CHAPTER 3: Election and Representation NCERT SOLUTION CLASS 11TH POLITICAL SCIENCE | EDUGROWN NOTES

Short answer Type Question:

Q1. Which of the following resembles most a direct democracy?a. Discussions in a family meetingb. Election of the class monitorc. Choice of a candidate by a political partyd. Decisions taken by the Gram Sabhae. Opinion polls conducted by the media
Answer
b. Election of the class monitord. Decisions taken by the Gram Sabha

Q2. Which of the following tasks are not performed by the Election Commission?a. Preparing the Electoral Rollsb. Nominating the candidatesc. Setting up polling boothsd. Implementing the model code of conducte. Supervising the Panchayat elections
Answer
b. Nominating the candidatese. Supervising the Panchayat elections
3. Which of the following is common to the method of election of the members of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha?
a. Every citizen above the age of 18 is an eligible voter
b. Voter can give preference order for different candidates
c. Every vote has equal value
d. The winner must get more than half the votes
► c. Every vote has equal value
4. In the First Past the Post system, that candidate is declared winner whoa. Secures the largest number of postal ballotsb. Belongs to the party that has highest number of votes in the country
c. Has more votes than any other candidate in the constituency
d. Attains first position by securing more than 50% votes
► c. Has more votes than any other candidate in the constituency

Q3.Which of the following is common to the method of election of the members of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha?

a. Every citizen above the age of 18 is an eligible voter

b. Voter can give preference order for different candidates

c. Every vote has equal value

d. The winner must get more than half the votes

Answer

c. Every vote has equal value

Q4.In the First Past the Post system, that candidate is declared winner who

a. Secures the largest number of postal ballots

b. Belongs to the party that has highest number of votes in the country

c. Has more votes than any other candidate in the constituency

d. Attains first position by securing more than 50% votes

Answer

c. Has more votes than any other candidate in the constituency

Q5. What is the difference between the system of reservation of constituencies and the system of separate electorate? Why did the Constitution makers reject the latter?
Answer
In system of reservation of constituencies, all voters in a constituency are eligible to vote but the candidates must belong to only a particular community or social section for which the seat is reserved whereas in the system of separate electorate, for electing a representative from a particular community, only those voters would be eligible who belong to that community.
The constitution makers reject the system of separate electorate because it went against their purpose of unity, secularism and a state that is free from discrimination.

Q6. Which of the following statements are incorrect? Identify and correct them by substituting, adding or rearranging only one word or phrase.

a. FPTP system is followed for all the elections in India.
► Incorrect. FPTP system is followed for Panchayats, Legislative Assemblies and the Lok Sabha elctions.

b. Election Commission does not supervise Panchayat and Municipal elections.
► Corrcet
c. President of India cannot remove an Election Commissioner.
► Incorrect, President of India can remove an Election Commissioner on the recommendation of both houses of the Parliament.

d. Appointment of more than one Election Commissioners in the Election Commission is mandatory.
► Incorrect. Appointment of more than one Election Commissioner in the Election Commission is not mandatory.

Q7. Indian electoral system aims at ensuring representation of socially disadvantaged sections. However we are yet to have even 10 percent women members in our legislatures. What measures would you suggest to improve the situation?
Answer
The percent of women members would improve through following measures:
• Using proportional representation system, we can ensure the proper representation of women in legislature according to their percentage in population.–
• Also, we can have reserved constituencies from which seat is reserved for women which ensure proper representation of women.

Q8. Here are some wishes expressed in a conference to discuss a constitution for a new country. Write against each of these whether FPTP or Proportional Representation system is more suited to meet each of these wishes.

a. People should clearly know who is their representative so that they can hold him or her personally accountable.
► FPTP system

b. We have small linguistic minorities who are spread all over the country; we should ensure fair representation to them.
► Proportional representation system

c. There should be no discrepancy between votes and seats for different parties.
► Proportional representation system

d. People should be able to elect a good candidate even if they do not like his or her political party.
► FPTP system

Q9. A former Chief Election Commissioner joined a political party and contested elections. There are various views on this issue. One view is that a former Election Commissioner is an independent citizen and has a right to join any political party and to contest election. According to the other view, leaving this possibility open can affect the impartiality of the Election Commission. So, former
Election Commissioners must not be allowed to contest any elections. Which position do you agree with and why?

Answer

The former Election Commissioner is an independent citizen and has a right to join any political party and to contest election. After leaving the post of election commissioner, he/she became an ordinary citizen and just like any citizen he/she has all rights which a citizen have. He/She has no responsibility of conducting fair election so they can be a part of election as it is their right.

Q10. “Indian democracy is now ready to shift from a crude First Past the Post system to a system of Proportional Representation”. Do you agree with this statement? Give your reasons for or against this statement.

Answer

Indian democracy is not yet ready to replace the First Past the Post system with Proportional Representation because

• Proportional representation system complicated system which would be difficult to work in a sub-continental country like India.

