Important Terms

Important terms of Power Sharing

1. Sri Lankan Tamils: Tamil natives of Sri Lanka are called “Sri Lankan Tamils”. They constitute 13 percent of the population.
2. Indian Tamils: The Tamilians whose forefathers came from India as plantation workers during the colonial period and settled there (Sri Lanka) are called “Indian Tamils”. They constitute 5 percent of the population.
3. Moral: It is also a set of reasons which emphasize the intrinsic worth of power sharing.
4. Coalition Government: When the alliance of two or more parties gets elected and forms a government it is known as the Coalition Government. This is another form of power sharing.
5. Prudential: Decisions that are based on carefully calculated gains and losses and not based on purely moral considerations.
6. Civil war: It is a situation when a violent conflict starts between opposing groups within a country that becomes so intense that it appears like a war
7. Majoritarian: A belief that a majority community should be able to rule a country in whichever way it wants.
8. Ethnic: Social division based on shared culture. People of the same ethnic group believe in their common descent
9. Community Government: A type of Government which is elected by people belonging to the language community is called “Community Government”.
10. Civil War: A violent conflict between opposing grounds within a country is known as a civil war. Sometimes it becomes so intense that it appears like a war.
11. Prudential: It is a set of reason which favours power sharing. It is based on prudence, or on careful calculation of gains and losses.
12. Horizontal Distribution of Power: A type of distribution in which power is shared among different organs of government, such as the legislature, executive and judiciary.
13. Checks and Balances: A system in which each organ of the government checks the others which results in a balance of power among various institutions. It ensures that none of the organs can exercise unlimited power.
14. Vertical Division of Power: It is a very of distribution of power that involves the higher and lower levels of government such as central, provincial or regional levels.
15. Federal government: Federal Government is a type of Government in which powers are shared among the different levels. Like union level and provincial level. In this the general government for the entire country at the union level is called “Federal Government”.
16. Reserved Constituencies: It is a system in which constituencies are reserved in Assemblies and the Parliament for minorities in order to give them a fair share in power.