CBSE Class 10 Social Science Democracy and Diversity Important Questions

1-Mark Questions.

Question. What does Black power mean?
Answer:  Anti Racist movement started in Que.No.1966 in USA

Question.  What is civil rights movement?
Answer: Reform movement  aimed at abolishing legal racial discrimination led by Martin Luther King.

Question. Which university has recently installed the statue of Tommie Smith and John Karlos?
Answer: San Jose state university

Question.  Name two types of social differences
Answer: Overlapping  difference and cross cutting difference

Question. Who are African-American?
Answer: Afro-Amricans refer to descendents of the Africans who were Slaves.

Question. Who led Civil Right movement.
Answer: Martin Luther King

3-MARK QUESTIONS

Question. Describe the consequence of Smith and Carlo’s reaction to the racial discrimination
Answer: a.Carlos and Smith held guilty of violating the Olympic spirit

        b. Their medals  were taken back

        c.  action help in gaining international attention for civil right movement 

Question. Discuss three factors that determine the outcomes of politics of social division.
Answer: 1. How people perceive their identities .

    2. How political leaders raise the demands of any community.

    3. How the government reacts to the demands.

Question. “Every social difference does not lead to social division”.Discuss
Answer: People belonging to different social groups share differences and similarities cutting across the boundaries .This kind of difference does not lead to social division.Examples – In Netherlands social class and Religion tend to cut across each other – this type of cross cutting differences do not produce division.

Question. When does a social different become social division.
Answer: a. When social difference over laps with other differences

        b. that situation produce social divisions

c.examples: Blacks and whites  in USA.

5-MARK QUESTIONS

Question. Why is the combination of politics and social divisions considered to be very dangerous and explosive ? Explain.
Answer: a. Democracy involves competition among various political parties.

          b. If people start competing in terms of some existing social divisions, it can make social divisions into political divisions

         c. lead to conflict and violence

         d. It can lead to disintegration of a country.

         e. Example – civil war in Sri lanka ,disintegration of Yugoslavia.

Question. Discuses three factors that determine the outcome of politics of social division.
Answer: 1- People's perceptions

        2- Raising the demands by political leaders

       3- Reaction of government

Question. Distinguish between over lapping differences and cross- cutting social differences .
Answer: Overlapping Difference : 1. One kind of social difference becomes more important.

                                               2.  It creates the possibilities of deep social division

                                               3. The difference between Blacks and whites in USA

                                               4.Dalits and upper class in India

Cross-cutting Difference-  1 . When a group that share a common interest on one issue and are likely to be different in other issues

                                          2. Easier to accommodate

                                          3. In Netherlands the difference between Catholics and Protestants .

Important Questions NCERT Class 10 Social Science Chapter 3 Democracy and Diversity

Question. Which university has recently installed the statues of Tommie Smith and John Carlos in its campus?
Answer: In 2005, the San Jose State University installed a 20-foot high sculpture representing the protest by Tommie Smith and John Carlos.

Question. Explain the two basis of social differences with examples.
Answer: Different forms of social differences :
(i) Social differences are based on accident of birth, e.g., people around us are male and female, they are tall and short, have different kind of complexions, or have different physical abilities or disabilities.
(ii) Some differences are based on choices, e.g. some people are atheists. Some people choose to follow a religion other than the one in which they were born.

Question. What were the black gloved and raised clenched fists meant to do? Why did athletes do so?
Answer: To draw international attention to racial discrimination in the United States, the African- American athletes performed following activities :
(i) They received their models wearing black socks and no shoes to represent Black poverty.
(ii) When American national anthem was played, these two African-American athletes stood with clenched fists upraised and heads bowed.
(iii) The black gloved and raised clenched fists were meant to symbolise Black power.

Question. Mention any one characteristics of power sharing.
Answer: The people and the leaders respect the sentiments of different communities and religions.

Question. How is political expression of social division in democracy beneficial?
Answer: Every expression of social division in politics does not lead to disasters. Sometime, it is beneficial too.
(i) The various disadvantaged groups express their grievances and get the government to attend to the same.
(ii) Expression of various kinds of social divisions in politics often results in their cancelling one another out and thus, reducing their intensity.
(iii) Fight against injustice often takes a democratic path, voicing their demands in a peaceful and constitutional manner and seeking a fair position through elections.

Question. How far do the emergence of social difference lead to social division? Explain by giving a suitable example.
Answer: 
(i) If social differences cross-cut one another, it is difficult to avoid clashes between the groups holding different views.
(ii) It means that groups that share a common interest on one issue are likely to be in different sides of a different issue.
(iii) For example, in Northern Ireland class and religion tend to cut across each other leading to social tensions.

Question. Give one example to show overlapping social difference create possibilities of deep social division and tensions.
Answer: The example of Catholics and Protestants and their conflicts in Northern Ireland.

