Solved CBSE Sample Papers for Class 12 Political Science Set 5

[Time Allowed : 3 hrs.]                                                                                              [Maximum Marks] : 100

General Instruction:

  1. All Questions are compulsory.
  2. Question numbers 1-5 are of 1 mark each. The answers to these questions should not exceed 20 words each.
  3. Question numbers 6-10 are of 2 marks each. The answers to these questions should not exceed 40 words each.
  4. Question numbers 11-16 are of 4 marks each. The answers to these questions should not exceed 100 words each.
  5. Question numbers 17-21 are of 5 marks each. The answers to this question should not exceed 150 words.
  6. Question numbers 22-27 are of 6 marks each. The answers to this question should not exceed 150 words.

Question.1. What was the main objective behind the formation of European Union ?
Answer. The main objective behind the formation of European Union was to provide a common foreign and security policy, cooperation in justice and home affairs and the creation of a single currency.

Question.2. What step should be taken to make the World Trade Organisation (WTO) more acceptable to the developing countries ?
Answer. In order to make the World Trade Organisation more acceptable to the developing countries there should be transparency in its procedures and it should not be pushed by the big powers like the US, EU and Japan.

Question.3. How far is it correct to engage military for human security missions ?
Answer. In the case of terrorism it is correct to engage military for human security mission because terrorism which is a form of political violence targets civilians deliberately and indiscriminately. For example, terrorist attack on 11th September, 2001 on World Trade Center.

Question.4. Who was the founder of ‘Swatantra Party’ ?
Answer. C. Rajagopalachari, a senior Congress leader, was the founder of the Swatantra Party. The party was formed in August 1959. The party believed that prosperity could come only through individual freedom. It was against land ceilings in agriculture and also opposed cooperative farming.

Question.5. Which international conference led to the establishment of NAM ?
Answer. The Asian Relations Conference of 1947 laid the foundation stone of NAM.
It was presided over by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru and was attended by 250 delegates from 25 countries.

Question.6. How did the term ‘Second World’ come into being ?
Answer. The term ‘Second World’ refers to the group of east European countries which had been liberated by the Soviet army from the fascist forces. After being liberated they came under the control of the USSR and their political and economic systems were modelled after the USSR.

Question.7. What is meant by the term ‘geo-politics of natural resources’ ?
Answer. “Resources Geopolitics is the geographical political affairs concerned with the allocation and distribution of natural resources among the nation-states of Global arena.

  1.  In a way resource geopolitics is all about who gets what, when, where and how.
  2.  Here, they have also been the focus of inter-state rivalry 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.
  3.  Importance of ensuring uninterupted supply of strategic resources, in particular oil, was well established both during the First World War and the Second World War.

Question.8. When and why was the electronic voting machine used in India for the first time ?
Answer. In 1990 the ‘Electronic Voting Machine’ was used for the first time in India for more accuracy and fair counting of votes. .
EVM helps in checking booth capturing and other malpractices in elections.

Question.9. What is the significance of the States Reorganisation Act of 1956 ?
Answer. The State Reorganisation Commission was formed in 1953 by the central government to look into the question of redrawing of the boundaries of a state by integrating Princely states into the Indian Union on the basis of language, etc.

  1.  The commission in its report accepted that the boundaries of the state should reflect the different languages spoken by its people.
  2.  On the basis of its report the States Reorganisation Act was passed in 1956 which led to the creation of 14 states and six union territories.
  3.  It recommended the formation of linguistic states, i.e., linguistic reorganisation. This recommendation in turn gave a uniform basis to the drawing of state boundaries.

Question.10. What was the Shimla Agreement ? Who were the signatories to it ?
Answer. The ‘Shimla Agreement’ was an agreement signed between India and Pakistan after the 1971 war.

  1. The signatories to this agreement were Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan and Mrs. Indira Gandhi the then Prime Minister of India.
  2.  By the Shimla Agreement both countries agreed to solve their disputes in a peaceful manner without the interference of any third party on a bilateral basis.

