CBSE Sample Papers for Class 12 Political Science All India – 2012

Time Allowed: 3 Hours                                                                                          Maximum Marks: 100
General Instructions:

  1. All questions are compulsory.
  2. Question Numbers 1 to 10 are of one mark each. The answers to these questions should not exceed 20 words each.
  3.  Question Numbers 11 to 20 are of two marks each. The answers to these questions should not exceed 40 words each.
  4. Question Numbers 21 to 30 are of four marks each. The answers to these questions should not exceed 100 words each.
  5. Question Numbers 31 to 35 are of six marks each. The answers to these questions should not exceed 150 words each.
  6. Question Number 35 is based on the map. Write the answer in your Answer-Book.

SET -I

Question.1. Fill in the blanks with appropriate words:
The South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) was signed by the members of in the year.
Answer. The South Asian Free Trade Agreement was singed by the members of SAARC in the year 2004

Question.2. What is meant by ASEAN way ?
Answer. ASEAN way is a forum of interaction that is informal, non-confrontationist and cooperative. It was initiated to promote ^>EAN as supernational structures and institutions.

Question.3. Correct and rewrite the following statement:
USSR/Russia used veto power 92 times till 2006.
Answer. USSR/Russia used veto power 122 times till 2006.

Question.4. How is balance of power a component of traditional security ?
Answer. Balance of power is a component of traditional security as it implies a balance between bigger and smaller countries.
This balance is maintained to countercheck the threat to security.

Question.5. In which year was the First General Election held in India ?
Answer. The First General Election was held in 1952 in which the Congress party scored a big victory.

Question.6. What was the main objective of the Second Five Year Plan ?
Answer. The main objective of the Second Five Year Plan was industrialisation.
The Second Five year plan was drafted by a team of economists and planners under the leadership of P.C.Mahalanobis. This plan stressed on heavy industries.

Question.7. What is meant by defection ?
Answer. Defection means an elected representative leaves the party on whose symbol he/she is elected and joins another party.
The new culture developed in the “Indian politics after 1967 election”

Question.8. The results of which elections were called ‘political earthquake’ ?
Answer. The word “Political earthquake” signifies the electoral verdict of fourth general election in
1967 which Jolted the Congress both at the national and state levels.

Question.9. What was Chipko movement ?
Answer. (i) Chipko movement was a protest move of hugging the trees to prevent them from being cut down.
(ii) It was a novel tactic opted by villages for protesting against the practice of commercial logging that the government had permitted.

Question.10. Whose mediation resolved the ‘Indus River Waters Dispute’ between India and Pakistan:
Answer. (i) Indus River Water Dispute between India and Pakistan was resolved with the mediation of World Bank in 1960.
(ii) With the help of the World Bank India and Pakistan signed the “Indus Waters Treaty”.

Question.11. Mention any two characteristics of the Soviet economy during the Cold War days.
Answer. With the end of the second world war and in the cold war era, the Soviet Union became a great power. The Soviet Economy was then more developed than the rest of the world except for the US.
Complex Communications network and vast energy resources:
(i) It had a complex communications network, vast energy resources including oil, iron and steel; machinery production, and a transport sector that connected its remotest areas with efficiency.
Advanced Domestic Consumer industry:
(i) Soviet Union had a domestic consumer industry that produced every thing from pins to cars, through their quality didn’t match that of the western capitalist countries.
Minimum standard of living:
(i) The Soviet State ensured a minimum standard of living for all citizens and the Government subsidised basic necessities including health, education for children and other welfare schemes.
Absence of Unemployment :
(i) In Soviet state there was no unemployment. State ownership was the dominant form of ownership, land and productive assets were owned and controlled by the Soviet state.
Above economic conditions show that the Soviet state had prosperous and developed economy and to some extent it was at par with west economy.

Question.12. Mention the duration of the First and the Second World Wars.
Answer. (i) The duration of the First World War was 1914-1918 i.e. Consecutive 4 years.
(ii) The duration of the Second World War was 1939-45 i.e. approx. – 6 years

Question.13.Write the four forms of power which reflect the US hegemony.
Answer.In the unipolar world US enjoys prosperous position in the sphere of technology and world economy:

  1.  In today’s world scenario the US is present in all parts of the world, in all sectors of the world economy and in all areas of technology.
  2.  The Internet, a global public good, is the direct outcome of a US military research project that began in 1950. Not only this, most of the Internet operations rely on a global network satellites owned by the US government.
  3.  The US share of the world economy remains an enormous 28 per cent. It also accounts for 15 per cent of the world trade as compared to the intra European Union Trade.
  4.  Above all, an American firm is in the “top three list” in every sector of world economy.
    In the cultural sphere hegemony implies class accendancy in the social, political and particularly ideological spheres. Whether we choose to recognise the fact or not, all ideas of the good life and personal success, most of the dreams of individuals and societies across the globe, are dreams churned out by practices prevailing in twentieth century America.

Question.14.What was ‘Operation-Enduring Freedom’?
Answer.The US response to 9/11 was swift and ferocious. The then President Bush had a much harder view of US interests and of the means by which to advance them.
(i) As a part of its Global war on terror, the US launched Operation Enduring Freedom against all those suspected to be behind this attack, mainly Al-Qaeda and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
(ii) The US forces made arrests all over the world, often without the knowledge of the government of the persons being arrested, transported these persons across countries and detained them in secret prisons.
(iii) Some of the prisoners were kept at Guantanamo Bay, a US naval base in Cuba where prisoners did not enjoy the protection of International law.

