Democracy and Diversity

Why this chapter matters for UPSC: "Democracy and Diversity" was Chapter 3 of Democratic Politics II in the 2020-21 edition. NCERT's rationalisation removed it, and the current book (Reprint 2026-27) has five chapters, ending with "Outcomes of Democracy". This page keeps the dropped chapter, labelled as such, because the current book still builds on it: its Chapter 3, "Gender, Religion and Caste", opens with this chapter's conclusion ("The existence of social diversity does not threaten democracy") and still refers the reader to "The example of Northern Ireland in Chapter 3". GS1 Mains asks about diversity directly: the cultural elements of India's diversity and their place in national identity (2015), whether regions rather than States form cultural units (2017), whether globalisation threatens diversity and pluralism (2020), and the impact of the post-liberal economy on ethnic identity and communalism (2023).

Contemporary hook: Two of the chapter's facts have moved since it was printed. Its Northern Ireland figures, "53 per cent are Protestants, while 44 per cent are Roman Catholics", are undated; in Census 2021, 45.7 per cent of residents were Catholic or brought up Catholic and 43.5 per cent Protestant, other Christian or Christian-related (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, 22 September 2022). And its account of the 1968 Olympics says the two protesting athletes lost their medals; the Olympic record says they did not (Olympedia).

🧠 First Principles — Read This First

Diversity takes many forms. The previous chapter in the 2020-21 book (Federalism, page 02 of this book) showed power divided "to accommodate linguistic and regional diversities". This chapter widens the lens: people also identify themselves by "physical appearance, class, religion, gender, caste, tribe, etc." Its question: how does democracy respond to "social differences, divisions and inequalities"?

A difference is not a division. NCERT's central line: "Every social difference does not lead to social division. Social differences divide similar people from one another, but they also unite very different people." Everyone has several identities, and different ones matter in different contexts.

Overlap divides; cross-cutting accommodates. "Social division takes place when some social difference overlaps with other differences." Where differences cut across one another, it is hard to pit one group against another. "Overlapping social differences create possibilities of deep social divisions and tensions. Cross-cutting social differences are easier to accommodate."

Politics can go either way. Party competition along social divisions "can make social divisions into political divisions and lead to conflict, violence or even disintegration of a country" (Northern Ireland, Yugoslavia). Yet in most countries divisions are reflected in politics without breaking the country. Three factors decide the outcome: how people see their identities, how leaders raise demands, and how governments respond.

The verdict. "In a democracy, political expression of social divisions is very normal and can be healthy." And: "history shows that democracy is the best way to fight for recognition and also to accommodate diversity."

PART 1 — Quick Reference

Table 1: The 1968 medal ceremony: NCERT's account and the record

Source: NCERT, Democratic Politics II, Class X, ch. 3, 2020-21 edition (reprint January 2020), pp. 30-31, as archived by the Wayback Machine, 9 October 2021; Olympedia athlete records for Tommie Smith and Peter Norman; Smithsonian Magazine, 9 August 2016.

Table 2: Origins of social differences

Source: NCERT, ch. 3, 2020-21 edition, p. 32. NCERT says social differences are "mostly based on accident of birth", but "all kinds of social differences are not based on accident of birth".

Table 3: Overlapping and cross-cutting differences

Source: NCERT, ch. 3, 2020-21 edition, pp. 32-33.

Table 4: Range of outcomes

Source: NCERT, ch. 3, 2020-21 edition, pp. 34 and 36; UK government (Northern Ireland Office), "The Belfast Agreement"; International Court of Justice, Press Release 2010/25.

Table 5: The three determinants

Source: NCERT, ch. 3, 2020-21 edition, pp. 36-37.

Table 6: Northern Ireland in numbers: NCERT and Census 2021

Source: NCERT, ch. 3, 2020-21 edition, p. 34; Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Census 2021 Main Statistics for Northern Ireland, Statistical Bulletin: Religion, 22 September 2022 (Census day 21 March 2021). The two Census columns use different bases: NISRA's headline measure adds the religion a person was brought up in to their current religion, which is why its Catholic share is higher than the current-religion figure.

