GOVERNMENT
• Every country needs a government to make important decisions and function well. Decisions can be economic, educational or social.
• The government also takes care of international borders and relations with other countries. It is responsible for the transportation facilities and health facilities for the citizens.
• If there is a dispute or if someone commits a crime, people go to the court, the court is also a part of the government.
• Some examples which are part of the government
– Supreme Court, Bharat Petroleum, Indian
Railways etc.
The government works at these three levels
• Local level:- Local governments are known as Panchayats in rural areas and Municipal Corporations, Municipalities and Nagar Panchayats in urban areas.
• State Level:- Each state government has its own police force, education system and road laws.
• National Level:- It refers to that area of government which deals with national issues like taxation, defence, international relations and trade.
Government and Law
• The government becomes the law and all the people living in the country have to obey those laws.
• There is only one way the government can work.
• Like the driver of the car should have a license or in the train. There is law everywhere.
• In a democracy, it is the people who give this power to the government, through elections.
• The government has to explain and explain the basis of its decisions and steps taken.
• If a person feels that because of his religion or caste, he is not taken in any job, then he can go to the court, it is a part of the government.
Types of Government:-
• Monarchy:- A monarchy refers to the rule by a king or queen. Sometimes, a king is called an “emperor”. It is a government with a hereditary head of state. It can be classified into two types, namely absolute and constitutional monarchy.
• Democracy:- It is a form of government run by elected representatives who have the power to take decisions. The word ‘democracy’ is derived from the Greek words ‘demos’ and ‘krotos’, meaning “rule of the people.” It can be classified into direct and indirect democracy.
Democratic Government
• India is a democracy. The main thing about democracy is that the people have the power to choose their leader.
• So in a sense democracy is the rule of the people.
• The basic idea in a democracy is that the people govern themselves by participating in the making of the rules.
• In today’s time, democratic government is often called “representative democracy”.
• In representative democracy, people do not participate directly, but choose their representatives through the process of election.
• These representatives work together for all the people.
• There was a time when democratic governments did not allow women and the poor to participate in elections. Only educated men had rights.
• Many leaders including Gandhiji opposed it.
• Gandhiji wrote in “Young Patrika” in 1931 “I cannot bear that the man who has the wealth should vote and the rest do not”.
• During World War I, when all men went to fight, women in Europe and America supported that country very well.
• Then women are also no less than men, so they started fighting for the right to vote.
• A movement vigorously started for several years in the early 20th century, demanding equality for men and the right to vote.
• Then a movement started called “Suffrage Movement” or “Suffrage Movement” and “Suffrage” means “right to vote”.
• Women in America got the right to vote in 1920 while women in England got it in 1928.
