Political Parties · Class 10 Political Science: 225 MCQs with answers
Showing 200 of 225 multiple-choice questions from this kit.
Warm-up · 7 questions
Q1. Which of these describes the ruling party?
BeginnerShow answer & explanation
the political party that runs the government
It is the party in government. Its programme is expected to guide the policies pursued while it holds office.
Q2. What is a political party, and what are its three components?
BeginnerShow answer & explanation
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Q3. Which country is given as the example of a one-party system?
BeginnerShow answer & explanation
China
Only the Communist Party is allowed to rule there.
Q4. Which two countries are given as examples of a two-party system?
BeginnerShow answer & explanation
the USA and the UK
In both, power usually changes between two main parties.
Q5. What percentage of total votes is required for recognition as a State party?
BeginnerShow answer & explanation
six per cent
Along with at least two seats in that State's Legislative Assembly.
Q6. What is a national party, and how many are recognised in India?
BeginnerShow answer & explanation
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Q7. Name the four challenges faced by political parties.
BeginnerShow answer & explanation
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Building up · 52 questions
Q8. A debating team must define a political party in one sentence. Which definition is correct?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
People organise a political party to win elected office and use government power to carry out a shared programme.
Party members support a set of public policies, argue that these serve society, and ask voters for the authority to implement them.
Q9. Which country illustrates member-and-supporter involvement in candidate selection in NCERT's comparison?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
the USA
NCERT describes US selection as involving party members and supporters; in India, senior party leaders choose candidates. Member-based selection has spread to additional countries.
Q10. Which body actually takes the big policy decisions of a government?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
the political executive, which comes from the political parties
Parties recruit and prepare leaders for ministerial responsibility. The political executive drawn from them makes major policy decisions.
Q11. A party that has just lost a general election organises protests and questions the government's spending. Which function is it performing?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
They scrutinise rulers, offer competing views and organise criticism of failures or unsuitable policies.
Losing an election gives a party a different function, not none.
Q12. What keeps parties responsive to people's needs and demands?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
Voters can withdraw electoral support when a party ignores their demands.
The seventh function comes with this discipline attached.
Q13. What change over the last hundred years does the chapter record about parties worldwide?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
NCERT contrasts a period when parties existed in relatively few countries with their later spread across countries of different sizes, histories and development levels.
NCERT contrasts a period when parties existed in relatively few countries with their later spread across countries of different sizes, histories and development levels.
Q14. Which statement about how parties select candidates is correct?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
In some countries members and supporters choose, while in others the top party leaders do
The USA follows the first method and more countries are adopting it; India follows the second.
Q15. State any three functions performed by political parties.
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
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Q16. Describe what would happen in a democracy without political parties.
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
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Q17. State the various functions political parties perform in a democracy.
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
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Any five points. 1 mark — parties contest elections; candidates chosen by members in the USA and by top leaders in India. 1 mark — parties put forward policies and programmes, reducing many opinions into a few basic positions. 1 mark — parties play a decisive role in making laws, members following the party leadership.…
Q18. Why are political parties described as a necessary condition for a democracy? Support your answer with reasons and evidence.
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
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Any five points. 1 mark — without parties every candidate would be independent. 1 mark — no one could make promises about major policy changes; the government's utility would remain uncertain. 1 mark — accountability would be local only, with no one responsible for how the country is run. 1 mark — the panchayat evidenc…
Q19. 'Political parties are the most visible institution in a democracy and also among the most criticised.' Examine this statement and explain how the chapter answers the criticism.
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
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Any five points. 1 mark — parties are the most visible institution; for ordinary citizens democracy equals political parties. 1 mark — visibility does not mean popularity; people blame parties for what is wrong with democracy. 1 mark — parties have become identified with social and political divisions. 1 mark — partisa…
Q20. In India's multiparty system, how is the government usually formed?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
by various parties coming together in a coalition
This follows from more than two parties having a reasonable chance of power.
Q21. Which set correctly names the three major alliances of the 2004 parliamentary elections?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
three groupings — the National Democratic Alliance, the United Progressive Alliance, the Left Front
Three alliances contested that election, which is itself a mark of a multiparty system.
Q22. What is the advantage the chapter credits the multiparty system with?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
allowing a variety of interests and opinions to enjoy political representation
The chapter gives the disadvantage and this advantage in the same breath, and a complete answer needs both.
Q23. Which set correctly names what a party system depends on?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
social conditions, regional divisions, the course of political history and electoral arrangements
Each country develops a party system conditioned by its special circumstances.
Q24. In which respect does India stand higher than Canada, Japan, Spain and South Korea?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
in the proportion of people saying they are members of some political party
The level of participation in party activities was found to be fairly high, against low trust.
Q25. What is the purpose for which parties join hands in an alliance?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
to contest elections and win power
Both purposes are named together, which is what distinguishes an alliance from a merger.
Q26. Why does the number of registered parties tell us little about a country's party system?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
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Q27. What is a one-party system, and why is it not considered a good option?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
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Q28. Explain the two-party system with examples.
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
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Q29. Describe the three kinds of party systems with examples, and state the merits and demerits of each.
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
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Any five points. 1 mark — the classification turns on how many parties can take power, not how many exist. 1 mark — one-party system defined, with China as the example. 1 mark — one-party system is not a democratic option; a democracy must allow at least two parties to compete with a fair chance of power. 1 mark — two-…
Q30. 'Which party system is best?' Explain why the chapter treats this as the wrong question.
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
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Any five points. 1 mark — the chapter's own answer: this is not a very good question. 1 mark — a country cannot simply pick a party system; it grows up over many years. 1 mark — any two of: nature of society, social and regional divisions, history of politics, system of elections. 1 mark — these cannot be changed quick…
Q31. Examine the claim that political parties are in crisis because citizens have become indifferent to them.