PART 2 — Concepts & Narrative

A story from the Mexico Olympics

NCERT opens with a photograph: the medal ceremony of the 200 metres at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Tommie Smith and John Carlos, African-American athletes who had won gold and bronze, stood with clenched, black-gloved fists raised and heads bowed while the American anthem played. "They received their medals wearing black socks and no shoes to represent Black poverty." Their aim was to draw international attention to racial discrimination in the United States. The silver medallist, Peter Norman, a white Australian, wore a human rights badge to support them.

NCERT asks three questions: should Carlos and Smith have raised "an internal matter of American society in an international forum"? Was what they did political? And why did Norman, "who was neither Black nor American", join in? It records that their action "succeeded in gaining international attention for the Civil Rights Movement in the US", that their university later honoured them with a statue, and that when Norman died in 2006, Smith and Carlos were pallbearers at his funeral.

Differences, similarities, divisions

The athletes were responding to social divisions and inequalities, but such divisions are not confined to societies divided by race. NCERT's earlier chapters gave other forms: in Belgium, people in different regions speak different languages; in Sri Lanka there are "linguistic as well as religious differences". "Thus social diversity can take different forms in different societies."

A margin figure tests the idea: a student who met a group of girls from Pakistan felt she had more in common with them than with many girls from other parts of her own country, and asks whether that is anti-national. The chapter's answer, developed in the next section, is that people share some identities across borders and differ on others within them.

Origins of social differences

"These social differences are mostly based on accident of birth. Normally we don't choose to belong to our community." Sex, height, complexion and physical abilities are of this kind. "But all kinds of social differences are not based on accident of birth. Some of the differences are based on our choices." Some people are atheists; some follow a religion other than the one they were born into; most choose what to study, which occupation to take up, and which games or cultural activities to join. These choices form social groups too. Religion therefore sits on both sides: inherited for most people, chosen by some.

"Every social difference does not lead to social division. Social differences divide similar people from one another, but they also unite very different people." The athletes show it: Smith and Carlos were alike in being African-American and so different from Norman, yet all three "were all athletes who stood against racial discrimination". People of one religion may feel apart because of caste or sect; people of different religions may share a caste and feel close; rich and poor members of one family may keep their distance. "Thus, we all have more than one identity and can belong to more than one social group. We have different identities in different contexts."

Overlapping and cross-cutting differences

"Social division takes place when some social difference overlaps with other differences." The difference between Blacks and Whites becomes a social division in the US "because the Blacks tend to be poor, homeless and discriminated against". In India, "Dalits tend to be poor and landless. They often face discrimination and injustice." When differences pile up in this way, "one kind of social difference becomes more important than the other and people start feeling that they belong to different communities."

If differences cross-cut, "it is difficult to pit one group of people against the other." NCERT's paired case is Northern Ireland and the Netherlands. Both are mainly Christian and divided between Catholics and Protestants. In Northern Ireland, class and religion overlap: a Catholic is more likely to be poor and may have suffered a history of discrimination. In the Netherlands they cut across each other, and Catholics and Protestants are about equally likely to be poor or rich. "The result is that Catholics and Protestants have had conflicts in Northern Ireland, while they do not do so in the Netherlands."

Social divisions exist in most countries, big or small: "India is a vast country with many communities. Belgium is a small country with many communities." Even countries "such as Germany and Sweden, that were once highly homogeneous, are undergoing rapid change with influx of people from other parts of the world." Migrants bring their own culture "and tend to form a different social community. In this sense most countries of the world are multi-cultural."

NCERT also prints a poster titled 'Hidden Apartheid', carrying two poems by Dalit writers, and asks why it bears that title: the word for South Africa's legal racial segregation applied to caste discrimination that the law forbids but society practises.

Politics of social divisions

"At first sight, it would appear that the combination of politics and social divisions is very dangerous and explosive." Democracy involves competition among parties, and competition tends to divide. If parties compete on existing social divisions, "it can make social divisions into political divisions and lead to conflict, violence or even disintegration of a country. This has happened in many countries."