Question.15.Define Geo-politics.
Answer.“Resources Geopolitics is the geographical political affairs concerned with the allocation and distribution of natural resources among the nation-states of Global arena.
(i) Resource geopolitics is all about who gets what, when, where and how.
(ii) Here, they have also been the focus of inter-state rivalary and western geopolitical thinking about resources which has been dominated by the relationship of trade, war and power, at the core of which were overseas resources and maritime navigation.
(iii) For instance critical importance of ensuring uninterrupted supply of strategic resources, in particular oil was well established both during the First World War and the Second World War.

Question.16.Name the original states from which the following states were carved out?
Answer.(a) Meghalya – Assam (b) Gujarat – Maharashtra

Question.17.Explain the role played by Sardar Patel in the integration of Princely States into the Indian Union.
Answer.Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel also known as the Iron man of India was India’s deputy prime Minister and the home minister during the integration of Indian states. He played a historic role in negotiating with the rulers of princely states firmly but diplomatically and bringing most of them into Indian union.
It was a very complicated task which required skilful persuasion. For example, there were 26 small states in today’s Odisha. Saurashtra region of Gujarat had 14 big states, 119 small states and numerous other administrations.

Question.18. When and why did India sign the twenty-year ‘Treaty of Peace and Friendship’ with the Soviet Union ?
Answer. (i) India signed the twent – year Treaty of Peace and Friendship with the Soviet Union in 1971.
(ii) The Indian government felt that India needed diplomatic and possibly military support during Bangladesh crisis.

Question.19. Which action of the Government of India threatened the fishworkers’ lives in a major way ? Which organisation did they form at the national level ?
Answer. (i) The term N.F.F. stands for National Fish workers Forum.
(ii) The fish workers’ life was threatened in a big way when the government permitted entry to mechanised trawlers and technologies like bottom trawling for large-scale harvesting of fish in the Indian Ocean.

Question.20. Political equations in coalition governments are unstable. How was this concept reflected in the formation of National Front Government in 1989 and United Front Government in 1996 ?
Answer. The Era of coalitions could also be seen in 1989 elections. The Congress was the largest party in the Lok Sabha but did not have a clear majority. It also decided to act as opposition party. This led to the formation of the National Front (Alliance of Janta Dal and many regional parties). It received two major supports (not expected as such) from The BJP and the Left Front. Though The BJP and the Left Front did not join the government they gave support from the outside. The Coalition Era had many Prime Ministers and some of them held office for short durations. Some of them were
cbse-sample-papers-for-class-12-political-science-all-india-2012-1
The coalition era saw that no single party could enjoy majority on its own as in the past decades and also the strengthening of Regional Parties.
Rise and fall of two coalition governments :

  1.  The first coalition government in the late 1980s was formed by the National Front under the leadership of V.P. Singh.
    Both The BJP and Left Front supported V.P. Singh because they wanted to keep the Congress out of power. The Mandal Commision Report and implementation of its recommendations forced The BJP to reconsider its support and finally withdraw it. Thus in November 1990, the rule of National Front came to an end.
  2. BJP came to power for the first time in May 1996 as a minority government but it was for just a month. In June 1996, The BJP failed to get majority support in the vote of confidence and thus had to quit.

Question.21. Explain the ‘Cuban Missile Crisis’.
Answer.

  1. Cuba was an ally of the Soviet Union, received both displomatic and financial aid from it. In 1961, the leaders of the then USSR were worried that USA might invade Cuba and overthrow President Fidel Castro. During such a situation, the leader of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev decided to convert Cuba into a Russian base. In 1962, he had set up nuclear missiles in Cuba. These missiles could be at close range to the US and even reach upto Canada.
  2.  Americans became aware only after three weeks that the Soviet Union had placed nuclear weapons in Cuba. Kennedy ordered American warships to stop and check any Soviet ship moving towards Cuba as a way of warning to the USSR.
  3.  It was also feared that Cuba might have learnt the technology behind nuclear weapons that would be anytime danger to the US prosperity.
  4.  The Cuban crisis also led US to suspect all Soviet-aided countries and forced it to set up military blocs in different parts of the world as NATO, SEATO and CENTO.

Question.22. Describe any two major constraints of the U.S. hegemony.
Answer. Institutional Architecture: The very first constraint lies in the institutional architecture of the American state. A system ofdivision of powers between the three branches of government places significant brakes upon the unrestrained and immoderate exercise of America’s military power by the executive branch.
Open nature of American society possesses constraint: The second constraint on American hegemony is also domestic in nature and stems from the open nature of American society. In spite of mass media’s promotion or imposition of a particular perspective on domestic opinion in the US, there is nevertheless a deep scepticism regarding the purposes and methods of government in American political culture.

Question.23. Name one country each from the continents of America, Africa, Asia and Europe, wherein the UN ‘Peacekeeping Operations’ were administered.
Answer. Countries were the UN Peacekeeping Operations were admfnstered.