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

Question. What did the black glove and raised clenched fist signify? Why did the two athletes do so?
Answer: The black glove and raised clenched fist were meant to symbolic black power. The athletes did so in the Mexico Olympics (1968) to signify the discrimination faced by the black people. ith this gesture, they tried to draw international attention to racial discrimination in the United States. The two men—Tommie Smith and John Carlos—did this to represent unity in Black America. In the United States, during that time, a major racial discrimination was happening where the Black Americans, due to their dark colour, were looked down upon and were not treated as equals with the White Americans in order to grab international attention on this issue the athletes decided to put on black glove and raise the clenched fist when they were being awarded their medals.

Question. Despite being a nation with numerous social divisions, why has Netherlands not faced a crises or a conflict? Explain the reasons.
Answer:
The following are the reasons why despite being a nation with numerous social divisions, the Netherlands has not faced a crises or a conflict.
♦ Dominant Religion: The dominant religion prevailing in the Netherlands is Christianity.
Both Catholics and Protestants are Christians and hence there is no conflict in terms of which religion is predominant.
♦ No disparity: In the Netherlands, there is no disparity between the rich and the poor among Catholic and Protestant communities.
♦ No discrimination: Even though there exist two classes of the rich and the poor and two communities—Catholics and Protestants, there is no discrimination on the basis of caste and religion.

Question. Every social difference does not lead to social division. Do you agree with the statement? Justify your answer.
Answer:
No, all social differences do not lead to social divisions. It depends upon the social and political circumstances whether or not a social difference will lead to a social division. A combination of social differences along with other differences cumulatively decides whether or not a social difference will convert into social division.
For example, a combination of race and economic backwardness would constitute a social difference that might lead to social division. However, it depends on how the political parties deal with this issue and how the government responds to it. It varies from place to place. While language or religion may be a form of social difference leading to social division in a particular form of society, it may not occur in another society due to different prevailing circumstances. For example, in Belgium, even though there is linguistic form of social difference, it has not led to social division.

Question. What were the reasons for conflict in Ireland? How was the problem solved?
Answer:
There was a serious ethnic and political conflict in Northern Ireland for many years. The main reason for the conflict was the division and the demand for separation by the two existing social groups, i.e. the Catholics and the Protestants. The Protestants who were represented by the Unionists demanded that they should not be separated from the United Kingdom as it is predominantly Protestant. On the other hand, the Catholics, who were represented by the Nationalist Party, demanded that Northern Ireland should be unified with the Republic of Ireland, which has been predominantly a Catholic country. The problem was resolved in 1998, when the British Government and the Nationalist Party signed a peace treaty after which the armed struggle between the two social groups ended.

Question. What action was taken by International Olympic Association against each of the three Olympians, Carlos, Smith and Norman Peter?
Answer:
The following actions were taken against the three Olympians, Carlos, Smith and Norman.
♦ Carlos and Smith were held guilty of violating the spirit of the gamgs by making a political statement.
♦ Their medals were taken back.
♦ Norman too suffered for his action and was not included in the Australian team for the next Olympic.

Question. Explain with examples different forms of social differences.
OR
Give a comparative study of social difference by overlapping and cross-cutting.
Answer:
Comparative Study between Overlapping and Cross-cutting Social Differences Overlapping and cross-cutting differences are the situation which determine social divisions. 

Question. What action was taken by the International Olympic Association against each of the three Olympians—Carlos, Smith and Peter Norman?
Answer:
The International Olympic Association held Carlos and Smith guilty of violating the spirit of Olympic Games by making a strong political statement during the awarding of medals to them.
The medals given to Smith and Carlos were taken back from them by the Association and back home they faced a lot of criticism and were looked down upon for their acts.
Norman too faced consequences for supporting the act of Smith and Carlos. Although his medals were not taken back, he suffered for his action and was not included in the Australian team for the next Olympics.

Question. “We have different identities in different contexts.” Support the statement with three facts.
Answer:
The presence of different socio-economic, religious, linguistic and caste group gives us different identities at different times and in different contexts. This can be called social diversity. These identities at some point divide us and at some point unite us. For example, one can be Hindu or Muslim or Sikh but when it comes to education we are all students irrespective of our religion.
The following are the facts to support the statement.
♦ People belonging to same religion feel that they do not belong to the same community because their caste is different. For example, Hindus are all of the same religion but there are different castes.
♦ Sometimes people from different religions can have same caste which gives them a sense of belongingness.
♦ It may be seen among rich and poor people that they do not keep cordial even after belonging to the same religion, same caste and even family.

Question. How does overlapping of social differences lead to social division? Why is it easier to accommodate cross-cutting differences than overlapping* differences?
Answer:
Overlapping of social differences occurs when some social difference overlaps other difference.
Situations of this kind produce social divisions, when one kind of social difference becomes more important than the other and people start feeling that they belong to different communities. For example, difference between Blacks and Whites in the United States becomes a social division because Blacks tend to be poor and landless, and often face injustice and discrimination. In our country, dalits tend to be poor and landless and often face injustice and discrimination.
Overlapping differences create possibility of deep social divisions and tensions.
Whereas cross-cutting differences occur when social differences cross-cut one another, it is difficult to pit group of people against the other. It means that groups that share a common interest on the issue are likely to be on different sides on a different issue. For examle, Northern Ireland and the Netherlands, both, are predominantly Christians but divided between Catholics and Protestants. In Northern Ireland, class and religion overlap each other, if Catholics tend to be poor and have suffered discrimination whereas in Netherland, class and religion tend to cross-cut each other and both are equally likely to be rich or poor. It means they have conflict in Northern Ireland and it is not so in the Netherlands. Cross-cut social differences are easier to accommodate.

