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Class 10 Civics Chapter 8 Extra Questions and Answers Challenges to Democracy
Challenges to Democracy Class 10 Extra Questions and Answer Civics Chapter 8 Very Short Answers Type
Question 1.
A country holds election to elect peoples’ representatives to form the government but the elections are not fair. Identify the kind of challenge faced by the people in such a country.
Answer:
People in such a country face the challenge of expansion of democracy.
Question 2.
Which Act empowers the people to find out what is going on in the government?
Answer:
Right to Information Act.
Question 3.
Which countries face the foundational challenge of democracy?
Answer:
The countries having non-democratic governments face this challenge.
Question 4.
Name two countries which face the challenge of expansion of democracy.
Answer:
India and the United States of America.
Question 5.
What does the challenge of deepening of democracy involve?
Answer:
This involves strengthening of the institutions and practices of democracy.
Question 6.
What do you mean by ‘challenges to democracy’?
Answer:
‘Challenges to democracy’ means various problems that come while ensuring a democratic set up in a country.
Question 7.
What do you mean by ‘democratic reform’ or ‘political reform’?
Answer:
Generally, all suggestions or proposals about overcoming various challenges to democracy are called ‘democratic reform’ or ‘political reform’.
Question 8.
How can you say that political reforms can be counter-productive? Give an example.
Answer:
Sometimes political reforms can 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 democratic opportunity to many poor and women, which was not intended.
Question 9.
Name all the three challenges faced by democracy.
Answer:
- Foundational challenge
- Challenge of expansion of democracy
- Challenge of deepening of democracy
Question 10.
Which challenge is faced by every democracy in one form or another?
Answer:
The challenge of deepening of democracy is faced by every democracy in one form or another.
Question 11.
Which challenge is being faced by most of the established democracies in the world?
Answer:
Most of the established democracies face the challenge of expansion.
Challenges to Democracy Class 10 Extra Questions and Answer Civics Chapter 8 Short Answers Type
Question 1.
Suggest some broad guidelines that can be kept in mind while devising ways and means for political reforms in India.
Answer:
Guidelines for political reforms:
- Any legal change must carefully look at what results it will have on politics. Sometimes the results may be counter-productive.
- The main focus of political reforms should be on ways to strengthen democratic practice.
- Any proposal for political reforms should think not only about what is a good solution but also about who will implement it and how.
Question 2.
How is the deepening of democracy a major challenge to modern democracies? Explain.
Answer:
Deepening of democracy is a challenge that is faced by almost every democracy in one form or another. For example, in case of India, some challenges that are faced are as follows:
- Strengthening of institutions and practices of democracy.
- Strengthening of those institutions that may help people’s participations and control.
- This may require to check the influence of the rich and powerful people in making government decisions.
Question 3.
“A challenge is an opportunity for progress.” Support the statement with your arguments.
Answer:
We often relate challenges to problems. But this is not right. A challenge is not just any problem. We usually call only those difficulties a challenge which are significant and which can be overcome. A challenge is a difficulty that carries within it an opportunity for progress. Once we overcome a challenge we go up to a higher level than before.
When India was under the British rule, many of our fellow Indians accepted the challenges, struggled hard and finally got rod of the foreigners. These fellow Indians became great freedom fighters. If they had not accepted the challenges and overcome them, India would not have become a free nation.
Question 4.
“Legal-constitutional changes by themselves cannot overcome challenges to democracy.” Justify the statement with an example.
Answer:
(i) It seems tempting to think of legal ways of reforming politics, to think of new laws to ban undesirable things. But such a temptation should be resisted.
(ii) No doubt, law has an important role to play in political reform. Carefully devised changes in law can help to discourage wrong political practices and encourage good ones. But legal-constitutional changes by themselves cannot overcome challenges to democracy. Democratic reforms are to be carried out mainly by political activists, parties, movements and politically conscious citizens.
(iii) Any legal change must carefully look at what results it will have on politics. Sometimes the results may be counter-productive. Generally, laws that seek to ban something are not very successful in politics. Laws that empower people to carry out democratic reforms are considered good. For example, the Right to Information Act helps to control corruption and supplements the existing laws that banned corruption and imposed strict penalties.
Question 5.
Explain with examples how some countries face foundational challenge of democracy?
OR
Explain the foundational challenge of democracy by stating three points.
Answer:
(i) At least one-fourth of the globe is still not under democratic government. The challenge for democracy in these parts of the world is very evident.
(ii) These countries face the foundational challenge of making the transition to democracy and then instituting democratic government.
(iii) This involves bringing down the existing non-democratic regime, keeping military away from controlling government and establishing a sovereign and functional state. Nepal was under monarchical rule a decade ago. Now Nepal has changed to a democratic system. Thus, Nepal is a good example of foundational challenge of democracy.
