Political Organization | ISC Class 12 Sociology Notes

This note covers the meaning of political organization in society, the definition and ideals of Panchayati Raj, the background and features of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, the powers and responsibilities given to Panchayats, the role of the Act in the empowerment of women in rural India, and the role of Bal Panchayats in the empowerment of children.

What is a political organization, and how does it help bring about social change?

A political organization is any structured body through which people seek, hold or influence governmental power in order to pursue shared goals.

In a society, such organizations range from the state itself and its elected local bodies to political parties, pressure groups and interest groups that operate within or around government.

Definition: Political party. A political party may be defined as an organisation oriented towards achieving legitimate control of government through an electoral process; it is established with the aim of achieving governmental power and using that power to pursue a specific programme.

Political organizations help bring about change because the Constitution is not just a list of do's and don'ts: it has the potential to extend the meaning of social justice, and the Supreme Court has enhanced the substance of Fundamental Rights through interpretation.

For instance, the terse words of Article 21 on the right to life and liberty have been interpreted to include livelihood, health, shelter, education and dignity, and this has brought relief to prisoners, bonded labourers and victims of environmental degradation.

In 1993 the Supreme Court held that the Right to Information is part of the Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression under Article 19(1)(a), and it also read the Directive Principle of Equal Pay for Equal Work into the Fundamental Right to Equality under Article 14, giving relief to plantation and agricultural labourers.

Social movements aid courts and authorities in this process of reinterpretation, showing how political organization and social change move together.

How do political organizations bring about change?

Political organizations bring about change in several direct ways. Political parties turn the demands of social groups into laws and policies once they win power, as with land reforms and reservation in education and jobs. Elected local bodies such as panchayats take decisions on roads, schools, water and welfare close to the people affected, and bring groups such as women and Dalits into public life.

Pressure groups and social movements press governments for new laws; the campaign of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan in Rajasthan for access to official records, for example, helped bring about the Right to Information Act, 2005. In each case, organised political action changes the rules that govern social life.

What is Panchayati Raj?

Definition: Panchayati Raj. Panchayati Raj translates literally to 'Governance by five individuals'; the idea is to ensure a functioning and vibrant democracy at the village or grassroot level.

Grassroot democracy was not an alien import to India, but in a society marked by sharp inequalities of caste, class and gender, democratic participation has long been hindered.

Traditional caste panchayats existed in villages, but they usually represented dominant groups, often held conservative views, and often took decisions that went against democratic norms and procedures.

When the Constitution was drafted, panchayats did not find a mention in it, and several members expressed sorrow, anger and disappointment over this omission. Article 40, a Directive Principle of State Policy, directs the state to take steps to organise village panchayats and give them such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self-government.

Dr Ambedkar, drawing on his own rural experience, argued that local elites and upper castes were so well entrenched that local self-government would only mean continuing exploitation of the downtrodden, with upper castes silencing this section of the population further.

Gandhiji, by contrast, envisaged each village as a self-sufficient unit conducting its own affairs, calling this ideal gram-swarajya, to be continued after independence.

How did the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act come about?

The Directive Principle on Village Panchayats, Article 40, was first moved as an amendment in the Constituent Assembly by K. Santhanam, but it remained only an aspiration rather than a binding rule because Directive Principles are not enforceable in a court of law in the way Fundamental Rights are.

It took over forty years for this aspiration to become a constitutional imperative: it was only in 1992 that grassroot democracy or decentralised governance was ushered in through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992.

This Act gave constitutional status to Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and made it compulsory for rural local self-government bodies (and, through the companion 74th Amendment, municipal bodies) to be elected every five years, with control of local resources given to the elected local bodies rather than left with state governments or bureaucrats.

Before this Act, panchayats had no secure constitutional footing: they could be delayed, superseded or starved of funds by state governments, since their existence depended only on ordinary state laws and not on the Constitution itself.

The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 changed this by making regular elections, reservation of seats, and devolution of resources constitutionally mandatory rather than optional, so that the long gap between Santhanam's original proposal in the Constituent Assembly and its eventual fulfilment under this Act marks the difference between a Directive Principle on paper and an enforceable constitutional structure of local self-government.