Question.11. What is IMF ? Mention its main objective.
Answer. International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an International organisation which commands or subordinates all those financial institutions and legislatures that act at the international level. The IMF has 184 members but only top ten countries have more than fifty per cent of votes.
(i) The main function of IMF is to deal with external surpluses and deficits of its member nations.
(ii) IMF also helps th§ industrial countries to meet the financial needs.
The IMF serves the functions of the system regarding the ‘Exchange of the Currencies’. The US Dollar, Japan’s Yen and the Pound Sterling of UK have been recognised as reliable exchange currencies.

Question.12. What is the ‘protection of Global Commons’ ? Why is co-operation for this protection not easily coming forth ?
Answer. The protection of ‘global commons’ concerns issues related to global environment protection because global commons are exploited and polluted due to the technological and industrial development.
Issues related to the protection of ’global commons’ have become the priority concern of states since the 1990s because the growing focus on environmental issues (global commons) within the arena of global politics was firmly consolidated at the

  1.  United Nations’ Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio-de-Janeiro, Brazil, in June 1992 in Agenda 21.
  2. The protection of global commons was also discussed in Kyoto Protocol of 1992.

All these conferences and summits, therefore, raised the issue to the political arena and developed some political questions like if the various governments take steps to check environmental degradation, these issues will have political consequences in that sense and therefore, they have to become a part of world politics.

Question.13. Explain any two consequences of the ‘Declaration of Emergency’ provided in the Constitution of India.
Answer. The proclamation of emergency in 1975 had far reaching consequences and affected every sphere of life such as follow:
(a) Effects on civil liberties for citizens

  1.  During Emergency the government made extensive use of preventive detention. Using this provision, the government made large scale arrests.
  2.  Arrested political workers could not challenge their arrest through habeas corpus petition.
  3.  Many cases were filed in the High Courts and the Supreme Court by and on behalf of arrested persons, but the government claimed that it was not even necessary to inform the arrested persons of the reasons and grounds of their arrest.
  4. And finally in April 1976, the constitution bench of the Supreme Court overruled the High Courts and accepted the government’s plea. It meant that during emergency the government could take away the citizen’s right to life and liberty.

(b) Effect on relationship between the executive and judiciary.

  1.  As the impact of emergency, the Parliament also brought in many changes in the constitution. In the background of the ruling of the Allahabad High Court in the Indira Gandhi case, an amendment was made declaring that elections of Prime Minister, President and vice-president could not be challenged in the court.
  2.  The forty-second amendment was also passed during the emergency which brought a series of changes in the constitution like duration of the legislatures, election can be postponed by one year during emergency.

Question.14. Describe the significance of the ‘Chipko Movement’ as a social movement in India.
Answer. The Chipko Movement began in two or three villages of Uttarakhand when the forest department refused permission tb the villagers to fell ash trees for making agricultural tools. However, the forest department allotted the same patch of land to a sports manufacturer  for commercial use. This enraged the villagers and they protested against the move of the government.

  1.  This was a very unusual form of collective action in which men and women from a village were engaged in early 1973. These villagers were protestihg against the practices of commercial logging that the government had permitted.
  2. They used a novel tactic for their protest that of hugging the trees to prevent them from being cut down.

Impact of Chipko Movement:
The Chipko Movement soon spread across many parts of Uttarakhand region. Larger issues of ecological and economic exploitation of the region were raised.

  1.  The movement achieved a victory when the government declared a ban on felling of
    trees in the Himalayan region for fifteen years, until the green cover was fully restored.
  2.  Besides, women’s active participation in the Chipko agitation was a very novel aspect of the movement.
  3. But more than that the Chipko Movement which started over a single issue, became a symbol of many such popular movements emerging in different parts of the country during the 1970s and later.

Question.15. What is the Right to Information Act ? When was it passed in India ?
Answer. The ‘Right to Information Act’ is a law that empowers the people to find out what is happening in government. It acts as a watchdog of democracy.

  1.  This Act ensures its citizens all the information about the functioning of government departments.
  2.  Right to Information has been expanded to cover various services provided by the government. For example, if we buy a product and find it defective well before the expiry period, we can ask for its replacement.
  3.  Besides, the Right to Information Act gives political actors incentives to do good things. Such a law helps to control corruption.
    The Right to Information Act was passed in October, 2005 by the Government of India.