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
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Any five points. 1 mark — the claim stated: parties are said to be in crisis through unpopularity and indifference. 1 mark — the evidence comes from large sample surveys over several decades, and the belief is only partly true for India. 1 mark — trust is low in South Asia: more say 'not much' or 'not at all' than 'som…
Q32. Which party was founded to advance political representation for the bahujan samaj?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
the Bahujan Samaj Party
The bahujan samaj includes the dalits, adivasis, OBCs and religious minorities.
Q33. The BJP was founded in 1980 by reviving which earlier party, and who had formed it?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, formed by Syama Prasad Mukherjee in 1951
The BJP came to power in 1998 as leader of the National Democratic Alliance.
Q34. Which term names the guiding philosophy the BJP draws from Deendayal Upadhyaya?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
integral humanism
Along with Antyodaya, and with cultural nationalism or Hindutva as an important element in its conception of Indian nationhood.
Q35. Where does the CPI-M enjoy strong support, and among whom?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura; its supporters include workers, farmers, agricultural labourers, poorer people and intellectuals
Its continuous period governing West Bengal lasted 34 years.
Q36. A party supports economic reforms while also stressing minority welfare and secularism. Which party profile in NCERT best fits this combination?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
the Indian National Congress
It espouses secularism and the welfare of weaker sections and minorities.
Q37. Which organisation became the first nationally recognised party originating in North East India?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
the National People's Party
Formed in July 2013 under P.A. Sangma, it formed government in Meghalaya.
Q38. Which set names parties that are conscious about their State identity?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
Four of them — the Biju Janata Dal, the Sikkim Democratic Front, the Mizo National Front, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi
These sit alongside the all-India parties that have succeeded only in some states, both kinds being classified as State parties.
Q39. How did the expansion of state parties over three decades change Parliament?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
It made the Parliament of India politically more and more diverse
The consequence was that national parties were compelled to form alliances with state parties.
Q40. Distinguish between the registration and the recognition of a political party.
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
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Q41. State the criteria for recognition as a State party and as a national party.
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
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Q42. Explain how the Election Commission classifies political parties in India, and what recognition brings.
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
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Any five points. 1 mark — every party must register; the Commission treats all parties equally in registration. 1 mark — special facilities are offered to large and established parties, which are called recognised parties. 1 mark — the unique symbol, usable only by that party's official candidates. 1 mark — State party…
Q43. Write short notes on any three of the six recognised national parties.
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
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Any three parties, with any five points across them. BJP — 1 mark each for: founded 1980 reviving the Jana Sangh formed by Syama Prasad Mukherjee in 1951; integral humanism and Antyodaya, cultural nationalism or Hindutva; integration of Jammu and Kashmir, uniform civil code, ban on conversions; expansion of its base in…
Q44. 'The rise of State parties has strengthened federalism and democracy in India.' Examine this statement.
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
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Any five points. 1 mark — most major parties are classified as State parties, commonly called regional parties. 1 mark — they need not be regional in ideology; some are all-India parties succeeding only in some states, others conscious of State identity. 1 mark — their number and strength expanded over three decades, m…
Q45. What is the worldwide tendency that produces the first challenge?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
Decision-making becomes concentrated among a small leadership group instead of being shared with ordinary members.
It is a tendency in political parties all over the world, not a feature of any one country.
Q46. What replaces loyalty to party principles and policies where power is concentrated?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
personal loyalty to the leader
A party is supposed to stand for policies; when it stands for a person, disagreement becomes disloyalty.
Q47. Why do parties resort to short-cuts during elections?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
Because they are focussed only on winning elections
The single-mindedness is the cause from which the nomination of wealthy candidates follows.
Q48. What form does the third challenge take at its most serious?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
parties supporting criminals who can win elections
This is the muscle power half, and democrats all over the world are worried about the growing role of the rich and of big companies in democratic politics.
Q49. What does NCERT's historical comparison of Labour and the Conservatives illustrate about voters' policy choices?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
In the textbook comparison, Labour and the Conservatives share basic positions and differ more over policy details and implementation.
This is offered as an example of a worldwide decline in ideological differences among parties.
Q50. In which area have the differences among India's major parties reduced?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
economic policies
Those who want really different policies therefore have no option available to them.
Q51. Why must parties face and overcome these four challenges?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
To remain effective instruments of democracy
The criticism is directed at the failure of parties to perform their functions well.
Q52. What does the lack of internal democracy within parties consist of?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
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Q53. Describe the growing role of money and muscle power in parties.
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
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Q54. What are the various challenges faced by political parties?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
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Any five points. 1 mark — parties are the most visible face of democracy, so blame settles on them; criticism focusses on four problem areas. 1 mark — lack of internal democracy: concentration of power in one or few leaders at the top. 1 mark — no membership registers, no organisational meetings, no regular internal el…
Q55. Explain how wealthy donors and candidates with criminal connections can influence electoral politics.
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
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Any five points. 1 mark — parties are focussed only on winning elections and therefore use short-cuts. 1 mark — they nominate candidates who have or can raise lots of money. 1 mark — money enters at the stage of selection, before the campaign. 1 mark — rich people and companies who fund parties influence their policies…
Q56. 'Political parties often fail to offer a meaningful choice to voters.' Examine this statement.
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
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Any five points. 1 mark — parties must be significantly different in order to offer a meaningful choice. 1 mark — the number of parties on the ballot is not the same as the distance between them. 1 mark — a decline in ideological differences among parties in most parts of the world. 1 mark — the British example: Labour…
Q57. Which body ordered that candidates must declare their property and pending criminal cases?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
the Supreme Court
Disclosure was intended to curb financial and criminal influence by informing voters.
Q58. What did the Election Commission require political parties to do?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
hold their organisational elections and file their income tax returns
The Election Commission required organisational elections and tax-return filing; NCERT warns that formal compliance need not give members a stronger voice.
Q59. Which three methods are named by which people can put pressure on political parties?
