Social Science (087) — AI-generated practice question

Communalism is a political ideology based on the belief that religion is the principal basis of social community. It involves thinking that followers of one religion form one community with the same interests, while people of different religions cannot share common interests — their interests are always in conflict.

In its most extreme form, communalism leads to the belief that people belonging to different religions cannot live as equal citizens within one nation. Either one religious group must dominate the rest, or they must form separate nations. This belief is fundamentally flawed because people of the same religion do not have identical interests in every context, and everyone has multiple identities beyond religion.

Source: Chapter 3 — Religion, Communalism and Politics

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• 1 mark — definition of communalism (religion as the basis of community; same religion = same interests; different religions = conflicting interests).
• 1 mark — forms/expressions of communalism briefly acknowledged.
• 1 mark — the extreme belief: people of different religions cannot coexist as equals; must dominate or separate.

Examiners expect you to use the exact textbook phrasing — "religion is the principal basis of social community" and "one nation cannot have people of different religions as equal citizens." Avoid vague answers like "it causes riots" — that is a consequence, not the extreme belief.