  1.  America – Haiti-2004
  2.  Africa – Ethiopia and Eritrea-2000
  3.  Asia -India and Pakistan-1949
  4.  Europe – Georgia-1993

Question.24. How is global poverty a source of insecurity ? Explain.
Answer. ‘Global Poverty’ is one of the important sources of insecurity which threatened the entire development of global era. It refers to a situation in which a poor country suffers from
(i) slow economic growth(ii) low national income (iii) low standard of living and (iv) less calories
intake among the people with high population growth.
According to the recent data, half the world’s population growth occurs in most of the developing countries like India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Indonesia. Among the world’s poorest countries, population is expected to treble in the next 50 years. Hence low incomes and high population growth reinforce each other to make poor states and poor groups get poorer.
Implications
Globally, this poverty creates disparity between the northern and southern countries of the world.
Poverty in the South has also led to a large-scale migration to seek a better life (especially better economic opportunities) in the North.
All this created international political frictions, as International law and norms make a distinction between migrants and refugees. In this regard states are generally supposed to accept refugees, but they do not have to accept migrants.

Question.25. ‘Let the polluters pay’. Support this statement with any two suitable arguments.
Answer. “Let the polluters pay” is the statement quoted by the developing countries of south to the developed countries of north at the negotiations between south and north countries over environmental pollution.
It is very significant that compromise and accommodation are the two essential policies required by states to save planet Earth. But there is a difference in the approach to environment between the countries of the North and the South. We can throw light on the ongoing negotiations between the North and south on environmental issues in such a manner:
The developed countries of the north want to discuss the environment issue as it stands now and want everyone to be equally responsible for ecological conservation.
At the same time the developing countries of the south feel that much of the ecological degradation in the world is the product of industrial development undertaken by the developed countries.
And if developed countries have caused more degradation they must also take- more responsibility for ongoing damage now.
On the other side the developing countries are in the process of industrialization and they must not be subjected to the same restrictions which apply to the developed countries.
However, the special needs of the developing countries must be taken into account in the development, application and interpretation of rules of International Environmental Law. And this argument was accepted in the Rio Declaration at the “Earth Summit in 1992 under the principle of common but differentiated responsibility.

Question.26. “Globalisation has shifted power from nation-states to global consumers.” Justify the statement.
Answer. Globalisation has shifted power from nation-state to global consumers. This can be justified in the context of which globalisation has reduced the state capacity to govern.
To some extent under its arena globalisation affects traditional concept of state sovereignty. It also results in an erosion of state capacity, that is, the ability of government to do what they do.

  1.  All over the world, the old welfare state is now giving way to a more minimalist state that performs certain core functions i.e., the maintenance of law and order.
  2.  However it withdraws from many of its earlier welfare functions directed at economic and social well being.
  3.  In place of the welfare state, it is the market that becomes the prime determinant of economic and social priorities.

Thus, the entry and the increased role of MNCs all over the world leads to a reduction in the capacity of government to take decisions on its own.
Positive Impacts of Globalisation are as follows :

  1. Helps in development and strengthening of domestic economies of developing countries.
  2. Improved productive efficiency and healthy competition.
  3.  New cultural values are moving towards old traditions and customs

Question.27. Match the following.
cbse-sample-papers-for-class-12-political-science-all-india-2012-2
Answer.
cbse-sample-papers-for-class-12-political-science-all-india-2012-3

Question.28. Explain any two features of Indian nuclear policy.
Answer. India’s Nuclear policy advocates ‘no first use’ and reiterates India’s commitment to global
verification on non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament leading to a nuclear weapons free world.

  1.  The nuclear programme in India was initiated in the late 1940s under the guidance of H.J. Bhabha.
  2. When China conducted a nuclear test in 1964, India realised its strategic importance.
  3.  India’s first nuclear experiment was conducted in 1974. India declared that it was only for peaceful purposes.
  4. At the same time India refused to sign the CTBT in 1995 because of its discriminatory nature.
  5.  Later on, India also conducted a series of nuclear tests in May 1998, demonstrating its capacity to use nuclear energy for military purposes.

Question.29. “1960s were labelled as the ‘dangerous decade’ Explain with the help of any four arguments.
Answer. The 1960s was labelled as the ‘dangerous decade’ because of some unresolved problems like poverty, inequality and communal and regional divisions.
There was speculation that all these could lead to a failure of the democratic project or even the disintegration of the country.

  1.  Economic Crisis— Due to the India-China and Indo-Pak war there was economic crisis in India. So the government of Indira Gandhi decided to devalue the Indian rupee to check economic crisis. Consequently, the economic situation triggered a price rise.
  2.  Political Earthquake— The election of 1967 was termed as the Political Earthquake because it jolted the Congress both at the national and state levels. Half the ministers in Indira Gandhi’s cabinet were defeated.
  3.  Food Crisis— Besides, due to failure of monsoons, drought occurred and this created a serious food crisis in India during 1960s.
    Hence, there was speculation that all these challenges could lead to failure of the democratic project or even the disintegration of the country.

Question.30. What was the main outcome of the Rajiv Gandhi – Longowal Accord in July 1985 ?
Answer. The Punjab Accord was an agreement signed between the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Harchand Singh Longowal, the then President of the Akali Dal in 1985.
This agreement is known as the “Rajiv Gandhi-Longowal Accord” or the Punjab Accord. It was a step towards bringing normalcy in Punjab.
Main provisions of the Accord :

  1.  Under this accord, it was agreed that Chandigarh would be transferred to Punjab.
  2.  A separate commission would be appointed to resolve the border dispute between Punjab and Haryana.
  3.  A tribunal would be set up to decide the sharing of Ravi-Beas river water among Punjab, Haryana and Rajsathan.
  4. The agreement also provided for compensation to and better treatment of those affected by militancy in Punjab and the withdrawal of the application of Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Punjab.

