The
idea of power-sharing has emerged in opposition to the notions of undivided
political power. For a long time, it was believed that all power
of a government must reside in one person or group of persons located at one
place. It was felt that if the power to decide is dispersed, it
would not be possible to take quick decisions and to enforce them. But
these notions have changed with the emergence of democracy. One basic principle
of democracy is that people are the source of all political power. In a
democracy, people rule themselves through institutions of self-government.100 In a good democratic government, due respect
is given to diverse groups and views that exist in a society. Everyone120 has a voice in the shaping of public
policies. Therefore, it follows that in a democracy, political power
should be distributed among as many citizens as possible. In modern
democracies, power sharing arrangements can take many forms. Let us look at
some of the most common arrangements that we have or will
come across. Power is shared among different organs of government, such as the
legislature, executive and judiciary. Let us call this horizontal
distribution of power because it allows200
different organs of government placed at the same level to exercise different
powers. Such a separation ensures that none of the organs can exercise
unlimited power. Each organ checks the others. This results in a balance of
power among various240
institutions. Last year, we studied that in a democracy, even though ministers
and government officials exercise power, they are responsible to the
Parliament or State Assemblies. Similarly, although judges are appointed
by the executive, they can check the functioning of executive or laws made by
the legislatures. This arrangement is called a system of checks and balances.
Power can be300 shared among
governments at different levels – a general government for the entire country
and governments at the provincial or regional level. Such a general government
for the entire country is usually called federal government. In India,
we refer to it as the Central or Union Government. The governments at the provincial
or regional level are called by different names in360 different countries.
In
India, we call them State Governments. This system is not followed in
all countries. There are many countries where there are no provincial or
State Governments. But in those countries like ours, where there
are different levels400 of
government, the constitution clearly lays down the powers of different
levels of government. This is called federal division of power. The same
principle can be extended to levels of government lower than the State
government, such as the municipality and panchayat. Let us call division
of powers involving higher and lower levels of government vertical
division of power. Power may also be shared among different social
groups, such as the religious and linguistic groups. In some
countries, there are480
constitutional and legal arrangements, whereby socially weaker sections
and women are represented in the legislatures and administration. Last year, we500 studied the system of ‘reserved
constituencies’ in assemblies and the parliament of our country. This type
of arrangement is meant to give space in the government and administration
to diverse social groups, who otherwise, would feel alienated from the
government. This method is used to give minority communities a fair
share in power. Power sharing arrangements can also be seen in the way political
parties, pressure groups, and movements, control or influence those in
power. In a democracy, the citizens must have freedom to choose among various
contenders for power. In contemporary democracies, this takes the form of
competition among600 different
parties. Such competition ensures that power does not remain in one hand.
In the long run, power is shared among different political parties that
represent different ideologies and social groups. Sometimes this kind of
sharing can be direct, when two or more parties form an alliance to contest
elections. If their alliance is elected, they form a coalition government and
thus share power. In a democracy, we find interest groups, such as those of
traders, businessmen, industrialists, farmers and industrial workers.
They also will have a share in governmental power, either through participation
in governmental committees or bringing influence700 on the decision-making process.
Political parties are easily one
of the most visible institutions in a democracy. For most ordinary720 citizens, democracy is equal to
political parties. If you travel to remote parts of our country and speak to
the less educated citizens, you could come across people who may not know
anything about our Constitution or about the nature of our government. But
chances are that they would know something about our political parties. At
the same time, this visibility does not mean popularity. Most people
tend to be very critical of political parties. They tend to blame parties800 for all that is wrong with our democracy
and our political life. Parties have become identified with social and
political divisions. Therefore, it is natural to ask as to why we
need political parties at all. About hundred years ago,840 there were few countries of the world
that had any political party. Now there are few that do not have parties. Why
did political parties become so omnipresent in democracies all over the
world? Let us first answer what political parties are and what they
do, before we say why we need them. A political party is a group of900 people who come together to contest
elections and hold power in the government. They agree on some policies and
programmes for the society with a view to promote the collective good.
Since there can be different views on what is good for all, parties try
to persuade people why their policies are better than others. They seek to implement
these960 policies by winning
popular support through elections. Thus, parties reflect fundamental
political divisions in a society. Parties are about a part of the society and
thus, involve partisanship. Thus, a party is known by which part it
stands for, which1000 policies
it supports and whose interests it upholds. A political party has three
components: the leaders, the active members and the followers. Political
parties fill political offices and exercise political power. Parties do so by
performing a series of functions. In most democracies, elections are fought
mainly among the candidates put up by political parties. Parties select their
candidates in different ways. In some countries, such as the USA,
members and supporters of a party choose its candidates. Now more1080 and more countries are following
this method. In other countries like India, top party leaders choose candidates
for contesting elections.1100
Parties put forward different policies and programmes and the
voters choose from them. Each of us may have different opinions and views on
what policies are suitable for the society. But no government can handle such a
large variety of views. In a democracy, a large number of similar
opinions have to be grouped together to provide a direction in which
policies can be formulated by the governments. This is what the parties do. A
party reduces a vast multitude of opinions into a few basic positions
which it supports. A government is expected to base its policies on the1200 line taken by the ruling party.