Question.16. “Coalition government helps in consensus building.” Do you agree with this statement ? Give arguments in support of your answer.
Answer. In the midst of severe competition and many conflicts, a consensus appears to have emerged among most parties on 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 the governance of a 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.
    To sum up, all these are momentous changes and are likely to shape politics in the near future:

Question.17. “The conduct of foreign affairs is an Ixoutcome of a two-way interaction between domestic compulsions and prevailing international climate”. Take one example from India’s external relations in the 1960s to substantiate your answer.
Answer. The above statement to a great extent is justified in the international forum. We can take the example of “Sino-Indian conflict of 1962” which dented India’s image at home and abroad. India had to approach the Americans and the British for military assistance to tide over the crisis. The Soviet Union remained neutral during the conflict.

  1.  It induced a sense of national humiliation and at the same time strengthened a spirit of nationalism.
  2.  Nehru’s own stature suffered as he was severely criticised for his naive assessment of the Chinese intentions and lack of military preparedness.
  3. For the first time, a No-cdnfidence motion against his government was moved and debated in the Lok Sabha. As a result soon thereafter, the Congress lost some key By-elections to the Lok Sabha. Thus, the political mood of the country had begun to change.
  4.  The “Sino-Indian conflict” affected the opposition as well. This and the growing rift between China and Soviet Union created irreconciliable differences within the Communist Party of India [CPU. Ultimately, the party split in 1964 and the leaders of the latter faction formed Communist Party of India [CPI-M],
  5. Besides, the war with China alerted Indian leadership to the volatile situation in the Northeast region. Apart from being isolated and extremely underdeveloped, this region also presented India with the challenge of national integration and political unity.

Question. 18. Does India’s foreign policy reflect her desire to be an important regional power ? Argue your case with the Bangladesh War of 1971 as an example.
Answer. Yes, India’s foreign policy reflects her desire to be an important regional power. This was very much revealed during the Bangladesh War of 1971.
In the beginning of 1970, Pakistan faced its biggest crisis in the way for a split verdict i.e. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s party emerged a winner in West Pakistan, while Awami League led by Sheikh “Mujib-ur-Rahman” swept through East Pakistan. The Bengali population of East Pakistan had voted to protest against the discriminatory attitude of West Pakistan. But the Pakistan rulers were not willing to accept the democratic verdict. .
And in early 1971, Pakistani army arrested Sheikh Mujib arid unleashed a reign of terror on the people of East Pakistan. Thus a people’s struggle started to liberate Bangladesh from Pakistan.

  1.  India had to bear the burden of about 80 Lakh refugees who fled East Pakistan and took
    shelter in neighbouring areas in India. Thus India extended moral material support to the freedom struggle in Bangladesh. .
  2.  After months of diplomatic tension and military build up, a full-scale War between India and Pakistan bro*e our in December 1971. Pakistani aircraft attacked Punjab and Rajasthan. India retaliated with an attack-involving the air force, navy and army.
  3. With ten days the Indian army surrounded Dhaka from three sides and the Pakistani army had to surrender. With Bangadesh as a free country. India declared a unilateral ceasefire and the Shimla Agreement was signed between Indira Gandhi and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on 3rd July 1972.
    So, a decisive victory in the War led to national jubilation. Most people in India saw/his as a moment of glory and a clear sjgn of India’s growing military prowess.

Question.19. Read the given passage and answer the questions mentioned below the paragraph:
Indira Gandhi changed the Congress into highly centralised and undemocratic party organisation, from the earlier federal, democratic and ideological formation that Nehru had led… But this… could not have happened had not Indira Gandhi changed the entire nature of politics. This new populist politics turned political ideology … into a mere electoral discourse, use of various slogans not meant to be translated into government policies… During its great electoral victories in early 1970s, amidst the celebration, the Congress party died as a political organisation… — Sudipta Kaviraj
(a) What, according to the author, is the difference between the strategies of Nehru and Indira Gandhi ? .
(b) Do you agree with the author that Congress as a political organisation died ? Justify your answer by giving one argument.
Answer.(a) According to author the main difference between the strategies of Nehru and Indira Gandhi is that Jawahar Lai Nehru led the Congress into federal, democratic and ideological nature whereas Mrs. Indira Gandhi changed the nature of Congress into centralised and undemocratic party.
(b) Yes, we do agree with the author that Congress as a political organisation died because the changed nature of Congress the new populist politics turned political ideology into a mere electoral discourse and use of various slogans never meant to be translated into government policies. For example, electoral victories of 1970s.

