Electoral Politics IMP Questions PDF

ELECTORAL POLITICS IMP QUESTIONS Print Done Course CIVICS Last edited time @November 20, 2024 10:02 PM 1. What are by elections? Sometimes election is held only for one constituency...

ELECTORAL POLITICS IMP QUESTIONS Print Done Course CIVICS Last edited time @November 20, 2024 10:02 PM 1. What are by elections? Sometimes election is held only for one constituency to fill the vacancy caused by death or resignation of a member. Such an election is called By Election 2. Define the term constituency Voters in a geographical area who elect a representative to the legislative body. 3. What are ‘Seats’? Electoral constituencies are known as “seats” 4. What is Voter’s List? In a democratic election, the list of those who are eligible to vote is prepared much before the election and given to everyone. This is called the Electoral Roll and is commonly known as Voters List 5. What are Reserved Constituencies? Reserved constituencies are those constituencies which are reserved for people who belong to the Scheduled Cast or Scheduled Tribe ELECTORAL POLITICS IMP QUESTIONS 1  6. What is the minimum age required for a candidate to stand elecitons? To stand for elections a candidate has to be 25 years of age 7. What is called a ‘part ticket’? Political parties nominate their candiates who are given the symbol and support. The party’s nomination is called the party’s ticket 8. What do you mean by election campaign? Election campaing refers to a process by which a candidate tries to persuade the votes to vote for him rather than for others 9. What is meant by ballot paper? The ballot paper is a sheet of paper on which the contesting candidates, their party names and symbols are listed 10. What are advantages of EVM’s ? The Electronic Voting Machine don not allow a voter to vote form more than one candidate and thus prevents invalid votes and counting votes is much faster and accurate 11. Elections are barometers of democracy. Explain Elections are important as they provide an opportunity to the people to judge the performance of their representative and through elections effective control can be maintained over the executive and people can get rid of an unpopular government 12. How does the principle of Universal Adult Franchise work in India? The principle of ‘Universal Adult Franchise' is applied in India in the following ways: - ELECTORAL POLITICS IMP QUESTIONS 2  In India, ‘Universal Adult Franchise’ is applied to all the citizens who are above the age of 18. Thus, all the citizens who are above the age of 18 have the right to vote and everyone's vote is given equal weightage. Their right to vote is not impacted by their caste, region, religion, gender and sex. In India, in some rare cases, criminals and people who have an unsound mind are not given the right to vote. The voter’s list consists of a list of all eligible voters, this list is edited every 5 years to include the names of the people who have become eligible voters and to remove the names of the people who are either dead or have moved. 13. What is General Elections? In India, elections are held in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha regularly after every five years After five years the term of all elected representatives comes to an end. The Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha stands ‘dissolved’ Elections are held in all constituencies at the same time, either on the same day or within a few days This is called General Elections 14. What is importance of a Photo Identity Card? A photo identity card contains all the relevant information regarding the voter The voters are required to produce this card when they go to vote, so that no one can vote for someone else 15. Explain any two advantages and disadvantages of political competition Advantages of Political Competition ELECTORAL POLITICS IMP QUESTIONS 3  Political competition motivates political leaders to focus on welfare of the people The party which seeks to come to power is forced to serve the people so its chance of forming a government are not ruined Disadvantages of Political Competition Political competition creates a disunity and factionalism They often use dirty to win election often leveling allegations against one other. The pressure to win elections often prevents sensible long term policies being formulated 16. Why do we need reserved constituencies in Indian Democratic Parliamentary System? The constitution makers were worried that in an open electoral competition, certain weaker sections may not stand a chance to get elected to the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assembly They may not have the required resources, education and contacts to contest and win elections against others. Those who are influential and resourceful may prevent them from winning elections. If that happens, our parliament and assemblies would be deprived of the voice of a significant section of our population. That would make our democracy less representative and less democratic So, the makers of our constitution thought of a special system of reserved constituencies for the weaker sections. 17. What is meant by reserved constituencies? Justify the concept of ‘Reservation of seats’ by giving any three suitable arguments Some constituencies are reserved for people who belong to the Scheduled Castes (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST). In these constituencies only the one hwo belongs to these categories can stand for election Arguments for justification of the concept ELECTORAL POLITICS IMP QUESTIONS 4  The constitution makers were worried that in an open electoral competition, certain weaker sections may not stand a good chance to get elected to Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies They may not have the required resources, education and contacts to contest and win elections against each others If the reservation is not done, our Parliament and Assemblies would be deprived of the voice of a significant section of our population 18. Explain the process of nomination After the voter’s list is prepared, Candidates who wish to contest elections are nominated. For this, the party leader gives them a ‘ticket’ after which the selected candidates are supposed to fill nomination forms and give some amount as security deposit. According to a Supreme Court directive, nominated candidates are supposed to declare their assets and liabilities, educational qualifications and pending criminal cases against them, if any. This information is publicly available so that voters can make an informed decision. 19. What is the person required to do before getting nominated as candidate for elections? Every candidate has to make legal declaration giving full details of : Serious criminal cases pending against the candidate Details of assets and liabilities of the candidate and his or her family Education qualification of the candidate Tis information has to be made public This provides an opportunity to the voters to make their decisions on the basis of the information provided by the candidates 20. Describe the steps involved in Elections (Recheck the ans) The process of conduction of election are ELECTORAL POLITICS IMP QUESTIONS 5  Announcement of Schedule: The process of elections starts with the announcement of the schedule of elections by the Election Commission of India.​ Nomination of Candidates: Every political party nominates their candidate who will contest elections using the allotted party symbol.​ Candidates not affiliated with any party can also fight elections as ‘Independents.’​ Security of Nominations: The nomination form filled by candidates is scrutinised by t​ he Returning Officer. ​ Candidates are also given the choice to withdraw t​ heir nominations.​ Campaigning: A time limit of 14 days is given before the date of polling for ​the election campaign.​ Political parties organise large public rallies and door-to-door campaigns to win public support. Polling of Votes: Government schools and colleges are selected as polling booths.​ An indelible ink is marked on the index finger of the voter which acts as a source of identification. ​ Counting of Votes: ​ he counting of votes happens in front of the representatives of all T political parties and candidates.​ The candidate securing the highest number of votes is declared the winner. 21. List down the main challenges to free and fair elections in India Challenges to free and fair elections in India are as follows: ELECTORAL POLITICS IMP QUESTIONS 6  Candidates and parties with a lot of money may not be sure of their victory but they do enjoy a big and unfair advantage over smaller parties and independents. In some parts of the country, candidates with criminal connection have been able to secure a ticket. from major parties Some families tend to dominate the political parties, tickets are distributed to relatives from these families. Very often, elections offer little choice to ordinary citizens as both the major parties are similar to each other in their policies and practices Smaller parties and independent candidates suffer a huge disadvantage as compared to the bigger parties. ELECTORAL POLITICS IMP QUESTIONS 7