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NCERT Solutions for Class 7th Social Science Chapter 18 ‘Democracy and Republic’ — In-text Question

Book page 148 Updated on2026-09-19

Q1.
Notice how the Constitution makers used the words ‘democratic’ and ‘republic’ together. Why did they, when ‘democracy’ and ‘republic’ are often used interchangeably?
Answer

Because the two words promise two different things, and the Constitution makers wanted both. ‘Democratic’ promises that the people will choose the government. ‘Republic’ promises that the highest office in the country will never be inherited. A country can keep the first promise while breaking the second — the chapter’s own example is the UK.

The comparison the chapter draws.

 IndiaThe UK
Who elects the representatives?The peopleThe people — “People in both India and the UK elect their representatives”
Is the government answerable to parliament?YesYes — “the government is accountable to parliament”
Who is head of state?An elected president — “elected… not directly by the people, but by a group of elected representatives”“The British… have had a monarch (a king or a queen) as the head of state for centuries”
So the country is …A democracy and a republicA democracy but not a republic

The historical reason. “British rule in India persisted for nearly two centuries. When India got Independence, she did not blindly adopt the British parliamentary system. Among the many discussions and debates that took place during the making of our Constitution, one was on the type of parliamentary democracy that India should have.” India kept what worked — elected representatives and a government answerable to parliament — and changed what it did not want, which was a hereditary head of state.

Why one word could not do the work of two: ‘democratic’ says nothing about how the head of state is chosen, and ‘republic’ says nothing about whether ordinary people vote. Write only ‘democratic’ and a future monarch is not ruled out; write only ‘republic’ and free elections are not guaranteed. Written together, the two words close both gaps — and the chapter adds a third protection that comes with a republic: “there are limitations set on the power of rulers through a constitution or laws.”
Did you know? The chapter’s DON’T MISS OUT box on page 151 shows the same choice being made elsewhere. In 1782 an officer suggested that General George Washington become king of America. “Washington firmly refused, saying that such a plan would harm the country, and that he believed only in a government by the people under a constitution.” He was chosen as the first President of the United States seven years later, in 1789.
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