Question.20.Look at the cartoon given above and answer the following questions :
solved-cbse-sample-papers-for-class-12-political-science-set-5-1
(a) What is meant by ‘Keep Right, No Left Turn’ ?
(b) Mention the full form of any two of the following :
(i) BKD (ii) SSP
(iii) LD (iv) BKS
(c) What is a hung assembly ?
Answer.(a) ‘Keep Right, No Left Turn’ signifies that the United Front of Charan Singh is formed on the basis of non-communist ideology and expected to follow the rightists only. The term ‘Right’ refers to ‘non-communist’ and ‘Left’ refers to ‘communist party’.
(b) (i) BKD-signifies Bhartiya Kranti Dal.
(ii) SSP—signifies Samyukta Socialist Party.
(iii) LD-signifies Lok Dal.
(iv) BKS-signifies Bihar Kranti Sabha.
(c) Hung assembly is an assembly which is dominated by the coalition government.
In the ‘hung’ assembly the stability of government is uncertain because in most cases the coalition partners are ideologically incongruent.

Question.21. Study the given map showing how Europe was divided into rival alliances during the Cold War and answer the following questions :
solved-cbse-sample-papers-for-class-12-political-science-set-5-2
Answer. (i) Countries shown by horizontal lines in the map represent the western bloc alliance led by USA. They are the members of NATO, i.e., North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
(ii) Countries shown by vertical lines in the map represent Soviet Bloc Alliance led by USSR. They are the members of Warsaw Pact.
(iii) Switzerland, Ireland and Austria are the countries which did not belong to any of the two alliances. They are known as the neutral countries.

Question.22. Examine the factors responsible for the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
Or
Assess the impact of ‘Shock-Therapy’ on the Soviet politics and economy.
Answer. “The sudden disintegration of Soviet Union”, the second world power was a matter of shock or surprise to the world. The causes and reasons for the collapse were very much inherent in the Soviet system and the Soviet Socialist Bloc. Undoubtedly it is said that the internal weaknesses of Soviet political and economic institutions, which failed to meet the aspirations of the people, were responsible for the collapse of the system.
“Economic stagnation” for many years led to severe consumer shortages and a large section of Soviet society began to doubt and question the system and to do so openly.
Thus the causes of the disintegration of Soviet Union can be analysed as under:
solved-cbse-sample-papers-for-class-12-political-science-set-5-3
During the cold war era the Soviet Union gradually became stagnant in an administrative and political sense due to various factors like :

  1.  The communist party that had ruled the Soviet Union for over 70 years was not accountable to the people.
  2.  Ordinary people were alienated by slow and stifling administration, rampant corruption, the inability of the system to correct mistakes it had made, the unwillingness to allow more openness in government and the centralisation of authority in a vast land.
  3.  Worse still, the party bureaucrats gained more privileges than ordinary citizens.
  4.  People did not identify with the system and with rulers and the government increasingly lost popular backing.

All these factors are responsible for the stagnant administrative and political structure. Mikhail Gorbachev was the last leader of the Soviet Union. He introduced economic and political reform policies of Perestroika. The main features of his reforms are as follows. Reform polices were based on the restricting of administrators system and openness of economic affairs.
Reform policy also aimed at keeping information and technological development in the USSR abreast of the information and technological revolutions taking place in the west. Gorbachev introduced the Democratisation policy with the aim of normalising relations with the west and to democratise the Soviet Union to tow free economic affairs in international arena.
In this way, Gorbachev’s reforms promised to deal with the existing problem of economic stagnation and administrative system.
The rise of nationalism and desire for sovereignty in various republics, like Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Ukraine, Georgia and others proved to be the final and most immediate cause for the disintegration of the USSR. Nationalist urges and feelings were very much at work throughout the history of the Soviet Union.
However nationalist dissatisfaction with the Soviet Union was strongest in the more European and prosperous Russian and the Baltic areas as well as Ukraine and Georgia. Ordinary people here felt alienated from central Asians and from each other and also concluded that they were paying too high an economic price to keep the more backward areas within the Soviet Union.
Or
The Shock-Therapy was a 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.
The Shock-Therapy was not the best way to make a transition from communism to capitalism, because it was followed up by several drawbacks like :

