Question

Partisan means _____.
A. Party which runs the government
B. Affair of the state or the science of government
C. A person who is strongly committed to a party.
D. A group of people who come together to promote common beliefs

Answer 1

Hint: In India, we witness ‘partisan’ elections. Non-partisan elections were seen in the United States, but were not very successful.

Complete answer:
A partisan is a person who is strongly committed to their party. This person strongly supports the policies of their party and is strongly reluctant to compromise with the opposition parties.
The use of the word ‘partisan’ has changed a lot over the last sixty years. Earlier a person was or was not called partisan depending on their voting behavior. Later the candidates who chose to be with certain parties depending on their political views came to be known as partisans.
In the United States, many elections took place that were non-partisan. It meant that people may or may not be affiliated by a party, but they would contest as individuals in the elections. These individuals rarely win any elections and this approach has turned out not to be very feasible.
In India, we see a partisan form of government. Here, every person that contests for the election is affiliated with their party. They all represent their parties and abide strictly by their political beliefs. They are also extremely reluctant towards the ideologies of the opposing parties.

Note:The word partisan is sometimes confused with the ‘military partisan’. Both these terms are completely different.
A military partisan is a member of an irregular armed force which is formed to oppose the foreign power that is controlling their area.
They were also called ‘occupational resistance fighters’ during the Second World War.