read out in the gram sabha meeting.
4. Uttar Pradesh should be split into several smaller states which can be administered more efficiently.

Question 3. What do you understand by ‘counter-productive law’?
Ans. If there is any legal change, it must carefully look at what results it will have on politics. Sometimes the results may be counter productive. For example, many states have banned people who have more than two children from contesting panchayat elections. This has resulted in denial of political opportunity to many poor and women which was not intended.
Generally laws that seek to ban something are not successful in politics, instead laws that give political actors incentives to do good things are more successful. The best laws are those which empower people to carry out democratic reforms. The Right to Information Act is a good example of law that empowers people to find out what is happening in the government and act as watchdogs of the democracy.
Such law helps to control corruption and supplements the existing laws that banned corruption and imposed strict penalties.

Question 4. How could the influence of money be decreased in politics?
Ans. The financial accounts of every political party should be examined by government auditors. There should be state funding of elections. Citizens should be encouraged to give more donations to parties and to political workers. Such donations should be exempted from income tax.

Question 5. What is the challenge of expansion?
Ans. Countries already having the democratic set-up face the challenge of expansion. Such countries need to ensure that more and more social groups, regions and institutions follow democracy in their functioning. This involves:
1. Ensuring greater power to local government.
2. Extension of federal principle to all the units of the federations.
3. Inclusion of women and minority groups etc.
4. It also means that less and less decision should remain outside the domain of democratic control.
5. Most countries including India and US face this kind of challenge.

Question 6. Discuss two challenges that Indian democracy is facing.
Ans. 1. Casteism: People from different castes form different communities and they have different interests. Under the caste system, work is divided on the basis of the caste of the person. The high-paying and respectable jobs are usually given to the higher caste groups and low-paying jobs are given to the low caste groups. Castes have led to caste discrimination in the country.
2. Communalism: Communalism means promoting the ideas of a particular religion with a view to divide the society on religious grounds. It believes that people belonging to one religion belong to one community. The British followed the policy of ‘divide and rule’ and created differences in two major communities, the Hindus and the Muslims. This sowed the seeds of communalism in the society.

Question 7. How can democracy be improved in practical form?
Ans. Democratic principles should be reformed in practical form by strengthening the democratic practices and traditions. There is a need to enhance the value of political involvement by common citizens. The efforts of political organisations, parties and movements can do this.

Question 8. “Different countries face different kinds of challenges”. Support the statement with suitable examples.
Ans. A challenge is not just a problem. It is a difficulty that carries within an opportunity for progress. Once we overcome a challenge we go up to a higher level than before. The serious challenges that democracy faces in different countries of the world for smooth running of government are called challenges to democracy.
Few challenges faced by democracy in several parts of the world:
1. Foundational Challenge: At least one-fourth of the globe is still not under democratic governments. Countries that do not have democratic setup face the foundational challenge of making a transition to the democratic style of government. They need to lay the foundation in terms of laws and policies that would be followed under the democratic setup. This involves—bringing down the existing non-democratic regime, keeping military away from controlling government and establishing a sovereign and functional state.
2. Challenge of Expansion: Countries already having the democratic setup face the challenge of expansion. Such countries need to ensure that more and more social groups, regions and institutions follow democracy in their functioning. This involves—ensuring greater power to local governments, extension of federal principle to all the units of the federations, inclusion of women and minority groups etc.. It also means that less and less decision should remain outside the domain of democratic control. Most countries including India and US face this kind of challenge.
3. Challenge of deepening: This challenge is faced by every democracy in this form or another. Every democratic country needs to strengthen the institutions that ensure democracy. This should happen in such a way that people can realise their expectations of democracy. This involves— strengthening of the institutions and practices of democracy and bringing down the control and influence of rich and powerful people in the making of governmental decision.

IV. LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

Question 1. What is meant by the term “challenges to democracy”? Discuss few challenges faced by democracy in several parts of the world.
                                        Or
“Most of the democracies of the world face the challenge of expansion and challenge of deepening of democracy.” Justify the statement.
Ans. A challenge is not just a problem. It is a difficulty that carries within an opportunity for progress. Once we overcome a challenge we go up to a higher level than before. The serious challenges that democracy faces in different countries of the world for smooth running of government are called challenges to democracy.
Few challenges faced by democracy in several parts of the world:
1. Foundational Challenge: At least one-fourth of the globe is still not under democratic governments. Countries that do not have democratic setup face the foundational challenge of making a transition to the democratic style of government. They need to lay the foundation in terms of laws and policies that would be followed under the democratic setup. This involves—bringing down the existing non-democratic regime, keeping military away from controlling government and establishing a sovereign and functional state.
2. Challenge of Expansion: Countries already having the democratic setup face the challenge of expansion. Such countries need to ensure that more and more social groups, regions and institutions follow democracy in their functioning. This involves—ensuring greater power to local governments, extension of federal principle to all the units of the federations, inclusion of women and minority groups etc.. It also means that less and less decision should remain outside the domain of democratic control. Most countries including India and US face this kind of challenge.
3. Challenge of deepening: This challenge is faced by every democracy in this form or another. Every democratic country needs to strengthen the institutions that ensure democracy. This should happen in such a way that people can realise their expectations of democracy. This involves— strengthening of the institutions and practices of democracy and bringing down the control and influence of rich and powerful people in the making of governmental decision.

Question 2. Discuss some ways and means for political reform in India.
                                        Or
Mention some of the guidelines that can be kept in mind while devising ways and means for political reforms in India.
Ans. Some broad guidelines that can be kept in mind while devising ways and means for political reforms in India are:
1. Legal ways of reforming politics: Carefully devised changes in laws can help to discourage wrong political practices and encourage good ones. But, legalconstitutional changes by themselves cannot overcome challenges to the democracy. Democratic reforms are to be carried out mainly by the political activists, parties, movements and politically conscious citizens.
2. Careful study of consequences should be done: If there is any legal change, it must carefully look at what results it will have on politics. Sometimes the results may be counter-productive. For example, many states have banned people from contesting Panchayat elections who have more than two children. This has resulted in denial of political opportunity to many poor and women, which was not intended.
3. Ways to strengthen the democratic practice: Democratic reforms are to be brought about principally through political practice. Therefore, the main focus of the reforms should be on ways to strengthen the democratic practice. The most important concern should be to increase and improve the quality of political participation by ordinary citizens.
4. Any proposal of political reform should think not only about what is a good solution but also consider about who will implement it and how. It is not wise to think that legislatures will pass legislations that will go against the interest of all political parties and MPs. But, measures that rely on democratic movements, citizens, organisations and the media are likely to succeed.