NCERT Solutions for Class 6th Social Science Civics Chapter 4 Key Elements of a Democratic Government

1. How would Maya’s life be different in South Africa today?

Ans: Maya’s life would be different in South Africa today in the following manner:

She can use roads, buses, and railway trains as others do without any discrimination.
She can attend hotels and restaurants.
She can use hospitals and ambulances as others do.
She can walk in the parks freely.
She has no fear of police.

2.What are the various ways in which people participate in the process of government?

Ans: People participate in the process of government through the following various ways:

By taking interest in the working of the government.
By criticising the government on various unpopular issues.
By taking out rallies.
By holding signature campaigns.
By opposing various unpopular resolutions, bills, and issues in state legislatures and parliament through their representatives.

3. Why do you think we need the government to find solutions to any disputes or conflicts?
Ans: We need the government to find solutions to many disputes and conflicts because of the following:

Disputes and conflicts block the way to progress.
They often turn violent and cause damage to the property and life of the people.
Government has to compensate people who are killed, wounded or whose properties are destroyed in violent incidents.
Crores of rupees are spent on committees and commissions.
The attention of the government is diverted towards welfare measures.

4. What actions do the government take to ensure that all people are treated equally?
Ans: The government ensures that the constitutional provisions are implied in the country. It makes laws and enforces them to abolish all sorts of discrimination. It makes provisions to provide equal facilities to all classes of people, promotion of education among girls, and economically backward. These are some of the actions that the government takes to ensure equality among people.

5. Read through the chapter and discuss some of the key ideas of a democratic government. Make a list. For example, all people are equal
Ans:

Equality and justice.
Ban on untouchability.
No discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, and sex.
Boys and girls are equal.
No discrimination against anyone.

I. MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

Choose the correct option to complete the statements given below:

(i) Hector and his classmates wanted to learn their own language. What was their language?
(a) Afrikaans
(b) Zulu
(c) English
(d) Malayalam.

(ii) The leader of the African National Congress was …………………
(a) Nelson Mandela
(b) Vinni Mandela
(c) Yasar Arafat
(d) Kofi Annan.

(iii) In India, the government is elected for the period of……………………
(a) Two years
(b) Three years
(c) Five years
(d) Six years.

(iv) The two states involved in the Cauvery water dispute are …………………….
(a) Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
(b) Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh
(c) Kerala and Tamil Nadu
(d) Orissa and Kolkata.

(v) South Africa became a democratic country in the year………………….
(a) 1950
(b) 1970
c) 1984
(d) 1994

Answer:
(i) – (b), (ii) – (a), (iii) – (c), (iv) – (a), (v) – (d).

II. FILL IN THE BLANKS

Fill in the blanks with appropriate words to complete each sentence:

In South Africa, there live black people, …………….. and Indians.
Blacks and coloured people were not considered to be ……………….. to whites.
The African National Congress-led the struggle against …………………..
Through ………. in elections, people elect leaders to represent them.
Religious processions and celebrations can sometimes lead to ……………………..

Answer:

whites
equal
apartheid
voting
conflicts

III.TRUE/FALSE

State whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F).

Non-whites could vote in South Africa before 1994.
It was the effort of Nelson Mandela that made South Africa a democratic country.
Conflicts and differences are resolved by the laws laid by our Constitution
The apartheid system in South Africa was abolished in the year 1990.
In our society boys and girls are valued equally.

Answer:

IV. MATCHING SKILL

Match the items given in column A correctly with those given in column B correctly.

Column A                                                  Column B
(i)Untouchability                                         (a) Through voting
(ii) Equality and justice (b) Black
(iii) Afrikaans                                               (c) Dr. B.R.   Ambedkar
(iv) Hector Ndlovu                                     (d)Q Whites
(v) People elect leaders to represent them   (e) Key elements of democracy

Ans. (i)-(c), (ii)—(e), (iii)-(d), (iv)-(b), (v)-(a).