IntermediateShow answer & explanation
Petitions, publicity and agitations
Citizens, campaign groups and journalists can press for reform through petitions, public discussion and collective action.
Topper level · 141 questions
Q60. A villager who has never heard of the Constitution can name four political parties and say what each stands for. Which observation of the chapter does this illustrate?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Parties are familiar through elections and local activity, so many citizens identify democratic politics with them
People can readily recognise parties while remaining dissatisfied with their performance.
Q61. Two groups both campaign on farm prices, but only one puts up candidates and hopes to form a government. What distinguishes it?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
It contests elections and seeks to hold power, which is what makes it a political party
Many groups hold political views; a party exists to take office, and that is the half of the definition students most often drop.
Q62. A speaker complains that parties are 'partial, partisan and lead to partitions'. What is the chapter's reply?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Parties represent particular political interests and therefore take sides in public disputes
To understand a party, examine its supporters, its policy commitments and the interests it defends.
Q63. A newspaper columnist who has defended the same party through three governments is described as partisan. What does the label mean?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
His strong loyalty to a group makes it difficult for him to assess competing views fairly
Parties themselves involve partisanship because a party is about a part of the society, so the word describes a position rather than an accusation.
Q64. A party's internal report lists its office-bearers, its trained workers who run the campaigns, and the voters who reliably support it. Which three components has it named?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
The leaders, the active members and the followers
A question asking for the components of a political party is asking for exactly these three.
Q65. A voter complains that his party's manifesto ignores the particular reform he wants. What does the chapter say in explanation?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
A government needs a workable direction. Parties combine related demands into a programme instead of trying to act on every individual preference at once.
A government needs a workable direction. Parties combine related demands into a programme instead of trying to act on every individual preference at once.
Q66. Why is the reduction of many opinions into a few basic positions described as necessary rather than as a loss?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Because without it there would be no direction in which a government could formulate policy
It is the party in government. Its programme is expected to guide the policies pursued while it holds office.
Q67. An MP votes for a bill she has privately criticised. Which function of parties does this illustrate?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Legislatures formally pass laws, but party leaders strongly influence voting because their legislators generally follow party directions.
Party influence works through legislators; the formal decision belongs to the legislature.
Q68. A social organisation working among factory workers turns out to have been set up by a political party. What does the chapter say about such bodies?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Parties sometimes reach social groups through associated pressure organisations
Campaigns, activists and associated pressure groups draw attention to issues. Parties may also organise movements, helping shape the terms of public debate.
Q69. A woman needing help with a welfare scheme goes to a local party worker rather than to the block office. Which function is at work, and what does it explain?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Helping citizens reach public services; practical contact can persist despite distrust
A local worker may be easier to reach than an official and can help a resident find the relevant public office or welfare scheme.
Q70. Consider the following as functions of political parties. I. Contesting elections and putting forward policies II. Forming and running governments III. Acting as the opposition when defeated IV. Conducting elections and declaring the results Which of the statements given above are correct?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
I, II and III
I, II and III are correct. Conducting elections and declaring results is the work of the Election Commission, not of parties.
Q71. In an imagined election with no parties at all, why could no candidate promise a major policy change?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Because every candidate would be independent, and an independent cannot commit anyone else to a policy
An independent cannot bind other representatives to a national programme. Major policy promises would therefore lack collective backing, and the direction of government would be uncertain.
Q72. What exactly would be missing from a democracy without political parties?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Each representative might answer for local work, but no organised group would accept responsibility for national government as a whole.
This is the heart of the chapter's argument for the necessity of parties.
Q73. In a state where panchayat elections are held on a non-party basis, the village still divides into factions each putting up a panel of candidates. What conclusion does the chapter draw?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
That this is exactly what a party does, so the need parties meet is real
Remove parties by rule and something party-shaped grows back, which is evidence rather than argument.
Q74. Which set correctly names the needs that large, complex societies developed and that parties came to fulfil?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
They convey public demands, organise representatives into a governing group, and provide organised support for or criticism of government decisions.
As representative government developed, parties supplied the organisation needed to connect public demands, elected representatives and government decisions.
Q75. Read the Assertion and Reason and choose the correct option. Assertion (A): Political parties are necessary for representative democracy. Reason (R): They organise public demands, coordinate elected representatives and provide collective responsibility for government.
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
Large societies need representative democracy, and representative democracy generates precisely the needs parties meet.
Q76. A student writes that parties are needed because they are popular institutions. What is wrong with this?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Familiarity does not establish popularity; parties are needed to organise government and national responsibility
Citizens may associate parties with government failures despite knowing them well.
Q77. A commentator says that because parties are blamed for everything wrong with democracy, they should be replaced with independent candidates. Which reply follows the chapter's reasoning?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
That an assembly of independents would have local accountability but no one responsible for the country as a whole
An independent cannot bind other representatives to a national programme. Major policy promises would therefore lack collective backing, and the direction of government would be uncertain.
Q78. Which pairing of a function with its illustration is correct?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Shaping public opinion — a party launching a movement on an issue faced by people
Each of the other three attaches an illustration to the wrong function; matching them correctly is the point of the exercise.
Q79. Why does the chapter call the grouping of similar opinions the work of parties rather than of governments?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Because a government must act on a direction already given, and parties are what supply that direction by reducing many views to a few positions
It is the party in government. Its programme is expected to guide the policies pursued while it holds office.
Q80. A party in opposition is often said to be doing nothing. Which two activities does the chapter credit it with?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
They scrutinise rulers, offer competing views and organise criticism of failures or unsuitable policies.
They scrutinise rulers, offer competing views and organise criticism of failures or unsuitable policies.
Q81. Read the Assertion and Reason and choose the correct option. Assertion (A): A citizen may distrust a party yet regularly seek help from its workers. Reason (R): Local workers can be easier to reach than officials when someone needs access to a welfare scheme.
