CHAPTER- 1 POWER- SHARING
NOTES
1. Belgium- Belgium is a small country in Europe, even smaller in area than our Haryana state.
- Its population is a little over ten million, which is about half the population of Haryana.
- About 59 percent of the country's total population lives in the Flemish region and speaks Dutch.
- The remaining 40 percent of the people live in the Wallonia region and speak French.
- The remaining one percent of the people speak German.
- The minority French-speaking people have been comparatively more prosperous and powerful.
- The Dutch-speaking people were relatively greater in number, but they were weaker and in the minority in terms of wealth and prosperity.
2. Sri Lanka- Sri Lanka is an island country.
- Its population is about twenty million, which is equivalent to that of Haryana.
- The largest social group is the Sinhalese, who make up 74 percent of the total population.
- The Tamil population constitutes 18 percent of the total population. Among the Tamils, there are two groups – Sri Lankan Tamils (13 percent) and Indian Tamils.
- Most Sinhalese-speaking people are Buddhists, while among the Tamil-speaking people, some are Hindus and some are Muslims.
3. Majoritarianism in Sri Lanka-
- In 1948, Sri Lanka became an independent nation. The democratically elected government took several steps under its majoritarianism to establish the dominance of the Sinhalese community.
- In 1956, a law was enacted that sidelined Tamil and declared Sinhalese as the sole official language.
- Sri Lankan Tamils formed their political parties and struggled for making Tamil an official language, achieving regional autonomy, and securing equal opportunities in education and employment.
- By the 1980s, many political organizations had formed in northeastern Sri Lanka demanding the creation of an independent Tamil Eelam (government).
4. Belgium’s Wisdom-
- Between 1970 and 1993, they made four amendments to their constitution solely to ensure that no person living in the country would feel alienated and that everyone could live together harmoniously.
- Some key points of Belgium’s model-
- The constitution clearly provides that the number of Dutch-speaking and French-speaking ministers in the central government will be equal.
- Many powers of the central government have been delegated to the regional governments of the two regions.
- Brussels has a separate government with equal representation of both communities.
- Besides the central and state governments, there is also a third level of government here, called the community government.
- When several European countries decided to come together to form the European Union, Brussels was chosen as its headquarters.
5. Why is power-sharing important-
- Power-sharing is important because it reduces the likelihood of conflict between different social groups.
- Power-sharing is, in fact, the soul of democracy.
6. The pragmatic or practical argument emphasizes beneficial outcomes, while the moral argument highlights the inherent importance of power-sharing.
7. In modern democratic systems, there are various forms of power-sharing-
- Power is divided among different branches of government, such as the legislature, executive, and judiciary. This is called horizontal distribution of power.
- Power can also be shared at different levels of government: for example, there can be a central government for the entire country and separate governments at the provincial or regional level.
- Power can also be shared among different social groups, such as linguistic and religious communities.
- One form of power-sharing can also be seen in the way different pressure groups and movements influence and control governance.