Northern Ireland. This region of the United Kingdom "has been for many years the site of a violent and bitter ethno-political conflict." Catholics were represented by Nationalist parties that wanted unification with the Republic of Ireland, "a predominantly Catholic country"; Protestants by Unionists who wanted to stay with the UK, "which is predominantly protestant". Hundreds were killed in fighting between Unionists and Nationalists and between the UK's security forces and the Nationalists, until the 1998 peace treaty.

Yugoslavia. "In Yugoslavia, the story did not have a happy ending." Competition along religious and ethnic lines broke the country into six independent states.

These cases lead some people to conclude "that politics and social divisions must not be allowed to mix", and that divisions, if they exist, "must never be expressed in politics". NCERT disagrees: "every expression of social divisions in politics does not lead to such disasters." Wherever divisions exist they are reflected in politics. "In a democracy it is only natural that political parties would talk about these divisions, make different promises to different communities, look after due representation of various communities and make policies to redress the grievances of the disadvantaged communities." People of one community tend to prefer some party; some countries have parties that focus on one community. "Yet all this does not lead to disintegration of the country."

Three determinants

"Three factors are crucial in deciding the outcome of politics of social divisions."

First, how people perceive their identities. "If people see their identities in singular and exclusive terms, it becomes very difficult to accommodate." As long as people in Northern Ireland saw themselves as only Catholic or Protestant, their differences were hard to reconcile. "It is much easier if the people see that their identities are multiple and are complementary with the national identity." A majority of Belgians now feel "as much Belgian as they are Dutch or German-speaking". Most Indians, NCERT says, "think of themselves as Indian as well as belonging to a state or a language group or a social or religious community."

Second, how political leaders raise the demands of a community. "It is easier to accommodate demands that are within the constitutional framework and are not at the cost of another community." The demand for 'only Sinhala' "was at the cost of the interest and identity of the Tamil community in Sri Lanka". In Yugoslavia, the leaders of the ethnic communities "presented their demands in such a way that these could not be accommodated within a single country."

Third, how the government reacts. As Belgium and Sri Lanka showed in Chapter 1 (page 01 of this book), "if the rulers are willing to share power and accommodate the reasonable demands of minority community, social divisions become less threatening for the country." Suppression in the name of national unity produces the opposite: "Such attempts at forced integration often sow the seeds of disintegration."

NCERT's verdict

"Thus the assertion of social diversities in a country need not be seen as a source of danger. In a democracy, political expression of social divisions is very normal and can be healthy." It lets disadvantaged and marginal groups voice grievances and get the government to attend to them, and the expression of many divisions "often results in their cancelling one another out and thus reducing their intensity. This leads to strengthening of a democracy." A margin figure puts the corollary as a question: are "too many small divisions" better than "a single big division", and is politics a force of unity?

NCERT does not pretend this is easy. "But a positive attitude towards diversity and a willingness to accommodate it do not come about easily." People who feel marginalised have to fight injustice, usually by the democratic path of peaceful, constitutional demands and elections, sometimes by violence and defiance of state power when inequality reaches an "unacceptable level". "However history shows that democracy is the best way to fight for recognition and also to accommodate diversity."

Where this chapter's ideas sit in the current book

The rationalised book removed the chapter but kept its conclusions. Chapter 3, "Gender, Religion and Caste" (page 04 of this book), begins: "The existence of social diversity does not threaten democracy. Political expression of social differences is possible and sometimes quite desirable in a democratic system. In this chapter we apply these ideas to the practice of democracy in India." Its section on communalism says "The example of Northern Ireland in Chapter 3 shows the dangers of such an approach to nationalism": the example it means is the one on this page, because in the current numbering Chapter 3 is that chapter itself. Its verdict on gender, that "some form of social division needs to be expressed in politics", restates this chapter's view. And Chapter 1, "Power-sharing" (page 01), keeps the Belgium and Sri Lanka stories that illustrate the third determinant.

