Federalism and political parties
Class 10 Social Science · Political Science · 24 questions with answers
Political Science in Class 10 asks for arguments with their qualifications, not for definitions. A question on political parties wants the case for them and the honest problems with them, and an answer that only criticises scores no better than one that only praises. That balance is the skill this sheet practises.
- Places a subject in the correct legislative list
- Explains why India adopted a federal structure
- Explains what decentralisation achieves and where it falls short
- States the functions of political parties and the challenges they face
Exercise 1 of 3 · 12 questions
Which list does each subject belong to - Union, State or Concurrent?
Write the answer · Warm-up
Here’s one done for you
The logic behind the three lists is worth stating once. Subjects of national importance where the country must speak with one voice - defence, foreign affairs, currency, banking - go to the Union. Subjects of local interest - police, agriculture, irrigation - go to the states. Subjects where both have a legitimate stake - education, forests, marriage - are concurrent, and if the two laws conflict the Union law prevails.
- 1)Defence
- 2)Police
- 3)Education
- 4)Foreign affairs
- 5)Agriculture
- 6)Forests
- 7)Banking
- 8)Trade unions
- 9)Currency
- 10)Marriage and divorce
- 11)Railways
- 12)Public health
Answers
- 1) Union List.
- 2) State List.
- 3) Concurrent List - both the Union and the states can legislate on it.
- 4) Union List.
- 5) State List.
- 6) Concurrent List.
- 7) Union List.
- 8) Concurrent List.
- 9) Union List - currency has to be uniform across the country.
- 10) Concurrent List - both the Union and the states may legislate on it.
- 11) Union List - a national network cannot be run state by state.
- 12) State List - health services are administered by the states.
Exercise 2 of 3 · 6 questions
Answer in two or three sentences.
Write the answer · Guided
Here’s one done for you
The last answer is the one that lifts a Class 10 Civics response. The syllabus is not asking a child to praise decentralisation - it is asking them to assess it, and the textbook itself notes the gap between structure and power. Stating that limitation is not criticism of the country; it is what the question was set to elicit.
- 1)Why did India adopt a federal structure?
- 2)What did the 1992 constitutional amendment change about local government?
- 3)What is the gram sabha, and why does it matter?
- 4)Give one honest limitation of decentralisation in India.
- 5)What is meant by holding together federalism, and how does India fit it?
- 6)Why are seats reserved for women in local bodies?
Answers
- 1) Because India is very large and extremely diverse in language, culture and geography, and no single government could reflect the needs of every region. Federalism allows unity on national matters while leaving local matters to those closer to them.
- 2) It made regular elections to local government bodies compulsory, reserved seats for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, reserved at least one-third of all positions for women, and created State Election Commissions and a share of state revenues for local bodies.
- 3) It is the body of all registered voters in a village panchayat area. It approves the panchayat's budget and reviews its performance, which makes it the mechanism by which villagers can hold their own elected body accountable directly.
- 4) Local bodies often lack the funds and the powers to act independently, since much of their money is tied to specific schemes decided elsewhere. Elections are held, but the effective authority of many panchayats remains limited.
- 5) A large country divides its power among states while the central government remains stronger, in order to hold a diverse country together. India fits it: the states were formed within an existing country rather than joining to create one, and the Union retains the greater share of power.
- 6) Because women were almost entirely absent from local decision-making, and problems that affect them most - water, fuel, health, schooling - were correspondingly ignored. Reserving at least a third of seats made their presence a matter of rule rather than of goodwill.
Exercise 3 of 3 · 6 questions
Answer in three or four sentences.
Write the answer · Practice
Here’s one done for you
Notice that the last question asks for the case in favour, immediately after a question about everything wrong with parties. That is deliberate and typical of this chapter: the syllabus wants a student who can hold both - parties are genuinely flawed and genuinely necessary. Answers that only do one half are incomplete, however well argued.
- 1)State four functions of political parties.
- 2)What are the main challenges facing political parties in India?
- 3)Suggest two reforms that could address those challenges.
- 4)Why can democracy not function without political parties?
- 5)What is a coalition government, and why have they become common in India?
- 6)What is the difference between a national and a state party?
Answers
- 1) They contest elections and put up candidates; they put forward policies and programmes for voters to choose from; they make laws, since laws are debated and passed by parties in the legislature; they form and run governments, and those that lose form the opposition and hold the government accountable.
- 2) Lack of internal democracy, with power concentrated in a few leaders. Dynastic succession, where positions pass within families rather than by merit. The growing role of money and muscle power in elections. And a narrowing of meaningful choice, where parties differ little on fundamental questions.
- 3) Making it compulsory for parties to hold internal elections and maintain membership registers, and state funding of elections so that candidates depend less on private money. Public pressure through the media and voluntary organisations has also produced reform where legislation has not.
- 4) Because in a large democracy millions of people cannot each represent themselves. Parties gather scattered opinions into a few broad positions, offer them to voters as a choice, and provide a government that can be held responsible for what it does - which independents, however capable, cannot do collectively.
- 5) A government formed by two or more parties together, because no single party has a majority. They have become common in India as regional parties have grown stronger and the vote has fragmented, so a single-party majority is no longer the norm it once was.
- 6) A national party has a presence across several states and meets the Election Commission's criteria for recognition nationally; a state party is recognised in one or a few states. The distinction affects the symbol they get and the broadcasting time they are allotted.
While your child works
- Learn the logic of the three lists rather than the lists themselves. National, local, and shared.
- Every Political Science answer wants both sides. Praise alone and criticism alone score the same.
- The textbook itself states the limitations. Repeating them is answering the question, not being negative.