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POWER SHARING

power sharing is necessary to ensure the stability of political order in a democracy. It is desirable to reduce the possibility of conflict between social groups. It ensures stability of government and unity of the nation.

FORMS OF POWER SHARING

power sharing can be between organs of governmentSocial groupsGovernment at different levelsPolitical parties and pressure groups

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ORGANS OF GOVERNMENT

In democracy, power is shared among different organs of government such as legislature, executive and judiciary. legislature makes laws, executive enforces those laws and judiciary interprets those laws. This result in balance of power among various organs of government.

SOCIAL GROUPS

power may also shared among different social groups such as religious and linguistic groups. community government in belgium is a good example

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GOVERNMENT AT DIFFERENT LEVELS

in federal form of government, power is shared between the central government and the government of the units.

POLITICAL PARTIES AND PRESSURE GROUPS

power sharing arrangement can also be seen in the way political parties, pressure groups and movement control or influence power. This can be seen when a coalition government is formed where power is shared by various political parties.

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POWER SHARING MADE IN BELGIUM

belgium is a small coumtry in europe whose population is about one crore only. Of the country’s total population about 59% lives in the flemish region and speak dutch language. About 40% speak french and the remaining about 1% speak german language.

In the capital city of brussels 80% people speak french while only 20% are dutch-speaking people.

the minority-french speaking community was rich and powerful which was resented by the dutch-speaking community. This lead to tension between the two communities during the 1950s and 1960s. Another cause of tension was that although the dutch-speaking people constituted a majority in the country.

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In spite of these diversities and tensions the belgium leaders decided to make an arrangement for power sharing.

The features of this arrangements are :-

The constitution provides that the no of dutch and french-speaking ministers shall be equal in the central government.

Brussels has a separate government in which both the communities have equal representation.

many powers of the central government have been given to the state government for the two regions of the country. The state governments are not subordinate to the central government.

Brussel-capital region

Walloon(french speaking)

Flemish(dutch-speaking)

German-speaking

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POWER SHARING IN SRI LANKA

Sri lanka is an island nation, just a few kilometers away from southern coast of tamil nadu. It has about 2 crore people. It has a diverse population.the major social groups are the sinhala-speakers of about 74 per cent and the tamil-speakers of about 18 per cent.

Among tamils there are two sub-groups. Tamil natives of the country are called sri lankan tamils of about 13 per cent.

Sri lanka become an independent country in 1948. They tried to ignore the tamils. In 1956, a law was passed in declaring sinhala as the national language. Preference was given to sinhalese in government jobs and universities. A provision Was made in the constitution for giving preference to buddhism.

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As a result these measures conflicts started between the sinhalase and tamils. Tamils organised themselves and started their struggle against these measures. This lead to a civil war in the country in which thousands of people have been killed and a large no of them have settled in other countries after leaving their own homeland.

Sri lankan tamils

Sinhalese

Indian tamil

muslim

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ACCOMODATION IN BELGIUM

Between 1970 and 1993, they amended their constituents four times.

Constitution prescribes that the french and dutch-speaking ministers shall be equal in the central government.

the central government powers have been given to the state government of the two regions of the country.

The state government power are not controlled by the autharity of the central government.

The french-speaking people accepted the equal representation due to the dutch-speaking people accepted the equal representation of central government.

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DESIRABLE OF POWER SHARING

PRUDENTIAL REASONPrudential reason for power sharing is

good because it helps to reduce possibility of conflict between social groups.

In india, this has been done by reserving seats in the legislatures and government services for members belonging to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

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MORAL REASONMoral power for shaaring is good for

democracies because it is the very spirit of democracy.

People have a right to be consulted on how they are to be governed.

In india members from different political parties get elected to the legislature and participate in the working of the government.

A legitimate government is one where citizens through participation, acquire a stake in the system.

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EXAMPLES OF POWER SHARING

The bombay high court ordered the maharashtra state government to immediately take action and improve living condition for the 2,000-odd children at seven children’s homes in mumbai.

the finance ministers of various states in nigeria got together and demanded that the federal government declare its sources of income. They also wanted to know the formula by whichthe revenue is distributed to various state government.

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