NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Political Science, Chapter 6 - The Crisis of Democratic Order

In previous chapters, you studied the rise of Congress party and the popularity of Indira Gandhi in the democracy of India. In this chapter, you’ll learn about the emergency declared by the government of India, the economic and political reasons for the same, conflict of the government with the judiciary and protests in Bihar and Gujarat against the rise in the prices of foodgrains and other essential commodities.  Then you’ll learn how the emergency was declared and implemented by the government of India, followed by the reactions of people of different societies with respect to the emergency. You’ll also learn how Congress justified the need for emergency and lessons learnt from it. You’ll also come across the Lok Sabha elections of 1977 and Congress’s lose to Morarji Desai. Finally, how Indira Gandhi came to power again in the 1980 elections.

Thus, an in-depth study of Class 12 Political Science Chapter 6 will give you a good understanding of The Crisis of Democratic Order.

Let’s take a look at topics and sub-topics of Class 12 Political Science Chapter 6 – The Crisis of Democratic Order

• Background to Emergency

• Economic context

• Gujarat to Bihar Movements

• Conflict with Judiciary

• Declaration of Emergency

• Crisis and Response

• Consequences

• Controversies regarding Emergency

• Was the Emergency necessary?

• What happened during Emergency?

• Lessons of the Emergency

• Politics after Emergency

• Lok Sabha Elections, 1977

• Janata Government

• Legacy

In Class 12 Political Science Chapter 6, you will learn – 

Background to Emergency – In this section, you’ll learn the reasons for declaring emergency in our country such as conflicts between the government and judiciary, decline in social and economic conditions of India, refusal of any aid from US after the war with Pakistan, reduction in industrial growth and rise in unemployment, steep reduction in  agricultural productivity, students’ protests in Bihar and Gujarat against rising prices in foodgrains, cooking oil and other essential commodities, Bihar movement under the leadership of Jayaprakash Narayan and more.

Declaration of Emergency – In this section, you’ll study how the emergency was declared, declaration of Indira Gandhi’s elections as invalid in the Allahabad court by Justice Jagmohanlal Sinha, opposition parties forcing Indira Gandhi to resign, the political mood during the emergency, declaration of emergency on the night of 25th June 1975. You’ll also study what happened immediately after an emergency such as banning of all strikes and protests, suspension of the freedom of press leading to press censorship. You’ll also acquire knowledge about how common man reacted to the decision of emergency.

Controversies regarding Emergency – In this section, you’ll learn was emergency really required? You’ll come across many controversies regarding the same and different people having different views. You’ll study the justifications given by the government to declare emergency such as to bring law and order in the country, to improve efficiency, to review land reforms and to start new programmes for the poor such as the twenty-pint programmes. You’ll also study people’s views who believed that the promises made by the government were not fulfilled and affected the lives of the common people. Finally, you’ll learn some crucial lessons learnt after the emergency.

Politics after Emergency – In this section, you’ll learn about the situation of India after emergency especially in north India, people protesting by saying ‘Save Democracy’, Lok Sabha elections in March 1977 after 18 months of emergency, emergence of Janata Party, defeat of Congress party in the Lok Sabha elections and Morarji Desai’s victory. You’ll also study the Lok Sabha Elections in 1980 and how Indira Gandhi again came to power.

In this chapter, you are provided with several maps, images and quotes given by famous leaders to have a clear understanding of The Crisis of Democratic Order. To know more about Political Science Chapter 6 you should explore the exercises mentioned in this chapter. You can also download The Crisis of Democratic Order PDF, solved by our experts.