Indian Democracy Class 9 GSEB Solutions Social Science Chapter 12

Gujarat Board Class 9 Social Science Indian Democracy Textbook Questions and Answers

1. Answer the following questions in short:
Question 1. At what age one gets a right to vote?
Answer:
At the age of 18 years one gets the right to vote.

Question 2. Which media are used to cultivate public opinion?
Answer:
Public opinion is formed, gathered and circulated through the following mediums:

• Print Media: Newspapers, periodicals and a journals are a few of the strongest form of print media.
• Electronic Media: Radio, TV, Computer and Laptops, Cinema, Mobile Phones, etc.

Question 3. Which national and regional political parties are active in India?
Answer:
Although there are seven national and 52 regional parties, are recognized by Election Commission as of March, 2019:
(a) National Parties:

1. The Indian National Congress (INC) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are the two biggest and hence major national political parties of India.
2. Other important national parties are Bahujan Samaj Wadi Party (BSP), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Part of India (Marxist) (CPI-M), National Congress Party (NCP) and All India Trinamool Congress (AITC).

(b) Regional Parties:
Shiv Sena, Samaj wadi Party (SP), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Janta Dal-United (JDU), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), etc are regional parties.

2. Explain giving reasons:
Question 1. A voter is a lifeline of a democracy.
Answer:

1. A voter is one of the most important parts of a democracy.
2. A voter who is neither bankrupt nor mentally unstable holds the voting right without any discrimination.
3. Voting is an important process in democracy and every voter gets complete right to vote.
4. To see that voters can keep the democracy alive through voting, the election commission takes utmost care that all the voters across the country, even army men who are on duty at odd locations are able to vote during elections.
5. The voter with his fine sense of understanding decides which candidate is best to rule. Based on this he votes for him.
6. Complete freedom to the person to vote for this desire candidate is the key ingredient of democracy and, hence it is said that a voter is the lifeline of a democracy.

Question 2. Parliamentary democracy is unique and important.
Answer:

1. Parliamentary democracy works on the fine balance of three important organs of the country namely the Legislative, Executive and the Judiciary.
2. The three pillars balance each other and see to it that none works against the welfare of the people.
3. This form of democracy allows people to empower them to select their candidate to run the country.
4. The members of the opposition party monitor the activities of the ruling party. If they find that the ruling party is not working properly for the welfare of the people then they oppose and force the ruling party to either work for the welfare.
5. Such a working method of the parliamentary democracy makes it quite unique.

Question 3. Information broadcasting media are highly effective in cultivating public opinion.
Answer:

1. To cultivate the human psyche and to create a strong public opinion the various information and broadcasting agencies are very useful.
2. In today’s world newspapers, periodicals and journals hold utmost importance in facilitating people to know more about incidences, events and situations.
3. Audiovisual media like the radio, television, cinema etc. are important in cultivating public opinion.
4. A public opinion can be created through the serials, dramas and movies which can help portray socio-economic as well as other problems like untouchability, dowry, exploitation and poverty in an entertaining manner.
5. In today’s world apart from television the arrival and spread of internet has helped people to enjoy news, serials, dramas and movies sitting comfortably in their homes.
6. All these media can create an adverse effect through the presentation of distorted, obscene and violent information.
7. Today in the fast-moving age of technology people can stay in constant touch with each other through the medium of internet or smartphone and exchange thoughts as well as ideas.
8. Television, radio, personalized radio i.e., FM plays a special role in cultivating public opinion in modem times.

Question 4. Election is a barometer of democracy.
Answer:

1. Elections provide people an opportunity to judge the performance of their representatives.
2. They generate a new political attitude and waves in the minds of people,
3. People elect candidates who they think are fit for ruling.
4. Proper election of candidates can lead a country to an all-round progress.
5. During elections, people involve in party meetings, study various issues of the country and finally cast vote to the candidates who they feel are the best among all.
6. Since fair and transparent election allows people to select the right candidate. Hence, it is rightly said that elections are the barometer of democracy.

3. Write Short Notes on:
Question 1. Types of political parties.
Answer:

1. India is a very large country with largest democracy in the world. Hence, there are several political parties in India.
2. Depending on the criteria set by the Election Commission, the parties can be
   classified as:
   • National Parties and
   • Regional Parties.

Question 2. Voter and Government.
Answer:

1. A voter is one of the most important parts of a democracy.
2. India has Universal Adult Suffrage. According to this, a person of age 18 or above holds the right to vote.
3. Thus, the Constitution of democratic India guarantees an equal right to vote irrespectively of a person’s caste, creed, education, religion, economic status and other important parameters.
4. The system of Universal Adult Suffrage is based on the principle of ‘One Person One Vote’.
5. It is the duty of every citizen to vote without greed or fear.
6. A voter should be aware and careful about his right to vote.
7. Voting is an important process in democracy and every voter must exercise the right to vote.
8. Hence, the government through the Election Commission takes utmost care that all the voters across the country, even army men who are on duty at odd locations are able to vote during elections.
9. To stop any kind of injustice and for smooth and transparent voting system, the Election Commission works independently in an autonomous manner.

