Power sharing ........... Grade X

Summary Of The Topics

Belgium and Sri Lanka
Majoritarianism in Sri Lanka
Accommodation in Belgium
Forms of power sharing

Introduction
In a democracy all power does not rest with any one organ of the state. An intelligent sharing of power among legislature, executive and judiciary is very important to the design of a democracy. In this chapter we will  understand the idea of power sharing. We start with two stories from Belgium and Sri Lanka. Both these stories are about how democracies handle demands for power sharing.The stories yield some general conclusions about the need for power sharing in democracy. This allows to learn various forms of power sharing.

Belgium 
Belgium is a small country in Europe. It has borders with Netherlands, France and Germany. It has a population of a little over one crore. The ETHNIC composition of this small country is very complex. Of the country’s total population, 59 per cent lives in the Flemish region and speaks Dutch language. Another 40 per cent people live in the Wallonia region and speak French. Remaining 1 per cent of the Belgians speak German. In the capital city Brussels, 80 per cent people speak French while 20 per cent are Dutch-speaking.

Look at the maps of Belgium. In which region do you find concentration of different communities?

Communities and regions of Belgium

 

Brussels-Capital region

Walloon (French-speaking)

Flemish (Dutch-speaking)

German-speaking (with blue line}

Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is an island nation, just a few kilometres off
the southern coast of Tamil Nadu. It has about 2 crore people. Like other nations in the South Asia region, Sri Lanka has a diverse population. The major social groups are the Sinhala-speakers (74 per cent) and the Tamil-speakers (18 per cent). Among Tamils there are two subgroups. Tamil natives of the country are called ‘Sri Lankan Tamils’ (13 per
cent). The rest, whose forefathers came from India as plantation workers during colonial period, are called ‘Indian
Tamils’. As you can see from the map Sri Lankan Tamils are concentrated in the north and east of the country. Most
of the Sinhala-speaking people are Buddhist, while most of the Tamils are Hindus or Muslism. There are about 7 per cent Christians, who are both Tamil and Sinhala.

Sinhalese

Srilankan Tamil

Indian Tamil

small circle shows Muslim

I.Answer the following questions:-

Q 1. Explain the ethnic composition of Belgium.

1. The ethnic composition of Belgium:-
2. Of the country’s total population, 59 per cent lives in the Flemish region and speaks Dutch language. 
3. Another 40 per cent people live in the Wallonia region and speak French. 
4. Remaining 1 percent of the Belgians speak German.
5. In the capital city Brussels, 80 per cent people speak French while 20 per cent are Dutch-speaking. 

Q 2. Explain the ethnic composition of Sri Lanka.  

1. Sri Lanka is an island nation and has a population of about 2 crore. 
2. Sri Lanka has a diverse population. 
3. The major social groups are the Sinhala-speakers (74 per cent) and the Tamil-speakers (18 per cent). 
4. Among Tamils there are two subgroups.
5. Tamil natives of the country are called ‘Sri Lankan Tamils’ (13 per cent).
6. The rest, whose forefathers came from India as plantation workers during colonial period are called ‘Indian Tamils'. 

Q 3. Explain Majoritarianism in Sri Lanka.

1. Sri Lanka emerged as an independent country in 1948. 
2. The leaders of the Sinhala community secured dominance over government because of their majority. 
3. The democratically elected government adopted a series of Majoritarian measures to establish Sinhala supremacy.
4. In 1956, an Act was passed to recognise Sinhala as the only official language, thus disregarding Tamil. 
5. The governments followed preferential policies that favoured Sinhala applicants for university positions and government jobs. 
6. A new constitution stipulated that the state shall protect and foster Buddhism.
7. All these government measures increased the feeling of alienation among the Sri Lankan Tamils and felt that none of the major political parties led by the Buddhist Sinhala leaders were sensitive to their language and culture. 
8. They felt that the constitution and government policies denied them equal political rights, discriminated against them in getting jobs and other opportunities and ignored their interests. 
9. As a result, the relations between the Sinhala and Tamil communities strained over time.

Q 4. What is the cause of Civil War in Sri Lanka?

1. The Sri Lankan Tamils launched parties and struggles for the recognition of Tamil as an official language, for regional autonomy and equality of opportunity in securing education and jobs. 
2. Their demand for more autonomy to provinces populated by the Tamils was repeatedly denied.
3. By 1980s several political organisations were formed demanding an independent Tamil Eelam (state) in northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka.
4. The distrust between the two communities turned into wide spread conflict which  turned into a CIVIL WAR.
5. 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.

