01

What is Democracy?
Why Democracy?
ated a
and ru
What is Democracy? Chapter Syllabu
Democracy is a form of government in which the rulers are elected by the people, oWhat ie Demooac
People choose their government by elections. In this way, it is different from other Features of Dermocraco
forms of gOvernment.
oWhyDermocac
Semeexamples of hove Democracy is different are
In Myanmar there is army rule. The rulers are not elected by the people. People had
BroaderMeanings df
Democracy
riculhtae no role in choosing the government.
Dictators like Augusto Pinochet of Chile are not elected by the people.
I n monarchies such as Saudi Arabia, the king is the ruler not because the people have
chosen, but because they are born in a royal family.

JaFeatures of Democracy
Thedemocnacy has the following features
Rulers are elected by the people who take all the major decisions.
Elections offer a choice and fair opportunity to the people to change their current
rulers
This choice and opportunity is available to all the people on an equal basis.
Itis a form of government where the elected leaders have to do some functions and
respect some rights of the citizen.
e in

ary
 Case of Mexico

in
1930. Ithold.

fecatneres of
democray can be understood through the Mexico
became

six years
independent

to
elect its P r e s i d e n t . It
rule.
hle
It has ectio
never
The given every
dictator's

following examples after or

under
military
P r e s i d e n t i a l
elections
been the on
by Elected Leaders
all Party),
Major Decisions
from 1999 will give
But

the PRI
till 2000,
(Institutional
R e v o l u t i o n a r y

managed
t o win Opposit
Dp
General
us o n e
Musharraf's
important feature
rule of
ot demoeracy.
Pakistan
parties
contested

win
the
but never
elections
like forcing
the
n
last mPleto
used
tricks t o booths at
dirty polling , etc
Case of Pakistan for PRI,
shifting
Mexico, electio
a military of China
and
These does
I n Pakistan, General Perver Musharraf led In both
the cases
serious
choice.

in October 1999. He overthrew a democratically people any

kind iss nop
not
regime offer the elections
o f any
the Chief
elected government and declared himself not e l e c t i o n s . Holding
fair
Executive of the country. Later, he changed his
that
designation to President. sufficient
must be feature of
democracy

based on a free and fair election, where

another ing.
is a
democr
den

I n 2002, he organised a referendum' in the country Thus,

that granted him a five year extension. According to a tair of losing chance
have
rights organisations the in power
Pakistani media and human currenty

malpractices and fraud. One vore, One Vali

referendum was based on

In August, 2002, Musharraf issued a Legal

Framework
Pakistan.
One Person, Franchise is acc
Adult accepted
dlue
Order that amended the Constitution of Principle of
Universal
The many examnl
According t o this order, the President can dismiss the
the world.
However, there
are
ples
national or provincial assemblies.
all over
Right to
Vote. For example
which denies the equal
supervised by a do not have the Ri
The work of the civilian Cabinet
National Security Council dominated by military
was
officers. I n Saudi Arabia,
till 2015 w o m e n Right
but the final to Vote.
Elected representative had s o m e power, rules in such a way tha,
its citizenship
w a s in the hands of military
officers and General Estonia has made
power to Russian
minority find it difficult t
condition can not be termed as people belonging
Musharraf himself. This
people s rule.
get the Right to Vote
is clear that in the electoral system
is such that, the vote of an
From this the first feature of democracy In Fiji,
with has more value than that of an

democray the final decision making power muSt rest indigenous Fijian
those people who are elected. Indian-Fijian.
fundamental principle of
Democracy is based on a

Free and Fair Electoral Compefifion us the third feature of

political equality. This gives
each adult citizen mus
This feature of democracy can be
understood from the democracy that in a democracy,
m u s t have o n e value.
cases of China and
Mexico. have o n e vote and each vote

Case of China Rule of Law and Respect for Righis

The membérs of China's Parliament called Quanguo
Renmin Daibiao Dahui (National People's Congress)
Case of Zimbabwe
the people after every five years. Zimbabwe attained independence from White minorni
are elected by
been
T h e National People's Congress has the power to
rule in 1980. From then onwards, the country has
appoint the President of the country. ruled by a party ZANU-PF which led the
freedom
The National People's Congress has nearly 3,000 d e elg struggle.
China. Some members
members elected from all over
The party leader, Robert Mugabe, has been the
are elected by the army. President of the country since independence.
Before contesting elections, a candidate needs the Elections are always won by this party through violence
approval of the Chinese Communist Party. Only its and harassment of the opposition politicians woTKC
members or members of eight smaller parties associated
and journalists.
with the communist party are allowed to contest only.

1 Referendum It is a direct and universal vote in which an entire electorate is invited to vote ona particular proposal.
2 Cabinet The committee of senior ministers responsible for controlling government poliy.
 . Protests against the President were illegal and the (iv) Elected leaders do not always know the best interests
Overnment does not consider court judgements which of the people which leads to bad decisions.
went against it. Thus, there is no rule of law and citizen's
(v) Democracy leads to corruption, as it is based on
rights are not respected. Robert Mugabe was forced out
electoral competition.
(removed) from office in 2017.
(vi) Ordinary people do not know what is good for
The state should respect the basic rights of citizens, like
them so they may not be able to decide anything
freedom of expression, freedom to protest and freedom
properly.
ro take political action.
(vii) Democracy leads to frequent changes in leadership.
.Further, these rights should be protected by the judiciary Sometimes this can set back big decisions and affect
whose orders should be obeyed by all.
the government's efficiency.
neare some conditions that apply to the way (vii) Democracy ensures that people can take their
the elections
a govemment is
nan after decisions., But this does not guarantee that their
.
A democratic government cannot do whatever it likes, decisions will be good. People can make mistakes.
simply because it has won an election.
The above mentioned arguments show that democracy
It has to respect some basic rules or we
can say it has to may not be the ideal form of government.
respect some guarantees to the minorities.

