NCERT Solutions for Class 7th Social Science Chapter 18 The chapter in eight points — Before we move on …

Book page 165–166 Updated on2026-09-19

Q1.

The state and the government are different, but sometimes the terms are used interchangeably. The state is a larger concept that includes the citizens of a country, the territory of the country. It is sovereign, i.e., it has the independence to make its laws without any outside control. It has a government that makes and implements laws to run the country.

Answer

Unpack the point into the four parts of a state, because that is what it is listing.

Part of the state	The point’s words	What it means
People	“includes the citizens of a country”	A permanent population — people who identify with the place and live there, not visitors
Land	“the territory of the country”	A geographically defined territory — “a place… that has clear boundaries”, agreed with the neighbouring states
Sovereignty	“It is sovereign, i.e., it has the independence to make its laws without any outside control”	Highest authority inside; no interference from outside
Government	“It has a government that makes and implements laws to run the country”	Note the verb: the state has a government. It is a possession, not a synonym

Why the two words get swapped. “The government acts on behalf of the state, and is the face of the state that we see in action every day” — because it “runs the daily work of the state” and because “we usually interact with the government, not the whole state.”

The test that settles it every time: ask what an election changes. It changes the government; it does not change the state. “It can change after elections, but the state remains the same.” School and teachers, again — “teachers may come and go, but the school remains.”

Q2.

A republic is 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. In a republic, the powers of the head of state are limited through a constitution or laws.

Answer

The point has two halves, and both are needed.

How the head of state is chosen — elected, not born to it. “Directly or indirectly” matters for India: “India’s head of state, the president, would be elected — not directly by the people, but by a group of elected representatives.” The vote is one step removed, but it is still a vote, and nobody inherits the office.
How much power the office carries — limited by law. “In a republic, there are limitations set on the power of rulers through a constitution or laws.” A republic is not simply a country without a king; it is a country where even the highest office is under the Constitution.

The examples to remember. Both a democracy and a republic: India, the U.S.A. Democracies but not republics: the UK, Canada, Sweden — “they each have a monarch.”

Why the second half is the important one for a Class 7 answer: replacing a king with an elected president achieves nothing if that president can then do whatever he likes. The limits are what protect you: “The elected leaders cannot pass laws that go against people’s basic rights — like freedom of speech, religion, or equality before the law.” That is why the chapter can say “the rule of law is more powerful than the wishes of the majority.”

Did you know? George Washington refused the suggestion that he become king of America in 1782, “saying that such a plan would harm the country, and that he believed only in a government by the people under a constitution” — seven years before he became the first President of the United States in 1789.

Q3.

The three pillars or organs of the government are the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary.

Answer

One organ per job, and each one checks the others.

Organ	Its job	Who it is in India
Legislature	“Makes laws for the country… It ensures that governance happens through well-defined laws rather than personal wishes or arbitrary decisions”	Parliament for the country; each state has its own legislature, which makes laws “only for the state”
Executive	“Primarily responsible for implementing or executing the laws formulated by the legislature and taking policy decisions”	The political executive (prime minister, chief ministers, ministers; the president and governors “mostly have formal or symbolic roles”) and the permanent executive (civil servants). The police are part of the executive, at the state level
Judiciary	“Makes sure everyone follows the law… settles disputes, protects people’s rights, and checks whether the laws made by the government are fair and just”	The courts. In a democracy like India “the judiciary is independent — it is not controlled by the government or politicians”

The four things the judiciary does (page 160): protects and defends the laws; interprets the laws “when the wording is complex or when people disagree on its meaning”; protects the rights and liberty of citizens — “if fundamental rights are violated, we can go to court”; and “safeguards the Constitution through judicial review… as a referee when the government or others break the law.”

Why three and not one: because each organ is a check on the others. The legislature writes the rules the executive must follow; the judiciary can strike down a law that violates rights and can be approached against unfair executive action. “The Constitution ensures that no part of the government becomes too powerful.” The chapter also notes that this separation is not universal — “in some countries, the legislature, executive and judiciary are separate, while in others they may overlap.”

Q4.

