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NCERT Solutions Exploring Society: India and Beyond Chapter 9 Fig. 9.13 (page 204), a cartoon from 1889 depicting an oligarchic situation — LET'S EXPLORE

Book page 205 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.
Look carefully at the picture in Fig. 9.13 on the previous page. It depicts an elected body in the USA in the late 19th century. The people shown in the cartoon are all elected members. What do you observe? What do you see at the top left-hand corner of the cartoon? Who do you think is making decisions in this elected body?
Answer

Read the cartoon slowly — the artist has hidden the whole argument in details.

What you observe

  • The chamber is drawn as a legislature: rows of small desks with elected members seated at them, and a gallery running around the hall.
  • Towering above those desks stand huge figures in top hats and formal coats, whose bodies are drawn as enormous money bags. Each bag is labelled with an industry — Coal Trust, Sugar Trust, Tin Trust, Iron Trust, Standard Oil Trust, Copper Trust, Steel Beam Trust, Nail Trust, Paper Bag Trust, Salt Trust.
  • The elected members look tiny, bent over their desks, some whispering, none of them addressing the giants. The size difference is the message.
  • Across the back wall hangs a banner: ‘THIS IS A SENATE OF THE MONOPOLISTS, BY THE MONOPOLISTS AND FOR THE MONOPOLISTS' — a mocking rewriting of Abraham Lincoln's phrase quoted on page 189.
  • On the right-hand side, a wide doorway is marked ‘ENTRANCE FOR MONOPOLISTS', standing open.

At the top left-hand corner

A small gallery door labelled ‘PEOPLE'S ENTRANCE' — and a board hanging across it reading ‘CLOSED'. The door meant for ordinary citizens is shut, while the door meant for the monopolists is wide open.

Who is making the decisions?

Not the elected members. The decisions are being made by the owners of the big business trusts — a small group of very wealthy men who are not elected by anyone. The elected representatives are physically present but visibly powerless. That is the definition of an oligarchy: a small, powerful group, usually wealthy families or influential people, making all the important decisions.

Why the cartoon still matters: the outward form here is perfectly democratic — there is a chamber, there are elections, there are members. Yet the substance is oligarchic. The cartoon warns that you cannot judge a government only by its form; you must ask who actually decides. That is precisely the point the chapter makes when it says some democracies ‘show signs of oligarchy'.
Did you know? This is Joseph Keppler's famous drawing The Bosses of the Senate, published in the American magazine Puck in 1889 — the word ‘PUCK' is printed at the top of the picture. Cartoons like it helped build public support for laws against monopolies.
Q2.
Can a democracy turn into an oligarchy? What can people do to keep democracy strong?
Answer

Yes, it can — not by an announcement, but by slow hollowing out. The chapter says political commentators have observed that even some democracies show signs of oligarchy when a small group of politicians and wealthy businesspeople hold too much influence in governance.

How the slide happens

Warning signWhat it looks like
Money decides who can be heardOnly the very wealthy can afford to campaign, so the choice on the ballot narrows
Institutions lose independenceErosion of the judiciary's independence, so the powerful are not checked
Information is managedManipulation of information channels, so voters decide on a false picture
Corruption becomes normalDecisions are traded rather than debated
Citizens stop taking partLow turnout and silence leave the field to the few

What people can do

  • Vote — every time. A high turnout is the cheapest defence there is; it makes it costly to ignore ordinary voters.
  • Ask questions and use the law. The Right to Information Act lets any citizen ask how a decision was taken and where public money went.
  • Protect independent institutions — courts, the Election Commission, auditors, a free press. They exist to check power, whoever holds it.
  • Check before believing. Verify news, compare sources, and do not forward what you have not confirmed.
  • Take part locally — gram sabhā, resident welfare associations, school committees. Democracy is a habit learned close to home.
  • Learn how the system works. Citizens who know their rights are far harder to sideline.
Why vigilance is the answer: in a democracy power is only lent to the government, and the loan is renewed at each election. An oligarchy grows when citizens stop asking for the loan back. Keeping democracy strong is therefore not a one-day job on polling day — it is what people do in between.
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