Political Science

Era of One-Party Dominance

Question:

What would you consider as the main differences between Mexico and India under one party domination?

Answer:

There was a difference between one party domination in India and Mexico. In Mexico, this was a one party system only not dominance because:
1. In India, the Congress party dominated on behalf of popular consensus but Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) (in Spanish) ruled on behalf of perfect dictatorship.
2. In India, free and fair elections took place, where the losing of election was also fair but it Mexico, elections were based on malpractices, dominated by PRI.

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Era of One-Party Dominance

Q 1.

Explain the major difference of ideology between that of Congress and the Bharatiya Jana Sangh.

Q 2.

In which year was the Election Commission of India set up and who was the first chief Election Commissioner of India?

Q 3.

When and why was the electronic voting machine used in India for the first time?

Q 4.

How did socialist party origin?

Q 5.

Why was Congress considered as a social and ideological coalition in independence days? Explain.

Q 6.

What would you consider as the main differences between Mexico and India under one party domination?

Q 7.

Name the founder president of the Congress Socialist Party. What name was given to this party after 1948?

Q 8.

When and by whom PRI was founded?

Q 9.

Mention the aims and goals of Socialist Party of India. Why the party could not prove itself as an effective alternative to the Congress?

Q 10.

Choose the correct option to fill in the blanks.
(a) The First General Elections in 1952 involved simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and………….
(The President of India/State Assemblies/Rajya Sabha/The Prime Minister)
(b) The party that won the second largest number of Lok Sabha seats in the first elections was the …………
(Praja Socialist Party/Bharatiya Jana Sangh/Communist Party of India/Bharatiya Janata Party)
(c) One of the guiding principles of the ideology of the Swatantra Party was………
(Working class interest/protection of Princely States/Economy free from State control/Autonomy of States within the Union)

Q 11.

Describe the various steps taken to hold the first general elections in India. How far these elections were successful?

Q 12.

Who was the founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh?

Q 13.

Who was the founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh?

Q 14.

Define faction.

Q 15.

How was the one party dominance in India different from the one party system in Mexico? In your opinion which of the two political systems is better and why?

Q 16.

If Bharatiya Jana Sangh of the Communist Party of India had formed the government after the first election, in which respects would the policies of the government have been different? Specify three differences each for both the parties.

Q 17.

Examine the dominance of Congress in the first three General Elections.

Q 18.

How did India's first general elections of 1952 become a landmark in the history of democracy all over the world?

Q 19.

What were the reasons for dominance of one party system in India?

Q 20.

Differentiate between one party dominance and one party system.

Q 21.

Match the following
ncert-solutions-class-12-political-science-era-one-party-dominance-1

Q 22.

Four statements regarding one-party dominance are given below. Mark each of them as true or false:
(a) One-party dominance is rooted in the absence of strong alternative political parties
(b) One-party dominance occurs because of weak public opinion.
(c) One-party dominance is linked to the nation's colonial past.
(d) One-party dominance reflects the absence of democratic ideals in a country.

Q 23.

Take a political map of India (with State outlines) and mark:
(a) Two states where Congress was not in poiver at some point during 1952-67.
(b) Two states where the Congress remained in power through this period.

Q 24.

Which political party laid emphasis on the idea of one party, one culture and one nation?

Q 25.

State any two ideologies of the Swatantra Party.

Q 26.

How did the dominance of Congress Party in the first three general elections help in establishing a democratic set-up in India?

Q 27.

How did opposition parties emerge in India? What was their importance?

Q 28.

Which political party of India had leaders like A.K. Gopalan, E.M.S. Namboodiripad, and S.A. Dange?

Q 29.

Read the passage given below carefully and answer the questions:
This coalition-like character of the Congress gave it an unusual strength. Firstly, a coalition accommodates all those who join it. Therefore, it has to avoid any extreme position and strike a balance on almost all issues. Compromise and inclusiveness are the hallmarks of a coalition. This strategy put the opposition in a difficulty. Anything that the opposition wanted to say, would also find a place in the programme and ideology of the Congress. Secondly, in a party that has the nature of a coalition, there is a greater tolerance of internal differences and ambitions of various groups and leaders are accommodated. The Congress did both these things during the freedom struggle and
continued doing this even after Independence. That is why, even if a group was not happy with the position of the party or with its share of power, it would remain inside the party and fight the other groups rather than leaving the party and becoming an opposition'.