What are the features of the 73rd Amendment Act?

The 73rd Amendment provided a three-tier system of Panchayati Raj for all states with a population over twenty lakhs.

At the base of this pyramid-like structure stands the Gram Sabha, the unit of democracy, consisting of the entire body of citizens in a village. It is this general body that elects the local government and gives it specific responsibilities.

The Gram Sabha ideally provides an open forum for discussion of village-level development and should ensure inclusion of weaker sections in decision-making.

1. Elections to Panchayati Raj Institutions must be conducted every five years.
2. Seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and one-third of seats are reserved for women.
3. A District Planning Committee is constituted to prepare drafts and develop plans for the district as a whole.
4. Control over local resources is transferred to the elected local bodies, which are required to publicly display funds received and their utilisation.
5. People gain the right to scrutinise fund allocation and question decisions taken for village welfare and development.

What powers and responsibilities were delegated to Panchayats?

According to the Constitution, Panchayats should be given powers and authority to function as institutions of self-government, which requires state governments to revitalise local representative institutions.

Many government schemes, such as the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) and the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), are monitored by panchayat members.

Nyaya Panchayats have often succeeded in bringing agreement among contending parties and have been particularly effective in punishing men who harass women for dowry and perpetrate violence against them.

How has the 73rd Amendment empowered women in detail?

The 73rd and 74th amendments ensured reservation of one-third of the total seats for women in all elected offices of local bodies, in both rural and urban areas, including gram panchayats, village panchayats, municipalities, city corporations and district boards.

Of this one-third, 17 per cent of seats are reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Tribes. This was significant because, for the first time, it brought women into elected bodies and gave them decision-making powers.

The 1993-94 elections, held soon after the amendment, brought 800,000 women into the political process in a single election, a major step in enfranchising women.

Field evidence shows how this changed women's lives. Kalavati, a Dalit woman who became a Panchayat member, found that her confidence and self-esteem grew; before becoming a member she was called only 'Ramu's mother' or 'Hiralal's wife', but afterwards 'she has a name'.

In Uttarakhand, women formed van-panchayats to tackle deforestation and the difficulty of collecting firewood, since men were often posted far away in defence services and women did most of the work; members developed nurseries, nurtured tree saplings for the hill slopes, and policed nearby forests against illegal felling, continuing the tradition of the Chipko movement, which began in this area with women hugging trees to prevent them being cut.

A 'phad', or cloth scroll, was used by the NGO Mahila Samakhya as a folk medium to train illiterate women in Panchayati Raj: the story contrasted the corrupt Pradhan of Dhukipur, who spent school funds on her own house, with the honest Pradhan of Sukhipur, who used rural reconstruction money to build good infrastructure, a functioning primary health centre and a road.

The campaign's message was that it was not enough merely to vote, stand or win; it mattered to know why one was voting for a person, what traits to look for, and what the candidate stood for, emphasising integrity.

Despite this, democratisation remains difficult in a society with a long history of caste, community and gender inequality.

Gram Sabha members are often controlled by a small coterie of rich, upper-caste landlords who make decisions and allocate funds while leaving the silent majority as mere onlookers, and certain groups and castes are often not even informed about meetings.

What is the role of Bal Panchayats in the empowerment of children?

Bal Panchayats are children's own local bodies, generally modelled on the structure of adult Panchayati Raj institutions and set up with the support of non-governmental organisations in villages and urban slums.

Children elect their own representatives, sometimes called a child sarpanch and members, who meet regularly to discuss issues that affect children directly, such as access to education, child labour, child marriage, health and sanitation in their locality.

Through a Bal Panchayat, children learn the practice of democratic participation: electing representatives, raising grievances, and placing their concerns before the adult Gram Panchayat, school authorities or local government.

This gives children a structured, recognised voice in matters that concern them, and it builds habits of democratic citizenship from an early age, in the same way that the 73rd Amendment built such habits for adult women by bringing them into elected office.

