CHAPTER 3CLASS 6 CIVICS

WHAT IS GOVERNMENT?

NEED FOR A GOVERNMENT?

• Every country needs a government to:• Make decisions

• Take actions on social issues

• Run essential services like postal and railway services

• Protect the country’s boundaries

• Maintain peaceful international relations

• Ensure food and good health facilities for all citizens

• Organise aid and assistance for people affected by natural disasters

• Etc.

• Courts, which settle disputes and give rulings over crime, are also part of the government

GOVERNMENT

• When human beings live and work together

• Some rules have to be made that apply to everyone

• Governments do this on behalf of their people by exercising leadership

Governments take decisions and implement them among people living in their territory

• There needs to be some amount of organisation so decisions can be made

Some examples of institutions that are part of the government are:

The Supreme CourtBharat PetroleumThe Indian Railways

LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT

• The government works at different levels:1. The local level – your village, town, or locally

2. The state level – that which covers an entire state

3. The national level – relates to the entire country

• On 2nd June, 2014 – Telangana became the 29th state of India• This happened after the re-organisation of the state of Andhra Pradesh

• Since 31st October, 2019 – Jammu & Kashmir was divided into 2 Union Territories:• Jammu & Kashmir

• Ladakh

LAWS

• The government makes laws, and everyone who lives in the country has to follow these• This is how the government functions

• The government has the power to make decisions• It also has the power to enforce its decisions• Example – anyone who drives a vehicle should have a license. If they don’t,

they will be fined or punished

• The government’s power to make decisions is effective only because of these laws

LAWS

• There are also steps which people can take to help in enforcing law• Like approaching the court if they find that a law is not being followed

somewhere

TYPES OF GOVERNMENT

Q) Who gives the government this power to make decisions and enforce laws?Ans: Depends on the type of government in a country

DEMOCRACY MONARCHY

DEMOCRACY

• Who gives the government this power to make decisions and enforce laws?

• In a democracy:• It is the people who give the government this power. How?Ø Through elections – in which they vote for particular persons and elect

themØ Once elected, these persons form the government

• In a democracy, the government has to explain its actions and defend its decisions to the people

MONARCHY

• The Monarch (king or queen) – has the power to make decisions and run the government

• The monarch may have a small group of people to discuss matters with• But the final decision making power remains with the monarch

• Unlike in a democracy - kings and queens do not have to explain their actions or defend their decisions

DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENTS

• India is a democracy

• This is the result of a long and eventful struggle of the Indian people• There are other places in the world where people have also struggled to have

democracies

• The main feature of a democracy – people have the power to elect their leaders

1. So in a way, democracy is a rule by the people2. The basic idea – people rule themselves by participating in the making of

these rules

REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY

• In present times, democratic governments are called REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACIES

• In Representative Democracies:• People do not participate directly• Instead, they choose their representatives through an election process• These representatives meet and make decisions for the people

• One essential element of Democracy – UNIVERSAL ADULT FRANCHISE

UNIVERSAL ADULT FRANCHISE

• This means all adults in the country are allowed to vote

• In the past, there was a time when women and the poor did not participate in elections

• In the earliest forms of democracy, only educated men who owned property were allowed to vote• Women, the poor, the property-less and the uneducated were not allowed to

vote

VOTING RIGHTS

• Before independence, only a small minority was allowed to vote• Several people demanded that all adults should have the right to vote• Mahatma Gandhi wrote about it in the Young India journal in 1931

IN USA and EUROPE…

• All over Europe and USA, women and the poor have had to fight for participation in government

• Women’s struggle to vote got strengthened during the First World War

• This movement is called the Women’s Suffrage Movement

• The term suffrage usually means the right to vote

WAR

• During war, many men were away fighting

• Women were called upon to do work that was earlier considered men’s work

• Women began organising and managing different kinds of work

• The unfair stereotypes about women and their capabilities began shattering

• Women began to be seen as being equally capable of making decisions

STRUGGLES FOR SUFFRAGE

• The suffragettes demanded the right to vote for all women

1. To get their demands heard, they chained themselves to railings in public places

2. Many suffragettes were imprisoned3. They went on hunger strikes, and had to be fed by force

• American women got the right to vote in 1920• Women in the UK got the same voting rights as men in 1928