Following are Democracy and Diversity Notes for Class 10 Social Science. These revision notes have been prepared by expert teachers of Class 10 Social Science as per the latest NCERT, CBSE, KVS books released for the current academic year. Students should go through Chapter 3 Democracy and Diversity concepts and notes as these will help you to revise all important topics and help you to score more marks. We have provided Class 10 Social Science notes for all chapters in your book. You can access it all free and download Pdf.

Chapter 3 Democracy and Diversity Notes Class 10 Social Science

Memorable Facts :-

1. Homogeneous Society – A society that has similar kinds of people especially where there are no significant ethnic difference.
2. African – American – The descendants of Africans who were brought into America as slaves between the 17th century and early 19th century.
3. Apartheid – A policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race.
4. Racism – Discrimination on the basis of colour of skin.
5. Civil Rights Movement – It refers to a set of events and reforms movements aimed at abolishing legal racial discrimination against African – Americans
6. Migrants – Anybody who shift from one region or country to another region within country or to another country for work or other economic opportunities.
7. Scheduled Caste – Poor and landless and also socially and economically backward Indians.
8. Sexual division of labour – A system in which all works are divided on the basis of sex. It means a particular work for a particular sex.
9. Feminist – A woman or a man who believes in equal rights and opportunities for women and man.
10. Patriarchy – A system of society in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it.
11. Family laws – Those laws that deal with family related matters such as marriage, divorce, adoption etc.
12. Secularism – The belief that religion should not be involved with the ordinary social and political activity of a country.
13. Urbanisation – Shifting of population from rural areas to Urban areas.
14. Occupational Mobility – Shift from one occupation to another.
15. Caste hierarchy – A social structure in which classes are determined by heredity i.e. from the highest to the lowest castes.
16. Universal adult franchise – After attaining a certain age, all the people are given right to vote without – discrimination of caste, class, colour, religion or gender.
17. Communalism – A belief in which the followers of a particular religion believe that their religion is superior over other religion.

Influence of Politics, Gender Caste and Religion on each other

Gender:-

• Sexual division of labour-all works inside the home done by women.
• Patriarchal society- all the power hold by men.
• Less representation in legislature (India)-approximately 11% in lok sabha in 2014.
• 1/3 reservation in local government
• Feminists and other people and many organisations are demanding for reservation of women in legislature.

Very Short Answer type Questions

Question. What does gender division refer to ?
Ans. Gender division refers to the unequal roles assigned to men and women by the society.

Question. Who said that religion can never be separated from politics ?
Ans. Mahatma Gandhi

Question. What was the main aim of Civil rights movements in the USA ?
Ans. To abolish legal racial discrimination.

Question. Name the Australian Athlete, who supported the two American athletes.
Ans. Peter Norman

Question. What was the main reasons of disintegration of Yugoslavia ?
Ans. Religious and ethnic reasons

Question. In which countries does the women’s representation in politics is high ?
Ans. Finland, Swedan and Norway

Question. What is meant by Sex ratio ?
Ans. Sex ratio means number of females per thousand males in a country.

Question. Give examples of two countries having homogeneous Society.
Ans. Germany and Sweden.

Question. According to 2001 census what was the sex ration in India ?
Ans. 1000 males 933 females

Question. What is called a person who does not discriminate others on the basis of religious beliefs ?
Ans. Secular

Question. In which university, the statue of Tommie Smith, John Carlos and Peter Norman has been installed ?
Ans. San Jose state University.

Question. Which kind of social differences create possibilities of deep social divisions and tensions ?
Ans. Overlapping social differences

Question. Who was the leaders of Civil Rights Movement in the United States ?
Ans. Martin Luther king Jr.

Question. What did mean black-gloved and raised clenched fists of Tommie Smith and John Carlos ?
Ans. Black Power

Question. What do you mean by homogenous society ?
Ans. A society where there are not significant ethnic differences.

Question. Which region has the highest women’s representation in the national parliament ?
Ans. Nordic countries.

Question. Where was the olympic event of 1968 held ?
Ans. Mexico.

Question. Who were Tommie Smith and John Carlos ?
Ans. They were African – Americans . They won medals in 200 metres race.

Question. Name the Indian states where according to the census of 2001, sex ratio is less than 800.
Ans. Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh & Gujrat

Question. Which state in India has the lowest infant mortality rate ?
Ans. Kerala

Short/Long Answer type Questions

Question. Why did Smith wear a black scarf around his neck and Carlos a string of beads during medal ceremony at Mexico city in 1968 ?
Ans. Smith wore a black scarf around his neck to represent black pride and Carlos wore a string of beads to commemorate black people who had been killed.

Question. What are the three important factors in the outcome of politics of social divisions ?
Ans. (i) The first and foremost factor is for people to see their identities as multiple and complementary to the national identity. This helps them to stay together.
(ii) The second factor depends on how political leaders raise the demands of any community. The demands should be within the constitutional framework and not at the cost of another community.
(iii) The third factor depends on how the demands of different groups are met by the government. The demands of minority community should also be kept in mind.