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
A local worker may be easier to reach than an official and can help a resident find the relevant public office or welfare scheme.
Q82. A student argues that since laws are passed in the legislature, parties have no role in law-making. Why is this wrong?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Legislatures formally pass laws, but party leaders strongly influence voting because their legislators generally follow party directions.
Legislatures make the formal decision, while party directions influence how their members vote.
Q83. Which conclusion best follows from the fact that parties exist in countries big or small, old or new, developed or developing?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
That they meet a need which every representative government has, rather than reflecting any one country's fashion
As representative government developed, parties supplied the organisation needed to connect public demands, elected representatives and government decisions.
Q84. Consider the following statements about the components of a political party. I. The leaders take the decisions and become ministers. II. The active members do the party's organisational work. III. The followers support the party at the polls. IV. The Election Commission is a fourth component. Which of the statements given above are correct?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
I, II and III
I, II and III are correct. The Election Commission registers and recognises parties but is no part of one.
Q85. Why does the chapter present the objection to parties before making the case for them?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Because the case has to be made against a real and widely held criticism rather than in a vacuum
People blame parties for all that is wrong with democracy, and the chapter answers by removing parties in thought and seeing what breaks.
Q86. A party's activists take up an issue, and within months public discussion has settled into the terms that party used. Which observation does this illustrate?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Party campaigns can influence the terms in which public issues are discussed
Campaigns, activists and associated pressure groups draw attention to issues. Parties may also organise movements, helping shape the terms of public debate.
Q87. Which of the following is NOT one of the seven functions of political parties?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Supervising the conduct of elections and resolving disputes about them
Supervising elections belongs to the Election Commission; parties contest elections rather than conducting them.
Q88. Why is partisanship built into the idea of a political party?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
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Q89. Why can no government handle the whole variety of views held in a society, and what do parties do about it?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
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Q90. How is the rise of political parties linked to representative democracy?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
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Q91. A commentator cites the 750-plus parties registered with the Election Commission as proof that Indian politics is hopelessly fragmented. What is wrong with the inference?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Registration permits participation, but only a small share of registered parties are realistic contenders for government
Every classification of party systems counts parties that can actually take power, never parties that exist.
Q92. In a certain country the law permits anyone to found a party, but no party other than the ruling one has ever contested on fair terms. Which system is this, and why?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
One-party rule: a single party retains governing power without genuine electoral competition from rivals
The law is not the obstacle in such a state; the electoral system is.
Q93. A student writes that a one-party system is bad because it governs inefficiently. Why is this the wrong objection?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Because the objection is that it is not a democratic option, not that it performs badly
Any democratic system must allow at least two parties to compete and provide a fair chance for competing parties to come to power.
Q94. Which pair of conditions must a democratic system satisfy where parties are concerned?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
That at least two parties be allowed to compete, and that competing parties be given a fair chance to come to power
Competition alone is not enough; the chance to win must be a fair one.
Q95. A legislature has members from six parties, yet every government for sixty years has been formed by one of the same two. Which system is this?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
a two-party system, because only two have a serious chance of winning a majority to form the government
Smaller parties can win seats; the classification concerns the principal competitors for a governing majority.
Q96. Consider the following statements about a two-party system. I. Power usually changes between two main parties. II. Other parties may exist, contest and win a few seats. III. Only the two main parties have a serious chance of a majority. IV. Only two parties are permitted to register. Which of the statements given above are correct?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
I, II and III
I, II and III are correct. No limit is placed on registration in a two-party system; the limit is on who can realistically win.
Q97. Four parties in a country each hold about a fifth of the seats, and any three of them could form a government together. Which system is this?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
a multiparty system, since more than two have a reasonable chance of coming to power in alliance with others
The definition covers coming to power on one's own strength or in alliance with others.
Q98. Before an election, five parties agree to divide the seats among themselves, campaign on a common programme and form a government together if they win. What is such an arrangement called?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
an alliance or a front
Parties cooperate in an electoral partnership to seek office together.
Q99. A coalition government falls when a small partner withdraws support in its third year. Which characteristic of the multiparty system does this illustrate?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
that it often appears very messy and leads to political instability
The same feature that makes a multiparty system inclusive makes its governments harder to hold together.
Q100. Why are the messiness and the inclusiveness of a multiparty system described as the same feature?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Because a system that lets many interests into representation is one in which governments are harder to assemble
They are two descriptions of one arrangement rather than two separate facts to be balanced.
Q101. A minister proposes legislation to convert India into a two-party system. On the chapter's reasoning, what is the basic flaw?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
That a party system is not something any country can choose, since it evolves over a long time from the society's own circumstances
Party systems depend on the nature of society, its divisions, its political history and its electoral system, and these cannot be changed very quickly.
Q102. Why did India end up with a multiparty system rather than a two-party one?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Because India's extensive regional and social diversity is difficult to represent within only two or three parties
The explanation runs from the society to the party system, not the other way round.
Q103. Read the Assertion and Reason and choose the correct option. Assertion (A): No party system is ideal for all countries and all situations. Reason (R): A party system evolves over a long time and each country develops one conditioned by its special circumstances.
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
If systems arise from circumstances that differ, no single system can suit them all.
Q104. An examiner asks which party system is best. What is the strongest way to begin the answer?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
By explaining that this is not a very good question, since a party system cannot be chosen but evolves from a country's circumstances
Describe each system, then explain why the comparison cannot be made in the abstract.
Q105. Survey evidence shows that in South Asia, more people report their trust in parties as 'not much' or 'not at all' than as 'some' or 'great'. How does this compare with other democracies?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Distrust is widespread in other democracies too; this does not make South Asia unique
The distrust is not an Indian or South Asian peculiarity.
