Forms of power-sharing Reigning the Reins In , some new laws were made in Russia giving more powers to its president. During the same time, the US president visited Russia. What, according to this cartoon, is the relationship between democracy and concentration of power? Can you think of some other examples to illustrate the point being made here?
© Olle Johansson - Sweden, Cagle Cartoons Inc., Feb. In India, we call them State Governments. This system is not followed in all countries. There are many countries where there are no provincial or state governments.
But in those countries like ours, where there are different levels of government, the constitution clearly lays down the powers of different levels of government. This is what they did in Belgium, but was refused in Sri Lanka. This is called federal division of power. The same principle can be extended to levels of government lower than the State government, such as the municipality and panchayat.
Let us call division of powers involving higher and lower levels of government vertical division of power. We shall study these at some length in the next chapter. Power may also be shared among different social groups, such as the religious and linguistic groups. ‘Community government’ in Belgium is a good example of this arrangement.
In some countries, there are constitutional and legal arrangements, whereby socially weaker sections and women are represented in the legislatures and administration. Last year, we studied the system of ‘reserved constituencies’ in assemblies and the parliament of our country. This type of arrangement is meant to give space in the government and administration to diverse social In my school, the class monitor changes every month. Is that what you call a power sharing arrangement?
groups, who otherwise, would feel alienated from the government. This method is used to give minority communities a fair share in power. In Unit II, we shall look at various ways of accommodating social diversities. Power sharing arrangements can also be seen in the way political parties, pressure groups and movements control or influence those in