Question 6.
Name the three challenges faced by democracy. Explain the challenge of deepening of democracy by stating three points.
Answer:
Three challenges faced by democracy-
- Foundational challenge
- Challenge of expansion
- Challenge of deepening of democracy.
(a) The challenge of deepening of democracy is faced by every democracy in one form or another. This involves strengthening of the institutions and practices of democracy. This should happen in such a way that people can realise their expectations of democracy.
(b) But ordinary people have different expectations from democracy in different societies. Therefore, this challenge takes different meanings and paths in different parts of the world.
(c) In general terms, it usually means strengthening those institutions that help people’s participation and control. This requires an attempt to bring down the control and influence of the rich and powerful people in making governmental decisions. Example, in Bolivia, the water struggle was a challenge of deepening of democracy.
Question 7.
Examine three challenges to democracy.
OR
Explain the various types of challenges being faced by modern democracies of the world.
Answer:
The three challenges to democracy are—
(i) Foundational Challenge: Countries having non-democratic government face the foundational challenge of making the transition to democracy and then instituting democratic government.
(ii) Challenge of Expansion: Most of the established democracies face the challenge of expansion. This involves applying the basic principle of democratic government across all the regions, different social groups and various institutions. Ensuring greater power to local governments, extension of federal principle to all the units of the federation, inclusion of women and minority groups, etc. fall under this challenge. Most countries including India and other democracies like the US face this challenge.
(iii) Three challenges faced by democracy-
- Foundational challenge
- Challenge of expansion
- Challenge of deepening of democracy.
(a) The challenge of deepening of democracy is faced by every democracy in one form or another. This involves strengthening of the institutions and practices of democracy. This should happen in such a way that people can realise their expectations of democracy.
(b) But ordinary people have different expectations from democracy in different societies. Therefore, this challenge takes different meanings and paths in different parts of the world.
(c) In general terms, it usually means strengthening those institutions that help people’s participation and control. This requires an attempt to bring down the control and influence of the rich and powerful people in making governmental decisions. Example, in Bolivia, the water struggle was a challenge of deepening of democracy.
Question 2.
What is the Right to Information Act? What is its significance?
Answer:
Many democratic governments provide the Right to Information (RTI) to the citizens. The RTI Act, 2005 is a landmark legislation passed by our Parliament. Under this Act, citizens can seek information from government offices pertaining to different activities. Thus, this Act empowers to the people to find out what is happening in government and act as watchdogs of democracy. Such a law helps to control corruption and supplements the existing laws that banned corruption and imposed strict penalties.
Challenges to Democracy Class 10 Extra Questions and Answer Civics Chapter 8 Long Answers Type
Question 1.
Explain any five major challenges being faced by Indian democracy.
Answer:
Five major challenges faced by Indian democracy are—
(i) Over-population: India is the second most populated country in the world after China. The population has increased rapidly during the last century. It is estimated that at this rate of growth in population, the country will double its population in next few decades. The government is very concerned about the size of India’s population and has focused tremendous amounts of energy into combating country’s growth.
(ii) Illiteracy: Illiteracy is one of the biggest challenges that Indian democracy faces. It is a country of huge population but only one-third of them are able to read. This problem is more prominent in rural areas. Many children living in these areas receive a level of education which is too poor. This is also a fact that the education of females is easily ignored in our country.
(iii) Poverty: Poverty in India is widespread. Despite great GDP growth, the effect of poverty remains extreme and reveals a history of exclusion and injustice that affects half of the population. It is a fact that the population of people living below the poverty line in India is the highest in the world. Thus, it is a great challenge to the successful working of democracy.
(iv) Communalism: Communalism was and continues to be one of the major challenges to democracy in our country. Sometimes it takes its most ugly form of communal violence, riots and massacre. The incidents occurred at Godhra, Muzaffarnagar and Dadri can be mentioned in this regard.
(v) Casteism: This is also a major problem of Indian democracy. Ours is a caste-ridden society. Caste is an important source of economic inequality because it regulates access to resources of various kinds. The upper castes are best off, the Dalits and Adivasis are worst off, and the backward classes are in between. Politics too influences the caste system and caste identities by bringing them into the political arena.
Question 2.
What is the meaning of democratic reforms? How can democratic reforms be carried out? Explain with examples.
OR
What are the guidelines to be kept in mind while adopting political reforms in India?
Answer:
Generally, all the suggestions or proposals about overcoming various challenges to democracy are called democratic reforms or political reforms. Since different countries face different challenges, so it is not wise to prescribe the same recipe of desirable political reforms. India is not an exception. Hence, some broad guidelines are to be kept in mind while devising ways and means for political reforms in the country-
(i) Law has an important role to play in political reform. Carefully devised changes in law can help to discourage wrong political practices and encourage good ones. But legal constitutional changes by themselves cannot overcome challenges to democracy. Democratic reforms are to be carried out mainly by political activities, parties, movements and politically conscious citizens.
