Haryana Judicial Service (Civil Judge) Prelims 2010 Previous Year Question Papers with MCQ Answers

Practice Mode:
11.

Fourth Estate refers to :

A: Press
B: Parliament
C: Executive
D: None of the above.

The answer is: A

Explanation

The correct option is A: Press.

The term Fourth Estate or fourth power refers to the press and news media both in explicit capacity of advocacy and implicit ability to frame political issues.

The derivation of the term arises from the traditional European concept of the three estates of the realm: the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners.

The term is often attributed to British politician Edmund Burke, who may have used it in a parliamentary debate in 1771.

The term is also used to place the press alongside the three branches of government: legislative, executive and judicial, as a watchdog role of the press in a democracy.