Questions
1. What do you mean by a faction?
2. How did coalition-like character affect the nature of Congress Party?
3. How did Congress avoided to increase number of opposition'?

Q 30.

Read the following passage:
"Patel, the organisational man of the Congress, wanted to purge the Congress of other political groups and sought to make of it a cohesive and disciplined political party. He … sought to take the Congress away from its all-embracing character and turn it into a close-knit party of disciplined cadres. Being a ‘ r list he looked more for discipline than for  took too romantic a view of "eariging on the movement,"Patel's idea of transforming the Congress into strictly political party with a single ideology and tight discipline showed an equal lack of understanding of the eclectic role that the Congress, as a government, was to be called upon to perform in the decades to follow." ”Rnjni Kotl c – 1
(а) Why does the author think that Congress should not have been a cohesive and disciplined party?
(b) Give some examples of the eclectic role of the Congress party in the early years.
(c) Why does the author say that Gandhi's view about Congress future was romantic?

Q 31.

In the outline political map of India given below, five States have been marked as A, B, C, D and E. With the help of the information given below, identify them and write their correct names in your answer book along with the serial number of the information used and the related alphabet in the map.
ncert-solutions-class-12-political-science-era-one-party-dominance-6
Questions
(i) The State to which C. Rajagopalachari, the first Indian Governor-General of India, belonged.
(ii) The State where the first non-Congress Government was formed by E.M.S. Namboodiripad.
(iii) The State to which Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, the Union Minister for Food and Agriculture (1952-54) belonged.
(iv) The State which faced the most acute food crisis in 1965-1967.
(v) The State which led the country to White Revolution through Dairy Cooperative Movement.

Q 32.

On a political outline map of India locate and label the following and symbolise them as indicated:
ncert-solutions-class-12-political-science-era-one-party-dominance-7
Questions
1. Two states where Congress was not in power at some point during 1952-67.
2. Two states where the Congress remained in power through this period.

Q 33.

"India's experiment with universal adult franchise appeared very bold and risky". Justify the statement.

Q 34.

Describe the organisation of Congress Party as a social and ideological coalitions.
Or
"For a long time Congress Party had been a social and ideological coalition". Justify the statement.  

Q 35.

Highlight any two features of ideology of Bharatiya Jana Sangh.

Q 36.

How has the method of voting changed from the first General Election of 1952 to the General Election of 2004?

Q 37.

Read the passage given below carefully and answer the questions:
The socialists believed in the ideology of democratic socialism which distinguished them both from the Congress as well as from the Communists. They criticised the Congress for favouring capitalists and landlords and for ignoring the workers and the peasants. But the socialists faced a dilemma when in 1955 the Congress declared its goal to be the socialist pattern of society. Thus it became difficult for the socialists to present themselves as an effective alternative to the Congress. Some of them, led by Rammanohar Lohia, increased their distance from and criticism of the Congress party. Some others like Asoka Mehta advocated a limited cooperation with the Congress.

Questions
1. Mention the ideology of Socialists.
2. Name some leaders of the Socialist Party.
3. Why did it become difficult for socialists to present themselves as an effective alternative to the Congress?

Q 38.

"In India, hero-worship, plays  a part in its politics unequalled in magnitude by the part it plays in the politics of any other country But in politics, hero-worship is a sure road to degradation and eventual dictatorship".Babasaheb Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Analyse the statement.

Q 39.

How was one party dominance of India different from the other examples of one party dominance in the world?
Or
Examine the comparative analysis of nature of Congress dominance.

Q 40.

When was Communist Party emerged?

Q 41.

How did the dominance of Congress Party in the first three general elections help in establishing a democratic set-up in India?

Q 42.

In what sense was the Congress an ideological coalition? Mention the various ideological currents present within the Congress.

Q 43.

Did the prevalence of a one-party dominant system' affect adversely the democratic nature of Indian politics?

Q 44.

Bring out three differences each between Socialist Parties and the Communist Party and between Bharatiya Jana Sangh and Swatantra Party.

Q 45.

Study the picture given below and answer the questions that follow:
ncert-solutions-class-12-political-science-era-one-party-dominance-5
Questions
1. What does the cartoon represent?
2. What does the term Tug of war' refer to?
3. Who has been shown on the branches of tree?