NCERT Solutions for Class 9th Social Science Chapter 7 Why do Elections Matter? — In-text Questions
Book page 161 Updated on2026-09-08
Q1.
You read about a case in Grade 8 where Gurmat was elected as class representative (CR). Can we allow her to continue as the CR in Grade 9 without facing a fresh election?
Answer
No. Gurmat's mandate was given by the class of Grade 8 for that year only; it does not carry over.
Two things have changed. First, the class itself has changed — new classmates have joined, and they never had a say in choosing her. Second, a year of work now exists to be judged: her classmates can look at what she actually did as CR and decide whether to return her or replace her. If she continued without a fresh election, both the new voters and the verdict on her record would simply be lost.
Why it happens: a representative's authority is borrowed, not owned. It comes from the people who elected her, for the period they elected her. The chapter makes the same point about governments — this is why democracy insists on periodic elections and not just on one founding election.
Q2.
Similarly, can the government continue beyond the prescribed term without seeking the people's mandate again?
Answer
No. The Lok Sabha, the Vidhan Sabhas and local bodies are elected for a fixed term of five years, and at the end of that term the government must go back to the voters.
The chapter states the rule from the other side too: when the constitutionally mandated term of a legislature ends, or when the legislature is dissolved before completing its term, the ECI activates the machinery needed to conduct an election. The Commission does not wait to be asked by the government of the day — the trigger is the calendar and the Constitution.
Why it happens: a fixed term is what makes accountability real. If a government could extend itself, the threat of being voted out would disappear, and with it the main reason a government has to listen to citizens between elections.
Q3.
And can we exercise our choice if only one political party is contesting the election?
Answer
No. Marking a ballot when there is only one option is not a choice; it is only a formality.
An election does two jobs — it lets citizens select and it lets them reject. With a single party in the field the second job becomes impossible, so voters cannot remove a non-performing representative, and the party has no rival forcing it to explain its programme. The chapter's later section on political parties makes the same point positively: parties matter because they "offer voters meaningful choices" and "enable voters to make informed decisions" — and a choice needs at least two real alternatives.
Link it forward: this is exactly why the chapter says India's multi-party system, in which many parties exist and compete, reflects the country's diversity of languages, cultures, religions and regions. Competition among parties is not a nuisance in a democracy; it is the thing that gives a vote its power.