  1.  Russia, the large state-controHed industrial complex almost collapsed, as about 90 percent of its industries were put up for sale to private individuals and companies.
  2.  Since, the restructuring was carried out through market forces and not by government directed industrial policies, it led to virtual disappearance of entire industries. This was called “the largest garage sale in history” as valuable industries were undervalued and sold at throwaway prices.
    The largest garage sale in history signifies the ruin and collapse of industrial complex in Russia. Under the effect of shock-therapy the restructuring was carried out through market forces and not by government directed industrial policies; it led to the virtual disappearance of entire industries. This was called “the largest garage sale” in history as valuable industries were under-valued and sold at throwaway prices.

Under the influence of Shock-Therapy the old system of social welfare was systematically destroyed.

  1.  The withdrawal of government subsidies pushed large sections of the people into poverty.
  2.  The middle classes-were pushed to the periphery of society and the academic and intellectual manpower disintegrated or migrated.
  3.  A Mafia emerged in most of these countries and started controlling many economic activities.
  4. Privatisation led to new disparities. Post-Soviet states, especially Russia, were divided in rich and poor regions.
    Hence, in the post cold war era unlike the earlier system, there was now great economic inequality between people.

Under the transition period with the effect of “Shock-Therapy” the old trading structure of Russia broke down with no alternative in its place.

  1.  The value of the ruble, the Russian currency declined dramatically. The rate of inflation was so high that people lost all their savings.
  2. The collective farm systefti disintegrated leaving people without food security and Russia started to import food. The GDP of Russia also declined from 1989 to 1999.
    All these factors forced the Russian .economy to collapse and industrial complex to decline. Conclusion : All these show that the Shock-Therapy administered in the 1990s did not lead the people into the promised utopia of mass consumption. Generally it brought ruin to the economies and disaster upon the people of the entire region.

Question.23. Explain the emergence of democracy in Nepal.
Or
Explain the impact of ‘Ethnic Conflicts’ in Sri Lanka.
Answer. The emergence of democracy in Nepal faced three challenges which came from a triangular conflict between: –

  1.  The monarchist forces
  2.  The democrats and
  3.  The Maoists
    In the beginning, democracy was installed in 1990 but very soon it faced various challenges. As a result democracy was undermined.

The struggle for democracy started in 2005. It was led by three important groups. Like :

  1. The Seven Party Alliance J(SPA)
  2. The Maoists
  3. Social activists

The main aims of these groups were to

  1.  restore the House of Representatives
  2.  to suspend armed struggle.
  3.  to frame Nepal’s Constitution.
  4.  they also aimed at inclusion of radical programmes of social and economic restructuring in the Constitution of Nepal.
    • It was in April 2006 that the struggling pro-democracy forces achieved their first major victory when the King was forced to restore the House of Representative that had been dissolved in April 2002.
    • The largely non-violent movement was led by the SPA, the Maoists and social activists.
    • Democracy was restored in Nepal under the Constitutional monarch. And finally in 2008 people of Nepal declared Nepal a fulfledged democratic country. Monarchy system has been removed completely. In this way, after passing through various threshholdrNepal emerged as a complete democratic country.

Or
The principal players in the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka were :
(i) Sinhalas (ii) Sri Lankan Tamils
• After its independence, politics of Sri Lanka was dominated by forces that represented the interest of the majority Sinhala community. They were hostile to a large number of Tamils who had migrated from India to Sri Lanka and settled there.
• The Sinhala nationalists thought that Sri Lanka should not ‘give concessions’ to Tamils because Sri Lanka belongs to the Sinhala people only. Hence, the neglect of Tamil concerns led to militant nationalism, i.e., the ethnic conflict.
• From 1983 onwards LTTE, i.e., ‘Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam’ has been fighting an armed struggle with the army of Sri Lanka and demanding Tamil Elam or a separate state for the Tamits of Sri Lanka.
• The Sri Lankan crisis continues to be violent. However, international actors, particularly the Scandinavian countries such as Norway and Ireland have been trying to bring the warring groups back to negotiations. Thus, the future of the Island hangs on the outcome of these talks.
• In February-March, 2009 there was another uprising of LTTE and an armed struggle with the army for the political rights and a separate election in their ‘Jaffna region’ to which Sri Lankan government is very much reluctant
Despite the ravages of internal conflict Sri Lanka has maintained a democratic political system.