However, peace did not come easily or immediately. The cycle of violence continued nearly for a decade.
(a) Militancy and counter insurgency violence led to excesses by the police and violation of the human rights.
(b) Politically it led to fragmentation of the Akali Dal.
(c) Thus, the central government had to impose President’s rule in the state and the normal electoral and political process was suspended.
(d) It was not easy to restore the political process in the atmosphere of suspicion and violence. For example when elections were held in Punjab in 1992, only 24 per cent of the electors turned out to vote.
All these in turn added to tension between Punjab and its neighbouring states.

Question.31. What is the relevance of the Non-aligned Movement after the end of Cold War ? Explain.
Or
Analyse Indian’s changing relationship with post-communist Russia
Answer. Non-alignment as a strategy evolved in the Cold War context, but the end of “Cold War” and a unipolar world did not see the end of the non-alignment.
Non-alignment still contains some core values and end-using ideas.
• Its emphasis has shifted from “political issues to economic issues”.
• Liberalisation of third world economies for rapid development of the countries of south now remains the main concern of NAM.
• Issues like democracy, disarmament, human rights and neo-colonialism are as relevant today as earlier.
With the disintegration of the erstwhile USSR, there is only one super power therefore, it is very essential for NAM to make sincere efforts to check USA from taking unilateral decisions.
• Now its emphasis has also shifted towards poverty alleviation, New International Economic Order based on equality, equity and justice and promotion of industrialisation.
NAM must make efforts to reshape and democratise the United Nations so that the domination of powerful countries is checked.
Besides, NAM must ensure that in the era of Globalisation, liberalism and explosion of Information Technology (IT), the developed and developing nations derive the maximum benefit and are not allowed to be exploited.
Therefore, the concept of non-alignment is applicable even in normal situation. Its essence is that every international issue is discussed on merit. This is an attitude which must be reflected in international affairs.
Or
India should maintain a healthy relation ship with Russia because, Indo-Russian relations are embedded in a history of tru^t and common interests and are matched by popular perceptions.
• Common view on the multipolar world order : Russia and India share a vision of multipolar world order. For both these countries multipolar world order is the co-existence of several powers in the international system, collective security, greater regionalism, negotiated settlements of international conflicts an independent foreign policy for all countries and decision making through bodies like the UN that should be strengthened, democratised and empowered.
• India’s stand towards Russia : India gets meaningful benefits for having healthy relations with Russia on the issues like Kashmir, energy supplies, sharing information on international terrorism, access to central Asia, and balancing its relation with China.
• Russia’s stand towards India: Like India Russia stands to benefit from this relationship because India is the second largest arms market for Russia.
Besides, Indian military gets most of its hardware from Russia. Since India is an oil importing nation, so Russia is important to India and has repeatedly come to the assistance of India during its oil crisis.
In order to meet the demands of energy India is trying to increase it energy imports from Russia and the republics of Kazakihstan and Turkimenistan. This also broadened the scope for partnership and investment in oilfields.
India has also strengthened its relation with Russia for her nuclear energy plans and space industry. India gets the cryogenic rocket from Russia whenever it needed it.
Thus, we may safely conclude that India has maintained good relations with all the post¬communist countries. But the strongest relations are still those between Russia and India.

Question.32. Why is the European Union considered a highly influential regional organisation in the economic, political and military fields ?
Or
No region exists in a vacuum. It is influenced by outside powers and events no matter how much it may try to insulate itself from non-regional powers. China and the United States remain key players in South Asian politics. Sino-Indian relations have improved significantly in the last ten years, but Cina’s strategic partnership with Pakistan remains a major irritant. The demands of development ana globalisation have brought the two Asian giants closer, and their economic ties have multiplied rapidly since 1991.
Study the paragraph given above carefully and answer the following questions :
(i) Which two countries have been referred to as ‘outside powers’ ?
(ii) Which are the two Asian giants and why have they been called so ?
(iii) China’s strategic partnership with Pakistan is a major irritant for which country and why ?
Answer. As a supranational organisation, the European Union intervenes in economic, political and social areas. It has thus, economic, political diplomatic and military influence.
As far as the economic nature/aspect of European Union is concerned, it is considered as the World’s biggest economy with a GDP of more than $12 trillion in 2005, slightly larger than that of the united states.
(a) European Union’s economic power gives it influence over its closest neighbours as well as in Asia and Africa.
(b) Its share of world trade is three times larger than that of the United States.
(c) Its uniform currency, the euro, can pose a threat to the dominance of the US dollar.
(d) Moreover, European Union also functions as an important bloc in international organisations such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
In this way, as a supranational organisation, the European Union is able to intervene in Economic Areas.
Besides being the world’s biggest economy European Union also has political and diplomatic influence in the world arena. Political and Diplomatic Aspects.
The European Union has a great influence on some of the UN policies because its two members, Britain and France, hold permanent seats in the UN security Council. It also includes several non-permanent members of the UNSC.
Not only this, European Union has its very effective influence in the arenas of diplomacy, economic investments and negotiations except coercion and military force. For example European Union’s dialogue with China on human rights and environmental degradation seemed to be very effective.
“European Union” was established in 1992 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The European
Union was started as an Economic Union but over time it has evolved from Economic Union
to increasingly political one. „ .
Hence, the EU now has started to act more as a nation-state.
(a) It has tried to expand areas of cooperation while acquiring new members, especially from the erstwhile soviet bloc.
(b) Besides, European Union has its own flag, anthem, founding date and currency.
(c) It has also some form of a common foreign and security policy in its dealings with other nations.
Or
(i) China and United States have been refered to as “outside powers”.
(ii) China and India are the two Asian giants.
They are called so because of their population ratio and fastest economic growth in the world.
(iii) China’s strategic partnership with Pakistan is a major irretant for India because of Pakistan’s anti-Indian outlook.

