Ch-3 & 4

Democracy and Diversity &

Gender, Religion and Caste
Memorable Facts :-
1. Homogeneous Society –- A society that has similar kinds of people
especially where there are no significant ethnic difference.

60
2. African - American – The descendants of Africans who were brought
into America as slaves between the 17th century and early 19th
century.
3. Apartheid – A policy or system of segregation or discrimination on

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grounds of race.
4. Racism – Discrimination on the basis of colour of skin.
5. Civil Rights Movement – It refers to a set of events and reforms
movements aimed at abolishing legal racial discrimination against

6.
African - Americans

ID
Migrants – Anybody who shift from one region or country to another
region within country or to another country for work or other economic
opportunities.
U
7. Scheduled Caste – Poor and landless and also socially and
economically backward Indians.
YG

8. Sexual division of labour – A system in which all works are divided on

the basis of sex. It means a particular work for a particular sex.
9. Feminist – A woman or a man who believes in equal rights and
opportunities for women and man.
10. Patriarchy – A system of society in which men hold the power and
D

women are largely excluded from it.

11. Family laws – Those laws that deal with family related matters such as
marriage, divorce, adoption etc.
U

12. Secularism – The belief that religion should not be involved with the
ordinary social and political activity of a country.
13. Urbanisation – Shifting of population from rural areas to Urban areas.
ST

14. Occupational Mobility – Shift from one occupation to another.

15. Caste hierarchy – A social structure in which classes are determined
by heredity i.e. from the highest to the lowest castes.
16. Universal adult franchise – After attaining a certain age, all the people

57 Class X - Social Science

 are given right to vote without - discrimination of caste, class, colour, religion
or gender.
17. Communalism – A belief in which the followers of a particular religion
believe that their religion is superior over other religion.

60
Influence of Politics, Gender Caste and Religion on each other

Caste Politics Religion

E3
ID
Gender
U
Gender:-
• Sexual division of labour-all works inside the home done by women.
YG

• Patriarchal society- all the power hold by men.

• Less representation in legislature (India)-approximately 11% in lok sabha in
2014.
• 1/3 reservation in local government
D

• Feminists and other people and many organisations are demanding for
reservation of women in legislature.
U
ST

Class X - Social Science 58

 One Mark Questions :-
Q. 1 Where was the olympic event of 1968 held ?
Q. 2 Who were Tommie Smith and John Carlos ?
Q. 3 What was the main aim of Civil rights movements in the USA ?

60
Q. 4 Who was the leaders of Civil Rights Movement in the United States ?
Q. 5 What did mean black-gloved and raised clenched fists of Tommie
Smith and John Carlos ?

E3
Q. 6 Name the Australian Athlete, who supported the two American
athletes.
Q. 7 What was the main reasons of disintegration of Yugoslavia ?
Q. 8 Give examples of two countries having homogeneous Society.

Norman has been installed ?

ID
Q. 9 In which university, the statue of Tommie Smith, John Carlos and Peter

Q. 10 Which kind of social differences create possibilities of deep social

U
divisions and tensions ?
Q. 11 What do you mean by homogenous society ?
YG

Q. 12 Which region has the highest women's representation in the national

parliament ?
Q. 13 Name the Indian states where according to the census of 2001, sex
ratio is less than 800.
D

Q. 14 What does gender division refer to ?

Q. 15 According to 2001 census what was the sex ration in India ?
U

Q. 16 What is called a person who does not discriminate others on the basis
of religious beliefs ?
ST

Q. 17 Who said that religion can never be separated from politics ?

Q. 18 Which state in India has the lowest infant mortality rate ?
Q. 19 In which countries does the women's representation in politics is high ?
Q. 20 What is meant by Sex ratio ?

59 Class X - Social Science

 Answer of 1 Marks Questions :
1. Mexico.
2. They were African - Americans . They won medals in 200 metres race.
3. To abolish legal racial discrimination.
4. Martin Luther king Jr.

60
5. Black Power
6. Peter Norman
7. Religious and ethnic reasons

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8. Germany and Sweden.
9. San Jose state University.
10. Overlapping social differences
11.
12.
13.
Nordic countries.
ID
A society where there are not significant ethnic differences.

Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh & Gujrat

U
14. Gender division refers to the unequal roles assigned to men and
women by the society.
YG

15. 1000 males 933 females

16. Secular
17. Mahatma Gandhi
D

18. Kerala
19. Finland, Swedan and Norway
U

20. Sex ratio means number of females per thousand males in a country.
ST

Class X - Social Science 60

 3/5 Marks Questions :
Q. 1 Which event was related to the "Civil Rights Movement" in 1968 at
Maxico City ?
Q. 2 Mention any two reasons of origins of social differences.
Q. 3 What are the three important factors in the outcome of politics of social
divisions ?

60
Q. 4 We all have more than one identity and can belong to more than one
social group. " Discuss the statement with suitable examples.
Q. 5 What are the features of a homogeneous society ? Mention the name

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of any one country having such society ?
Q. 6 Some people conclude that "politics and social divisions should not be
allowed to mix." Support this idea with two arguments.
Q. 7 Distinguish between overlapping and cross cutting differences .

ID
Q. 8 Why did Smith wear a black scarf around his neck and Carlos a string of
beads during medal ceremony at Mexico city in 1968 ?
Q. 9 What is a secular state ? Describe any three constitutional provisions
that make Indian a secular state.
U
Q. 10 What are the factors other than the caste which play a decisive role at
the time of the election ?
YG

Q. 11 "In Our Country women still lag much behind men despite some
improvements since independence ". Support the statement by giving
suitable reasons.
Q. 12 Caste can take various forms in politics. Describe any five forms .
Q. 13 How can religion influence politics ?
D

Q. 14 What are the effects of communalism on politics ?

Q. 15 Do you agree with the view that casteism has not disappeared from
U

Indian Society ? Discuss.

Q. 16 Do the 'Caste' and 'Vote bank' factors completely control the elections
ST

in India ?
Q. 17 Give three reasons which have contributed to changes in caste and
caste system in India.
Q. 18 What steps have been taken by the government of India to improve the
conditions of women in society ?

61 Class X - Social Science

 Q. 19. What is the proportion of women in Indian legislature? What can be
done to improve the representation of women in legislature?
Q. 20. Communalism can take various forms in politics. Explain the
statement with forms of communalism.
Q. 21. Religion can never be seperated from politics. “Explain the
statement?

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Q. 22. Explain the reason behind change in caste and caste system in
modern India?
Q. 23. How politics influences the caste system and caste identities?
Q. 24. How exclusive attention to caste can produce negative results in

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politics?
Answer 3/5 Marks Questions :
1. In the 1968 olympics, Smith and Carles won the gold and bronze
medals respectively. They received their medals wearing black socks

ID
and no shoes, to represent Black poverty. With this gesture, they tried
to draw international attention to racial discrimination in the United
States.
2. (i) Based on our choices :
U
Normally we don't choose to belong to our community. We belong
to it because we were born into etc.
YG

(ii) Based on our choices :

Some of the differences are based on our choices. For example,
religion, occupation, sports etc. Some people are atheists. They
don't believe in God or any religion. Some people choose to follow
a particular religion. Most of us choose which occupation to take
up.
D

(iii) Based on economic status :

Economic status can also be responsible for social differences.
Rich and poor people belonging to the same community or religion
U

often do not keep close relations with each other as they feel that
they are very different.
ST

3. (i) The first and foremost factor is for people to see their identities as
multiple and complementary to the national identity. This helps
them to stay together.
(ii) The second factor depends on how political leaders raise the
demands of any community. The demands should be within the
constitutional framework and not at the cost of another community.

Class X - Social Science 62

 (iii) The third factor depends on how the demands of different groups
are met by the government. The demands of minority community
should also be kept in mind.
4. It is fairly common for people belonging to the same religion to feel that
they do not belong to the same community, because their caste or sect
is very different. It is also possible for people from different religious to

60
have the same caste and feel close to each other. Rich and poor
persons from the same family often do not keep close relations with
each other for they feel they are different. eg.-Carlos and Smith were
similar in one way that they both were Afro-Americans and thus

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different from Norman, who was white. But they were all athletes who
stood against racial discrimination. Thus we all have more than one
social group.
5. Homogeneous society is a kinds of society that has similar kinds of
people, especially where there are no significant ethnic differences.

