CBSE Notes For Class 6 Civics Social Science Chapter 3 What Is A Government
A government is necessary in every country for making decisions and getting things done. The decisions involve issues like building roads and schools, how to reduce the price of essential goods increasing the supply of electricity, etc.
CBSE Notes For Class 6 Civics Chapter 3 Levels of Government
The government works at different levels. These levels are
- National level It is related to the entire country.
- State level It covers an entire state like Haryana, Assam, etc.
- Local level It is related to the village administration, town, or locality.
Functions of a Government: The government is involved in handling social issues like making several programs for the poor. It also does other important things like running the railway services and postal services.
- It is responsible for protecting the country’s boundaries and maintaining peaceful relations with other countries.
- It is responsible for ensuring that all its citizens have enough food to eat and have good health facilities.
- If natural disasters like earthquakes or tsunamis take place, then the government has to organize aid and assistance camps for affected people.
- Courts are also a part of the government. If there is a dispute or someone has committed a crime, then it will be resolved in court.
- A government performs all the above functions on behalf of its citizens by exercising leadership, making rules, making decisions, and implementing them among all the people living in its territory.
CBSE Notes For Class 6 Civics Chapter 3 Laws and the Government
- The government makes laws and regulations which have to be followed by every citizen in the country. It has the power to enforce or implement its decisions.
- For example, according to law, if any person is caught driving a vehicle without a license, he/she can either be jailed or fined a large sum of money. Thus, laws need to be enforced for the proper functioning of the government.
- The citizen can approach the court if a law is not being followed. For example, if someone is not hired for a job because of his religion or caste, he/she may approach the court and claim that the law is not being followed
CBSE Notes For Class 6 Civics Chapter 3 Types of Government
There are two types of government. These are discussed below
Democracy: In a democracy, people elect the government through elections in which they vote for particular persons and elect them. Once elected, these people form the
government.
In a democracy, the government has to explain each of its actions and defend its decisions to the people.
Monarchy: In a monarchy, the monarch (King or Queen) has the power to make decisions and run the government.
The monarch may have a small group of people to discuss matters with them, but the final decision is taken by the monarch. The monarch does not have to explain its actions
CBSE Notes For Class 6 Civics Chapter 3 Democratic Governments
- India has a democratic government. The democracy in India was achieved by a long struggle of the Indian people.
- The main feature of democracy is that the people have the power to elect their leaders. Thus, democracy is ruled by the people because they rule themselves by participating in the making of these rules.
- Nowadays, democratic governments are usually known as representative democracies. In representative democracy, people do not participate directly but choose their representatives through elections.
- These representatives meet and make decisions for the entire population.
Universal Adult Franchise: A government cannot be called democratic if it does not allow universal adult franchise. This means that all adults in the country are allowed to vote.
- In the earliest government, only men who owned property and were educated were allowed to vote. This meant that women, the poor, the propertyless, and the uneducated were not allowed to vote.
- In India, before independence, only a small minority had the right to vote and they determined the future of the majority of Indians.
- Thus, national leaders including Mahatma Gandhi demanded that all adults have the right to vote. This is called a Universal Adult Franchise.
- Gandhiji mentioned the need for the right to vote for all in his Journal 2 Young India in 1931.
- Women’s struggle to vote was strengthened during the First World War. This movement is called the women’s suffrage movement as the term suffrage usually means the right to vote.
- During the war, women did men’s work because men were away fighting. Women began organizing and managing different kinds of work. So, women began to be seen as being equally capable of making decisions.
- The suffragettes3 called for the right to vote for all women. American women got the right to vote in 1920 and later UK allowed it in 1928.