Question.33. How was ‘one party dominance’ in India different from the ‘one party system’ of Mexico ? In your opinion, which of the two political systems is better and why ?
Or
Explain the main arguments in the debate that ensued between industrialisation and
agricultural development at the time of Second Five Year Plan.
Answer. Main differences between Mexico and India under one party domination were as follows:

  1.  Mexico one party domination i.e. the domination of Institutional Revolutionary Party was based on the “Perfect dictatorship” whereas, in India the Congress Party’s domination was based on “popular consensus”.
  2. In Mexico the elections were often rigged and manipulated by the ruling party i.e. PRI but in India elections were based on competition among political parties.
    (a) ‘One party dominant systems’ means that a single party enjoys monopoly of power over a long period of time and exclusion of other parties to reach the power.
    (b) No. The dominance of one party did not mean that India was really not a democracy. Even though Congress had domihahce Era, the Indian political system is still democratic for the following reasons:
    (i) Open nature of the Indian political system, i.e., existence of multi-party system.
    (ii) At the time of independence, there was no strong political party except the Congress.
    (iii) The role of Congress during our freedom struggle could be remembered and people cast votes as their tribute to the Congress leaders.
    (iv) The regional parties gained importance at national levels and multi-party system had come into the picture since 1989.
    (v) The advancement in the electoral system (electronic voting machine, common platform for political agenda) strengthened the democratic pattern.
    (vi) Active participation of women and improvement in Panchayat Raj system and its success express Indian political system as democratic.

Or
The strategy of development followed after independence raised some key controversies regarding the relevance of agriculture over industry at the time of Second Five Year Plan.

  1.  At the time of the commencement of Second Five Year Plan many thought that the second plan lacked an agrarian strategy for development and emphasis on industry caused agriculture and rural India to suffer.
  2.  J.C. Kumarappa, a Gandhian Economist, proposed an alternative blueprint that put greater emphasis on rural industrialisation.
  3.  Chaudhary Charan Singh, the Bharatiya Lok Dal leader, said that planning was leading to the creation of prosperity in urban and industrial sections at the cost of rural welfare.

Whereas, others thought that without a drastic increase in industrial production there could be no escape from the cycle of poverty.

  1. They argued that Indian Planning did not have an agrarian strategy to boost the production of foodgrains.
  2.  It also proposed programmes of community development and spent large sums on irrigation projects. And the failure was not that of policy but of its non-implementation because of the politics of land owning classes.
  3.  They argued that even if the government had spent more money on agriculture it would not have solved the massive problem of rural poverty.

Question.34. What was Narmada Bachao Andolan ? What were its main issues ? What democratic strategy did it use to put forward its demands ? 
Or
In the midst of severe competition and many conflicts in 1989, a consensus appeared to have emerged among most parties. Explain any three points of consensus.
Answer. Narmada Bachao Andolan was a loose collective local organisation’s movement to save river Narmada. This movement opposed the construction of multi-purpose project known as the Narmada Sagar Project.

  1.  Since its inception the Narmada Bachao Andolan linked its opposition to the Sardar Sarovar Project with larger issues concerning the nature of ongoing developmental projects, efficacy of the model of development that the country followed and about what constituted public interest in a democracy.
  2. Thus, the movement demanded proper and just rehabilitation of all those who were directly or indirectly affected by the project.
  3. The NBA movement also questioned the nature of decision making processes that go in the making of mega scale development projects.
  4. The NBA also insisted that local communities must have a say in such decisions and that they should also have effective control over natural resources like water, land and forests.

Criticism against Narmada Bachao Andolan –

  1. Gujarat state government vigorously opposed the argument and agitation of the movement because state has been benefitted from the project. Besides,
  2.  The movement’s demand to stop the construction of the dam was severely criticised by many leaders and environmentalists on the grounds as :
    (a) The obstruction to the process of development
    (b) Denial to the access to water to many people and
    (c) Hurdle to economic development.
    Thus, the Narmada Bachao Andalan could not gain much support among the main stream political parties including the opposition parties.

Or
In the midst of severe competition and many conflicts, a consensus appears to have emerged among most parties or many crucial issues. This consensus consists of four elements.

