Read the passage and answer the following question.
The Right to Vote
Universal adult franchise, or the right of every adult to vote, is one of the foremost rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution. It means that we cannot be governed by anyone other than the people we have ourselves elected to represent us. This right is a radical departure from the days of colonial rule when ordinary people were forced to submit to the authority of colonial officers who represented the interests of the British Crown. However, even in Britain, not everyone was allowed to vote. Voting rights were limited to property-owning men. Chartism was a social movement for parliamentary representation in England. In 1839, more than 1.25 million people signed the People's Charter asking for universal male suffrage, voting by ballot, and the right to stand for elections without owning property. In 1842, the movement managed to collect 3.25 million signatures, a huge number for a tiny country. Yet, it was only after World War I, in 1918 that all men over 21, married women, women owning houses, and women university graduates over the age of 30, got the right to vote. When the suffragettes (women activists) took up the cause of all adult women's right to vote, they were bitterly opposed and their movement violently crushed.
Choose the incorrect characteristic of a Social Movement.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Spontaneous and Isolated
Option (1) Sustained Collective Action — A feature of a social movement (Incorrect). A social movement requires sustained collective action over time. Such action is often directed against the state and demands changes in state policy or practice.
Option (2) Shared Objective and Ideologies — A feature of a social movement (Incorrect). Those taking part in a movement share objectives and ideologies. This gives the movement a general orientation, a way of approaching change, whether to bring it about or to prevent it.
Option (3) Spontaneous and Isolated — Not a feature of a social movement (Correct). Spontaneous, disorganised protest cannot be called a social movement. A movement must be marked by some degree of organisation, such as a leadership and a structure that defines how members relate to each other and make decisions. A single, isolated outburst has neither organisation nor continuity.
Option (4) Distinct modes of protest — A feature of a social movement (Incorrect). Movements develop their own modes of protest, such as candle and torch light processions, the use of black cloth, street theatres, songs and poetry, or Gandhi’s ahimsa, satyagraha and use of the charkha. These distinct methods help a movement mobilise people.
NCERT (2025-26): “8.1 Features of a Social Movement … A social movement requires sustained collective action over time. Such action is often directed against the state and takes the form of demanding changes in state policy or practice. Spontaneous, disorganised protest cannot be called a social movement either. Collective action must be marked by some degree of organisation. This organisation may include a leadership and a structure that defines how members relate to each other, make decisions and carry them out. Those participating in a social movement also have shared objectives and ideologies. A social movement has a general orientation or way of approaching to bring about (or to prevent) change.…” “…Social movements also develop distinct modes of protest. This could be candle and torch light processions, use of black cloth, street theatres, songs, poetry. Gandhi adopted novel ways such as ahimsa, satyagraha and his use of the charkha in the freedom movement. Recall the innovative modes of protest such as picketing and defying of the colonial ban on producing salt.” |