Popular Struggles and Movements Class 10 Notes CBSE Political Science Chapter 5 (Free PDF Download)

System of Democracy and Struggles

Class 10 Political Science Chapter 5 of the NCERT Social Science textbook brings to the fore various popular struggles and movements that India’s democratic politics has witnessed from time to time. The chapter begins by talking about the democratic system, its struggles, and its origins. It is not uncommon for the system of democracy to have different tiers of personnel in the government sharing power. Unlike other forms of governance, in democracy, the power of the government is not limited to one person. Instead, the power is divided among the people elected by the public.

• The government has certain dynamics of power, and certain positions hold this power. Specific factors influence power dynamics, and the presence of a conflict of interest is evident there. 

• It is important that the people in power learn how to balance the power assigned to them and exercise it properly so as to ensure the best possible outcome.

• There are thus a number of indirect ways in which the ordinary citizen can play a very important role in the decision-making and functioning of the government. 

• It is quite frequent how common people exert their influence on government proceedings.

• Popular Struggles in Nepal and Bolivia The role played by the people in a democracy is very important. The citizens of the country elect the main working force of the government. The main aim of the government is to work for the benefit of the people. The power of the people was demonstrated by power struggles seen in Nepal and Bolivia over governance policies and power.

Movement for Democracy in Nepal

• Nepal has seen a protracted power struggle between the leader and the people. From its inception, the country of Nepal was governed by a monarch. The people were, however, not content with the ruler. 

• This sparked a conflict between the people and the king. This struggle ended when the then king of the country decided to step down as the actual power holder and became more of a titular head.

• King Birendra accepted the transition, and the country transformed from an absolute monarchy to a democracy that publicly elected officials ran. 

• This victory was not long-lived as the next king, King Gyanendra, who ascended the throne after King Birendra was found dead under mysterious conditions, was unwilling to accept the change. 

• In 2005, he dismissed the Prime Minister and dissolved the parliament elected by the people by shifting the country to absolute monarchy again.

• The people then started a movement in 2006 to regain popular control over the nation. The major political parties in the country formed an alliance called the Seven Party Alliance and even called a four-day strike at Kathmandu, the country’s capital. The protest soon turned into an indeterminate strike by the Maoists, and several other parties joined the struggle. 

• People took to the streets despite curfews being imposed. The security systems of the king failed to contain the movement, which saw up to 3-5 lakhs of protestors. People demanded all the power be transferred to the all-party government and restoration of parliament with a new constituent assembly. A request for government demand was served to the king. 

• On 24 April 2006, the king was forced to accept all their demands on the last day of the request. The parliament was restored, and Girija Prasad Koirala was elected as the Prime Minister. The parties worked with each other to establish proper working guidelines for the new government.

• This is known as the second movement of struggle.

Bolivia’s Water War

• Bolivia is a poor Latin American country. In the face of pressure by the World Bank, the government was forced to sell off its municipal water supply to a private enterprise called MNC. This resulted in very high water bills, which were unaffordable for most people. 

• As a result, in 2000, the country saw widespread protests led by the alliance of labour, human rights, and other community leaders. Under pressure, the government had agreed to the terms of the negotiation. However, it yielded no results. This caused the people to start the protests all over again. 

• The government tried its best to curb the protests. The government restored police brutality and was later forced to introduce martial law to bring the protestors under control. However, it was the power of the people who won at last. The owners of the MNC were forced to flee from the country, and the water supply was restored to the government.

Democracy and Popular Struggles

Both the cases of Nepal and Bolivia are important demonstrations of the people’s power in a democracy. They show that people can change the course of a country’s popularity. The highlights of the struggles discussed above can be summarised as the following:

1. People’s power is the evolution of democracy. In both cases, we see that the country’s ordinary people joined in a wider struggle against the authority in power, whether a democracy or a monarchy. The struggle can introduce, expand and deepen democracy.

2. The only way to resolve these struggles is by mass mobilization. The existing judicial authorities can help resolve the struggles; however, sometimes, these authorities are themselves involved in the struggle.

3. These conflicts are based on new political organizations and can be mobilized by these organizations.

Mobilisation and Organisations

They were looking at the Nepali struggle; the initial struggle was taken up by SPA. They introduced the indefinite strike that called for the mass upsurge. Other political groups later joined their struggle. The common people too joined with the organizations, and that is what gave the movement its strength. In the Bolivian struggle, we see that political and apolitical organizations led the struggle. The most important apolitical organization was called FEDECOR. They were a group of farmers who depended on water for irrigation and cultivation.

In both these examples, we see that in a democracy, multiple kinds of organizations can significantly influence governance. There are two ways in which these organizations can play their part, they are:

1. The direct way: The opposition participates in competitive politics to keep its demand. This involves creating parties and participating in elections to become a member of the parliament.

 2. The indirect way: People come forward to form organizations and undertake activities or protests to make the government listen to their demands. These groups which influence the government by activities without political competition are called pressure groups. Pressure Groups and Movement Pressure groups are groups formed by the ordinary people of the country who want to influence the government without political competition. There are two types of pressure groups: the sectional interests group and the public interest groups.

Sectional interest groups

Sectional interest groups focus on promoting one section of the population; this can be the workers, the poor, indigenous people, or other minority groups. Sometimes this group focuses on promoting causes common to several sections of the society.

Public interest groups

Public interest groups are groups that focus on campaigning for the greater good of society as a whole. They aim at helping people other than their own “section.

Movement groups

All the movement groups share some common agendas, are:

• They aim at garnering public support for a cause. 