In India, there are also three levels of government — union (central), state, and local.

Answer

Organs and levels are two different divisions of the same government — and it is worth keeping them apart in your mind. Organs divide the work by kind (making, implementing, judging). Levels divide it by reach (whole country, one state, one town or village).

Level	Reach	Subjects (page 163)
Union (central)	The whole country	Defence, foreign affairs, currency, and concurrent subjects such as education and marriage
State	One state	Police, land, health, agriculture, and education in the state
Local	One town, city or village	Land, agriculture, water, drainage, streetlamps, parks

The third tier is younger than the other two. “Originally, the Constitution provided for only two levels of government.” Panchayats and municipalities “were listed under the State List, which means that state governments could decide how they worked.” In the early 1990s the Constitution was amended to create the panchayati raj system and municipalities, “to strengthen democracy at the grassroots and enable people to participate directly in decision-making.”

Both divisions at once: Fig. 6.19 shows school education handled by all three organs across two levels — Parliament and state legislatures make the laws and approve budgets, ministers and officers such as District and Block Education Officers implement them, and courts along with the NCPCR and SCPCR protect children’s rights.

Q5.

The Constitution of India forms the fundamental and basic framework for the structure of our government. It ensures that there are ‘checks and balances’ among the three organs of the government. It also ensures that the three levels of government work together for the people without excessive centralisation.

Answer

The Constitution does three jobs in this one sentence.

It builds the structure. It says what organs and levels exist, who holds which office, and what each may do. Everything in this chapter — legislature, executive, judiciary, union, state, local — is set up by it.
It sets checks and balances between the organs. “The Constitution ensures that no part of the government becomes too powerful.” Each organ can stop another from overstepping.
It keeps the levels working together, “without excessive centralisation”. Subjects are distributed, so the centre cannot simply absorb everything, and the levels have to cooperate.

What ‘checks and balances’ looks like in practice, using this chapter’s own material.

The check	How it works
On the legislature	“The elected leaders cannot pass laws that go against people’s basic rights — like freedom of speech, religion, or equality before the law.” The judiciary “safeguards the Constitution through judicial review”
On the executive	It may implement only the laws the legislature has made; “the government can use force to maintain law and order but the Constitution limits its powers”; and the courts act “as a referee when the government or others break the law”
On everyone in office	“The judiciary protects the rule of law, that is, the idea that everyone must follow the law, even the government”
On the majority	“Constitutional provisions and the law ensure that rule by a representative majority does not violate the fundamental rights of any citizen”

Why checks are needed at all: the chapter says it in Fig. 6.8 — “otherwise, elected members and government officers might use their power unchecked, which would threaten citizens’ rights.” Power without a check does not stay the same size; it grows. Checks and balances are simply the arrangement that makes every part of the government answerable to some other part, and all of them answerable to the Constitution.

Q6.

The media plays an important role in democracy — it keeps the citizens informed and provides a platform for discussion and debate.

Answer

Two roles, and the chapter names both.

Informing. A citizen cannot judge a government she knows nothing about. News about how public money was spent, how a scheme is working or what a court has decided is what makes an opinion possible. This is the same idea as transparency — “open access to information to citizens regarding government policies and actions, expenditure of public funds, etc.”
Providing a platform. The editorial page, the letters column, the television debate and now social media are all places where a public argument can happen. That is why the chapter asks you to collect editorials and see how many are about government policy.

And the media is a route for the citizen, not only a source of news. It is the third of the six things you can do: “Write in print or electronic media about a particular issue on which the government can take action. Many government officials are active on social media. You can also use social media platforms like YouTube, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook or Instagram to share your concerns and tag the corresponding officials” — the chapter shows the railways’ official handle, @RailwaySeva, as an example.

Why this makes government work better: officials behave differently when a decision can be seen and asked about in public. In the Silent Valley case, non-government organisations “mobilised public opinion against the construction of the dam”, and that opinion — carried by writers, scientists and public figures — is what eventually changed the decision. Publicity turned a private plan into a public question.

