P-6: GOVERNMENT

decisions about where to build roads and schools,
how to reduce the price of onions when they get too expensive,
ways to increase the supply of electricity,
programs to help the poor,
running postal, banking, and railway services,
protecting the boundaries of the country,
maintaining peaceful relations with other countries,
ensuring that all its citizens have enough to eat and have good health facilities,
in case of any natural disasters like tsunamis or an earthquake, it is the government that mainly organizes aid and assistance for the affected people,
if there is a dispute or if someone has committed a crime it will be resolved in court.

The government works at different levels:

at the local level: in our village, town, or locality.
at the state level: covers an entire state like Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Assam.
at the national level: relates to the entire country.

The government makes laws, and decisions, and has the power to enforce its decisions. Without these laws, the government’s power to make decisions is not of much use.
For example, there is a law that says that all persons driving a motor vehicle must have a license. Any person caught driving a vehicle without a license can either be jailed or fined a large sum of money.
In addition to any actions that governments can take, there are also steps that people can take if they feel that a particular law is not being followed.
For example, if a person feels that they were not hired for a job because of their religion or caste, he or she may approach the court and claim that the law is not being followed. The court can then give orders about what should be done.

Who gives the government this power to make decisions and enforce laws depends on the type of government there is in a country.

In a democracy, it is the people who give the government this power. They do this through elections in which they vote for particular persons and elect them.
Once elected, these persons form the government. In a democracy, the government has to explain its actions and defend its decisions to the people.
The main feature of a democracy is that the people have the power to elect their leaders so a democracy is ruled by the people. The basic idea is that people rule themselves by participating in the making of these rules.
India is a democracy. This achievement is the result of a long and eventful struggle of the Indian people.

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, but the final decision-making power remains with the monarch.
Unlike in a democracy, kings and queens do not have to explain their actions or defend the decisions they make.

In representative democracies, people choose their representatives through an election process. In this election process, all adults in the country are allowed to vote. This is called a universal adult franchise.
In the earliest forms of government, they allowed only men who owned property and were educated, to vote. This meant that women, the poor, the propertyless, and the uneducated were not allowed to vote. The country was governed by the rules and regulations that these few men made!
But after UAF all adults of the country (18 years old and above) are equally treated & can select the representative of their choice regardless of their gender, economic status, race, caste, and other differences.
In fact, in America, women got the right to vote in 1920 while women in the UK got to vote on the same terms as men in 1928.

Knowledge Goal