Q106. A journalist writes that Indian parties are in crisis because citizens have grown indifferent to them. What does the evidence show?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
The belief is only partly true: trust is low, but party membership and the proportion feeling close to a party have gone up steadily over three decades
Low trust and rising participation at the same time is the finding, and indifference does not describe it.
Q107. Which statement best distinguishes the three party systems?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
They differ in how many parties can actually take power: one that is allowed, two with a serious chance, or more than two with a reasonable chance
This is the single column that separates them, and reading it wrongly is the commonest error in this topic.
Q108. A country's electoral rules make it nearly impossible for a party with scattered support to win seats, and over decades only two parties have formed governments. What does this illustrate about party systems?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
That a country's system of elections is one of the things a party system depends on
Social conditions, regional divisions and political history also shape the system.
Q109. Which of the following would NOT by itself make a country's system a multiparty system?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Several hundred parties being registered with the election authority
Registration counts parties that exist; the classification counts parties that can take power.
Q110. Read the Assertion and Reason and choose the correct option. Assertion (A): Multiparty competition can give diverse interests a political voice. Reason (R): Multiparty coalitions may be difficult to assemble and keep together.
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A
Both statements are made in the chapter, but instability is a consequence of the same arrangement rather than the reason representation is wide.
Q111. A voter in a two-party country supports a small third party that holds four seats. Is this consistent with the system being called a two-party system?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Yes; smaller parties can enter the contest and obtain some legislative seats
What makes it a two-party system is that only two have a serious chance of winning a majority to form the government.
Q112. Which phrase in the definition of a multiparty system is most often left out of student answers?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
'either on their own strength or in alliance with others'
Without it, a country where no party can win alone would not count as multiparty, which is the opposite of the truth.
Q113. A large, diverse country finds that its regional parties hold seats no nationwide party can win. Which conclusion follows?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
That such diversity is not easily absorbed by two or even three parties, which is how a multiparty system comes about
Each country develops a party system conditioned by its special circumstances.
Q114. Which of the following correctly pairs a system with its defining feature?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Multiparty: several parties can realistically gain office, independently or with partners
The other three attach a definition to the wrong system, which is the trap this question is built on.
Q115. Why can a country not simply legislate the party system it wants?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Because a party system evolves from the nature of society, its divisions, its political history and its electoral system, none of which can be changed very quickly
Party systems are outcomes of circumstances rather than instruments of policy.
Q116. An observer notes that Indians trust parties little but join them more than Canadians or Japanese do. What does this pattern suggest about the claim that parties face a crisis of indifference?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
It shows the claim is only partly true, since distrust and rising participation coexist
Indifference would show up as falling participation, and participation in India has gone up steadily over three decades.
Q117. Consider the following statements about multiparty systems. I. Three or more parties stand a fair chance of reaching power. II. Governments are often formed by coalitions. III. They allow a variety of interests to enjoy representation. IV. They guarantee stable governments. Which of the statements given above are correct?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
I, II and III
I, II and III are correct. A multiparty system often leads to political instability rather than guaranteeing against it.
Q118. A textbook asks students to classify the party systems of Indian states as two-party, multiparty with two alliances, or multiparty. What does this exercise show about party systems?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
That the same classification can apply at different levels, since a party system is an outcome of the particular society and history in question
Each unit develops a system conditioned by its own special circumstances, which is the same principle applied on a smaller scale.
Q119. What is a multiparty system, and what is an alliance?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
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Q120. State the merits and demerits of a multiparty system.
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
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Q121. Why can a country not choose its party system?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
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Q122. A party has branches in eighteen states, but each branch decides its own manifesto and contests on its own terms. How does this differ from the chapter's account of national parties?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
In national parties the state units by and large follow the policies, programmes and strategy decided at the national level
The chapter describes national parties as having state units that follow a centrally decided line; formal recognition as a national party still depends on the Election Commission's criteria of votes and seats.
Q123. A newly formed party registers with the Election Commission and demands its own exclusive election symbol at once. Is the demand well founded?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
No, a unique symbol is a facility offered to recognised parties, which must first meet the criteria of votes and seats
Every party has to register, and the Commission treats all parties equally, but it offers some special facilities to large and established parties.
Q124. Why does the chapter treat the unique symbol as a significant privilege rather than a formality?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Because only the official candidates of that party can use it, and it is how voters identify a party on the ballot
Recognition gives qualifying parties a reserved electoral identity and additional facilities.
Q125. A party wins 7 per cent of the votes and 3 seats in one State Assembly election. What recognition does it qualify for?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
State party
A State party needs at least six per cent of total votes in a State Assembly election and at least two seats.
Q126. A party crosses six per cent of the votes in Assembly elections in four States and wins five Lok Sabha seats. What is it recognised as?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
A national party
The textbook describes national recognition through 6% electoral support across four states, in Lok Sabha or Assembly polls, together with at least four Lok Sabha seats.
Q127. A student writes that a national party needs ten per cent of the votes while a state party needs six. What is the error?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
The six per cent is the same for both; what differs is the scale of the election and the seat requirement
Two seats in a State Assembly against four in the Lok Sabha, and one State against Lok Sabha elections or four States.
Q128. Consider the following statements about recognition. I. A State party needs at least two seats in the State Assembly. II. A national party needs at least four seats in the Lok Sabha. III. Both need at least six per cent of total votes. IV. Only national parties are given a unique symbol. Which of the statements given above are correct?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
I, II and III
I, II and III are correct. All recognised parties, state as well as national, are given a unique symbol.
Q129. A party formed soon after a national anti-corruption movement, built on accountability, clean administration, transparency and good governance, has formed governments in two places. Which party is this?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
the Aam Aadmi Party
AAP began on 26 November 2012 after the 2011 anti-corruption mobilisation. The party has previously formed governments in Delhi and Punjab.
Q130. A party names Sahu Maharaj, Mahatma Phule, Periyar Ramaswami Naicker and Babasaheb Ambedkar among its inspirations. What does this tell you about its purpose?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
That its programme promotes the welfare and political interests of Dalits and other oppressed groups
All four worked against caste inequality, which is what the BSP's stated purpose follows from.