Question. What are the features of a homogeneous society? Mention the name of any one country having such society.
Answer: The following are the features of a homogeneous society.
A homogeneous society is a society that has similar kinds of people.
In a homogeneous society, there are no significant ethnic differences and members share a common culture. Nowadays, homogeneous societies are undergoing rapid change due to the influx of people.
For instance, Germany and Sweden have homogeneous societies but they are also becoming multi-cultural with the influx of people.
Question 18.

Question. What did the African-American athletes in Mexico Olympics do in order to draw international attention to social discrimination in the United States?
Answer: To draw international attention to racial discrimination in the United States the two African- American athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, stood with clenched fists upraised and heads bowed, while the American national
anthem was played. Their gesture symbolised Black Power. They wore black socks without shoes to represent Black Poverty. Thus, their gesture signified black power and protest against social discrimination in the United States.

Question. Describe the factors which decide the outcomes of the politics of social division?
Answer:
Three factors that determine the outcome of politics of social divisions are as follows.
♦ The way people perceive their identifies: Social divisions may take place, if people demand a special recognition to their identities. If people see their identities in singular terms, it becomes very difficult to accommodate and avoid social divisions.
♦ Leadership provided by political leaders/The way political leaders react to the situations: The role played by political leaders and the leadership provided by them play an
important role in creating or filling social divisions.
♦ The reaction of the government to demands of different groups: If the government gives equal representation and equal share of power to all the major and minor groups in the society, the chances of social divisions minimise. If the government tries to suppress a demand, it could create unrest, thereby paving the way for social divisions.

LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTION

Question. Explain the reasons of social differences.
OR
Why do social differences emerge in society ?
Answer: (i) Birth : Birth is the most important factor which is responsible for social differences. A person in India is considered of a low caste because of his birth in the lower class family. A Black is discriminated from White because of his colour which is once again controlled by birth.
(ii) Differences based on choice : Some of the differences are based on our choices. For example, some people are atheists. They don’t believe in God or any religion. Differences also occur because of choice of occupation. Differences occur among the people because of different professions and economic activities also.
(iii) Differences based on religion:
Sometimes religion can be one of the causes of social differences. 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.
(iv) Differences based on economic status : Economic status can also be responsible for social differences. Rich and poor people belonging to the same community or religion or sect often do not keep close relations with each other as they feel that they are very different. ‘
(v) Differences based on caste/color : In many regions of the world people are differentiated on the basis of caste or colour. For example, in United States and South Africa Blacks were discriminated because of their skin color.

Question. When do social divisions take place in the society? Explain with suitable examples.
Answer:
Social division takes place under following circumstances.
(a) Social division due to overlapping differences. It happens when one kind of social difference becomes more important than the other and people start feeling that they belong to different communities.
For example, the difference between the Blacks and Whites in the United States becomes a social division because the Blacks tend to be poor, homeless and discriminated against. Situation of this kind produces social divisions.
(b) Social division due to cross-cutting differences. If social differences cross-cut one another, it is difficult to compete one group of people against the other. It means that groups that share a common interest on one issue are likely to be on different sides on a different issue, thereby leading to a social division.
For example, Northern Ireland is a dominantly Christian country but is divided between Catholics and Protestants. Here, class and religion overlap each other. If you are Catholic, you are more likely to be poor and discriminated against. The result is the division of the society.
(c) Social division of one kind or another exists in most countries. It does not matter whether the country is small or big. For instance, India is a vast country with many communities, at the same time, Belgium is a small country with many communities.
(d) Sometimes there is division or difference in society due to migration and migrants. Even those countries such as Germany and Sweden, that were once highly homogenous, are undergoing rapid change with influx of people from other parts of the world. Migrants bring with them their own culture and tend to form a different social community. If social divisions do not exist in a country they must never be expressed in politics.
In a sense most countries of the world are multi-cultural and have multi-dimensional social divisions.

Question. How is political expression of social divisions in democracy beneficial?
Answer: In democracy, political expression of social divisions is normal and can be healthy. In case of India and Belgium, it has been observed that social diversities can be accommodated in a very positive manner. But a positive attitude towards diversity and a willingness to accommodate it do not come about easily.
People who feel marginalised, deprived and discriminated against have to fight against injustices.
Such a fight often takes the democratic path, voicing their demands in a peaceful and constitutional manner and seeking a fair position through elections.
Sometimes social differences can take the form of unacceptable level of social inequality and injustice. The struggle against such inequalities sometimes takes the path of violence and defiance of state power.
However, history shows that democracy is the best way to fight for recognition and also to accommodate diversity.

Question. Distinguish between Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968) and The Black Power Movement (1966-1975) in the USA.
Answer: