Powersharing

The Ethnic composition of Belgium

1.

59 per cent lives in the Flemish region and speaks Dutch language.

2. 40 per cent people live in the Wallonia region and speak French.
3. 1% of the Belgians speak German.
4. In the capital city Brussels, 80 per cent people speak French while 20 per cent are Dutch speaking.
5. The minority French-speaking community was relatively rich and powerful. But the majority Dutchspeaking community was poor and weak.

The Ethnic composition of Sri Lanka

1. Sri Lanka is an island nation, and has about two crore people.
2. The major social groups are the Sinhala-speakers (74 per cent) and the Tamil-speakers (18 per cent).
3. Among Tamils there are two subgroups. Tamil natives of the country are called Sri Lankan Tamils.
The rest, whose forefathers came from India as plantation workers during colonial period, are called
Indian Tamils.
4. Most of the Sinhala speaking people are Buddhist, while most of the Tamils are Hindus or Muslims.
5. There are about 7 per cent Christians, who are both Tamil and Sinhala.

What is Majoritarianism? How was it practiced in Sri Lanka?

1. Majoritarianism is a belief in which the majority community should be able to rule a country in
whichever way it wants, by disregarding the wishes and needs of the minority.
2. In 1956, an Act was passed to recognise Sinhala as the only official language.

3.
4.

The governments followed preferential policies that favoured Sinhala applicants for university
positions and government jobs.
A new constitution recognised Buddhism as the national religion.

5. Sri Lankan Tamils felt that none of the major political parties led by the Buddhist Sinhala leaders
were sensitive to their language and culture. They felt that the constitution and government policies
denied them equal political rights and freedoms.

Accommodation arrangements in Belgium

1. Belgium amended its constitution four times so as to work out an arrangement that would enable
everyone to live together within the same country.
2. 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 majority of members from each
linguistic group.
3. Many powers of the central government have been given to state governments of the two regions of
the country. The state governments are not subordinate to the Central Government.
4. Brussels has a separate government in which both the communities have equal representation.
5. Apart from the Central and the State Government, there is a third kind of government called
community government. This community government is elected by people belonging to one
language community. This government has the power regarding cultural, educational and languagerelated issues.

What do we learn from these two stories of Belgium and Sri Lanka?

1. In Belgium, the leaders have realized that the unity of the country is possible only by respecting the
feelings and interests of different communities and regions.
2. This realisation resulted in mutually acceptable arrangements for sharing power.
3. In Sri Lanka the majority community wants to force its dominance over others and refuses to share
power.

4.

This resulted in long civil war and heavy loss of men and material.

Why is power sharing desirable?

1. Prudential Reason: Power sharing is good because it helps to reduce the possibility of conflict
between social groups.
2. Since social conflict often leads to violence and political instability. Power sharing is a good way to
ensure the stability of political order.
3. Moral Reason: Power sharing is the very spirit of democracy. A democratic rule involves sharing
power with those who live with its effects.
4. In a democracy people have a right to be consulted on how they are to be governed. A legitimate
government is one where citizens participate in the system.

Forms of power sharing

1. Power is shared among different organs of government, such as the legislature, executive and
judiciary. This is called horizontal distribution of power. It allows different organs of government to
exercise different powers. This arrangement is called a system of checks and balances.
2. Power can be shared among governments at different levels a central government for the entire
country and state governments at the regional level. Division of powers involving higher and lower
levels of government is called vertical division of power.
3. Power can also be shared among different social groups such as the religious and linguistic groups.
4. Power can also be shared by different political parties such as national parties share power with
regional parties in coalition government.
5. Power can also be shared by different pressure groups and movements such as associations of
traders, businessmen, industrialists, farmers and industrial workers either through participation in
governmental committees or bringing influence on the decision-making process.

Explain horizontal distribution of power from the Indian context

1. Power is shared among different organs of government, such as the legislature, executive and
judiciary. This is called horizontal distribution of power.
2. It allows different organs of government placed at the same level to exercise different powers and
separation ensures that none of the organs can exercise unlimited power.
3. In India ministers and government officials exercise power and they are responsible to the Parliament
or State Assemblies.
4. Similarly the judges are appointed by the executive, they can check the functioning of executive or
laws made by the legislatures.
5. Each organ checks the other. This results in a balance of power among various institutions. This
arrangement is called a system of checks and balances.

Explain Vertical Division of power OR Federal division of power from the Indian context.

1. Power can be shared among governments at different levels a central government for the entire
country and state governments at the regional level. Such a central government for the entire country
is usually called federal government.
2.

In India, we refer to it as the Central or Union Government. The governments at the regional level
are called State Governments.

3. In India the constitution clearly lays down the powers of different levels of government. This is
called federal division of power.
4. The same principle is extended to levels of government lower than the State government, such as the
municipality and panchayat.
5.

This type of division of powers involving higher and lower levels of government is called vertical
division of power.

Explain power sharing between different social groups from the Indian context

1. Power can be shared among different social groups such as the religious and linguistic groups.
2. In India there are constitutional and legal arrangements whereby socially weaker sections are
represented in the legislatures and administration.
3. The system of reserved constituencies in assemblies and the parliament of our country is meant to
give space in the government and administration to diverse social groups.
4. This method is used to give minority communities a fair share in power and a way of
accommodating social diversities.

Explain power sharing between different Political parties and pressure groups from the
Indian context

1. Power can also be shared by different political parties, pressure groups and movements.
2. In India the citizens have freedom to choose among various contenders for power. This takes the
form of competition among different parties. Such competition ensures that power does not remain in
one hand.
3. 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 and form a coalition government.
4. In a democracy, Power can also be shared by different pressure groups and movements such as
associations of traders, businessmen, industrialists, farmers and industrial workers etc.
5. These pressure groups share power either through participation in governmental committees or
bringing influence on the decision-making process of the government.