II.VERY SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

1. Name the various races that live in South Africa
Ans: Various races that live in South Africa Eire :

Black people who belong to South Africa
Whites who came there to settle
Indians who came as labourers and traders.

2. What do you mean by apartheid? [V. Imp.]
Ans: Apartheid means separation on people on the basis of race are known as apartheid laws.

3. Name one black township.
Ans: South Western Township (Soweto).

4. Who was Hector? What did he want?.
Ans: Hector was a non-white. He wanted to learn his own language Zulu.

5. Name the party that fought against the system of apartheid. [V. Imp.]
Ans: The African National Congress.

6. Who is responsible for helping to resolve conflicts or differences?
Ans: The government is responsible for helping to resolve conflicts or differences.

Q.7. What is the role of police when there is a chance of violence?
Ans: The police try their best to ensure that violence does not take place.

Q.8. How did Dr. Ambedkar and many others like his view equality and justice?
Ans: They thought that justice can only be achieved when people are treated equally.

Q. 9. How does our society view boys and girls? [V. Imp.]
Ans: In our society, there is a general tendency to value and care for the boy children more than the girl children. Thus, society does not keep boys and girls at the same level.

Q.10. What does the government do to promote justice among the girls? [Imp.]
Ans.: The government provides special provisions to promote justice among the girls. It may lower the school fees for girls.

III. SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

1. What are apartheid laws? [V. Imp.]
Ans. South Africa was earlier governed by apartheid laws. South African people were divided into white, black, Indian and coloured races. According to apartheid laws, these races were not allowed to mingle with each other, to live near each other or even to use common facilities.

2. What happened to Hector and his classmates? Why did it happen?
Ans: Hector and his classmates, because they were non-whites luring in one black township named Soweto, were being forced to learn the language of whites i.e. Afrikaans. But they wanted to learn their own language, zulu and joined the protest against learning the Afrikaans language in school. The South African police beat up the protestors ruthlessly and shot at the crowd. One of their bullets killed Hector.

3. Write a short note on ‘The African National Congress’. [Imp.]
Ans: The African National Congress, a group of people who led the struggle against the system of apartheid. Dr. Nelson Mandela was their leader. The struggle got intensified under his leadership. He fought the apartheid system for several years. Finally, the system was abolished in 1994 and South Africa became a democratic country in which people of all races were considered equal.

4. How does the power of the government got limited?
Ans: The power of the government gets limited by regular elections. Elections are usually held once in five years. Once elected, governments can stay in power only for that period. If they want to continue to be in power then they have to re-elected by the people. This is a moment when people can sense their power in a democracy.

5. When do conflicts occur? What happens afterward? [V. Imp.]
Ans: Conflicts occur when people of different cultures, religions, regions or economic background do not get along with each other, or when some among them feel they are being discriminated against. This leads to fear and tension among others living in an area.

IV.LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

1. One of the ways of participating is to take interest in the working of the government and to criticise it when required. Explain with an example.
Ans. It is one of the important ways of participation. We can prove it through an example. In August 2005, when a particular government increased the money people had to pay for electricity, people expressed their disapproval very sharply. They took rallies and also organised a signature campaign. The government tried to explain and defend its decision but finally listened to the people’s opinion and withdrew the increase. The government had to change its decision because it is responsible to the people.

2. How do rivers become a source of conflict between states? [V. Imp.]
Ans. Rivers can also become a source of conflict between states. A river may begin in one state, Flow-through another, and end in a third. The sharing of river water between different states that the river goes through is becoming an issue of conflict. We can cite an example of the Cauvery water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The water stored In the Krishnasagar dam in Karnataka is used for irrigating a number of districts and for meeting the needs of the city of Bangalore. The water stored in Methur dam in Tamil Nadu is used for crops grown in the delta region of that state.

A conflict arises because both dams Eire on the same river. The downstream dam in Tamil Nadu can only be filled up if water is released from the upstream one located in Karnataka. Therefore, both states can’t get as much water as they need for people in their states. This leads to conflict. Now, it is the job of the central government to step in and see that a fair distribution is worked out for both states.