Q131. Which set correctly lists three things the BJP wants?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Full territorial and political integration of Jammu and Kashmir, a uniform civil code, and a ban on religious conversions
Its support base grew substantially in the 1990s, expanding from the north and west into the south, east and north-east and into rural areas.
Q132. A party believes in Marxism-Leninism yet contests elections regularly. How does the chapter explain this?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
It regards electoral participation as a means of pursuing social and economic justice.
The CPI-M supports socialism, secularism and democracy and opposes imperialism and communalism.
Q133. A party is critical of new economic policies that allow the free flow of foreign capital and goods into the country. Which of the six national parties is this?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
The INC by contrast supports the new economic reforms but with a human face, which is the distinction this question turns on.
Q134. A party founded in 1885 has experienced many splits and was the ruling party at the Centre till 1977 and again from 1980 to 1989. Which is it, and what happened after 1989?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
INC; its electoral support weakened after 1989, but its organisation continued across India and different social groups
Nehru's Congress promoted a secular, democratic republic. Congress later headed the UPA government during 2004–14.
Q135. A party holds that different regions have different developmental challenges and puts education and employment for all at the centre of its philosophy. Which party is this?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
the National People's Party
It also believes in the diversity of the country and works for the empowerment of all sections of society.
Q136. The Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal have national level organisation with units in several states, yet are classified as State parties. What does this show?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
State recognition describes electoral strength, while a party's organisation or political outlook can extend beyond that state
The label records where a party wins, not what it believes.
Q137. Read the Assertion and Reason and choose the correct option. Assertion (A): National parties were compelled to form alliances with state parties. Reason (R): One national party won a clear majority in the Lok Sabha at every election from 1989 until 2014.
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
A is true but R is false
None did, which is exactly why alliances had to be formed. The assertion stands, the reason is false.
Q138. A state party that has never contested outside its own state holds a ministry in a coalition government at the Centre. Which development does this illustrate?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
That since 1996 nearly every state party has had an opportunity to be part of one or another national level coalition government
Participation by state-based parties gave regional interests a stronger role in Union politics.
Q139. Why does the chapter say the rise of state parties strengthened federalism?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Because parties rooted in individual states gained a route into the government at the Centre, so states are represented inside it rather than only administered from it
Since 1996 nearly every state party has had an opportunity to join a national level coalition government.
Q140. Which of the following would NOT by itself qualify a party for recognition as a national party?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Registration with the Election Commission and units in twenty states
Registration is required of every party and proves nothing about strength; recognition turns on votes and seats.
Q141. Two candidates in one constituency belong to parties with the same name in different states. Only one may use a particular symbol. Why?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Because a recognised party's symbol may be used only by that party's official candidates
This exclusivity is precisely what recognition confers.
Q142. Consider the following statements about state parties. I. They are commonly referred to as regional parties. II. Some have national level organisation with units in several states. III. Some are conscious about their State identity. IV. All of them have regional ideologies. Which of the statements given above are correct?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
I, II and III
I, II and III are correct. A state-level electoral base does not require a narrowly regional ideology.
Q143. Which pairing of a national party with its distinguishing feature is correct?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
INC — a centrist party espousing secularism and the welfare of weaker sections and minorities
Each of the other three attaches a feature to the wrong party, which is what this question is built to test.
Q144. A party has its main base in Uttar Pradesh with substantial presence in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Punjab, and has formed government in UP several times with the support of different parties. Which is it?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
the Bahujan Samaj Party
Kanshi Ram founded the BSP in 1984. It appears in the textbook's six-party list based on the 2023 notification.
Q145. What does the phrase 'reforms with a human face' describe, and whose position is it?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
The INC's support for the new economic reforms coupled with concern for weaker sections
It is a centrist position, distinct from the CPI-M's criticism of policies allowing free flow of foreign capital and goods.
Q146. Which statement about the Election Commission's treatment of parties is correct?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
It applies equal treatment while granting additional facilities to parties meeting recognition requirements
The special facilities are what recognition consists of, and detailed criteria of votes and seats decide who gets them.
Q147. A party that formed government in Meghalaya and has presence in many North Eastern States holds national party status. What makes its case notable?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
That it was the earliest party from North East India to receive national recognition
The NPP secured one seat in the Lok Sabha in 2019 and was formed in July 2013 under P.A. Sangma.
Q148. Why is the growth of state parties described as a change in the practice of federalism rather than in its law?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Because no provision changed; what changed was that seat arithmetic compelled national parties to share power with parties rooted in the states
Party politics did for federalism what no constitutional amendment did, by giving state-rooted parties a route into the government at the Centre.
Q149. Why is 'regional party' a misleading description of a State party?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
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Q150. How has the growth of State parties changed politics at the Centre?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
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Q151. Compare the economic positions of the INC and the CPI-M.
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
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Q152. A commentator argues that because parties are blamed for every failure of democracy, they must be the cause of every failure. What does the chapter's reasoning suggest?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
That blame settles on parties partly because they are the most visible face of democracy, which is not the same as their causing everything
The dissatisfaction is real and worldwide, and has focussed on four problem areas, but visibility is part of why parties attract it.
Q153. A party has held no organisational election for twelve years, keeps no list of its members, and has not called a general meeting. Which challenge does this describe?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
lack of internal democracy
These three absences are exactly what the lack of internal democracy consists of.
Q154. An ordinary member of a party wants to challenge a decision taken by its president. On the chapter's account, what stands in the way?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
That members get neither sufficient information on what happens inside the party nor the means or connections needed to influence decisions
Decision-making becomes concentrated among a small leadership group instead of being shared with ordinary members.
