NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Social Science Civics Chapter 3 Electoral Politics

Q.1: Which of the following statements about the reasons for conducting elections are false? 
(a) Elections enable people to judge the performance of the government. 
(b) People select the representative of their choice in an election. 
(c) Elections enable people to evaluate the performance of the judiciary. 
(d) People can indicate which policies they prefer.

Ans : Statement 'c' is false. 

Q.2: Which of these is not a good reason to say that Indian elections are democratic? 
(a) India has the largest number of voters in the world. 
(b) India’s Election Commission is very powerful. 
(c) In India, everyone above the age of 18 has a right to vote. 
(d) In India, the losing parties accept the electoral verdict.

Ans : Statement 'a' is not a good reason to say that Indian elections are democratic. 

Q.3: List all the different election related activities mentioned in the chapter and arrange them in a time sequence, beginning with the first activity and ending with the last. Some of these activities are given below: releasing election manifestos; counting of votes; making of voters’ list; election campaign; declaration of election results; casting of votes; ordering of re-poll; announcing election schedule; filing nomination.

Ans : The following is a list of the different election-related activities arranged in a time sequence — Making of voters' list, announcing election schedule, filing nomination, releasing election manifestoes, election campaign, casting of votes, ordering of re-poll, counting of votes, declaration of election results. 

Q.4: Surekha is an officer in-charge of ensuring free and fair elections in an assembly constituency in a state. Describe what should she focus on for each of the following stages of election: 
(a) Election campaign 
(b) Polling day 
(c) Counting day

Ans : (a) Election campaign — For this, Surekha will have to focus on seeing that the candidates do not bribe or threaten the voters; appeal to them in the name of caste or religion; use government resources for election campaign, and spend more than 10 lakh rupees to fund their campaigns. In addition to this, she will have to see that places of worship are not used for election propaganda; that ministers do not use government vehicles for their campaign, and that they do not take major policy decisions after the elections are announced. 
(b) Polling day — For this, Surekha will have to ensure that incidents of rigging and booth capturing do not take place. 
(c) Counting day - For this, Surekha will have to see that the agents of all the candidates are present to ensure that counting is done properly. 

Q.5: The table below gives the proportion of different communities among the candidates who won elections to the US Congress. Compare these to the proportion of these communities in the population of the US. Based on this, would you suggest a system of reservations in the US Congress? If yes, why and for which communities? If no, why not?

Ans : Based on the table, a reservation for the Hispanic community is a good idea. This is to make their representation in proportion to the percentage of their population.