Question. Communalism can take various forms in politics. Explain the statement with forms of communalism.
Ans. Religious prejudices,stereotypes of religious communities and belief in the superiority of own’s religion over other religion.
* A communal mind often leads to a quest for political dominance of one’s own religious community.
* Political mobilisation on religious lines. This involves the use of sacred symbols, religious leaders and plain fear in order to bring the followers of one religion together in the political arena.
* Most ugly form of communalism is communal violence,riots and massacre.

Question. Religion can never be seperated from politics. “Explain the statement?
Ans. According to Gandhi ji religion was not related to any particular religion like Hinduism or Islam but moral values that informs all religions. Politics must be guided by ethics drawn from religion.

Question. We all have more than one identity and can belong to more than one social group. ” Discuss the statement with suitable examples.
Ans. It is fairly common for people belonging to the same religion to feel that they do not belong to the same community, because their caste or sect is very different. It is also possible for people from different religious to have the same caste and feel close to each other. Rich and poor persons from the same family often do not keep close relations with each other for they feel they are different. eg.-Carlos and Smith were similar in one way that they both were Afro-Americans and thus different from Norman, who was white. But they were all athletes who stood against racial discrimination. Thus we all have more than one social group.

Question. Distinguish between overlapping and cross cutting differences.
Ans. Table

Question. What is a secular state ? Describe any three constitutional provisions that make Indian a secular state.
Ans. A state that has no official religion and ensures equal status to all religious is called secular state. Constitutional provisions that make India a secular state are :
(i) There is no official religion for the Indian state. Unlike the status of Buddhism in Sri Lanka and that of Islam in Pakistan.
(ii) The constitution provides freedom to all individuals and communities to profess, practice and propagate any religion, or not to follow any particular religion.
(iii) The constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.
(iv) Our constitution allows the state to intervene in the matters of religions in order to ensure quality within religious communities.

Question. What are the features of a homogeneous society ? Mention the name of any one country having such society ?
Ans. Homogeneous society is a kinds of society that has similar kinds of people, especially where there are no significant ethnic differences. But these kinds of society are rare, even those countries such as Germany and Sweden that were once highly homogeneous are undergoing rapid change with influx of people from other parts of the world. Migrants bring with them their own culture and tend to form a different social community. In this sense, most countries of the world are multi cultural.

Question. Some people conclude that “politics and social divisions should not be allowed to mix.” Support this idea with two arguments.
Ans. It is true that politics and social divisions should not be allowed to mix. It leads to negative results. We can see this when caste starts influencing politics :-
(i) Each caste group tries to become bigger by incorporating within it new kinds of neighbouring castes are subcastes which it had excluded earlier. New kinds of caste groups like backward and forward emerge. This is not healthy for democracy and can lead to tensions, conflicts and even violence. It diverts attention from other pressing issues like poverty, development and corruption.
(ii) Political parties and candidates in elections make appeals to caste sentiment to minister support. Some political parties are known to favour some castes and are seen as their representatives. This is bad, because it gives the impression that elections are about caste and nothing else. This is far from truth.

Question. Caste can take various forms in politics. Describe any five forms .
Ans. The caste can take following forms in politics:
(i) Sometimes candidates are chosen on the basis of their caste. When political parties choose candidates, they keep in mind the caste composition of their voters.
(ii) In many places, voters vote on the basis of caste and fail to choose suitable candidates.
(iii) When a government is formed after elections, political parties take care that different castes are represented in the government.
(iv) Political parties appeal to caste sentiments during elections.
(v) To gain support, political parties, raise caste-based issues during elections.
(vi) The castes considered inferior or low until now have been made conscious of their rights by the political parties.

Question. How can religion influence politics ?
Ans. (i) Gandhi Ji believed that politics must be guided by ethics drawn from all religious.
(ii) Ideas, ideals and values drawn from different religion can play a role in politics.
(iii) People should have the freedom to express in politics their needs, interest and demands as a member of a religious community.
(iv) People who hold political power should see the discrimination and oppression does not take place due to religion.

Question. Which event was related to the “Civil Rights Movement” in 1968 at Maxico City ?
Ans. In the 1968 olympics, Smith and Carles won the gold and bronze medals respectively. They received their medals wearing black socks and no shoes, to represent Black poverty. With this gesture, they tried to draw international attention to racial discrimination in the United States.

Question. Mention any two reasons of origins of social differences.
Ans. (i) Based on our choices :
Normally we don’t choose to belong to our community. We belong to it because we were born into etc.
(ii) Based on our choices :
Some of the differences are based on our choices. For example, religion, occupation, sports etc. Some people are atheists. They don’t believe in God or any religion. Some people choose to follow a particular religion. Most of us choose which occupation to take up.
(iii) Based on economic status :
Economic status can also be responsible for social differences. Rich and poor people belonging to the same community or religion often do not keep close relations with each other as they feel that they are very different.