Q155. Why does the chapter's phrase 'decisions in the name of the party' matter?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Because the leaders are speaking for a body whose members have no way of checking them
Power is exercised in someone else's name without their means of reply, which is what makes the concentration a democratic problem.
Q156. A senior member who publicly disagrees with the party president finds himself without a ticket and eventually leaves. Which consequence does this illustrate?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
That where one or few leaders exercise paramount power, those who disagree find it difficult to continue in the party
Personal allegiance to a leader can displace commitment to the party's programme and principles.
Q157. Read the Assertion and Reason and choose the correct option. Assertion (A): Dynastic succession is treated as related to the lack of internal democracy rather than as a separate problem. Reason (R): Since most parties do not practise open and transparent procedures, an ordinary worker has hardly any way of rising to the top.
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
Closed procedure is the cause and family succession is the effect, which is why the second challenge loses its mechanism if the first is fixed.
Q158. A worker of twenty years' standing is passed over for a ticket that goes to the president's son. Which two harms does the chapter identify in such a case?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Unfairness to other members of the party, and harm to democracy since people without adequate experience or popular support occupy positions of power
One harm is internal to the party; the other is to the country.
Q159. A student writes that dynastic succession is a problem peculiar to Indian parties. What is the correction?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Family advantages in party leadership also occur outside India, including in long-established democracies.
Treating it as an Indian failing misstates the chapter.
Q160. A party selects a candidate chiefly because he can fund his own campaign. Which challenge is at work, and at which stage?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Money power, at the stage of nomination, since parties tend to nominate candidates who have or can raise lots of money
Money enters the process before the campaign does.
Q161. A company funds several parties and afterwards finds its concerns reflected in each of their programmes. Which effect does this illustrate?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Large donors can gain influence over a party's policy choices, extending their role beyond financing its campaign.
Money does not merely buy a campaign; it reaches into what the party does afterwards, which is the serious half of the third challenge.
Q162. Consider the following as consequences of money power in parties. I. Candidates are nominated for their ability to raise money. II. Funders influence the party's policies and decisions. III. Parties in some cases support criminals who can win. IV. The Election Commission funds every candidate equally. Which of the statements given above are correct?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
I, II and III
I, II and III are correct. State funding of elections is a suggestion for reform, not an existing practice.
Q163. A voter finds six parties on the ballot and concludes she has a meaningful choice. What condition has she overlooked?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
A meaningful electoral choice requires alternatives that differ in substance, not simply in their names or symbols.
NCERT describes a narrowing of ideological differences between competing parties in the period it discusses.
Q164. A voter dissatisfied with both the policies and the personalities of the major parties finds no escape. Why does changing her vote not help with the second?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
When familiar leaders switch parties, a different party label may still offer voters the same individuals.
Changing the party may not change the policy, and may not change the person either — which is what closes the door completely.
Q165. Which challenge concerns how a party runs itself, and which concerns what it offers the voter?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Lack of internal democracy; absence of meaningful choice
The first two challenges are internal, the third concerns the contest, and the fourth the result the voter actually faces.
Q166. An Italian prime minister also owned television channels, the country's most important publishing company, a football club and a bank. Which challenge does the chapter illustrate with this case?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
the growing role of money in democratic politics
The influence of wealthy individuals and large businesses worries supporters of democracy in many countries.
Q167. Which pairing of a challenge with its description is correct?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Lack of internal democracy — parties do not keep membership registers or hold internal elections
Each of the other three attaches a description to the wrong challenge, which is what this question tests.
Q168. A reformer proposes that parties be required to maintain membership registers and hold regular internal elections. Which two challenges would this address at once, and why?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Lack of internal democracy and dynastic succession, because closed procedure is what allows leaders to favour their own family
The chapter states that dynastic succession is related to the first challenge, so the two share a remedy.
Q169. Read the Assertion and Reason and choose the correct option. Assertion (A): Several parties contesting an election is enough to guarantee voters a meaningful choice. Reason (R): Lately, across most of the world, the ideological gap between parties has narrowed.
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
A is false but R is true
A narrowing ideological gap can leave the choice thin, so the assertion is false. The reason gives that trend.
Q170. Which statement best explains why the concentration of power inside parties is a democratic problem and not merely an administrative one?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Because decisions are taken in the name of a body whose members have neither the information nor the means to check them
Ordinary members get no sufficient information and have no means or connections to influence decisions.
Q171. A party's top posts have been held by members of one family for three generations. Which challenge is this, and what makes it possible?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Dynastic succession, made possible by the absence of open and transparent procedures that would let an ordinary worker rise
Opaque procedures restrict ordinary workers' opportunities to advance. Leaders can then favour relatives or close associates when distributing important posts.
Q172. Consider the following statements about the fourth challenge. I. Parties must be significantly different to offer a meaningful choice. II. Ideological differences have declined in most parts of the world. III. The same leaders keep moving between parties. IV. Voters in India have a wide choice of economic policies. Which of the statements given above are correct?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
I, II and III
I, II and III are correct. Differences among the major parties on economic policies have reduced, not widened.
Q173. Why does the chapter treat the decline of ideological difference as a worldwide trend rather than an Indian complaint?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Because it cites Britain's Labour and Conservative parties alongside the Indian case, describing the decline as occurring in most parts of the world
The Indian observation about economic policies is added to a general pattern rather than standing alone.
Q174. Which of the following is NOT one of the four challenges to political parties?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
The failure of the Election Commission to recognise enough parties
Recognition is a matter of criteria of votes and seats and is not among the four problem areas popular criticism has focussed on.
Q175. A party leader argues that dissent inside a party is disloyalty. Which condition does the chapter say produces that view?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
The concentration of paramount power in one or a few leaders, under which personal loyalty to the leader becomes more important than loyalty to principles and policies
Those who disagree with the leadership consequently find it difficult to continue in the party.