• To forces the government to agree to the demands, these public groups often resort to protests, disruption of government working, and so on. 

• People from pressure groups may participate in business groups.

• Political groups can lead to pressure groups.

• The political parties may grow out of the movement.

• The relation between the parties involved may not be direct in most cases.”

Importance of Pressure Groups

It may seem initially that pressure groups are not beneficial for the government due to their disruptiveness. But to be truthful, they play an important role in democracy. They help to modify the government policies, laws, and rulings.

Important Questions and Answers:

1. Give some instances of the power struggle between the government and the people

Ans: Some important instances of a power struggle between the government and the people are:

● The struggle between the people of Nepal and their monarch.

● Bolivia’s water war.

● Narmada Bachao Andolan.

● Anti-liquor movement.

● Women’s rights movement.

2. Define a pressure group with an example.

Ans: When common people want their voices to be heard, they may take various ways, and forming groups or organizations is one of them. They undertake certain activities so that their viewpoints or opinions are voiced rightly. Such groups are referred to as pressure groups. Bhartiya Kisan Union, All India Trade Union Congress are some of the noted examples of pressure groups.

3. Why was there a second wave of the struggle for democracy in Nepal?

Ans: The first wave of democracy in Nepal ended with the then king, King Birendra, accepting to transform the country from absolute monarchy to democracy. However, in 2001, he was found dead under mysterious circumstances. His successor King Gyanendra refused to accept this change. After coming to power, he dismissed the Prime Minister and dissolved the parliament to re-establish the monarchy. The citizens of the country were forced to protest against the monarchy. The major political party SPA called a four-day strike at Kathmandu to show their displeasure. This soon turned into an indefinite strike with the support of Maoist insurgents and various other organizations. The people served the king with a request in April 2006. When the various efforts to curb the struggles failed, the king was forced to accept the terms of the people according to the request.

4. How are pressure groups and political parties related?

Ans: There can be different forms of relationships existing between pressure groups and political parties. These are:

● Political ministers can be a leader of some pressure groups. They mainly try to influence the policies formulated by other political parties and thus form a pressure group.

● Political parties sometimes host the trade unions or the students’ unions or sometimes mobilize support for these unions in case of rivalry against other parties.

● Sometimes, movements for a cause turn into pressure groups; the formation of Asom (or Ahom) Gana Parishad from the Assam Student Movement can be one such example. While negotiations are on, an indirect relationship is also formed between the entities involved.

5 How is a pressure group different from a political party?

Ans: While a political party is always organized in its functions, a pressure group can be either organized or unorganized. But a political party is only accessed by following a certain set of party rules, whereas pressure groups are open to all. Also, political parties are more focused on forming a government, but the main motto of a pressure group is to fight for a common demand. However, the main difference is in the elections. Political parties compete in elections, but pressure groups never contest elections. Moreover, the ministers of a political party can have different ideologies while everyone in a pressure group has a common ideology to fight with.

Class 10 Social Science Political Science Chapter 5 Popular Struggles And Movements Notes

Popular Struggles And Movements in Nepal And Bolivia

We will first look at the popular struggles and movements that happened in Nepal and Bolivia. Popular struggles and movements class 10 chapter 5 help us to understand the importance of movements and struggles in forming a democracy. 

Movements In Nepal

The Movement in Nepal tells us about the popular struggles and movements that took place before democracy. In the year 1990, the king of Nepal had accepted democracy and the country changed from an absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy. Then in 2001, the whole king's family was mysteriously massacred, which led to a new king. The king Gyanendra did not accept the democratic rule, therefore in 2015, he dismissed all whole parliament along with the prime minister. 

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Popular Struggles and Movements in Nepal

In the year 2006, the major parties of the parliament came together to start a movement to restore democracy in the country. The Seven Party Alliance (SPA) came together in Kathmandu and called for a four-day strike. The SPA had three demands, and people from various regions and organisations joined the Movement. The demands were a new constitutional assembly, the power to an all-party parliament, and the restoration of parliament.

Eventually, the king had to accept all the terms and demands of the people due to the popular struggles and movements project. In 2018 the government of Nepal abolished kingship and became a democratic nation.

Bolivia’s Water Wars

Unlike the Movement in Nepal, Bolivia was already a democratic country, yet it faced a lot of problems. It was a poor country, and the World Bank had forced the government to allow an MNC to take control of the water supply of Cochabamba city. Since a company has a monopoly over the water supply it increased the prices of the water by four times, which agitated a lot of people in the city and led to various riots and protests. 

In the year 2000, members of the various organisations such as labour, human rights, and community leaders came together to form a new alliance called FEDECOR. The group then held a four-day strike in protest of the rising prices of water. After months of struggles and movements, the government had to concede and take control of the water supply.

Mobilisation and Organisation

Various organisations back every power struggle and movements that happen in the world. Let's look at the different organisations that played a role in the Movement in Nepal. First, we have the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) which consisted of the major parties of the parliament, and second, we also had the Nepalis Communist Party (Maoist). Along with these two influential groups, there were also some other organisations such as teachers, labours, students and human rights groups that played a significant role in the Movement.

The Bolivia movement was led by the FEDECOR, which compromised of local professionals. There were also supported by organisations like factory workers, farmers, students, and other socialist parties.

Pressure Groups 

Pressure Groups are a group of people or organisations whose main aim is to challenge government policies. These groups include people with similar interest, occupation, opinions or aspiration that fight for a common goal. Pressure groups are formed if the government policies have either some flaws or are exploiting either people or nature. Some of the examples of pressure groups are Women rights organisation, Chipko Movement, and Democratic rights organisation.