Question.24. Describe the three different understandings of the US hegemony.
Or
“If big and resourceful states cannot resist the US hegemony, it is unrealistic to expect the smaller and weaker states to offer any resistance.” Comment.
Answer. The word Hegemony implies the leadership or predominance of one state. The roots of the word hegemony lie in classical Greece. At that time it was used to denote the preponderant position of Athens vis-a-vis the other cities of Ancient Greece.
Presently, hegemony means world power in the form of military domination, economic power, political clout and cultural superiority.
I. Hegemony as Hard Power : The very (first) nature of American hegemony advocates relations, patterns and balance of military capability between states. It is this notion of Hegemony which signifies military status that is especially applicable to the current position and role of the US in world politics.

  1.  The very essence of contemporary US power lies in the overwhelming superiority of its military power. American military dominance today is both absolute and relative. In absolute terms, the US today has military capabilities that can reach any point on the planet accurately and no other power can remotely match it.
  2.  The US military dominance is based on both the higher military spend and a qualitative gap i.e. a technological know-how.

II. Hegemony as structural Power signifies the Economic Prospects of the hegemon power. This notion emerges from a particular understanding of the world economy.

  1. The basic idea is that an open world economy requires a hegemon or dominant power to support its creation and existence.
  2. The hegemorrmust possess both the ability and the desire to establish certain norms for order and must sustain the global structure.
  3. Hegemony in this sense is reflected in the role played by the US in providing global public goods which signifies those goods that can be consumed by one person without reducing the amount of the goods available for someone else.
  4.  A classical example of the structural power of the US is the academic degree called the Master’s in Business Administration (MBA). The idea behind this was that business is a profession that depends upon skills that can be taught in a university which is uniquely American.

III. Hegemony as soft power: The US hegemony is not only purely military or economic in nature of status but it has its cultural dimension also which specifies the nature of
“Hegemony as soft power.”

  1. Here, this sense of Hegemony implies class ascendancy in the social, political and particularly ideological spheres.
  2. In the field of world politics, this notion of hegemony suggests that a dominant power deploys not only military power but also ideological resources to shape the behaviour of competing and lesser powers.
  3. Here, consent goes hand in hand with and is often more effective than coercion. For example, the predominance of the US in the world today is based not only on its military power and economic powers but also on its cultural presence, like most of the dreams of individuals and societies across the globe, are dreams churned out by practices prevailing in twentieth-century America.
    Thus, this third sense of hegemony as soft power is about the capacity to manufacture consent.

Or
As we are living in a global village so, we all are the neighbours of the village headman. If the behaviour of the headman becomes intolerable and we do not have the option to leave the global village, resistance then will be the only option available. The same is applicable to US Hegemony.
Now, the question arises how. There is no world government. There are some rules and norms called the laws of war that restrict but do not prohibit war.

  1. We must recognise that no single power is anywhere in the world near balancing the US militarily.
    Therefore, we can discuss some strategies developed by the political analysts.
  2.  ‘Bandwagon’ strategy : some analysts argue that it is strategically more prudent to take advantage of the opportunities that hegemony creates like :
    (a) raising economic growth rate requires increased trade, technology transfers and invested.
    (b) Thus, it is suggested by the analysts that instead of engaging in activities opposed to the hegemon power, it may be advisable to extract benefits by operating within the hegemonic system.
  3.  Hide strategy: This strategy implies staying as far removed from the dominant power as possible. For example China, Russia, the European Union-all of them in different ways, are seeking to stay below the radar, as it were, and not overly and unduly antagonise the US.
    But it is also not a feasible strategy. While it may be an attractive, viable policy for small states, it is hard to imagine mega-states like China, India, and Russia or a huge European Union being able to hide for any substantial length of time.
  4.  Non-state and Third estate strategy : The given proposition is to a large extent
    unrealistic from the theoretical point of view but very realistic from the practical point of view because non-state actors would challenge the US hegemony in a very active way. .
    These challenges to American hegemony will emerge in the economic and cultural realms and will come from a combination of Non-governmental organisations [NGOS], social movements, and public opinion.
    The challenge may arise from sections of the media and intellectuals, artists and writers. These various actors may well form links across national boundaries, including Americans, to criticise and resist US policies.