Q 5. How did Belgium accommodate the problem of Majoritarianism?

1. To accommodate the problem of Majoritarianism the Belgian leaders  recognised the existence of regional differences and cultural diversities. 
2. Between 1970 and 1993, they amended their constitution four times to work out an arrangement that would enable everyone to live together within the same country. 
3. Belgian model Constitution prescribes that the number of Dutch and French-speaking ministers shall be equal in the central government. 
4. Some special laws require the support of majority of members from each linguistic group.Thus, no single community can make decisions unilaterally.
5. Many powers of the central government have been given to state governments of the two regions of the country. 
6. The state governments are not subordinate to the Central Government.
7. Brussels has a separate government in which both the communities have equal representation. 
8. The French speaking people accepted equal representation in Brussels because the Dutch-speaking community has accepted equal representation in the Central Government.
9. Apart from the Central and the State Government, there is a third kind of government called as a‘community government’. 
10. This is elected by people belonging to one language community – Dutch, French and German-speaking – no matter where they live. This government has the power regarding cultural, educational and language-related issues.
11. These arrangements have helped to avoid civic strife between the two major communities and division of the country on linguistic lines.

Q 6. Why Power sharing is needed?

Power sharing is needed because:-

1. Firstly, power sharing  helps to reduce the possibility of conflict between social groups. 
2. Since social conflict often leads to violence and political instability, power sharing  ensures the stability of political order. 
3. Imposing the will of majority community over others may be an attractive option in the short run, but in the long run it undermines the unity of the nation.
4. Tyranny of the majority is not just oppressive for the minority; it often brings ruin to the majority as well.

There is a second, deeper reason why power sharing is good for
democracies. 

1. Power sharing is the very spirit of democracy. 
2. A democratic rule involves sharing power with those affected by its exercise, and who have to live with its effects. 
3. People have a right to be consulted on how they are to be governed. 
4. A legitimate government is one where citizens participate in the system.

Q 7.What is the Prudential and Moral  reasons of power sharing?

1. Prudential reasons stress that power sharing will bring out better outcomes whereas  moral reasons emphasizes the very act of power sharing as valuable. 
2. Please Note:-In the above answer the first rason is an example of prudential and second is an example of moral reasons for power sharing.

Q 8. What are the different forms of power sharing in modern democracies?

    

Horizontal division of power  

1. Power is shared among different organs of government, such as the legislature, executive and judiciary. This is known as horizontal distribution of power because it allows different organs of government placed at the same level to exercise different powers. 
2. Such a separation ensures that none of the organs can exercise unlimited power. Each organ checks the others. This results in a balance of power among various institutions.

Vertical division of power

1. Power can be shared among governments at different levels – a general government for the entire country and governments at the provincial or regional level. 
2. Such a general government for the entire country is called federal government. 
3. In India,  it is known  as the Central or Union Government. The governments at the provincial or regional level are called State Governments.

Division of powers among different social groups

1. Power may also be shared among different social groups, such as the religious and linguistic groups. ‘Community government’ in Belgium is a good example of this arrangement.

Division of powers between political parties, pressure groups and movements

1. Power sharing is also there by political parties, pressure groups and movements control or influence those in power.
2. In a democracy, the citizens must have freedom to choose among various contenders for power. 
3. In contemporary democracies the competition among different parties ensures that power does not remain in one hand and power is shared among different political parties that represent different ideologies and social groups. 
4. Sometimes this kind of sharing can be direct, when two or more parties form an alliance to contest elections.their alliance iselected, they form a coalition government and  share power. 
5. In democracy interest groups such as those of traders, businessmen, industrialists, farmers and industrial workers also have a share in governmental power, either through participation in governmental committees or bringing influence on the decision making process.

New words

Ethnic: A social division based on shared culture. People belonging to the same ethnic group believe in their common descent because of similarities of physical type or of culture or both. They need not always have the same religion or nationality.

Majoritarianism: A belief that the majority community should be
able to rule a country in whichever way it wants, by disregarding the wishes and needs of the minority.

Civil war: A violent conflict between opposing groups within a country that becomes so intense that it appears like a war.

Prudential: Based on prudence, or on careful calculation of gains and losses. Prudential decisions are usually contrasted with those decisions based purely on moral considerations.