Every office bearer has certain rights and

responsibilities Arguments for Democracy
assigned by the constitution and the law.
() Democracy is better than any other form of
Each of them are accountable not only to the people, but government in responding to the needs of the
also to other independent officials. people. Democracy requires that the rulers have to
Thus, another feature of attend to the needs of the people.
democracy
is that a democratic
government rules within limits set by constitutional law (1i) Democratic government is more accountable form of
and citizen's rights. government.
(iii) Democracy is based on consultation and discussion
which reduces the possibility of taking hasty and
Check Point 0 irresponsible decisions. Thus, democracy improves
In which form of the quality of decision-making.
government, rulers are elected by the people?
In 2002, Parvez Musharaf held a (iv) Democracy provides a method to deal with
.
granted him a five year extension.
in the country that
differences and conflicts. Only in a democracy,
3 Which country do not has different groups can live with one another
a democratic government-China or
India. peacefully. In a diverse country like India where
4 Till 2015, which
country gave
people are from different religion and language,
no right to women for voting?
5 In . Robert Mugabe was thrown out of power.
democracy keeps our country together.
(v) Democracy enhances the dignity of citizens. In
democracy, the poorest and the least educated have
the
Why Democracy? same status as
because democracy is
political equality.
the rich and the
based on the
educated,
principle of
Arguments against Democracy
) Leaders
(vi) Democracy allows us to correct our own
(vii) In democracy, either the rulers have to
mistakes.
keep changing in a democracy. This leads to change their
instability. decisions or the rulers can be
above arguments in favour of changed.
From the
(i7) Democracy is all about political competition and power democracy, we can
play. There is conclude that democracy cannot
no
scope for morality". but it is clearly better than give everything,
us

i) Many people have be consulted in

to a
democracy any other form of
which leads government.
to
unnecessary delays.

Morality Principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong.

 232
Democratic Decision-Makine

An Example: Comparing consultation

ing
decision involves are
A democratic those people
with and
affected by
Democracies of India and China thar
consent of all
China s
famine in the world was the 1958-1961
ne worst recorded the
sane decision.
tamine. Inthis, around 3 crore died. During
people
economic condition of India waas similar
to that
O non-powerful people should
ha..
etoa, tne Powerful and
China, bu India did not have any kind of famine. According r
in taking
the decisions, Ihis can apply
economists. this was due to different government p o l i c l e s tn t
role
government or a family or any other sation.
and china.
that be
can
As India is a democratic country, its government responded
differently ro food scarcity. Due to this, no large-scale famine nd
ever afected independent India. If China too had free pres.
Thus, democracy
sphere of
is

life and
a principle
can take many forms, plied to
any
opposition pary. etc like India to criticise the government., somany citizen must be able to-
In democracy, every
people would not have died in the famine. This example tells why a
in decision-making.
For this, an ea an
democracy is considered as the best form of government equal role
vote is not sufficient. Every Citizen needs to have right to
information, basic education, equal res
equal
Broader Meanings of and a lot of commitment.

Every democracy has to try to realise the ideals of

Democracy
The
democratic decision-making Every democracy requi
and strengthen democratic f
most common form of democracy is representative constant eftort to save orms
democracy. In this, the majority of people rule through of decision-making.
their elected representatives.
This become necesary because Check Point 02
Modern thatdemocracies involve such large number of
a
1 A common problem with democracy is that it often leads to
people it is physically impossible for them to sit
together and take collective decisions.
. as it is based on electoral competition.
2 . government is a more accountable form of govermment
The citizen does not have the time, the desire or the
3 Which is the most common form of democracy?
skills to take part in all the decisions, therefore
representatives are needed. 4 In a democracy, consultation and consent of all the peopleis
needed for what?

SUMMARY
Democracy is a form of government in which the rulers are elected by Involvement of electoral competition in a democracy gives
the people. rise to corruption.
Features af democracy are
Ordinary people may not understand the meaningof
Rulers are elected by the people Collective good and hence they should not be made a pae
Decision-making power rests with those who are elected by the people. the decision-making process.
t must be based on free and fair elections. Merits of Democracy are
adult citizen must have one vote and each vote should have A democratic government is more accountable to ud
Each
value.
one
people.
ts government rules within the limits which are set by constitutional As a large number of people are consultedin t
laws and citizens' rights. the
decision-making process, democracy improv
of the decisions made.
Decision-making is often delayed because a large number of people
need to be consulted. I t provides a method to deal with conflicts and a fere
Demerits of Democracy are Democracy enhances the dignity of the citize nd
an

Elected leaders may not be aware about the best decisions for the Democracy allows correction of its own mistakto
people. hence, is a better form of government.