Longman Panorma Civics Solutions for Class 7 Social science Chapter 2 - Institutions Of Democracy

Answer:

The universal adult franchise was accepted in the United States of America in the year 1965.

Explanation - In the 19th century, voting rights were initially given to people with property and wealth. In the United States of America , people started exercising their voting rights with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Answer:

 People who fight elections on their own and without the support of political parties are called independent candidates.

Explanation - Several candidates contest for the same position in an election.The participants can be political parties or candidates who do not belong to any political party. Such candidates are known as individual candidates.

Answer:

A government formed with the alliance of two or more parties is called a coalition government.

Explanation -  A party that gets the majority of votes in an election forms the government. A coalition government is formed with the alliance of two or more parties when no party gets a clear majority.

Answer:

Telegu Desam is a regional party of Andhra Pradesh.

Explanation - A regional party is the one that functions at a state level (one state only) or at a regional level (two or three state). The Telegu Desam Party is a regional party that is active in Andhra Pradesh and was founded on 29 March 1982.

Answer:

In most democratic countries, women and people who did not own any property or wealth were denied voting rights. The struggle for universal franchise went on for years. Even in the initial years of 20th century, only people with property and wealth were given voting rights. The people of India were granted their voting rights in 1950. All adults could vote irrespective of their caste, race, gender, sex or income.

Answer:

The essence of democracy is equality. Elections give the opportunity to every adult citizen of the country to choose his/her representative. This makes the country truly democratic.

Elections are important for the following reasons:
1. Public opinion and will is expressed through elections. They are essential for creating a vibrant, progressive and aware society.
2. People participate in the governance of their country by choosing their own representative through elections.
3.People are given a choice to allow the present government to continue to rule or to elect a new one altogether. This happens due to the occurrence of elections at regular intervals.
4. The right to vote is given to every adult citizen of the country, irrespective of his/her colour, race, religion and sex. Free and fair elections engage citizens as stakeholders in the social and economic progress of the country.

Answer:

The election commission is an independent body that has been established constitutionally. The roles of the election commission are as follows:

1.The election commission undertakes the responsibility of conducting free and fair elections at regular intervals all over the country. It assigns dates for periodical elections at both state- and national-level.
2. It recognises and allots symbols to political parties.
3. It demarcates electoral constituencies and creates voter lists by enrolling citizens.
3.It puts a limit on the amount of money that can be spent by a candidate or political party during an election campaign. It monitors activities of political parties to ensure level playing field.

Answer:

Answer:

Political parties require symbols that are approved by the election commission. These symbols are important because of the following reasons:
1. People who cannot read or write can easily identify the party by their symbols during elections.
2. If two parties have similar sounding names, the confusion is avoided by the presence of different symbols.

Answer:

A coalition government is the one in which two or more parties cooperate to form an alliance.The dominance of any one party is reduced in such an alliance.This occurs when no party gets a clear majority of votes in the elections. For example, the UPA government, which was in power from 2004 to 2014.

The merits of a coalition government are as follows:
1. The alliance of regional and national parties helps to serve diverse interests of people from every region. 
2. It creates stakeholders from all sections of society in national progress and is inclined to govern through consensus.

The demerits of a coalition government are as follows:
1. A difficult situation arises when any decision has to be taken. This is because every party has to be consulted before a decision is taken.
2. The consideration of interests of every party creates rift between them. If one party withdraws from the alliance, the government may fall. Often, it leads to pressure tactics and blackmailing if interests of two groups clash with each other.

Answer:

 The last state election in Delhi was held on 7th February 2015. The major parties that contested were the Aam Admi Party  (AAP), the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and the Congress. The chief ministerial candidates of these parties were Arvind Kejriwal (AAP), Kiran Bedi (BJP) and Ajay Maken (Congress). The candidates started campaigning about two months before the election. They put forth their ideas and propositions of how they would improve the current situation of the state. Many diverse issues affecting all sections of society were discussed during the elections and served to spread awareness among voters.

The people of Delhi voted for the Aam Admi Party and made it the majority party,  thereby making Arvind Kejriwal the chief minister.

Answer:

Every adult citizen of a country has the right to vote. This is known as universal adult franchise. The voting rights are given to every person irrespective of their caste, creed, race, religion, gender and income.This is the essence of a democracy because it ensures equality. Universal adult franchise gives people the right to choose their own representatives and thereby, participate in the government. Initially, voting rights were denied to women and people who did not have property or wealth. With the passage of time and as the struggle for achieving voting rights progressed, these biases were removed. In India, this right was granted in the year 1950 with the adoption of the Indian Constitution. This went a long way towards bringing to power a government that had the mandate of all sections of society, particularly the disadvantaged groups.

Answer:

Election is a process through which people exercise their right to vote and choose their representative to run the government. The election contested between several candidates. They may belong to political parties or can contest independently. The candidate or party that gets the majority of votes forms the government. If a majority is not achieved, the government is formed by the alliance of two or more parties. This is known as a coalition government.
Free and fair elections, at regular intervals, are the barometer of a democracy because they enable people to participate in the process of governance. The power to choose the government rests with the people who express their will through elections. Issues of public importance and large social and national welfare are decided through elections. During elections, political parties and candidates express their views and ideas about major issues faced by the people.

 

Answer:

A political party that gets the majority of votes in an election is the majority party. This means the support of the majority of people is with this party. This party becomes the ruling party and forms the government. The majority party has to take into consideration the interests and aspirations of all sections of society while governing. This includes people who did not vote for it as well. This leads to the welfare of the people and the progress of the nation.

Answer:

Coalition government is the one in which two or more parties cooperate to create an alliance that forms the government. This situation occurs when no party gets a clear majority of votes in the elections. For example, the UPA government, which was in power from 2004 to 2014. An alliance may also be formed prior to the elections. An agenda for governance is decided beforehand by identifying areas of mutual agreement among the allying partners.
The alliance of regional and national parties helps in serving diverse interests of people from every region. Governance by consensus forms the framework of a coalition government. It is an example of power sharing where larger interests and long term goals are kept in mind. Parties with diverse ideologies often come together to form government. It is an act of balancing and requires statesmanship.