- What do you mean Political parties ?
Political parties are one of the most visible institutions in a democracy. They reflect fundamental political divisions in a society.
2. What are activities of the political parties ?
Parties contest elections, put forward different policies and programmes, play a decisive role in making laws for a country, form and run government.
3. Which parties play the role of opposition ?
Those parties that lose in the elections play the role of opposition to the parties in power.
4. Why the political parties are necessary in modern democracy?
Political parties are necessary in modern democracy as without it , every candidate in the election will be independent. So no one will be able to make any promises to the people about any major policy changes.
5. What kind of political party system we find in India?
India has a multi-party system where the government is formed by various parties coming together in a coalition
6. Which is called state party? **
A party that secure at least six per cent of the total votes in an election to the Legislative Assembly of a state and wins at least two seats is recognised as state party.
7. Which party is called national party? **
A party that secures at least six per cent of the total votes in the Lok Sabha elections or Assembly elections in four states and wins at least four seats in the Lok Sabha is recognized as national party.
8. Name the national recognized parties in our country?
Seven national recognized parties in our country i.e. INC,BJP, BSP,CPIM,CPI,NCP and AITC.
3 Marks questions
- Explain three functions of each of the ruling party. ***
Functions of the ruling parties are as follows:-
(i) They play major role in making laws for the country.
(ii) They form the government and run the country.
(iii) They recruit leaders, train them and then make ministers to run the government.
2. What are the characteristics of a political party? ***
Characteristics of a political party are:-
(i) Every party has a certain structure. The group of people is organized in a proper way.
(ii) All the members agree on some policies and programmes for the society with a view to promote the collective good. They seek to implement these policies by winning popular support through elections.
(iii) Political parties reflects fundamental political divisions in a society. Parties are about a part of the society and thus involve partnership.
3.”Political parties play a major role in modern democracy”. Explain any three points to justify this statement. ***
The political parties play an important role in modern democracy as:-
(i) Parties contest elections: In most democracies , elections are fought mainly among the candidates put up by political parties.
(ii)Parties put forward different policies and programs and the voters choose from them.
(iii)Parties play a decisive role in making laws for a country.
4. What do you understand by the bi-party system ? Write its one merit and demerit . **
By party system:-
(i) In some countries, power usually changes between two main parties. It is also known as two party system.
(ii) In this system, the government is formed by one party and other plays the role of opposition.
(iii) Merit:-This system allows stability of government as no coalition is there.
Demerit:- In this system, only two main parties have a serious chance of winning majority seats to form the government.
5. What is a multi-party system? Why has India adopted a multi-party system? Explain. **
Multi-party system: If several parties compete for power and more than two parties have a reasonable chance of coming to power either on their own strength or in alliance with others, we call it a multi-party system. India adopted a Multi party system because:
(i) There is social and geographical diversity in India.
(ii) India is such a large country which is not easily absorbed by two or three parties.
(iii) The system allows a variety of interests and opinions to enjoy political representation.
5 Marks questions
1. What are the functions of political parties? ***
.”Political parties are necessary conditions for a democracy” because of the following reasons—
(i) We cannot think modern democracies without political parties. In case there are no political parties every candidate in the elections will be independent, no one will be able to make any promises to the people about any major policy changes. The government may be formed, but its utility will remain always uncertain.
(ii) Elected representative will be accountable to their constituency for what they do in the locality. But, no one will responsible for how the country will run.
(iii) Political parties agree on policies and programmes to promote collective good and influence people to know why their policy is better than others. They try to implement the policies by winning popular support through elections.
(iv) The absence of political parties would affect a democracy badly. The interest of all the people would not reach the Parliament. Therefore, some sections of people would remain behind the mainstream .They would not get all the welfare measures.
(v) The role of opposition party in a democracy necessities the existence of political parties.
