Social Science (087) — AI-generated practice question

Over the last three decades, the number and strength of regional (State) parties has expanded, making Parliament more politically diverse. This complicated democracy as no single national party could secure a Lok Sabha majority on its own (until 2014), leading to coalition governments that can be unstable.

However, it also strengthened democracy and federalism: national parties were compelled to form alliances with State parties, giving nearly every State party an opportunity to participate in national coalition governments since 1996. This ensured that regional interests gained representation at the Centre, reinforcing the federal sharing of power.

Source: Political Parties, Chapter 4 (State parties section)

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• The examiner wants two sides clearly addressed — "complicated" and "strengthened" — both linked to the multiparty/coalition system and federalism.
• Key facts to include: no single majority until 2014 → coalition compulsion → State parties in national government since 1996 → federal strengthening.
• Avoid writing only one side; the word "justify" means you must support both parts of the statement with evidence from the chapter.
• Do not pad with general statements about democracy — keep it specific to regional parties, coalitions, and federalism as the passage states.