(ii) Any legal change must carefully look at what results it will have on politics. Sometimes the results may be counter productive. Generally, laws that seek to ban something are not very successful in politics. The best laws are those which empower people to carry out democratic reforms. The Right to Information Act is a good example of a law that empowers the people to find out what is happening in government.
(iii) Democratic reforms are to be brought about principally through political practice. Therefore, the main focus of political reforms should be on ways to strengthen democratic practice. This can be possible by increasing and improving the quality of political participation by ordinary citizens.
(iv) Any proposal for political reforms should think not only about what is a good solution but also about who will implement it and how. It is not very wise to think that the legislatures will pass legislations that go against the interest of all the political parties and MPs. But measures that rely on democratic movements, citizens’ organisation and the media are likely to succeed.
Question 3.
How is deepening of democracy a major challenge to modern democracies? Explain.
Answer:
Three challenges faced by democracy-
- Foundational challenge
- Challenge of expansion
- Challenge of deepening of democracy.
(a) The challenge of deepening of democracy is faced by every democracy in one form or another. This involves strengthening of the institutions and practices of democracy. This should happen in such a way that people can realise their expectations of democracy.
(b) But ordinary people have different expectations from democracy in different societies. Therefore, this challenge takes different meanings and paths in different parts of the world.
(c) In general terms, it usually means strengthening those institutions that help people’s participation and control. This requires an attempt to bring down the control and influence of the rich and powerful people in making governmental decisions. Example, in Bolivia, the water struggle was a challenge of deepening of democracy.
Challenges to Democracy Class 10 Extra Questions and Answer Civics Chapter 8 Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) Questions
Question 1.
How is Myanmar facing the foundational challenge of making a transition to democracy? Explain.
Answer:
Myanmar is a country which is facing the foundational challenge of making a transition to democracy. In 1962, the democratic rule came to an end with a military coup. In 1990, elections were held for the first time after almost 30 years, and the National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi won the election, but the military leaders of Myanmar refused to step down and did not recognise the election results.
Instead the military put the elected pro-democracy leaders, including Suu Kyi under house arrest. Although she has been freed now, but military is still in power in Myanmar and a democratic government has not been established there so far. Due to the coercive policies of the military-ruled government in the country, lakhs of people there have been dislocated. Yet the people in Myanmar are still struggling to establish a democratic government in their country. Let’s see when it becomes a democracy.
Question 2.
How far has India succeeded in overcoming the challenge of expansion before its democracy? Evaluate.
Answer:
Like most of the established democracies in the world, India too faces the challenge of expansion.
- India applies basic principles of democracy across all the regions, different social groups and various institutions.
- Federal principles have been extended to all units of federation giving the right to make laws on the subjects in the State List.
- Power has been decentralised to the level of villages and towns. Panchayats in villages and municipalities in urban areas were set up in all the states.
- Reservation of seats has ensured the participation of women, the minority groups, SCs, STs and OBCs in the governance of the country.
- Attempts are made so that less and less decisions remain outside the arena of democratic control.
Challenges to Democracy Class 10 Extra Questions and Answer Civics Chapter 8 Value-based Questions (VBQs)
Question 1.
What do you mean by foundational challenge in democracy? What values can help to overcome this challenge?
Answer:
Transition to democratic institutions from non-democratic regimes, separation of military from governing authority, establishing a sovereign and a functional state may be some of the foundational challenges in democracies.
The values that may help overcome these challenges are-
- Honesty
- Equality
- Freedom
Question 2.
How are the challenges to democracy linked to the possibility of political reforms? Explain.
Answer:
Democracy is the predominant form of government in the contemporary world but it has also faced many challenges. There are three types of challenges faced by democratic countries i.e. foundational challenge, challenge of expansion and deepening of democracy.
Every challenge of democracy is linked with the possibility of reforms. Broad guidelines like legal and political practices and legislative measures can be kept in mind while devising ways for political reforms. The Right to Information Act is a successful example of a law that has enabled people to carry out democratic reforms. Democratic reforms can be carried out by political parties, pressure groups and above all the politically conscious citizens.
Question 3.
Give a broader meaning of democracy.
OR
Mention some of the features that are important for a good democracy.
Answer:
Democracy is a form of government in which the rulers are elected by the people. This is a simple definition of democracy. We can add some qualifications to this definition of democracy to give it a broader and more clear meaning. These qualifications are given below-
- The rulers elected by the people must take all the major decisions.
- Elections must offer a choice and fair opportunity to the people to change the current rulers.
- This choice and opportunity should be available to all the people on an equal basis.
- The exercise of this choice must lead to a government limited by basic rules of the Constitution and citizens’ rights.