POPULAR STRUGGLES AND MOVEMENTS POLITICAL SCIENCE

CLASS X TERM II

POPULAR STRUGGLES

People all over the world have mobilized themselves to organize movements to
restore democracy or to strengthen the existing democratic system.

CASE STUDY-NEPAL

MOVEMENT FOR DEMOCRACY IN NEPAL

1.Nepal witnessed an extraordinary popular movement in April 2006.

2.The movement was aimed at restoring .Nepal was one of the third wave
countries that had won democracy in 1990.

3.Although the king formally remained the head of the state, the real power was
exercised by popularly elected representatives .King Birendra, who had accepted
this transition from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy was killed in a
mysterious massacre of the royal family in 2001.King Gyanendra, the king of
Nepal ,was not prepared to accept the democratic rule. He took advantage of the
weakness and unpopularity of the democratically elected govt.

4.In February 2005,the king dismissed the then Prime Minister and dissolved the
popularly elected Parliament.

5.The movement of April 2006 was aimed at regaining popular control over the
govt.from the king.

Q.1What were the main features of popular movement in Nepal?

A.1.The movement of April 2006 was aimed at regaining popular control over the
govt.from the king. 1.All major popular political parties in the Parliament formed a
Seven Party Alliance(SPA) and called for a four day strike in Kathmandu,the
countrys capital.

2.The protest soon turned into an indefinite strike in which the Maoist insurgents
and various other organizations joined hands.

3.People defied curfew and took to the streets.The security found themselves
unable to take on more than a lakh people to gather almost everyday to demand
the restoration of democracy.

4.The no.of protestors reached between 3 to 5 lakhs. On 21st April,they served an

ultimatum to the king.The king had made a few concessions,however,the leaders of
the movement rejected the concessions.
5.They stuck to their demand of restoration of Parliament,power to all-party govt.
and a new constituent assembly.

6.On 24th April 2004,the last day of ultimatum the king was forced to concede all
the three demands.

7.The SPA chose Girija Prasad Koirala as the new Prime Minister of the
interim(temporary) govt..The restored parliament met and passed laws taking away
most of the powers of the king.

8.The SPA and Maoists came to an understanding about how the new constituent
assembly was to be elected. This struggle came to be known as Nepals Second
Movement for Democracy.The struggle of the people of Nepal has been a source of
inspiration for democrats all over the world.

Q.2.Mention the three demands of SPA.

A.2.The three demands of SPA were:

a) Restoration of parliament

b) Power to all party govt.

c) New constituent assembly

Q.3.Despite their ideological differences why is it that the following came

together in Nepals popular struggle.

A. Various Political parties.

B. SPA and and Maoists

A.3-a) Various political parties came together for a common aim of removing the
king Gyanendra. They wanted restoration of democracy from dictatorial king
although each of them wanted power for their own party and did not want to give
away power to any other political party.

b) SPA and Maoists have different ideologies because Maoists wanted communalism
and SPA did not want so. However; SPA and Maoists came together for revolting
against the dictatorial king. They wanted their right to freedom and various other
rights for which they joined hands to remove the king.

CASE STUDY-BOLIVIA

Bolivia is a poor country in Latin America where the people organized a popular
struggle to strengthen democracy.

Q.4.What were the reasons that led to popular struggle in Bolivia?

1)The World Bank pressurized the govt. to give up its control of Municipal water
supply.

2.The govt. sold these rights to a multi national company for the city of
Cochabamba.

3.The company immediately increased the price of water by four times. Many
people received the monthly water bill of Rs.1000 in a country where the average
income is Rs.5000 a month. This led to a spontaneous popular protest.

4.The contract with the MNC was cancelled and water supply was restored to the
municipality at old rates.This came to be known as Bolivias water war.

5.In January 2000,a new alliance of labour,human rights and community leaders
joined a four day political strike in city.

6.The govt.agreed to negotiate and the strike was called off.Nothing happened and
so they protested again though they were brutally suppressed.

7.Another strike took place in April and the govt.imposed tha martial law.

8.The power of the people forced the officials of the MNC to flee the city and made
the govt.to concede to all the demands of the protestors.

Q.5.What were the common features of the popular struggle in Nepal and
Bolivia?

1)Both these are the instances of political conflict that led to popular struggles.

2.)In both cases,struggle involved mass mobilization.

3.)Public demonstration of mass support clinched the dispute.

4.)Both instances involved critical role of political organizations.

Q.6.When is democratic conflict resolved through popular struggles? .

Popular struggles take place when the country is going through transition to
democracy, expansion of democracy or deepening of democracy.

1.Democratic conflict is resolved through mass mobilization. Sometimes it is

possible that the conflict is resolved by using the existing institutions like parliament
or the judiciary. But when there is a deep dispute very often these institutions
themselves get involved in the dispute. The resolution has to come from outside,
from the people.

2.These conflicts and mobilizations are based on political organizations. Thus there
is an element of spontaneity in all such historic movements. But the spontaneous
public participation becomes effective with the help of organized politics .There can
be many agencies of organized politics. These include political parties, pressure
groups and movement groups.

Q.7.Describe the of various organizations in Nepals popular struggle. .

Various political parties (SPA), human rights groups and organizations of indigenous
people such as teacers and lawyers extended their support to the popular struggle.

Q.8.Briefly mention the organizations which contributed to popular

movement in Bolivia.