The mechanism mirrors the wider idea running through the chapter: that a constitutionally or socially sanctioned structure of participation, rather than mere goodwill, is what converts a vulnerable group's interests into decisions that are actually acted upon.

Political parties, pressure groups and interest groups: how do they differ?

In a democratic form of government, political parties are key actors; they are based on a certain understanding of society and how it ought to be, and in a democratic system the interests of different groups are represented by parties, who take up their case.

When certain groups feel their interests are not being taken up, they may form an alternative party, or they may form pressure groups that lobby with the government.

Definition: Interest group. Interest groups are organised to pursue specific interests in the political arena, operating primarily by lobbying the members of legislative bodies.

Industrialists form associations such as the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM); workers form trade unions such as the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) or the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU); farmers form agricultural unions such as Shetkari Sangathan.

Every February, when the Finance Minister presents the Budget, newspapers report meetings that various confederations of industrialists, trade unions, farmers and women's groups hold with the Ministry of Finance.

The sociologist Max Weber observed: "parties live in a house of power... Party actions are always directed towards a goal which is striven for in a planned manner.

The goal may be a 'cause'... or the goal may be 'personal' (sinecures, power, and from these, honour for the leader and followers of the party)." Some scholars argue that the concept of pressure groups underestimates the power that dominant social groups of class, caste or gender hold, and that it would be more accurate to say that a dominant class controls the state; this does not negate the continuing importance of social movements and pressure groups in a democracy.

Going beyond the syllabus

Panchayati Raj looks different in tribal areas. In Meghalaya, the Khasis, Jaintias and Garos each have their own traditional political institutions that have existed for hundreds of years and function at the village, clan and state level; among the Khasis, for example, each clan has its own council, the 'Durbar Kur', presided over by a clan headman.

A large part of tribal India lies outside the 73rd Amendment, possibly because policymakers did not wish to interfere with these traditional institutions.

The sociologist Tiplut Nongbri cautions, however, that tribal institutions are not necessarily democratic in structure: notwithstanding a strong egalitarian ethos, stratification is not altogether absent, and such institutions are often marked by intolerance of women, while social change has introduced distortions that make it hard to tell what is traditional and what is not.

Glossary

• Political organization — a structured body through which people seek, hold or influence governmental power to pursue shared goals.
• Panchayati Raj — literally 'governance by five individuals'; the system of grassroot, village-level democratic self-government in India.
• 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act — the 1992 amendment that gave constitutional status to Panchayati Raj Institutions and mandated their regular election.
• Gram Sabha — the general body of all citizens of a village, which elects the local government and charges it with specific responsibilities.
• Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) — the elected local self-government bodies created under the 73rd Amendment.
• District Planning Committee — a body constituted under the 73rd Amendment to prepare draft development plans for a whole district.
• Nyaya Panchayat — a village-level body with authority to hear petty civil and criminal cases and impose fines, but not award a sentence.
• Van-panchayat — a forest-related panchayat, often run by women, that nurtures saplings and guards against illegal felling.
• Bal Panchayat — a children's local body, modelled on Panchayati Raj, through which children elect representatives to raise and resolve issues affecting them.
• Political party — an organisation that seeks legitimate control of government through elections to pursue a specific programme.
• Pressure group — a group that lobbies government to influence policy without seeking to form the government itself.
• Interest group — a group organised to pursue specific sectional interests, primarily by lobbying legislators.
• Dominant caste — a term used for the numerically important, economically and politically powerful caste group that dominates local society in a region.
• Right to Information — the right of citizens to access information on government decisions and spending; read by the Supreme Court as part of the Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression.