Question.25. Discuss the problems involved with the Integration of Princely States.
Or
Analyse the consequences of the partition of India in 1947.
Answer. The very first challenge which came immediately after independence was the Integration of “Princely States” into the Indian Union. The Integration process was as usual not smooth and had various difficulties such as :
At the time of independence it was announced by the British that with the end of their rule over India, paramountcy of the British Crown over princely states would also lapse.

  1.  A a result British government took the view that all these states were free to join either India or Pakistan or remain independent if they so wished. This was a very serious problem and could threaten the very existence of a united India.
  2.  Another problem arose very soon. First of all, the ruler of Travancore announced that the state had decided on independence.
  3. The Nizam of Hyderabad made a similar announcement.
  4.  Similar way Nawab of Bhopal was averse to joining constituent Assembly.
  5.  This response of the rulers.of the princely states meant that after independence there was a very real possibility that India would be further divided into a number of small countries. This was a strange situation since Indian independence was aimed at unity, self-determination as well as democracy.

Or
The partition year 1947 was the year of one of the largest, most abrupt, unplanned and tragic transfers of population that human history has known.
Communal Riots : In the name of religion, people of one community ruthlessly killed and maimed people of the other community. There were killings and atrocities on both sides of the border. Cities like Lahore, Amritsar and Kolkata became divided into “communal zones”. Social Sufferings: People went through immense sufferings. They weire forced to abandon their homes and move across borders. Minorities on both sides of the border fled their homes and often secured temporary shelter in “refugee camps”. Thousands of women were abducted on both sides of the border. In many cases women were killed by their own family members to preserve the “family honour”. Many children were separated from their parents. Those who did manage to cross the border found that they had no home. Hence, for lakhs of these “refugees” the country’s freedom meant life in ‘refugee camps’.
Administrative concerns and Financial strains: The partition saw not merely a division of properties, liabilities and assets or a political division of the country and the administrative apparatus. What also got divided were the financial assets and things like tables, chairs, typewriters, paper-clips, books and also musical instruments of police band.
• The employees of government and the railways were also divided.
• Above all, it was a violent separation of communities who had hitherto lived together as neighbours. It is estimated that the partition forced about 80 lakh to migrate across the new border. An estimated five to ten lakh people were killed in partition related violence.
• Besides, the partition had also created severe conflict between the two communities, i.e., Hindu and Muslims. Keeping in view all these trauma writers, poets and film makers in India and Pakistan have expressed the ruthlessness of the killings and the sufferings of displacement and violence in their novels, short stories, poems and films. They coined a phrase to describe partition – as aJ’division of hearts”.

Question.26. Evaluate the role played by Jayaprakash Narain during 1975 -1977.
Or
What is the restoration of the Congress after the General Elections of 1971 ? How did it differ from the earlier Congress system from 1950 to 1960 ?
Answer. Jayaprakash Narayan was a Marxist in his youth. Later he became a Gandhian and was involved in the Bhoodan Movement. He was also the leader of the Bihar Movement and became the symbol of opposition to Emergency of 1975.
Throughout the emergency period, i.e., 197S-77 he was the moving force behind the formation of Janata Party.

  1.  After Independence the first nationwide Satyagraha was organised by Jayaprakash Narayan for Indira Gandhi’s resignation over the controversy of her election.
  2.  He asked the army, the police and government employees not to obey illegal and immoral orders.
  3.  Jayaprakash Narayan organised a massive demonstration in Delhi’s Ramlila grounds on 25th June, 1975.
  4.  All these threatened to bring the activities of the government to a standstill and changed the political mood of the country against the Congress.
  5. But the Congress government declared an emergency in response to Jayaprakash Narayan’s nationwide Satyagraha for the resignation of Indira Gandhi.
  6.  In January, 1977, after the eighteen months of emergency, the government decided to hold elections and election were held in March, 1977. All the opposition parties came together on the eve of the elections and formed a new party known as the Janata Party.
  7.  The new party accepted the leadership of Jayaprakash Narayan. Even the Congress leaders who were opposed to the emergency joined this new party.
  8. The Janata Party made this election into a referendum on emergency and finally the results surprised everyone, Le., for the first time since independence the Congress Party was defeated in the Lok Sabha elections. The Janata Party and its allies won the election by absolute majority and came to power in 1977.
    Thus, Jayaprakash Narayan, the leader of Janata Party, became the symbol of restoration of democracy.