  1. Agreement on new economic policies : While many groups are opposed to the new economic policies, most political parties believe that these policies would lead the country to prosperity and a status of economic power in the world.
  2. Acceptance of the political and social claims of the backward castes : Political parties have recognised that the social and political claims of the backward castes need to be accepted. As a result all political parties now support reservation of seats for the backward classes in education and employment. Political parties are also willing to ensure that the OBCs get adequate share of power.
  3. Acceptance of the role of state level parties in governance of the country: The distinction between state level and national level parties is fast becoming less important.
  4. Emphasis on pragmatic considerations rather than ideological positions and political alliances without ideological agreement : Coalition politics has shifted the focus of political parties from ideological differences to power sharing arrangements thus, most parties of the NDA did not agree with the Hindutva ideology of the BJP, yet, they came together to form a government and remained in power for a full term.
    All these are momentous changes are going to shape politics in the near future.

Question.35. Describe any three weaknesses and any three points of strength of India’s democracy that came to light during the Emergency of 1975.
Or
In the given political outline map of India, six states have been indicated by (A), (B), (C), (D),(E) and (F). Identify them with the help of the information given below and write their correct names in your answer book along with their respective Serial No. and the alphabet concerned as per the following table:
cbse-sample-papers-for-class-12-political-science-all-india-2012-4
cbse-sample-papers-for-class-12-political-science-all-india-2012-5
(i) Two states where the Congress party got majority and formed the government.
(ii) Two states where the breakaway Congress legislators played an important role in installing non-Congress governments.
(iii) A state where Congress parly did not get majority but formed the government with the help of other parties.
(iv) The state where’Popular United Front’came into power.
Answer. The emergency at once brought out both the weaknesses and the strengths of India’s democracy. Though there are many observers who think that India ceased to be democratic during the emergency. It is noteworthy that normal democratic functioning resumed within a short span of time. Hence, we learnt some lessons :
(i) The very first lesson we learnt is that it is extremely difficult to do away with democracy in India.
(ii) Secondly, it brought out some ambiguities regarding the emergency provision in the constitution that have been rectified since. Now, internal emergency can be proclaimed only on the grounds of “armed rebellion” and it is necessary that the advice to the president to proclaim emergency must be given in writing by the council of ministers.
(iii) The third lesson we learnt is that the emergency made every one more aware of the value of civil liberties.
The courts too have taken* an active role after the emergency in protecting the civil liberties of the individual. This is a response to the inability of the judiciary to protect civil liberties effectively during the emergency.
Critics view on emergency
(a) Critics of emergency point out that most of these promises by the government remained unfulfilled.
(b) They question the use of preventive detention on such a large scale.
(c) There were other and more serious allegations regarding the exercise of government power by people who held no official position, for example Sanjay Gandhi, the younger son of Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi.
Not only this the emergency directly affected lives of common people in many cases like- torture and custodial deaths, arbitrary relocation of poor people and over-enthusiasm about population control led to cases of compulsory sterilisation.
These instances show what happens where the normal democratic process is suspended.
Or
cbse-sample-papers-for-class-12-political-science-all-india-2012-6

SET-II

Question.1. How is alliance building a component of traditional security ?
Answer. Alliance building is one of the important components of traditional security to the threats. It deals with the alliance or agreement between states or nations. It is a coalition of states that coordinates their actions to defer or defend against military attack.

Question.5. Students of which two states started agitation against the rising food prices in 1974 ?
Answer. The students of Bihar and Gujarat started the agitation against the rising food prices in 1974.

Question.12. What is ‘cultural homogenisation’ ? Give an example to show that its consequence is not negative.
Answer. Cultural homogenisation is an aspect of globalisation which signifies uniform culture and common nature.
Cultural Aspect: As far as cultural consequences are concerned, it would be a mistake to assume that cultural consequences of globalisation are only .negative. Actually they are not a static thing. Sometimes external influences simply enlarge our choices and sometimes they modify our culture without overwhelming the traditional culture/norms. For example blue jeans can go well with hand-spun Khadi.
So, we can safely say that globalisation broadens our cultural outlook and promotes cultural homogenisation.

Question.15.When and between whom was the Shimla Agreement signed ?
Answer.The Shimla Agreement was signed between Indira Gandhi and Zulfikar AN Bhutto on 3 July 1972 to formalise Return of Peace between India and Pakistan over the issue of Bangladesh.

Question.17.What is meant by decentralised planning ?
Answer.Decentralised Planning was launched in 1989 by the Kerala state government. It was the new democratic Initiative which involved campaigns for development designed to involve people directly in development activities through voluntary citizens organisations.
This plan also involves people in making plans at the Panchayat, block and district level.

Question.24.Match the following?
cbse-sample-papers-for-class-12-political-science-all-india-2012-7
Answer.
cbse-sample-papers-for-class-12-political-science-all-india-2012-8

Question.25.What was the Tibet issue ? How did India help the Tibetan migrants to settle down ?
Answer.

  1. Tibet the Plateau of central Asian region is the one of the major issues that historically caused tension between India and China.
  2.  Very often China had claimed administrative control over Tibet and from time to time, Tibet was independent too. In 1950, China took control of Tibet. A large number of the Tibetans opposed this takeover. India tried to persuade China to recognise Tibet’s claim for Independence. Since then Tibet has become a major issue of conflict between India and China.
  3. Over the last half century a large number of Tibetans have sought refuge in India and many other countries of the world.
  4.  In Delhi, there are large settlements of Tibetan refugees. Dharamshala in Himachal Pardesh is perhaps the largest refuge settlement of Tibtans in India.
  5.  Dalai Lama, the religious leader of Tibetans in India, has also made Dharamshala his
    home in India.
  6.  Besides, in the 1950s and 1960s many political leaders and parities in India including the Socialist Party and the Jana Sangh supported the cause of Tibet’s independence.