PART 3 — UPSC Integration

Frames for Mains Answers

1. Diversity and national identity. Start with NCERT's first determinant: identities that are "multiple and are complementary with the national identity" hold a country together, while "singular and exclusive" ones pull it apart. Use the Belgian line ("as much Belgian as they are Dutch or German-speaking") and NCERT's description of Indians as Indian as well as members of a state, language group or community. Rate cultural elements by whether they cross-cut (language, region, religion across regions) or overlap with deprivation.

2. Regions as cultural units. Use NCERT's point that region and language are only two of many sources of identity, and that the same person can share a language with one group and a religion or caste with another. Cross-cutting ties explain why regional identity sits alongside national identity in most of India; overlapping ones, such as a region that is also poorer, explain where it does not.

3. Globalisation and pluralism. NCERT notes that even "once highly homogeneous" countries such as Germany and Sweden are changing through migration, and that "most countries of the world are multi-cultural". Argue that globalisation multiplies differences; whether that threatens pluralism depends on whether the new differences overlap with inequality or cut across it, and on how governments respond (the third determinant).

4. Economic change, ethnic identity and communalism. The chapter's mechanism: a difference becomes a division when it overlaps with poverty and discrimination (Dalits "poor and landless"; Catholics in Northern Ireland "more likely to be poor"). If the gains of a liberalised economy fall along community lines, identities harden; if they cut across them, identities soften. Link to the current book's chapter on communalism.

5. Is political expression of social divisions dangerous? Give both sides as NCERT does: Northern Ireland and Yugoslavia against the normal democratic case in which divisions affect voting without breaking the country. Conclude with the three determinants and NCERT's verdict that political expression "is very normal and can be healthy".

Exam Strategy

Prelims fact-traps:

• In 1968 Smith won gold, Norman silver and Carlos bronze in the 200 metres; Norman was a white Australian.
• NCERT's 2020-21 text says the "International Olympic Association" took back the medals. The body is the International Olympic Committee, and the medals were not taken back; the athletes were suspended from the US team and expelled from the Olympic Village.
• A social division needs an overlap of differences; cross-cutting differences are easier to accommodate.
• Northern Ireland is NCERT's case of overlap (class and religion); the Netherlands, also Catholic and Protestant, is its case of cross-cutting.
• In NCERT, religion is by birth for most people; atheism and changing one's religion are its examples of choice.
• The Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement was signed on 10 April 1998 by the UK and Irish Governments and the Northern Ireland parties, not by the UK government and the Nationalists alone.
• Article 17 abolishes untouchability; Article 15(1) is the provision that bars discrimination on grounds of caste.
• Yugoslavia is NCERT's case of disintegration (exercise 8); Belgium is its case of identities complementing the national one.

Practice Questions

NCERT's multiple-choice exercises 5-8 are questions 1-4 (NCERT prints no answer key; the answers are worked from the chapter). Practice (UPSC-pattern, not past papers): questions 5-8.

1. (NCERT exercise 5) In dealing with social divisions which one of the following statements is NOT correct about democracy?
(a) Due to political competition in a democracy, social divisions get reflected in politics.
(b) In a democracy it is possible for communities to voice their grievances in a peaceful manner.
(c) Democracy is the best way to accommodate social diversity.
(d) Democracy always leads to disintegration of society on the basis of social divisions.

Answer: (d). NCERT's whole argument is that expression of social divisions in a democracy need not lead to disintegration.

2. (NCERT exercise 6) Consider the following three statements. A. Social divisions take place when social differences overlap. B. It is possible that a person can have multiple identities. C. Social divisions exist in only big countries like India. Which of the statements is/are correct?
(a) A, B and C
(b) A and B
(c) B and C
(d) Only C

Answer: (b). NCERT: divisions exist in most countries, "whether the country is small or big".