Various organizations: In Bolivia the popular struggle was led by FEDECOR which
comprised of local professionals, engineers and environmentalists.

b)Federation: Federation of farmers, factory workers ,middle class students from

university of Cochabamba and the citys growing population of homeless and the
street children.

c)Political parties: The movement against privatization of water was also

supported by the Socialist Party. In 2006,this political party came into power in
Bolivia.

Q.9Mention the various ways in which people can make govt. to listen to
their demands.

1)One obvious way of influencing their decisions in democracy is direct participation

in competitive potics.

2)This is done by creating parties,contesting elections and forming govt.

3)But every citizen does not participate so directly.

4.)They may have the desire,the need or the skills to take part in direct political
activity other than voting.

5)There are many indirect ways in which people can get govt to listen to their
demands.

6)They could do so by forming an organization and undertaking activities to

promote their interst.

7)These are called interest groups or pressure groups.Sometimes people decide to

act together without forming organizations.

PRESSURE GROUPS

Q.10What are pressure groups? .

Pressure groups are organizations that attempts to influence govt. policies. But
unlike the political parties the pressure groups do not aim to directly control or
share political power.

These organizations are formed when people with common occupations ,interests,
aspirations or opinions come together in order to achieve a common objective.

Q.12.Mention a few examples of the pressure groups.

A.12.Farmers organizations- Bharatiya Kisan Union

2.Trade Unions-AITUC-All India Trade Union Congress

3.Business groups-FICCI-Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and

Industries.

Q.13.Mention the two types pressure groups and describe them briefly.

A. Sectional Interest Groups: These are interest gropus which promote interests,
betterment and well being of a particular section of society. They work for the
betterment of their members only. For eg. trade unions, teachers associations,
doctors associations. They are sectional because they represent a section of
society.

Public Interest Groups: They are also called promotional groups as they promote
collective interests rather than selective interests. They aim to help other than their
own members. They represent common or general interests even though members
of its organizations get no benefit from it. Eg, FEDECOR In Bolivia, Human Rights
Organisation in Nepal. Both these public interest groups share common concern for
the entire country.

Q.14.What is a movement? Write a short note on it.

A.14.A movement attempts to influence politics rather than directly taking part in
electoral competition. There are two types of movements. These are

1)Issue Specific Movement: They seek to achieve a single objective within a limited
time frame. Eg-The Nepalese movement had a specific objective to reverse the
kings order. In India the Narmada Bachao Andolan is an issue specific movement
which aims to stop the construction of Sardar Sarovar Dam on Narmada river.

2)General movement: They seek to achieve broad goals in the long run involving
more than one issue. Eg- Environmental movement. General movements are also
called multi issue movement. Sometimes these broad movements have a loose
umbrella organization as well. Eg-the National Alliance for Peoples Movement
(NAPM) is an organization of organizations.
Q.15.In what ways the pressure groups and movements exert influence on
politics?

A.Pressure groups and movements exert influence on politics in a variety of ways:

1)They try to gain public support and sympathy for their goals and their activities by
carrying out information campaigns, organizing meetings, filing petitions etc. Most
of these groups try to influence the media into giving more attention to these
issues.

2)They organize protest activities like strikes or disrupting governmental

programmes. Workers organizations, employers organizations and most of the
movements often resort to these tactics in order to force the govt. to take note of
their demands.

3)Business groups often employ professional lobbyists or sponsor expensive

advertisements. Some persons from pressure groups or movement groups may
participate in official bodies and committies that offer advice to the govt.

Q.16.What is the relationship between political parties and pressure

groups?

A-1)In some instances the pressure groups are either formed or led by political
parties or act as extended arms of political parties. For eg-ABVP and NSUI which are
popular students organizations in India are either established by or affiliated to one
or the other major political party.

2)Sometimes political parties emerge out of movement. Eg-Assam movement led to

the formation of Asom Gana Parishad.

3)Poltical parties such as DMK and AIADMK can be traced to social reform
movement.

4)At times movements raised new issues that have been taken up by political
patries. Most of the new leaders of the political parties come from the interest and
the movement groups.

Q.17.Describe the positive and negative effects of pressure groups.

Positive effects-Pressure groups and movements have deepened democracy as

they remind the govt of needs and concerns of ordinary citizens and help in the
accommodation of conflicting interests. Negative effects-At times the pressure
groups and movement groups are not healthy as they do not promote interest of all
and promote interest of one section. Democracy has to look after the interests of all
sections. Groups wield power without responsibility. Sometimes pressure groups
with small public support but lots of money can hijack public discussion in favour of
their narrow agenda.
Q.18.What is the difference between pressure groups and political parties?

1)Pressure groups are organizations that interefere governmental policies.

2)They are formed by people with common occupational interests ans aspirations.
Eg-AITUC,FICCI.

3)Limited time span for their objectives.

B)1)Peoples movements refer to collective interest movements.

2)Movements have a loose organization and people from diverse occupations

having a common interst come together. Eg-Narmada Bachao Andolan

3)No specific time frame Pressure groups-These influence the policies and
programmes of parties helping in interest of their own group.

Political Parties-Their aim is o control or share power by contesting elections and

forming the govt.

Movement groups:

1.)Loose organizations

2)Decision making is informal and flexible

3)Depend much more on mass participation

Pressure groups:

1)Strong organization

2)Decision making is fomal and inflexible

3)Depend very less on mass participation

Issue specific movement:

1)Single objective

2)limited timeframe

3)clear leadership and organization

4)short active life

General movement

1)broad goal(more than one issue)

2)long term
3)loose umbrella organization

4)longer active life