CBSE Notes Class 10 Political Science
Chapter 1 - Power Sharing
In Class 9, you have studied that in a democracy all power does not rest with any one organ of the
government. An intelligent sharing of power among the legislature, executive and judiciary is very
important for the design of democracy. In this chapter, the idea of power sharing is explained in detail,
drawing parallels between the stories of Belgium and Sri Lanka. Also, you will learn the different forms
of power sharing.
CBSE Notes Class 10 Political Science Chapter 1 - Power Sharing
Story of Belgium
Belgium is a small country in Europe with a population of over 1crore, about half the population of
Haryana. Of the country’s total population, 59% speaks Dutch language, 40% of people speak French
and the remaining 1% speak German. Look at the map below to know the language variation of
Belgium. The minority French-speaking community was rich and powerful so they got the benefit of
economic development and education. This created tensions between the Dutch-speaking and French-
speaking communities during the 1950s and 1960s.
https://byjus.com
, Accommodation in Belgium
In Belgium, the government handled the community difference very well. Between 1970 and 1993,
Belgian leaders amended their constitution four times and came up with a new model to run the
government.
Here are some of the elements of the Belgian model.
1. Constitution prescribes that the number of Dutch and French-speaking ministers shall be equal
in the Central Government. Some special laws require the support of the majority of members
from each linguistic group. Thus, no single community can make decisions unilaterally.
2. The state governments are not subordinate to the Central Government.
3. Brussels has a separate government in which both communities have equal representation.
4. Apart from the Central and the State Government, there is a third kind of government. This
‘community government’ 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.
The Belgium model was very complicated but it helped to avoid civic strife between the two major
communities.
Story of Sri Lanka
Now, let’s take a situation of another country, Sri Lanka. It is an island nation having a population of 2
crores, about the same as in Haryana. Sri Lanka has a diverse population. The major social groups are
the Sinhala-speakers (74%) and the Tamil-speakers (18%). Among Tamils, there are two subgroups,
“Sri Lankan Tamils” and “Indian Tamils”. You can see the map below to know the population distribution
of different communities of Sri Lanka.
https://byjus.com
Chapter 1 - Power Sharing
In Class 9, you have studied that in a democracy all power does not rest with any one organ of the
government. An intelligent sharing of power among the legislature, executive and judiciary is very
important for the design of democracy. In this chapter, the idea of power sharing is explained in detail,
drawing parallels between the stories of Belgium and Sri Lanka. Also, you will learn the different forms
of power sharing.
CBSE Notes Class 10 Political Science Chapter 1 - Power Sharing
Story of Belgium
Belgium is a small country in Europe with a population of over 1crore, about half the population of
Haryana. Of the country’s total population, 59% speaks Dutch language, 40% of people speak French
and the remaining 1% speak German. Look at the map below to know the language variation of
Belgium. The minority French-speaking community was rich and powerful so they got the benefit of
economic development and education. This created tensions between the Dutch-speaking and French-
speaking communities during the 1950s and 1960s.
https://byjus.com
, Accommodation in Belgium
In Belgium, the government handled the community difference very well. Between 1970 and 1993,
Belgian leaders amended their constitution four times and came up with a new model to run the
government.
Here are some of the elements of the Belgian model.
1. Constitution prescribes that the number of Dutch and French-speaking ministers shall be equal
in the Central Government. Some special laws require the support of the majority of members
from each linguistic group. Thus, no single community can make decisions unilaterally.
2. The state governments are not subordinate to the Central Government.
3. Brussels has a separate government in which both communities have equal representation.
4. Apart from the Central and the State Government, there is a third kind of government. This
‘community government’ 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.
The Belgium model was very complicated but it helped to avoid civic strife between the two major
communities.
Story of Sri Lanka
Now, let’s take a situation of another country, Sri Lanka. It is an island nation having a population of 2
crores, about the same as in Haryana. Sri Lanka has a diverse population. The major social groups are
the Sinhala-speakers (74%) and the Tamil-speakers (18%). Among Tamils, there are two subgroups,
“Sri Lankan Tamils” and “Indian Tamils”. You can see the map below to know the population distribution
of different communities of Sri Lanka.
https://byjus.com
