NCERT Solutions for Class 6th Social Science Chapter 10 Grassroots Democracy Part 1 Governance
Updated on 2026-09-19
About this chapter
The chapter’s one idea: people living together need rules, and rules need someone to make them and someone to see that they are followed. When many people live together “there can be disagreements and disorder, and rules become necessary to maintain order and harmony in the society”. The book then gives three exact words: governance is the process, government is the group or system that does it, and laws are “some of the more important rules”. Rules are not fixed for ever. Just as you can discuss a rule at home with your parents, or a student body can ask the school management to change a rule, “citizens also have a say in the laws and rules governing the society”. This single sentence is the seed of the whole chapter — it is why democracy comes later in the same chapter. A government work
- Chapter opening
- Introduction
- The ten pictures of Fig. 10.2
- Three Organs of Government
- Separation of powers
- Three Levels of Government
- Democracy
- The chapter in four points
- End-of-chapter exercise
Quick revision
| Term | What it means | Where it appears in the chapter | Worth remembering |
|---|---|---|---|
| Governance | “The process of taking decisions, organising the society’s life with different sets of rules, and ensuring that they are followed” | Page 150, Introduction | It is a process, not a group of people |
| Government | “The group of individuals or the system that makes the rules and ensures that they are followed” | Page 150 | Governance is the work; government is who does it |
| Law | “Some of the more important rules are called laws” | Page 150 | Every law is a rule; not every rule is a law |
| Legislature | The organ that makes new laws, and sometimes updates or removes existing ones — “an assembly of representatives of the people” | Page 153 | Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha at the national level; the Vidhan Sabha in a State |
| Executive | The organ that implements the laws — head of state, ministers and any agency responsible for law and order | Page 154 | In the cybercrime example, the agency is the cyber police |
| Judiciary | The system of courts that decides whether someone has broken the law and what should follow — and sometimes examines executive decisions and laws | Page 154 | Supreme Court of India for all India, High Court at the State level (Fig. 10.5) |
| Separation of powers | Keeping the three organs separate, though they interact and work together | Page 154, Fig. 10.3 | Its purpose is a system of checks and balances |
| Three levels (tiers) | Local, State or regional, and national — “each level deals with different matters” | Page 155, Fig. 10.4 | The bulb, the electrician, the Electricity Board — three levels of dealing with one problem |
| Nominal head | “In name only” — the President of India and the Governor of a State are not the actual executive heads | Page 157, Fig. 10.5 | They have certain powers under special circumstances but normally do not interfere |
| Democracy | From Greek dēmos (people) and kratos (rule or power) — literally the ‘rule of the people’ | Page 159 | “no democracy without respect to the identity and dignity of cultures and peoples” — Rigoberta Menchú Tum |
| Representative democracy | People vote for representatives, who become elected members of the assemblies | Pages 159–160 | MLAs at the State level, MPs at the national level |
| Direct democracy | Every person’s opinion is taken directly, as in the class vote for a picnic place | Page 160 | Practical only for a small group |
| Grassroots democracy | “A system that enables and encourages the participation of ordinary citizens” — the base of the pyramid | Page 160 | The title of the chapter, and of the two chapters that follow |
Exercises
- Chapter opening — The Big Questions Page 149
- Introduction — In-text Questions Page 150
- Introduction — LET’S EXPLORE Page 150
- The ten pictures of Fig. 10.2 — LET’S EXPLORE Page 153
- Three Organs of Government — LET’S EXPLORE Page 154
- Separation of powers — LET’S EXPLORE Page 155
- Three Levels of Government — LET’S EXPLORE Page 156
- Democracy — In-text Questions Page 159
- The chapter in four points — Before we move on … Page 160
- End-of-chapter exercise — Questions, activities and projects Page 161