Social Science · Class 10

Active learning ideas

How Can Parties Be Reformed?

How can we ensure that the political parties meant to serve us are themselves healthy and democratic? This lesson explores the critical challenge of cleaning up politics in India.

• CBSE Learning Outcomes
• NCERT: Class 10 - Democratic Politics – II - Chapter 6

• 30–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Collaborative Problem-Solving
• 45 min · Small Groups

The Reformers' Debate

Divide the class into groups, each representing a different stakeholder: Election Commission, a national party, a regional party, and a citizen's group. Each group debates the pros and cons of a proposed reform, like state funding of elections or stricter laws on internal party elections.

Explain the purpose and functioning of the anti-defection law.

Facilitation Tip

Provide each group with a short brief outlining their stakeholder's likely position to kickstart the discussion.

What to look for

A 'Think-Pair-Share' activity where students are given a short case study of a political defection and asked to decide if it violates the law and why.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management

Activity 02

• Collaborative Problem-Solving
• 30 min · Pairs

Analyse an Affidavit

Students are given a real (anonymised) affidavit of a political candidate. In pairs, they analyse the information provided on assets, liabilities, and criminal cases, and then discuss if this information would influence their voting decision.

Evaluate the effectiveness of the Supreme Court's order on filing affidavits in reducing the influence of money and criminals in politics.

Facilitation Tip

Source affidavits from the Election Commission of India website or MyNeta.info for authenticity.

What to look for

Write a letter to the editor of a newspaper suggesting the single most important reform needed to improve political parties in India, justifying the choice with evidence and examples.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management

Activity 03

• Collaborative Problem-Solving
• 40 min · Small Groups

Draft a Law

In small groups, students draft a simple one-page bill to address a specific problem, for example, 'A Bill to Ensure Internal Democracy in Political Parties'. They must outline the objective, key provisions, and a mechanism for enforcement.

Justify two additional reforms that you believe could improve the functioning of political parties in India.

Facilitation Tip

Encourage students to think about practical challenges and how their proposed law would overcome them.

What to look for

Students complete a K-W-L (Know, Want to know, Learned) chart about political reforms at the beginning and end of the topic to track their own learning.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management

A few notes on teaching this unit

Begin by discussing challenges students see in politics today, like corruption or leaders switching parties. Introduce reforms as attempted solutions to these problems. Use real-world case studies from recent news to make the laws and their effects concrete and relatable for students.

By the end of this topic, students will be able to critically evaluate existing reforms like the anti-defection law and propose new ideas to strengthen our democracy.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• The Anti-Defection Law completely stops MPs and MLAs from changing parties.

  The law only penalises individual legislators for 'defecting' after being elected. It does not apply if a large group (at least two-thirds of the party's legislators) decides to merge with another party. It also doesn't stop politicians from changing parties before an election.

• The Election Commission can remove any politician with a criminal record from an election.

  The Election Commission cannot bar someone from contesting merely on the basis of pending criminal cases. A person is disqualified from contesting only upon conviction for certain offences for a specified period. The affidavit system is for transparency, not disqualification.

• All money used in elections is now accounted for and transparent.

  While measures like expenditure limits and affidavits have increased transparency, parties still find ways to use unaccounted funds. The influence of 'black money' in elections remains a significant challenge, and the source of a large portion of party funds is often unclear to the public.

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Methods used in this brief

• Collaborative Problem-Solving