Or
The electoral contest of 1971 was a landmark in the Indian politics. It was the restoration of Congress (R).

  1. Actually this electoral contest appeared to be loaded against Congress (R). After all the new Congress was just one faction of an already weak party. Every one believed that the real organisational strength of the Congress party was under the command of Congress (0),
  2. To make matters worse for Indira Gandhi, all the major non-Communist, non-Congress opposition parties formed an electoral alliance known as the “Grand Alliance”.
  3.  Under the umbrella of this Grand Alliance the parties like SSP, PSP, Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Swantantra Party and the Bharatiya Kranti Dal came together to form a united front.
    The new Congress undeflndira Gandhi had something that its big opponents lacked—it had an issue, an agenda, and a positive slogan.

But, the Grand Alliance did not haye a coherent political programme rather it had only one common programme Le. “Indira Hatao” (Remove Indira).

  1.  In contrast to this she put forward a positive programme captured in the famous slogan: Garibi Hatao, i.e., Remove poverty.
  2.  Through Garibi Hatao, Indira Gandhi tried to generate a support base among’ the disadvantaged especially landless labourers, dalits, and adivasis, minorities, women and the unemployed youth.
  3.  Besides, Congress (R) focussed on the growth of the public sector, imposition of ceiling on rural land holdings and urban property, removal of disparity etc.
    Thus, the slogan of Garibi Hatao and the programmes that followed it were part of Indira Gandhi’s political strategy of building an independent nationwide political support base during the electoral contest of 1971.

Question.27. Explain the internal as well as the external traditional notions of security.
Or
Describe the main functions of the Planning Commission of India.
Answer. Internal Traditional Notions : In the traditional notion of security, the concept of internal security was not given due importance because after The Second World War it appeared that for the most powerful countries on Earth, internal security was more or less assured. While internal security was certainly a part of the concerns of governments historically, after the second world war there was a context and situation in which internal security did not seem to matter as much as it had in the past.
For instance, after 1945 the US and the Soviet Union appeared to be united and could expect peace within their borders, hence, there was no threat to internal security.
In the same way, most of the European countries, particularly the powerful European countries, faced no serious threats from groups or communities living within those borders. Therefore, these countries focused primarily on threats from outside their borders then the threats from inside.
External Traditional Notions : Regarding external threats the traditional notion has four main components like:
(1) Military threats (3) Threat of war
(2) Balance of power (4) Alliance building.

  1.  Military threats: In the traditional concept of security, the greatest danger to a country is from ‘military threats’ because the source of this danger is another country which by threatening military action endangers the core value of sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
  2. Threat of war: Regarding threat of war a state has three basic choices like :
    • to surrender, i.e., to surrender when actually confronted by war.
    • to prevent, i.e., to stop the otherside from attacking.
    • to defend, i.e., to protect itself when war actually breaks out so as to deny the attacking country its objectives.
  3. Balance of power : Balance of power means a balance between bigger and smaller countries in order to countercheck the threat to security.
    • The best way of maintaining a balance of power is to build up one’s military power together with increased economic and technological power.
  4.  Alliance building: Alliance building deals with the alliance or agreement between states on notions to increase their effective power relative to another country or alliance. It is also referred to as ‘Military Alliance’.

Or
The Planning Commission of India was set up in 1950 by a cabinet resolution and not by a law of parliament. It is an extra-constitutional body.

  1.  The Planning Commission does not have a statutory or constitutional status.
  2.  It is supposed to be ‘advisory’ in nature but in reality it is very powerful and is called the ‘Economic Cabinet of the Country’.
  3.  The Planning Commission has an advisory role and its recommendations become effective after the approval of this? Union Cabinet.
  4.  The Planning Commission prepares a document that has a plan for the income and expenditure of the government for the five years plan.
  5.  Planning Commission prepares the plan in such a way that each citizen has the right to an adequate means of livelihood.
  6. It also ensures that the operations of the economic system do not result in the concentration of wealth and means of production to the common detriment.