Chapter 3 Electoral Politics
Class 9thSocial Science- Chapter 3 Electoral Politics
Exercise
Question 1.Which of the following statements about the reasons for conducting elections are false?
A. Elections enable people to judge the performance of the government.
B. People select the representative of their choice in an election.
C. Elections enable people to evaluate the performance of the judiciary.
D. People can indicate which policies they prefer.
Answer:
Elections are held in to choose and change the legislative structure of a country. In India, elections do not have any implications on judiciary or judiciary branches of the system. Thus, it can be seen that option C is clearly erred as a reason for conducting elections. So, option (C) is the correct response.
Question 2.
Which of these is not a good reason to say that Indian elections are democratic?
A. India has the largest number of voters in the World.
B. India's Election Commission is very powerful.
C. In India, everyone above the age of 18 has a right to vote.
D. In India, the losing parties accept the electoral verdict.
Answer:
From the above given statements option (A) seems incorrect as democratic country doesn’t depend on the population of the country. So, India has the largest number of voters in the world is not good reason for the Indian elections.
Hence, option (A) is the answer for this question.
Question 3.
Match the following:
Answer:
The correct match for the above given statements is as follows:
Question 4.
List all the different election related activities mentioned in the chapter and arrange them in a time sequence, beginning with the first activity and ending
with the last. Some of these activities are given below:
Releasing election manifestos; counting of votes; making of voters' list; election campaign; declaration of election results; casting of votes; ordering of re-poll; announcing election schedule; filing nomination.
Answer:
The correct sequence of the election related activities is as follows:
a) Announcing election schedule
b) Making of voters list
c) Filing nomination
d) Releasing election manifestos
e) Elections campaign
f) Casting of vote
g) Ordering of re-poll
h) Counting of votes
i) Declaration of elections result.
Question 5.
Surekha is an officer in-charge of ensuring free and fair elections in an assembly constituency in a state. Describe what she should focus on for each of the following stages of election:
(a) Election campaign (b) Polling day (c) Counting day.
Answer:
Surekha as an officer in-charge needs to focus on these following things:
(a) Election campaign: The expenditure in the campaign by every candidate should be inside the prescribed upper limit of set up by the election commission. Those in power should not use any government machinery for their personal campaigning. Every candidate should get equal opportunity to connect with the voters. Campaigning should be done in a way that no voters are unlawfully persuaded or pressurized.
(b) Polling day: Polling day can be marred by unruly behavior of some miscreant elements and thus it is necessary to ensure proper security is available on all polling booths. It is also necessary to coordinate with the local police and ensure that every voter gets equal chance to cast their votes. Extension of voting hours shall also be decided on per instance basis.
(c) Counting day: On the counting day or say result day there should be good security arrangement so that no party can use unfair means to affect free and fair counting of the votes.
Question 6.
The table below gives the proportion of different communities among the candidates who won elections to the US Congress. Compare these to the proportion of these communities in the population of the US. Based on this, would you suggest a system of reservations in the US Congress? If yes, why and for which communities? If no, why not?
Answer:
(a) Firstly, it is clear from the above table that the Blacks have lesser number of seats in the House of Representatives as compared to their population. So, for this a system of reservation should be made for them in U.S. Congress.
(b) The need for reservation for the Hispanics is more than the blacks as the number of their members in the House of Representatives is very less as compared to their population.
(c) Whites have already more seats in the house of representatives so there is no need of reservation for them.
Question 7.
Can we draw the following conclusions from the information given in this chapter? Give two facts to support your position for each of these.
1. Election Commission of India does not have enough powers to conduct free and fair elections in the country.
2. There is a high level of popular participation in the elections in our country.
3. It is very easy for the party in power to win an election.
4. Many reforms are needed to make our elections completely free and fair.
Answer:
1. First statement is incorrect as Election Commission is an independent body. All the elections in our country are conducted by the Election commission. Election commission not only conducts elections but also announces the dates of the election and manages the things during elections. It has the powers to allow or disallow candidates, announce re-election, cancel the election if necessary without having to consult any of the political bodies.
2. Second statement is correct. India has the highest number of voters in the world and the global record for the maximum number of voters participating in an election also rests with India.