Question. What are the effects of communalism on politics ?
Ans. (i) Religion rather than ability becomes the criteria to choose candidates for election.
(ii) People prefer to caste votes in favour of candidates of their own religion.
(iii) Communalism can turn ugly and lead to violenc, massacre and riots.
(iv) Sometimes, the voters polarise on the communal line and caste their votes accordingly.

Question. What is the proportion of women in Indian legislature? What can be done to improve the representation of women in legislature?
Ans. In Lok Sabha 2014 women are 11.23%
* in state assemblies women are approximately 5%
* To improve the representation of women in legislature reservation of seats for women should be legally binding like panchayat.
* In panchayat 1/3 seats are reseved for women.
* some states where 50% seats are already reserved for women are Bihar, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

Question. Explain the reason behind change in caste and caste system in modern India?
Ans. Caste and caste system in in modern India have undergone great changes because of-
* Economic development
* Large scale urbanisation
* Growth of literacy and education
* Occupational mobility
* Weakening of the position of landlords in the village

Question. Do you agree with the view that casteism has not disappeared from Indian Society ? Discuss.
Ans. Although the old barrier of caste system are breaking down, but still casteism continue to be there in the Indian society.
(i) Even now most people marry within their own caste or tribe.
(ii) Untouchability has not ended completely.
(iii) Effects of centuries of advantages and disadvantages continue to be felt today.

Question. Do the ‘Caste’ and ‘Vote bank’ factors completely control the elections in India ?
Ans. There is an impression that elections in Indian are all about caste and nothing else. But it is also true that ‘Caste’ and ‘Vote bank’ factors alone cannot determine elections in India due to the following reasons:—
(i) No single caste is ever elected with a clear majority in any parliamentary constituency. So votes of more than one caste is required to win the election for any candidate or party.
(ii) Many political parties may put up candidates from the same caste. Some voters have more than one candidate from their caste, while many voters have no candidate from their caste.
(iii) No party wins the votes of all the voters of a caste or community.

Question. How politics influences the caste system and caste identities?
Ans. Each caste group tries to become bigger by incorporating within it neighbouring castes or sub castes which were earlier excluded from it.
* Castes group are required to enter into a coalition with other castes.
* Newkind of castes group have come up in the political arena like backward and forward caste groups.

Question. How exclusive attention to caste can produce negative results in politics?
Ans. Politics based on caste identity alone is not very healthy in a democracy.
* can divert attention from other pressing issues like poverty, development and corruption.
* Caste division leads to tensions,conflicts and even violence.

Question. Give three reasons which have contributed to changes in caste and caste system in India.
Ans. The following reasons have contributed to changes in the caste system
(i) Efforts of political leaders and social reformers like Gandhi Ji and B. R. Ambedkar who advocated and worked to establish a society in which caste inequalities are absent.
(ii) Socio-economic reasons like urbanisation, growth of literacy and education. Occupational mobility, weakening of landlord’s position in the village have led to the breaking down of caste hierarchy.
(iii) The constitution of India prohibits any caste-based discrimination that lays down the foundations of policies to end the injustices of the caste system.

Question. What steps have been taken by the government of India to improve the conditions of women in society ?
Ans. The following schemes and strategies have been taken up by the Govt. of India for women empowerment :-
(i) Act prohibiting the practice of sati
(ii) The Hindu widow remarriage act.
(iii) The married women’s property act
(iv) Rajiv Gandhi National Creche scheme (for working women)
(v) Support to training and employment program for women.
(vi) Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojna.
(vii) Kishori Shakti Yojna
(viii) The Dowry prohibition Act.
(ix) Protection of women from Domestic voilation Act, 2005
(x) The Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act
(xi) The Equal Renumeration Act.

Question. What are the factors other than the caste which play a decisive role at the time of the election ?
Ans. Other than caste some factors which play a decisive role at the time of election :-
(i) Money
(ii) Power
(iii) Prestige
(iv) Religion
(v) Policies of the political parties etc.

Question. “In Our Country women still lag much behind men despite some improvements since independence “. Support the statement by giving suitable reasons.
Ans. (i) The literacy rate (as per 2011 census) among women only 65.46 percent compared with 82.14 Percent among men. Similarly only a smaller proportion of girls go for higher studies.
(ii) The proportion of women among the highly paid and valued job is still very small. On an average, an Indian women works one hour more than an average man everyday.
(iii) As per the equal wages Act, equal wages should be paid to equal work. But in almost all areas of work, from sports and cinema to factories and fields, women are paid less than men, even when both do exactly the same work.
(iv) Representation of women, in people representative bodies like Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, Legislative Assembles etc are still less than 10%
(v) Sex ratio is not in favour of women.
(vi) The status of women in society is lower than the men.
(vii) Their share in the state assembles is less than 12.5%.