Common errors and misconceptions

• Misconception: Panchayats first appeared in the Constitution of 1950. Correct: Panchayats did not find a mention in the original Constitution; they received constitutional status only through the 73rd Amendment in 1992.
• Misconception: The 73rd Amendment created a two-tier system of Panchayati Raj. Correct: It provided a three-tier system, with the Gram Sabha as the base of the structure.
• Misconception: Women's reservation under the 73rd Amendment applies only to rural bodies. Correct: The 73rd and 74th amendments together reserved one-third of seats for women in both rural and urban local bodies.
• Misconception: Nyaya Panchayats can award prison sentences. Correct: They can hear petty civil and criminal cases and impose fines, but they cannot award a sentence.
• Misconception: Pressure groups and political parties are the same kind of organisation. Correct: Political parties seek to capture government through elections, while pressure and interest groups lobby government without seeking to form it.
• Misconception: All tribal areas automatically came under the 73rd Amendment. Correct: A large part of tribal India, such as much of Meghalaya, lies outside the provisions of the 73rd Amendment.
• Misconception: Becoming a Panchayat member has only a symbolic effect for women. Correct: Field accounts, such as Kalavati's, show real gains in self-esteem, recognition by name, and decision-making power.

Exam-style questions with model answers

Q1. State the literal meaning of the term 'Panchayati Raj'. [1 mark]

1. It translates literally to 'governance by five individuals', and it refers to the idea of ensuring a functioning and vibrant democracy at the village or grassroot level, with local people electing their own representatives to manage village affairs.

Q2. Name the constitutional amendment that gave Panchayati Raj Institutions their constitutional status, and state the year it was passed. [1 mark]

1. The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, passed in 1992, which gave constitutional status to the Panchayati Raj Institutions and made it compulsory for these local self-government bodies to be elected every five years, with control of local resources given to them.

Q3. State one way in which a Nyaya Panchayat is limited in its judicial power. [1 mark]

1. A Nyaya Panchayat can hear petty civil and criminal cases and impose fines, but it cannot award a sentence.

Q4. Describe four features of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act. [4 marks]

1. It provided a three-tier system of Panchayati Raj for states with a population above twenty lakhs, with the Gram Sabha as the base unit of democracy.
2. It made it mandatory for elections to local bodies to be held every five years.
3. It provided reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and reserved one-third of seats for women.
4. It constituted a District Planning Committee to prepare draft development plans for the district as a whole.

Q5. Describe four social welfare responsibilities delegated to the Panchayats. [4 marks]

1. Maintaining burning and burial grounds in the village.
2. Recording statistics of births and deaths.
3. Establishing child welfare and maternity centres.
4. Controlling cattle pounds, propagating family planning and promoting agricultural activities.

Q6. Distinguish between a political party and a pressure group, using examples given. [4 marks]

1. A political party seeks legitimate control of government through an electoral process to pursue a specific programme.
2. A pressure or interest group does not seek to form the government; it lobbies members of legislative bodies to influence specific decisions.
3. Pressure groups form along sectional lines, such as FICCI and ASSOCHAM for industrialists, or INTUC and CITU for workers.
4. Where a group feels its interests are not taken up by existing parties, it may form an alternative party, or instead turn to pressure-group lobbying.

Q7. Discuss, with examples, how the 73rd Amendment has empowered women in rural India. [7 marks]

1. The 73rd and 74th amendments reserved one-third of the total seats for women in all elected offices of local bodies, in both rural and urban areas.
2. Within this reservation, 17 per cent of seats are set aside for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Tribes.
3. This was the first time women were brought into elected bodies with real decision-making powers over local resources.
4. The 1993-94 elections, held soon after the amendment, brought 800,000 women into the political process in a single election.
5. Field evidence, such as Kalavati's experience as a Panchayat member, shows gains in confidence, self-esteem and public recognition by name rather than only as someone's wife or mother.
6. Women in Uttarakhand formed van-panchayats to manage forest resources, continuing the tradition of the Chipko movement.
7. Nyaya Panchayats have been particularly effective in punishing men who harass women for dowry and commit violence against them, while folk media such as the 'phad' scroll have trained illiterate women to understand and use their new political power responsibly.