Q176. Which sequence correctly traces the chain from single-minded focus on winning to the influence of funders?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Parties focus only on winning, then use short-cuts, then nominate candidates who can raise money, then funders influence policies and decisions
The order matters because it shows money entering at nomination and then reaching into what the party does after the election.
Q177. A reformer who wants voters to have a real alternative concludes that adding more parties to the ballot will solve the problem. Why might it not?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Because a choice is meaningful only if the parties are significantly different, and more parties agreeing on fundamentals adds no alternative
More party labels do not ensure a substantially different policy option.
Q178. Which two of the four challenges are described as internal to the working of a party?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
The lack of internal democracy and dynastic succession
The third concerns how a party fights elections and the fourth what it offers the voter.
Q179. Why does the chapter say the four challenges must be overcome rather than merely noted?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Because parties must overcome them in order to remain effective instruments of democracy, and democracy has been shown to depend on parties
The earlier topics established that parties are a necessary condition for democracy, which is what makes their failures urgent.
Q180. A commentator says the four challenges show that democracy would be better off without parties. Why does this conclusion not follow?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Because parties have been shown to be crucial for the working of democracy, so the conclusion drawn is that they must overcome these challenges, not be removed
The section opens by recalling how crucial parties are before listing what is wrong with them.
Q181. How is dynastic succession connected to the lack of internal democracy?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
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Q182. Why is dynastic succession bad for democracy and not merely unfair?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
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Q183. Why do parties often fail to offer voters a meaningful choice?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
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Q184. A citizens' group demands that Parliament pass a strict law regulating how parties choose their leaders. What difficulty does the chapter identify with this route?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Party leaders help decide reforms affecting their own organisations. Replacing the rulers may change the leaders without removing that incentive to resist restrictions.
People can replace those leaders, but only by another set of party leaders, which is the circle the topic opens with.
Q185. An MLA elected on one party's symbol joins another party after the election in the hope of a ministry. What does the law now provide?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
He will lose his seat in the legislature
The amendment sought to discourage representatives from switching sides for ministerial posts or financial rewards.
Q186. A legislator elected on one party's symbol formally joins a rival party two months after the result. What is the act called, and what drove such acts before the Constitution was amended?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Defection: representatives may switch political allegiance in pursuit of posts or financial rewards
Defection means an elected representative switching allegiance away from the party under whose label they won office. In NCERT's simplified account of anti-defection law, an MP or MLA who changes party can lose their legislative seat.
Q187. A legislator believes a bill is wrong but votes for it, saying that opposing the leadership could cost him his seat. Which unintended effect does this illustrate?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
That the anti-defection law has made dissent even more difficult, since MPs and MLAs have to accept whatever the party leaders decide
A measure aimed at one challenge deepened another, which is the central observation of this topic.
Q188. Read the Assertion and Reason and choose the correct option. Assertion (A): The anti-defection law cannot be described as a straightforward success. Reason (R): It has helped bring defection down, but it has also made any dissent even more difficult.
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
Each of the three measures taken so far has a real effect and an unresolved cost, and the chapter reports both.
Q189. A returning officer receives from each candidate a signed document, sworn before an officer, setting out what the candidate owns and the cases pending against him. What is this document, and who made it compulsory?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
An affidavit, made compulsory by the Supreme Court
The order was passed to reduce the influence of money and criminals, and an affidavit is a signed document containing a sworn statement of personal information.
Q190. A researcher claims the affidavit requirement has reduced the influence of the rich and of criminals in elections. What is wrong with the claim?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
There is no system to check whether the information given is true, and as yet we do not know whether such a decline has occurred
What the system has certainly achieved is that a lot of information is now available to the public.
Q191. Why does the chapter treat disclosure and effect as separate questions?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Because making information available changes what is known, while whether it changes what happens depends on evidence not yet in
The chapter refuses to claim a result it cannot yet show, which is why it says 'as yet we do not know'.
Q192. A party holds an organisational election in which every post is filled unopposed, and files its returns on time. What does this illustrate?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
That a rule can compel the form of a thing without producing its substance, so it is not clear that internal democracy has grown
Parties have started doing what was ordered, but sometimes it is mere formality.
Q193. Which set correctly names the three authorities behind the measures already taken?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
The Constitution as amended, the Supreme Court, and the Election Commission
Two of the three came from bodies outside the party system altogether.
Q194. A reformer proposes that parties be made to keep a register of members, follow their own constitution, appoint an independent authority to judge internal disputes, and hold open elections to the top posts. Which challenges would this address?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
The lack of internal democracy and dynastic succession
Between them these four requirements remove the mechanism by which power concentrates and family succession becomes possible.
Q195. A party fields 120 candidates, of whom 20 are women, and claims to have met the reform proposed for women's representation. Has it?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
No — the proposal is about one-third of tickets, and it separately requires a quota for women in the party's decision making bodies
The suggestion has two halves, and an answer or a claim that gives only the first is incomplete.
Q196. A student writes that the reform on women proposes only a share of tickets. What has been left out?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Women should also receive reserved representation in the bodies that make decisions within parties
The suggestion has two halves, and an answer giving only the first is incomplete.
Q197. In what two forms could state funding of elections be given?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
In kind, such as petrol, paper and telephone, or in cash on the basis of votes secured in the last election
The government would give parties money to support their election expenses.
Q198. Which challenge is state funding of elections chiefly aimed at?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
the growing role of money power
If the state pays for election expenses, rich people and companies have less hold on the policies and decisions of a party.
Q199. A minister proposes a detailed code governing every internal act of every party. What warning does the chapter give?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Excessive rules may encourage evasion rather than meaningful change. Parties can also resist legislation that restricts their own leaders.
NCERT cautions that adding rules does not necessarily change political behaviour.
Q200. What is the second reason for caution about legal solutions to political problems?
AdvancedShow answer & explanation
Party leaders can resist legislation that restricts their own organisations
This returns to the circle: a law binding parties must first be passed by parties.
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