3. (NCERT exercise 7) Arrange the following statements in a logical sequence. A. But all political expression of social divisions need not be always dangerous. B. Social divisions of one kind or the other exist in most countries. C. Parties try to win political support by appealing to social divisions. D. Some social differences may result in social divisions.
(a) D, B, C, A
(b) D, B, A, C
(c) D, A, C, B
(d) A, B, C, D

Answer: (a). Differences become divisions; divisions exist everywhere; parties appeal to them; that need not be dangerous.

4. (NCERT exercise 8) Among the following, which country suffered disintegration due to political fights on the basis of religious and ethnic identities?
(a) Belgium
(b) India
(c) Yugoslavia
(d) Netherlands

Answer: (c).

5. NCERT's 2020-21 text tells the story of the 1968 Olympic medal ceremony. Checked against the athletes' records, consider the following statements:
1. Peter Norman, who wore a human rights badge on the podium, was the silver medallist.
2. Tommie Smith and John Carlos were stripped of their medals by the International Olympic Committee.
3. Smith and Carlos were suspended from the US Olympic team.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 1 and 3 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (b). The medals were not removed (Olympedia), although NCERT's 2020-21 text says they were; the suspension from the US team is recorded by Smithsonian Magazine (9 August 2016), not by NCERT.

6. Consider the following statements about the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement:
1. It was signed on 10 April 1998.
2. It was approved by voters in May 1998.
3. It was an agreement between the UK government and the Nationalists only.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (b). It was a Multi-Party Agreement between the UK and Irish Governments and the parties in Northern Ireland, plus a British-Irish Agreement (UK government).

7. Which pair of countries does NCERT use to contrast overlapping and cross-cutting social differences between Catholics and Protestants?
(a) Northern Ireland and the Netherlands
(b) Belgium and Sri Lanka
(c) Germany and Sweden
(d) Bulgaria and Romania

Answer: (a). Belgium and Sri Lanka illustrate government response; Germany and Sweden, migration; Bulgaria and Romania, the Roma story.

8. With reference to the Constitution of India, consider the following statements:
1. Article 17 abolishes untouchability and forbids its practice in any form.
2. Article 15(1) prohibits the State from discriminating against any citizen on grounds only of caste, among others.
3. Article 17 abolishes the caste system.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (a). Article 17 is limited to untouchability.

NCERT exercises (short answer): 1. Discuss three factors that determine the outcomes of politics of social divisions. (Table 5) 2. When does a social difference become a social division? (when it overlaps with other differences) 3. How do social divisions affect politics? Give two examples. (Northern Ireland, Yugoslavia; the normal case of voting by community) 4. Fill in the blanks: ____ social differences create possibilities of deep social divisions and tensions. ____ social differences do not usually lead to conflicts. (Overlapping; Cross-cutting) 9. A 1963 speech by Martin Luther King Jr. hopes his children will one day "not be judged by the colour of their skin": which social division does it address, and how does it relate to the Mexico Olympics incident? (race in the United States; the athletes protested the same discrimination)

📦 Revision Capsule

Sources

• NCERT, Democratic Politics II, Textbook in Political Science for Class X, ch. 3 "Democracy and Diversity", 2020-21 edition (file jess403.pdf in the whole-book zip), as archived on 9 October 2021 — Wayback Machine.
• NCERT, Democratic Politics II, ch. 3 "Gender, Religion and Caste", Reprint 2026-27 — ncert.nic.in PDF; ch. 1 "Power-sharing", Reprint 2026-27 — ncert.nic.in PDF.
• Olympedia (OlyMADMen), athlete record, Tommie Smith — olympedia.org; Peter Norman — olympedia.org.
• Smithsonian Magazine, "What You Don't Know About Olympian Tommie Smith's Silent Gesture", 9 August 2016 — smithsonianmag.com.
• UK government (Northern Ireland Office), "The Belfast Agreement" — gov.uk.
• Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Census 2021 Main Statistics for Northern Ireland, Statistical Bulletin: Religion, 22 September 2022 — nisra.gov.uk PDF.
• International Court of Justice, Press Release 2010/25, advisory opinion on Kosovo's declaration of independence, 22 July 2010 — icj-cij.org.
• Constitution of India, Articles 15 and 17 — legislative.gov.in.