Question.28.State four reasons as to why super-powers should have military alliances with small countries.
Answer.With their nuclear weapons and regular armies super powers were so powerful that the combined power of most of the smaller states in Asia and Africa and even in Europe, was no match to them. Yet, the smaller states were helpful to the superpowers in gaining access to:

  1.  Vital resources – such as soil and minerals.
  2.  Territory – from where the superpowers could launch their weapons and
    troops.
  3.  Locations – from where their superpowers could spy on each other.
  4.  Economic support – in that many small allies together could help pay for military
    expenses.
  5. Ideological reasons – They were also important for ideological reasons like the loyalty
    of allies suggested that the super powers were winning the war
    of ideas as well.

Question.29. Explain any two factors responsible for Pakistan’s failure in building a stable democracy.
Answer. (i) Social Dominance The social dominance of the military, clergy and land owning aristocracy has led to the frequent overthrow of elected governments and the establishment of military governments.
(ii) Conflict with India Pakistan’s conflict with India has made the paramilitary groups more powerful. These groups have often said that political parties and democracy in Pakistan are flawed that Pakistan’s security would be harmed by selfish- minded parties and chaotic democracy, hence, the army stay in power is justified.

Question.34. Why are India’s relations with Russia considered an important aspect of India’s foreign policy ? Explain.
Or
Explain the Eastern and the Western alliances during the Cold War period. Name any two European countries from amongst the following, which were not members of these alliances:
France, Poland, Sweden, Spain, Austria, Romania.
Answer. India’s relations with Russia are considered an important aspect of India’s foreign policy because Indo-Russian relations are embedded in a history of trust and common interests. Relations are also matched by popular perceptions.
Common view on the multipolar world order: Russia and India share a vision of multipolar world order. For both these countries a multipolar world order is the co-existence of several powers in the international system, collective security, greater regionalism, negotiated settlements of international conflicts an independent .foreign policy for all countries and decision making through bodies like the UN that should be strengthened, democratised and empowered.
• India’s stand towards Russia : India gets meaningful benefits for having healthy relations with Russia on the issues like Kashmir, energy supplies, sharing information on international terrorism, access to central Asia, and balancing its relation with China.
• Russia’s stand towards India : Like India Russia stands to benefit from this relationship because India is the second largest arms market for Russia.
• Besides, Indian military gets most of its hardware from Russia. Since India is an oil importing nation, so Russia is important to India and has repeatedly come to the assistance of India during its oil crisis.
• In order to meet the demands of energy India is trying to increase it energy imports from Russia and the republics of Kazakihstan and Turkmenistan. This also broadened the scope for partnership and investment in oilfields.
• India has also strengthened its relation with Russia for her nuclear energy plans and space industry. India gets the cryogenic rocket from Russia whenever it needed it.
• Thus, we may safely conclude that India has maintained good relations with all the post-communist countries. But the strongest relations are still those between Russia and India.
Or
The ‘Alliance system’ was developed by the two superpowers to expand their spheres of
influence in different parts of the world.
(i) In a world sharply divided between the two alliance systems, a state was supposed to remain tied to its protective superpower to limit the influence of the other super power and its allies.
(ii) The Alliance system led by the two super powers, therefore, threatened to divide the entire world into two camps (i) Western Alliances, (ii) Eastern Alliances.
The ideological reason of alliance system was winning the war of ideas like :

  1.  The western Alliance headed by the US, represented the ideology of liberal democracy and capitalism.-
  2. On the other hand Eastern alliance headed by the Soviet Union was committed to the ideology of socialism and communism.
  3. Sweden and Austria were not the members of these alliances of western bloc and eastern bloc.

SET – III

Question.2. On which ground was a state of emergencey declared on 25 June 1975 ?
Answer. (i) The Congress government declared a state of emergency on 25th June 1975 in response to Jayaparkash Narayan’s nationwide Satyagraha for the resignation of Indira Gandhi.
(ii) Observing the situation the government decided that a grave crisis had arisen which made the proclamation of a state of emergency necessary.

Question.8. What is Amnesty International ?
Answer. Amnesty International is a NGO that’ campaigns for the protection of human rights all over the world.
(i) It promotes respect for all the human rights in the universal declaration of Human Rights.
(ii) It belives that human rights are interdependent and indivisible. ‘

Question.14. Why was a case against the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh registered in the Supreme Court in 1993 ? What punishment was awarded to him ?
Answer. A case against the chief minister of Uttar Pardesh was registered in the Supreme Court in
1993 on the issue of demolition of Babri Masjid. –

  1.  The case was registered in the Supreme Court for contempt of court since he had given an undertaking that the disputed structure will be protected.
  2.  The state government under the then chief minster was dismissed by the centre and a commission was set up to investigate into the circumstances.

Question.19. Give any two reasons as to why issues of environment and natural resources have become a part of the world politics.
Answer. Depletion of Natural Resources: Throughout the world cultivable area is barely expanding any more and a substantial portion of existing agricultural land is losing fertility; grasslands have been overgrazed and fisheries overharvested.
Loss of Biodiversity: Natural forests which help stabilise the climate, moderate water supplies and harbour a majority of the planet biodiversity on land are being cut down and people are being displaced. The loss of biodiversity continues due to the destruction of habitat in areas which are rich in species.