• In PR system, voters have only choice to choose a party and the representatives are elected on the
basis of party lists. There is no representative for one locality which would be held accountable.

• Indian is a vast country with a large number of ethnic and social groups. PR system would encourage each community to form its own party which endanger the social fabric of the country.

• PR based election may not be suitable for giving a stable government in a parliamentary system.

Long Answer Type Questions :

Q1.Explain the role of Election Commission of India.
Answer:
The role of Election Commission can be summarized as follows:

• The Election Commission controls over the election machinery to conduct free and fair elections as supervises and makes changes if needed in the electoral rules of the elections.
• The Election Commission prepares the voters’ list who enjoy the right to vote as well as considers objections also to be raised by voters in reference of voters’ list.
• Election Commission provides the election symbols to the political parties as well as to independent candidates. As Congress (I) has been assigned the symbol of hand and lotus has been provided to BJP. The independent candidates are provided symbols on temporary basis.
• The Election Commission declares and recognizes the political parties as national or regional.

Q2.How does the Election Commission of India ensure its independence?
Answer:
The Election Commission ensures its independence by the following provisions

• Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners and Regional Election Commissioners are appointed for a fixed term.
• The Chief Election Commissioner cannot be removed from his office before the expiry of his term except on the grounds of incapacity and misbehavior only if a resolution to this effect is passed by both the houses of parliament by a two-third majority.
• Other Election Commissioners and Regional Election Commissioners can be removed from the Office only on the recommendations of the Chief Election Commissioner.
• Salaries and other allowances of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners are to be paid out of consolidated fund of India.
• Tenure and other service conditions of Chief Election Commissioner and others, are fixed by the president, but they cannot be changed to their disadvantage during their term of office.

Q3.What is the composition of Election Commission of India?
Answer:

• The Election Commission consists of Chief Election Commissioner and the number of other Election Commissioners may also be fixed by the president from time to time.
• Thus, the Election Commission may be single member or multi member body. Till 1989, the Election Commission was a single member body.
• In 1993, two more Election Commissioners were also appointed and become multi¬member body since then.
• The Chief Election Commissioner presides over the Election Commission, but the other Election Commissioners also enjoy the same power to work mainly on consensus as a collective body only.
• The constitution of India has ensured independence of Election Commission and declared it can important body to conduct free and fair elections.

Q4.Sometimes criticism has taken place against Universal Adult Suffrage. Explain them.
Answer:
Universal Adult Suffrage refers to the right to vote given to all adult citizens without any distinction of caste, class, colour, creed, language, religion, etc. It has faced some criticisms also:

• Right to vote is a special privilege to confer on those who utilize it for the welfare of the state. Hence, it should be conferred only to the educated persons and illiterate persons should be debarred from it because they cannot understand who is the best candidate for the state.
• The Universal Adult Suffrage establishes the government of fools because fools and ignorant form the majority in the society which can create some dangerous consequences in the state.
• All the people should not be given the right to vote equally and to contest elections as well because God has not created everybody equal.
• The right to vote should be extended to those persons only who are competent or capable of using it because it is a responsibility not the right and a responsibility cannot be extended to the incompetent persons.
• The Universal Adult Suffrage leads to corruption because contesting and voting, both are usually made on the bases of money and muscle power by dominating the poor the downtrodden people.

Q5.Suggest some major suggestions for electoral reforms.
Answer:
The various committees have worked on electoral reforms, i.e. the Goswami Committee and Tarkunde Committee, but these have not brought substantial changes in electoral system and law. It seems that political parties are indifferent to electoral reforms because in some cases, political parties have neutralized the steps taken by the Election Commission to bring in some desired changes. It is now widely recognized to preserve and strengthen the democratic setup a comprehensive agenda of reforms is necessary in system, structure and processes:

• Criminalization should be checked in politics.
• Political parties’ functions should be regulated.
• Voters’ participation and awareness should be ensured.
• Make the election machinery effective and credible.
• The use of money and muscle power should be stopped.
• A proportionate share to every class, section and society should also be provided in the parliament.

Q6.What is the electoral process in India?
Answer:
The electoral process is performed into different stages under the provisions of Representation of People Act, 1950 and 1951:

• First of all, constituencies are formed in a territorial area from where a candidate contest election.
• The nomination papers are filled with the returning officer.
• The scrutiny is made to check whether the information filled in nomination form, are correct.
• After the scrutiny is over, the candidate is given a date for withdrawal.
• Then Election campaign takes place by various techniques by holding rallies, meetings, processions, distributing handbills and door-to-door canvassing, etc.
• The election campaign stops 48 hours earlier before polling is held on the due date. Presiding officers and polling officers supervise the whole polling process. The voters vote through the secret ballot.
• After the voting is over, the counting made on a fixed date and time. The candidate getting highest number of votes, is declared elected