ID
But these kinds of society are rare, even those countries such as
Germany and Sweden that were once highly homogeneous are
undergoing rapid change with influx of people from other parts of the
U
world. Migrants bring with them their own culture and tend to form a
different social community. In this sense, most countries of the world
are multi cultural.
YG

6. It is true that politics and social divisions should not be allowed to mix. It
leads to negative results. We can see this when caste starts influencing
politics :-
(i) Each caste group tries to become bigger by incorporating within it
new kinds of neighbouring castes are subcastes which it had
D

excluded earlier. New kinds of caste groups like backward and

forward emerge. This is not healthy for democracy and can lead to
U

tensions, conflicts and even violence. It diverts attention from

other pressing issues like poverty, development and corruption.
(ii) Political parties and candidates in elections make appeals to caste
ST

sentiment to minister support. Some political parties are known to

favour some castes and are seen as their representatives. This is
bad, because it gives the impression that elections are about caste
and nothing else. This is far from truth.

63 Class X - Social Science

 7. Overlapping Cross Cutting
1. A social difference overlaps with 1. A social difference coss-cuts
another difference. another difference.
2. People start feeling that they 2. The group can share a common
belong to different communities. interest on one issue but are likely
3. These creates possibilities of deep to be in different sides on different
social divisions. issues.
4. The difference between Blacks 3. These are easier to accommodate.

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and the white in USA is an 4. In Netherlands, Class and religion
example of overlapping difference tend to cut across each other as
because the Blacks are poor, Catholics and Protestants are
homeless and discriminated. about equally likely to be poor or
rich.

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8. Smith wore a black scarf around his neck to represent black pride and
Carlos wore a string of beads to commemorate black people who had
been killed.
9.

ID
A state that has no official religion and ensures equal status to all
religious is called secular state.
Constitutional provisions that make India a secular state are :
U
(i) There is no official religion for the Indian state. Unlike the status of
Buddhism in Sri Lanka and that of Islam in Pakistan.
(ii) The constitution provides freedom to all individuals and
YG

communities to profess, practice and propagate any religion, or not

to follow any particular religion.
(iii) The constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.
(iv) Our constitution allows the state to intervene in the matters of
religions in order to ensure quality within religious communities.
D

10. Other than caste some factors which play a decisive role at the time of
election :-
U

(i) Money
(ii) Power
ST

(iii) Prestige
(iv) Religion
(v) Policies of the political parties etc.

Class X - Social Science 64

 11. (i) The literacy rate (as per 2011 census) among women only 65.46
percent compared with 82.14 Percent among men. Similarly only a
smaller proportion of girls go for higher studies.
(ii) The proportion of women among the highly paid and valued job is
still very small. On an average, an Indian women works one hour
more than an average man everyday.

60
(iii) As per the equal wages Act, equal wages should be paid to equal
work. But in almost all areas of work, from sports and cinema to
factories and fields, women are paid less than men, even when
both do exactly the same work.

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(iv) Representation of women, in people representative bodies like Lok
Sabha, Rajya Sabha, Legislative Assembles etc are still less than
10%
(v) Sex ratio is not in favour of women.
(vi) The status of women in society is lower than the men.

12
ID
(vii) Their share in the state assembles is less than 12.5%.
The caste can take following forms in politics:
(i) Sometimes candidates are chosen on the basis of their caste.
U
When political parties choose candidates, they keep in mind the
caste composition of their voters.
YG

(ii) In many places, voters vote on the basis of caste and fail to choose
suitable candidates.
(iii) When a government is formed after elections, political parties take
care that different castes are represented in the government.
(iv) Political parties appeal to caste sentiments during elections.
D

(v) To gain support, political parties, raise caste-based issues during

elections.
(vi) The castes considered inferior or low until now have been made
U

conscious of their rights by the political parties.

13. (i) Gandhi Ji believed that politics must be guided by ethics drawn
ST

from all religious.