Question.22. How was the 1971 war forced upon India ? Explain in brief.
Answer. The struggle for the independence of Bangladesh started when West Pakistan did not allow the Awami League, a party of East Pakistan, to prove its majority and form the government. This enraged the East Pakistanis and they rebelled which was dealt with by an army crackdown. However, India had to intervene due to the atrocities committed by the Pakistani army on the unarmed people and due to influx of lakhs of refugees into India,
The government of India supported the demand of the people of East Pakistan for independence and helped them financially and militarily.
This resulted in a war between India and Pakistan in December 1971. The war ended with the surrender of the Pakistani forces in East Pakistan and the formation of Bangladesh as an independent country.

Question.25. Describe any four weaknesses of the Soviet System.
Answer. During the cold war era the Soviet system became very bureaucratic and authoritarian, making life difficult for its citizens. There were following reasons and situations which signify bureaucratic and authoritarian system of Soviet state like :
Lack of Democracy and absence of freedom : In the Soviet state there was “lack of democracy” and “the absence of freedom of speech” which stifled people who often expressed their dissent in jokes and cartoons.
Strict control over the institutions : Most of the institutions of the Soviet Union needed reform because the one party system-represented by the communist party of the soviet union had tight control over all institutions and was unaccountable to the people.
In this way, Soviet System became a bureaucratic and authoritarian state.
The Soviet system became weak and economy stagnant because the Soviet economy used, much of its resources in maintaining a nuclear and military arsenal and the development of its satellite states in Eastern Europe and within the Soviet system i.e. the five central Asian Republics in particular.
This practice led to a huge economic burden that the system could not cope up with.
At the same time ordinary citizens became more knowledgeable about the economic advancement of the west. They could see the disparities between their system and the systems of the west.
Thus, the reality of its backwardness came as a political and psychological shock to the people of Soviet state.

Question.26. Describe in brief the crisis China faced before ending political and economic isolation.
Answer. After the inception of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, China followed Soviet model of economy which allowed China to use its resources to establish the foundations of an Industrial economy. Since then China was completely isolated in politics and economic areas. But at same time in the following years, China faced various problems like;

  1. Economic growth was insufficient to meet the needs of a growing population.
  2.  Agricultural production was not sufficient to generate surplus for industary.
  3.  China’s Industrial production was not growing fast enough.
  4.  International Trade was minimal and per capita income very low.
  5.  Due to these crises China ended its political and economic isolation with the establishment of relations with the United States in 1972.

Question.32. “The transition from Communism to Capitalism in Pre-Soviet Republics was not a smooth one.” Explain the statement.
Or
“Non-alignment was a strategy evolved in the Cold War context” With the disintegration of the USSR has it lost its relevance ? Highlight any two suitable arguments in support of your answer.
Answer. The Shock-Therapy was the State of affairs which signifies the collapse of communism followed by a painful process of transition from an authoritarian socialist system to a democratic capitalist system. The model of transition in Russia, Central Asia and East Europe was influenced by the World Bank and the IMF.
‘Shock Therapy’ varied in intensity and speed amongst the former second world countries but its direction and features were quite similar.
Capitalist Economy: The shock-Therapy advocated that every country was required to make a total shift to capitalist efonomy i.e. the private ownership became a dominant pattern of ownership of property.
Private farming : Shock-Therapy involved the replacement of collective farming to private farming and capitalism in agriculture.
Free Trade: Shock-Therapy stressed on the external orientation of the economies with the free trade as the essential condition. The free trade regime and foreign direct investment [FDI] became the main engines of change. ‘
Trade alliances with west: Shock-Therapy transition also involved a break-up of the existing trade alliances among the countries of the Soviet Bloc. Each state from the bloc was supposed to be directly linked to the west instead of inter-trade alliance among the regions.
The western capitalist states now got the dominant position and thus guided and controlled the economic development of the regions.
The above features of the Shock-Therapy show the transition from authoritarian socialist system to a democratic capitalist system.
Or
Non-alignment as a strategy evolved in the Cold War context, but the end of “Cold War” and a Unipolar world did not see thd end of the non-alignment.
Non-alignment still contains some core values and end-using ideas.

  1. Its emphasis has shifted from “political issues to economic issues”.
  2.  Liberalisation of third world economies for rapid development of the countries of south now remains the main concern of NAM.
  3.  Issues like democracy, disarmament, human rights and neo-colonialism are as relevant today as earlier.
    With the disintegration of the erstwhile USSR, there is only one super power therefore, it is very essential for NAM to make sincere efforts to check USA from taking unilateral decisions.
  4. Now its emphasis has also shifted towards poverty alleviation, New International Economic Order (NIEO) based on equality, equity and justice and promotion of industrialisation.
    NAM must make efforts’to reshape and democratise the United Nations so that the domination of powerful countries is checked.
    Besides, NAM must ensure that in the era of Globalisation, liberalism and explosion of Information Technology (IT), the developed and developing nations derive the maximum benefit and are not allowed to be exploited.
    Therefore, the concept of non-alignment is applicable even in normal situation. Its essence is that every international issue is discussed on merit. This is an attitude which must be reflected in international affairs.
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