NCERT 6th Class (CBSE) Social Science: What is Government?

Question: What is representative/Democracy?

Answer: The representative democracy is a king of government which is formed by the people, for the people and of the people. In democracy, people do not rule directly but they elect their own representative during an election to form the government.

Question: What do you understand by universal adult franchise?

Answer: This means that every adult above the age of 18 years has the right to cast his or her vote in an election.

Question: How does democracy ensure that the government is responsible for its actions?

Answer: Democracy ensure that the government is responsible for its action as if the people are unhappy with the government they can remove it from power.

Question: What do you understand by government? Discuss the basic functions of government.

Answer: The government is either a person or a group of people who are responsible for controlling and managing the affairs of a country or state. It provides the citizens a framework within which they can work to achieve their common purposes. The government plays an important role in over lives. The basic functions of the government are:

1. To provide Safety and Security to its citizens.
2. To maintain law and order in the country.
3. It takes important decisions on all issues related to the country’s development.
4. It protects and defends the country from war or an attack by an enemy.
5. It manages the resources of the country in a manner that it is distributed fairly among the people.
6. It looks after the welfare of the people by building roads, schools, hospitals, wells etc. and by providing transport.
7. It provides relief measures to people when natural calamities or disasters occur.
8. It maintains friendly and peaceful relations with other countries.

Question: What are the different levels of the government in India?

Answer: There are three different levels of the government in India:

1. The Union or Central Government: It is located in New Delhi. It is the highest level of government. Which functions at the national level. It takes decisions for the whole country.
2. The State Government: This is the next level of government which is functions at the national level. It takes decisions for the whole country.
3. Local self Government: This is the third tier of government which functions at the local level. These are two types of local self government:
   (i) Urban (town / city) level
   (ii) Rural (village) level.