(ii) Ideas, ideals and values drawn from different religion can play a
role in politics.
(iii) People should have the freedom to express in politics their needs,
interest and demands as a member of a religious community.

65 Class X - Social Science

 (iv) People who hold political power should see the discrimination and
oppression does not take place due to religion.
14. (i) Religion rather than ability becomes the criteria to choose
candidates for election.
(ii) People prefer to caste votes in favour of candidates of their own
religion.

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(iii) Communalism can turn ugly and lead to violenc, massacre and
riots.
(iv) Sometimes, the voters polarise on the communal line and caste
their votes accordingly.

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15. Although the old barrier of caste system are breaking down, but still
casteism continue to be there in the Indian society.
(i) Even now most people marry within their own caste or tribe.
(ii) Untouchability has not ended completely.

16.
be felt today.
ID
(iii) Effects of centuries of advantages and disadvantages continue to

There is an impression that elections in Indian are all about caste and
U
nothing else. But it is also true that 'Caste' and 'Vote bank' factors alone
cannot determine elections in India due to the following reasons:—
(i) No single caste is ever elected with a clear majority in any
YG

parliamentary constituency. So votes of more than one caste is

required to win the election for any candidate or party.
(ii) Many political parties may put up candidates from the same caste.
Some voters have more than one candidate from their caste, while
many voters have no candidate from their caste.
D

(iii) No party wins the votes of all the voters of a caste or community.
17. The following reasons have contributed to changes in the caste system
U

(i) Efforts of political leaders and social reformers like Gandhi Ji and
B. R. Ambedkar who advocated and worked to establish a society
in which caste inequalities are absent.
ST

(ii) Socio-economic reasons like urbanisation, growth of literacy and

education. Occupational mobility, weakening of landlord's position
in the village have led to the breaking down of caste hierarchy .
(iii) The constitution of India prohibits any caste-based discrimination
that lays down the foundations of policies to end the injustices of
the caste system.

Class X - Social Science 66

 18. The following schemes and strategies have been taken up by the Govt.
of India for women empowerment :-
(i) Act prohibiting the practice of sati
(ii) The Hindu widow remarriage act.
(iii) The married women's property act
(iv) Rajiv Gandhi National Creche scheme (for working women)

60
(v) Support to training and employment program for women.
(vi) Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojna.
(vii) Kishori Shakti Yojna

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(viii) The Dowry prohibition Act.
(ix) Protection of women from Domestic voilation Act, 2005
(x) The Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act
(xi) The Equal Renumeration Act.

ID
Ans. 19 In Lok Sabha 2014 women are 11.23%
-in state assemblies women are approximately 5%
-To improve the representation of women in legislature reservation
of seats for women should be legally binding like panchayat.
U
-In panchayat 1/3 seats are reseved for women.
-some states where 50% seats are already reserved for women are
YG

Bihar, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

Ans. 20 religious prejudices,stereotypes of religious communities and
belief in the superiority of own's religion over other religion.
-A communal mind often leads to a quest for political dominance of
one’s own religious community.
D

-Political mobilisation on religious lines. This involves the use of

sacred symbols, religious leaders and plain fear in order to bring
the followers of one religion together in the political arena.
U

-Most ugly form of communalism is communal violence,riots and

massacre.
ST

Ans. 21 According to Gandhi ji religion was not related to any particular

religion like Hinduism or Islam but moral values that informs all
religions. Politics must be guided by ethics drawn from religion.

67 Class X - Social Science

 Ans. 22 Caste and caste system in in modern India have undergone great
changes because of-
- Economic development
- Large scale urbanisation
- Growth of literacy and education
- Occupational mobility

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- Weakening of the position of landlords in the village
Ans. 23 Each caste group tries to become bigger by incorporating within it
neighbouring castes or sub castes which were earlier
excluded from it.

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-Castes group are required to enter into a coalition with other
castes.
-Newkind of castes group have come up in the political arena like
backward and forward caste groups.

ID
Ans. 24 Politics based on caste identity alone is not very healthy in a
democracy.
-can divert attention from other pressing issues like poverty,
development and corruption.
U
-Caste division leads to tensions,conflicts and even violence.
YG
D
U
ST

Class X - Social Science 68