Question 3. Election Commission and Political Parties:
Answer:

1. In India, the elections are conducted, administered, controlled and monitored by the Election Commission.
2. The Election Commission also decides the criteria for formation of a political party.
3. A political party that wishes to take part in the election needs to register itself with the Election Commission.
4. There were 1593 registered political parties as on 10th March, 2014. Later, 239 parties were added in the list in the next year.
5. On the basis of their performance i.e., the criteria they choose, the Election Commission declares them as national or regional parties.
6. The Election Commission allots symbols to the registered parties. It also allots unreserved symbols to unrecognized parties and individual candidates.
7. As soon as the Election Commission announces the election dates, it also implements a protocol to be followed.
8. All the political parties need to maintain this protocol. None of the party can conduct any activity or campaign that is considered the disregard the protocol.
9. After the election the Election Commission counts the votes and announces the political party who wins maximum votes as the winner.

4. Distinguish between. 
Question 1. National Party and Regional Party.
Answer:
National Party:

1. A party that secures at least 6% of total votes in the Lok Sabha elections or Assembly elections in four states and wins at least 2 seats is recognized as a national party.
2. These parties which will have influence in less than three states.
3. These parties raise issues of national importance.
4. Example: INC, BJP, BSP, CPI-M, CPI, NCP and AITC

Regional Party:

1. A party that secures at least 6% of total votes in an election to the Legislative Assembly of a state and wins at least 4 seats is recognized as a regional party/state party.
2. These parties will have influence in less than three states.
3. These parties raise issues of regional importance.
4. Example: Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, DMK, AIADMK, etc.

Question 2. Parliamentary Democracy and Presidential Democracy.
Answer:
Parliamentary Democracy:

1. In India we have parliamentary democracy.
2. In a parliamentary democracy the President appoint the leader of the party who gets the maximum number of seats in the Lok Sabha as the Prime Minister.
3. The Prime Minister then forms the government with his Cabinet of Ministers.
4. In this kind of democracy, the government stays in power as long as it can obtain support of the majority of the members of the Parliament.

Presidential Democracy:

1. It is the second important type democracy.
2. In this type of democracy the President is directly elected by the people.
3. The President remains in power for a period mentioned in the Constitution of the country.
4. It exists in many countries including USA.

Question 3. Print Media and Electronic Media.
Answer:
Print Media:

1. Newspapers, periodicals, journals are a few of the strongest form of print media that helps in gathering public opinion.
2. These media play in vital role helping people know about incidences, events and situations taking place at national level as well as international level.
3. By reading the printed information, people form their opinions either in favour or against the information printed.
4. Although it is important to note how people perceive this information. In other words, the same piece of information can create multiple viewpoints among people with some favouring and some against.
5. Irrespective of the opinion people form, it should be true, firm and unbiased.
6. Since, most people are unaware of the actual facts, the print media can alter public opinion by presenting biased or false information.
7. It is absolutely necessary to have ‘freedom of press’. Doing so, the media can boldly present both the achievements as well as failures of the government without pressure or fear. This will in turn let people create their true opinion i.e. public opinion.
8. India is a large and diverse nation in terms of literacy, language and culture, etc. For example, there are states and regions that are very backward and have very low level of literacy.
9. To canter such a diverse nation several regional newspapers are also printed. Regional newspapers play a crucial role in gathering public opinion of such regions.
10. At present, print media in cultivating public opinion in regions having less literacy.
11. To overcome this problem various organizations, industrial groups and political parties publish their own diaries or circulars in regional languages for even very small regions.
12. Apart from all these, the government also publishes various periodicals and issues providing important information to gather public opinion.

Electronic Media:

1. Audiovisual media like the radio, television, cinema, computer, laptop, smartphones, etc. are parts of important electronic media in cultivating public opinion.
2. Although electronic media works best for all types of people but it is more effective in the regions where literacy is less.
3. Radio and television are considered far more effective than newspapers and periodicals.
4. Radio and television broadcasts live incidents taking place at national as well as international level.
5. In recent times FM radio channels have boomed up. These channels also play an important role in cultivating public opinion.
6. Electronic surveys on TV, internet and radio also help to create public opinion.
7. Opinion polls are presented during the elections and people are asked to vote for their opinion. Opinion polls help to estimate how much do people favour or criticise an event or a political party, candidate, etc.
8. These media together can transmit the achievements and failures of the government to people at large, both at urban regions and also at the most extreme regions of the country.

5. Fill in the blanks:
Question 1. The system of Universal Adult Suffrage is based on the principle of ………………
A. One person many vote
B. One person one vote
C. One person no vote
D. One person all vote
Answer:
B. One person one vote

Question 2. The ……………… is less effective in cultivating public opinion.
A. Audiovisual media
B. Visual media
C. Audio media
D. Print media
Answer:
D. Print media

Question 3. Full form of EVM is
A. Electronic Value Machine
B. Electronic Vat Machine
C. Electronic Voting Method
D. Electronic Voting Machine
Answer:
D. Electronic Voting Machine