NCERT Solutions for Class 7th Social Science Chapter 18 The State, the Government, and You
Updated on 2026-09-19
About this chapter
A state is not the same thing as a government. A state “is a political organisation that has the authority to govern a defined territory and its population”, and it has four parts — people , land , government and sovereignty . The government is only one of those four. As the chapter puts it: “Think of the state as a school, and the government as the principal and teachers. Teachers may come and go, but the school remains.” Sovereignty is what makes a state a state. It “means that the state has complete control over its own matters and is able to make and implement laws in accordance with its own needs. No other state or external body can interfere in the internal affairs of that state.” A permanent population matters too — tourists “have no identification with the place”, but people who li
- Chapter opening
- Fig. 6.4
- “What is a Government?”
- The box ‘People, police, and the government’, and Fig. 6.6
- Government departments around you
- ‘Democracy and Republic’
- “Why is the protection of rights important?”
- ‘The Government and You’
- Newspaper editorials and government policy
- ‘Tiers of Government’
Quick revision
| Term | What it means | Where it appears in the chapter | Worth remembering |
|---|---|---|---|
| State | “A political organisation that has the authority to govern a defined territory and its population” | “What is a State?”, page 144, and Fig. 6.3 | It has four parts — people, land, government and sovereignty. Note the DON’T MISS OUT on page 146: in India ‘state’ can mean the Indian State or a unit like Kerala, so the book writes ‘state’ in lower case except in cases such as “the State of Kerala” |
| Government | “A group of people or a system that runs the country… leaders, ministers, and officials” who make laws, enforce laws and resolve disputes | “What is a Government?”, page 146 | It is one part of the state, not the state itself: “It can change after elections, but the state remains the same” |
| Sovereignty | “The full power to make laws and take decisions without any outside control” | Fig. 6.3, page 144, and Roshini didi’s answer, page 145 | “No other state or external body can interfere in the internal affairs of that state. This is why sovereignty is an essential feature of a state” |
| Permanent population | People who identify with a territory and usually live there — not visitors | Fig. 6.4 dialogue, page 145 | Tourists “go visit and then move on… they don’t live together”. A permanent population “develops its own culture and society” |
| Geographically defined territory | “A place, a geographical area, that has clear boundaries” | Fig. 6.4 dialogue, page 145 | The boundaries “are not necessarily geographical features but sort of lines that are agreed upon by the neighbouring states” |
| Democracy | “Rule by the people” — demos = people, kratos = rule; people choose the government through free and fair elections | “Democracy and Republic”, page 149 | A democracy answers the question who chooses the government? |
| Republic | “A form of government where the head of state is elected (directly or indirectly) by the people, rather than being a king or queen who inherits power” | Page 149 | It answers a different question — how does one become head of state? In a republic there are also “limitations set on the power of rulers through a constitution or laws” |
| Legislature | The organ that makes laws | “Legislature: The Lawmaking Body”, page 152, and Fig. 6.10 | “It ensures that governance happens through well-defined laws rather than personal wishes or arbitrary decisions.” States have their own legislatures, which “make laws only for the state” |
| Executive | The organ that implements laws and takes policy decisions | Page 152 | It has two halves — the political executive and the permanent executive. The Constitution “does not explicitly define” these terms; the distinction comes from India’s parliamentary system and its conventions |
| Political executive | Leaders elected by the people — prime minister, chief ministers and their ministers, plus the president and governors (“mostly formal or symbolic roles”) | Page 153 | They stay “for a fixed time — usually five years”. “Their power depends on the trust and support of the people” |
| Permanent executive | Officers who are “not elected but are selected through examinations like those conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)” — bureaucrats or civil servants | Page 153 | They “are not removed or replaced after every election”. Best-known services: IFS, IAS, IPS, IRS, IFoS. Fig. 6.11 shows the hierarchy of just one department of one state |