3. This statement is incorrect as there are definite provisions in our constitution which dictates the behaviour of the party in power during an election. The Election Commission makes sure that the party in power does not get to use the government machinery to make extra gains during the elections. Those who are found guilty of this face consequences like cancellation of candidature.
4. This statement is correct. Our election procedure has been devised well in theory but there are some practical flaws like a failure in controlling the expenditure by the candidates even after several guidelines. The miscreants are able to affect the elections at some of the places which would require to be controlled.
Question 8.
Chinappa was convicted for torturing his wife for dowry. Satbir was held guilty of practicing untouchability. The court did not allow either of them to contest elections. Does this decision go against the principles of democratic elections?
Answer:
The decision that is being taken by the court is completely correct and it is not against our democratic principles as the Election Commission of our country is also in favour of this decision that the criminals should not be allowed to contest the elections.
Question 9.
Here are some reports of electoral malpractices from different parts of the world. Is there anything that these countries can learn from India to improve their elections? What would you suggest in each case?
(a) During an election in Nigeria, the officer in charge of counting votes deliberately increased the votes of one candidate and declared him elected. The court later found out that more than five lakh votes cast for one candidate were counted in favor of another.
(b) Just before elections in Fiji, a pamphlet was distributed warning voters that a vote for former Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhary will lead to bloodshed. This was a threat to voters of Indian origin.
(c) In the US, each state has its own method of voting, its own procedure of counting and its own authority for conducting elections. Authorities in the state of Florida took many controversial decisions that favored Mr. Bush in the presidential elections in 2000. But no one could change those decisions.
Answer:
(a) The issue of deliberate miscounting of the votes is generally possible when the process is liable to be manually manipulated. India uses Electronic Voting Machines which are deemed impossible to manipulate. Nigeria can pick this from India.
(b) Pressurizing or threatening of the voters can never be tolerated in an election. In India, we have an active and powerful election commission that can order investigation in such cases and make sure that those involved in this are suitably handled by law. Fiji can learn this from the Indian system.
(c) In India, there is a special body which conducts and look after all the decisions and things of election that is the Election Commission of India but in US there is no unified agency due to which election process if U.S is different and decisions are taken arbitrarily.
Question 10.
Here are some reports of malpractices in Indian elections. Identify what the problem in each case is. What should be done to correct the situation?
(a) Following the announcement of elections, the minister promised to provide financial aid to reopen the closed sugar mill.
(b) Opposition parties alleged that their statements and campaign was not given due attention in Doordarshan and All India Radio.
(c) An inquiry by the Election Commission showed that electoral rolls of a state contain name of 20 lakh fake voters.
(d) The hoodlums of a political party were moving with guns, physically preventing supporters of other political parties to meet the voters and attacking meetings of other parties.
Answer:
(a) After the announcement of the election no minister or party can announce any benefit to any section of society as doing this is against the electoral code of conduct. Thus, the first statement is an electoral malpractice. Election Commission shall immediately issue a show cause notice and disallow the aid if a relevant cause is not shown in the government’s response.
(b) In this case the government of our country must issue a statement to Doordarshan and All India Radio to give due attention in opposition parties election campaign.
(c) This is a very serious problem for any democratic country as due to this there would not be fair elections and the government can’t be called the government of people. For this, the Election Commission should order to make another voters list of the genuine voters. Also, proper legal action needs to be taken against those who have led to this kind of unlawful activity.
(d) These kinds of activities are against the democratic principles of our country. Election Commission should take coordinate with local police and get the weapons confiscated while also getting the miscreants arrested if required.
Question 11.
Ramesh was not in class when this chapter was being taught. He came the next day and repeated what he had heard from his father. Can you tell Ramesh what is wrong with these statements?
(a) Women always vote the way men tell them to. So what is the point of giving them the right to vote?
(b) Party politics creates tension in society. Elections should be decided by consensus not by competition.
(c) Only graduates should be allowed to stand as candidates for elections.
Answer:
(a) This statement is wrong as in our constitution equal rights are given to both men and women and if a woman is pressed by her husband to vote to any particular party then it will be against the democracy.
(b) Election and the representative of the people can’t be decided only by consensus because the sheer number of people involved in the process makes it almost difficult to arrive at a consensus without competition.
(c) Our constitution provides us various Fundamental Rights which give equal rights to every citizen of our country so that anyone eligible can stand up in the elections without any discrimination of caste, creed education on status etc.