Use it carefully: because anyone can post, not everything that circulates is accurate. Check who is saying it, whether an official source confirms it, and whether more than one newspaper reports it, before passing it on. Being informed is the role of the media in a democracy; being misinformed does the opposite work.

Q7.

Civil society organisations (NGOs) play a critical role in raising issues, and also working with government to solve them.

Answer

Note the two verbs in the point: raising and working with. Civil society is not only a critic of government; much of its work is done alongside government.

What they do	Example from the chapter
Raise an issue nobody is looking at	Silent Valley: NGOs “mobilised public opinion against the construction of the dam”, and were “soon joined by hundreds of scientists, environmentalists, writers, public figures, teachers, and local villagers”
Bring people together to press for action	“India has thousands of citizen groups, collectively termed as civil society, which work on issues like education, health, environment, livelihood, women empowerment, etc.”
Work with the government to solve the problem	After the Central Government cancelled the project in 1983, Silent Valley “was declared a National Park” in 1985 — a government decision that grew out of a citizens’ campaign

And you can join. “One can join any of those (or create one!) to push the government to address an issue you care deeply about.”

Why civil society matters between elections: a vote comes once in five years and covers everything at once. An issue that needs attention this month — a forest, a school, a river, the safety of women workers — cannot wait for the next election and cannot be separated out from it. An organised group of citizens can raise exactly that one issue, keep raising it, and bring in the experts and evidence a government department may not have. That is why the chapter calls their role “critical”.

Q8.

The permanent executive consisting of civil servants or bureaucrats implement laws and policies devised by the government.

Answer

The permanent executive is the half of the executive that does not change when the government changes. Its officers are “not elected but are selected through examinations like those conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)”, and “unlike politicians, these officers are not removed or replaced after every election. They work in the background to keep the government running smoothly, no matter which party is in power.”

	Political executive	Permanent executive
Who	Prime minister, chief ministers, ministers; president and governors (“mostly formal or symbolic roles”)	Bureaucrats or civil servants — IFS, IAS, IPS, IRS, IFoS and the officers below them
How chosen	Elected by the people	Selected through examinations such as the UPSC’s
How long they stay	“A fixed time — usually five years — unless they are re-elected or dismissed”	They stay; they are not replaced after an election
What they do	“Making big decisions, introducing new laws, setting goals for the country, and representing India in other countries”	“Offer expert advice, implement policies, and manage public services”

The three key functions of the bureaucracy (page 153):

Implementing laws, policies and schemes — ensuring that what the political executive passes “are appropriately implemented across the country”.
Creating a link between citizens and the government — “through various departments and field offices, bureaucrats interact with the public, deliver services such as public schools, roads, and hospitals, and address grievances.”
Record-keeping and governance — “they keep records of government work, decisions, and procedures.”

It is a hierarchy. Fig. 6.11 prints the organisation chart of a single department of one state — the Directorate of Health and Family Welfare Services — and it runs from the minister at the top down through dozens of officers. (The chapter says you need not memorise the chart; you need to see the shape.)

The shape of Fig. 6.11 (page 154): one elected minister on top, and a permanent hierarchy below. “Such structures exist at the level of the district and block, too.”

Where you meet them. “Our interactions are usually with the bureaucrats serving at the grassroots — government school teachers, anganwadi workers, health workers, water and sanitation workers, or bus conductors.” And the bureaucracy “manages large-scale programs like the census, national elections, disaster relief, and the rollout of welfare schemes… or the COVID-19 vaccination drive.”

Why a permanent executive is necessary: governments change every few years, but a hospital cannot close between two governments and a census cannot be abandoned halfway. Somebody must hold the experience, the records and the routine steady across the change. That is also why these officers are selected by examination rather than elected — the job asks for expertise and continuity, not for a fresh mandate.

Remember C.B. Muthamma. She became the first woman to clear the public services examination in 1948 and to join the Indian Foreign Service in 1949, at a time when women “were made to sign an undertaking that they would resign if they got married”. When she was unjustly denied promotion she went to the Supreme Court, and a bench led by Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer “struck down gender-biased provisions as violating the Constitution”. A civil servant using the judiciary to correct the executive — the checks and balances of this chapter, in one life.

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