Q8. Explain the role of Bal Panchayats in empowering children. [4 marks]

1. Bal Panchayats are children's own local bodies, modelled on Panchayati Raj and set up with NGO support in villages and slums.
2. Children elect their own representatives to the Bal Panchayat.
3. The body discusses issues directly affecting children, such as education, child labour, child marriage and sanitation.
4. It gives children a recognised voice to place their concerns before adult Panchayats, schools or local government, building habits of democratic participation from an early age.

Q9. Evaluate the challenges that remain in making Panchayati Raj institutions genuinely democratic. [7 marks]

1. Traditional caste panchayats often represented dominant groups and took decisions against democratic norms, and these attitudes can persist even in the elected Panchayati Raj structure.
2. Gram Sabha members are often controlled by a small coterie of rich landlords from upper castes or landed peasantry, who make most decisions and allocate funds.
3. Certain groups, communities or castes in a village are sometimes not included or informed about meetings and activities, leaving the silent majority as mere onlookers.
4. Large parts of tribal India, such as much of Meghalaya, lie outside the provisions of the 73rd Amendment, so their traditional institutions are untouched by its reforms.
5. Sociologist Tiplut Nongbri notes that traditional tribal institutions are not necessarily democratic, can show intolerance of women, and that social change has distorted what is 'traditional'.
6. Despite the formal reservation for women, deep-rooted inequality of caste, community and gender means democratisation is not easy.
7. Continued vigilance, such as the display of fund-utilisation boards and the right to information, is needed to keep power accountable.

Key takeaways

• A political organization is a structured body through which people seek or influence governmental power to pursue shared goals, such as parties, pressure groups or Panchayati Raj institutions.
• Panchayati Raj literally means 'governance by five individuals' and aims to build vibrant democracy at the village level.
• The Directive Principle on village panchayats was moved by K. Santhanam in the Constituent Assembly but became binding only through the 73rd Amendment of 1992.
• The 73rd Amendment created a three-tier Panchayati Raj system with the Gram Sabha as its base, five-yearly elections, and reservation for SCs, STs and women.
• Panchayats received financial, developmental, social-welfare and judicial (Nyaya Panchayat) responsibilities.
• One-third of seats in local bodies are reserved for women, including 17 per cent for SC/ST women, and the 1993-94 elections brought 800,000 women into politics.
• Field cases such as Kalavati's show that reservation has brought women real confidence, recognition and decision-making power, not just symbolic representation.
• Bal Panchayats give children an elected voice to raise concerns about education, child labour, child marriage and sanitation.
• Political parties seek government through elections, while pressure and interest groups lobby government without seeking to form it.
• Democratisation of rural local government is still limited by caste, class and gender inequality despite constitutional reform.

Test yourself

What does 'Panchayati Raj' literally mean?

It translates literally to 'governance by five individuals', referring to a vibrant grassroot democracy at the village level.

Who moved the Directive Principle on village panchayats in the Constituent Assembly, and when did it finally become a constitutional imperative?

K. Santhanam moved it as an amendment; it became a constitutional imperative only after the 73rd Amendment in 1992.

What proportion of seats in local bodies is reserved for women, and what share of that is further reserved for SC/ST women?

One-third of total seats are reserved for women, and 17 per cent of seats are reserved for women belonging to Scheduled Castes and Tribes.

What can a Nyaya Panchayat do, and what can it not do?

It can hear petty civil and criminal cases and impose fines, but it cannot award a sentence.

Why did Dr Ambedkar oppose giving panchayats constitutional status at the time the Constitution was drafted?

He argued that local elites and upper castes were so entrenched that local self-government would mean continuing exploitation and silencing of the downtrodden.

What is the main difference between a political party and a pressure group?

A political party seeks legitimate control of government through elections, while a pressure group lobbies government to influence policy without seeking to form it.

How do Bal Panchayats give children a political voice?

Children elect their own representatives, who discuss issues such as education, child labour and sanitation and raise these concerns with adult authorities.

How did women in Uttarakhand respond to deforestation through van-panchayats?

They developed nurseries, nurtured tree saplings for hill slopes, and policed nearby forests against illegal felling, continuing the Chipko tradition.