| Judiciary | The organ that “makes sure everyone follows the law”, settles disputes and protects rights | “Judiciary: Guardian of the Constitution”, page 160 | It is independent — “not controlled by the government or politicians”. Its four listed jobs: protect the laws, interpret the laws, protect rights and liberty, and safeguard the Constitution through judicial review |
| Policy | “A set of ideas or actions that an institution or government decides on” | Word box, page 152 | Making policy is the executive’s job; making law is the legislature’s |
| Dominance of the majority | “A situation where the interests of the majority alone are pursued, to the detriment of the rights of minorities” | Word box, page 151 | The RWA delivery-ban story is the chapter’s example. Republics like India, France and the USA “defend against” it — “the rule of law is more powerful than the wishes of the majority” |
| Transparency | “Open access to information to citizens regarding government policies and actions, expenditure of public funds, etc.” | Word box, page 158 | The RTI Act is the tool. “Officials are bound to provide information under this Act” |
| Accountability | “Those in power are responsible for their actions and decisions, and are obligated to answer for them to the public and other stakeholders” | Word box, page 158 | This is also the argument for decentralisation: “When leaders are closer to the people, it is easier to question them” |
| Decentralisation | “Power and decision-making are spread out and not concentrated in just one place or one small group” | Page 162 | “Local problems should be solved locally, and bigger issues can be solved by higher-level governments.” Fig. 6.18 gives five reasons why it matters |
| Three tiers of government | Union (central) at the national level, state at the state level, local at the town or village level | “Tiers of Government”, pages 161–163, Fig. 6.17 | Local government became the ‘third tier’ only after the Constitution was amended in the early 1990s to create panchayati raj and municipalities |
| Matsya nyāya | ‘Law of the fish’ — “in the absence of law and order, the big fish swallow the smaller ones” | Kauṭilya box and Fig. 6.9, page 151 | According to Kauṭilya, author of the Arthashastra, the king “has to follow Raja Dharma and have a good governance system”, or “society will become chaotic” |
| C.B. Muthamma | Chonira Belliappa Muthamma (1924–2009), the first woman to clear the public services examination (1948) and to join the Indian Foreign Service (1949) | Fig. 6.12 and box, pages 155–156 | Denied promotion unjustly, she went to the Supreme Court; a bench led by Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer struck down the gender-biased provisions as violating the Constitution. She became India’s first woman ambassador in several countries |
| grām swarāj | Gandhi’s idea of largely self-sufficient village governments | DON’T MISS OUT, page 163 | “My idea of village swarāj is that it is a complete republic, independent of its neighbours for its own vital wants, and yet interdependent for many others in which dependence is a necessity” |
| Silent Valley | A Kerala rainforest saved from a hydroelectric dam by a citizens’ campaign | DON’T MISS OUT, page 159 | Planned in 1970; NGOs, scientists, writers, teachers and villagers mobilised; the Central Government cancelled the project in 1983; declared a National Park in 1985 |
Exercises
- Chapter opening — The Big Questions Page 143
- Looking back at Grade 6 and at ‘From the Rulers to the Ruled’ in Part 1 — LET’S REMEMBER Page 144
- Fig. 6.4 — In-text Questions Page 145
- “What is a Government?” — In-text Question Page 146
- The box ‘People, police, and the government’, and Fig. 6.6 — In-text Questions Page 147
- Government departments around you — LET’S EXPLORE Page 148
- ‘Democracy and Republic’ — In-text Question Page 148
- “Why is the protection of rights important?” — In-text Question Page 150
- ‘The Government and You’ — In-text Questions Page 156
- Newspaper editorials and government policy — LET’S EXPLORE Page 160
- ‘Tiers of Government’ — LET’S REMEMBER Page 161
- Which level of government would you go to? — THINK ABOUT IT Page 162
- Why local decisions should be taken locally — LET’S EXPLORE Page 162
- A class discussion on 75 years of the republic — LET’S EXPLORE Page 165
- The chapter in eight points — Before we move on … Page 165–166
- End-of-chapter exercise — Questions and activities Page 166–167