RELEVANCE OF STUDYING POLITICAL

SCIENCE

Political Science deals

extensively with the analysis
of political systems. It entails
Political science is that
understanding political
branch of the social
ideologies, institutions,
sciences which studies the
policies, processes and
state, politics and
behaviour.
government.
The Study of Political Science
● Political science- is a systematic study
of state and the government.
Political – greek word polis meaning city
Science – latin word scire meaning to know
1. Basic knowledge and understanding of
the state and principles and ideals
2. Concerned with the association of
human beings into a ‘body politic’
3. Deals with the relationship among men
and groups
● Political scientists study and
explain government and
legislative processes so that
people can be better informed
about policies that impact their
communities, states and the
country. Since elections happen
at regular times and are
increasingly significant in today’s
political environment, the need
for information about the
government and legislative
processes has never been greater.
The class IX political science book gives an
insight into the system of governance in
India and the world and the role of citizens
in a democracy.
It will help in understanding the meaning
and importance of a strong democracy.
It will also help realise the vitality of the
rights granted and the duties of all citizens
as well as the means through which people
can raise their concerns and act as
watchdogs of democracy.
Every chapter supplemented with
interesting cartoons and boxes, contributes
in rational approach towards subject
 WHAT IS
DEMOCRACY?
WHY DEMOCRACY?
P O L I T I C A L SC I EN C E
LET’S REWIND…
• What are the various types of government that you have
learnt in Grade 8?
• Which one is most preferred and why?
 TYPES OF GOVERNMENT
Representative Democracy ● Representatives are elected by majority vote
● Elected representatives may hold the power to select other representatives,
presidents, or other officers of the government or of the legislature
Direct Democracy ● All citizens make decisions
● All citizens vote for decisions
Dictatorship ● Rule of one individual / Party
● Dictator has absolute power and often tries to act like a god
Absolute Monarchy ● Rule of a king / queen
● Rule is hereditary
● King / Queen claims divine rights and has total control
Constitutional Monarchy ● King / Queen is head of state but hot head of the government
● King / Queen’s power is limited. The monarch exercises authority in accordance
with a constitution
Oligarchy ● State ruled by a small group of citizens, based on wealth

Theocracy ● Rule by a few

● Based on religion
● Rulers are spiritual leaders
Anarchy ● No clear ruler / government
● Individuals do whatever they want
Communism ● Single party holds the power
● Government plans and controls the economy

Give an example of each type of government mentioned above.

 ACTIVITY: MENTIMETER
Post any one value that comes to your
mind related to ‘DEMOCRACY’.
Login to www.menti.com
and use the code displayed
on the screen to post your
answer.

LEARNING OUTCOME
● Acquaint with key terms and values related to
democracy.
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
• Origin of the word Democracy
• Definition of democracy. We work out the meaning of the terms
involved in this definition.
• Understand clearly the bare minimum features of a democratic
form of government.
• Distinguish a democratic form of government from a
non - democratic government.
• Introduce a broader idea of democracy.
CASE STUDIES ABOUT DIFFERENT
NATIONS
Pakistan – Military (Pervez Musharraf)
China – Communist Party
Mexico - PRI
Zimbabwe – Mugabe (President)
ORIGIN OF THE WORD ‘DEMOCRACY’

The word democracy is derived from the Greek word

Demos- People and Kratia- Power or rule
 WHAT IS DEMOCRACY?
• Democracy is a form of government in which the rulers are elected by the people.

But

• Who are the rulers?

• What kind of election?
• Who are the people?
• What form of government?
CASE STUDY OF PAKISTAN
• In Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf led a military coup in October
1999.
• He overthrew a democratically elected government and declared himself
the ‘Chief Executive’ of the country.
• Later he changed his designation to President and in 2002 held a
referendum in the country that granted him a five year extension.
• Pakistani media, human rights organisations and democracy activists said
that the referendum was based on malpractices and fraud.
• The power to take final decision rested with army officials and with
General Musharraf, and none of them were elected by the people. This
happens in many dictatorships and monarchies.
• They formally have an elected parliament and government but the real
power is with those who are not elected. In a few countries, the real
power was with some external powers and not with locally elected
representatives.This cannot be called people’s rule.
FIRST FEATURE OF DEMOCRACY:
IN A DEMOCRACY THE FINAL DECISION
MAKING POWER MUST REST WITH THOSE
ELECTED BY THE PEOPLE.
CASE STUDY OF CHINA
• In China, elections are regularly held after every five years for
electing the country’s parliament, called Quanguo Renmin Daibiao
Dahui (National People’s Congress).
• The National People’s Congress has the power to appoint the
President of the country.
• It has nearly 3,000 members elected from all over China. Some
members are elected by the army.
• Before contesting elections, a candidate needs the approval of the
Chinese Communist Party.
• Only those who are members of the Chinese Communist Party or
eight smaller parties allied to it were allowed to contest elections
held in 2002-03. The government is always formed by the
Communist Party.
 CASE STUDY OF MEXICO
• Since its independence in 1930, Mexico holds elections after every
six years to elect its President.
• The country has never been under a military or dictator’s rule. But
until 2000 every election was won by a party called PRI (Institutional
Revolutionary Party).
• Opposition parties did contest elections, but never managed to win.
The PRI was known to use many dirty tricks to win elections.
• All those who were employed in government offices had to attend its
party meetings. Teachers of government schools used to force
parents to vote for the PRI.
• Media largely ignored the activities of opposition political parties
except to criticise them. Sometimes the polling booths were shifted
from one place to another in the last minute, which made it difficult
for people to cast their votes.
• The PRI spent a large sum of money in the campaign for its
candidates.
 LET’S DISCUSS

SHOULD WE CONSIDER THE ELECTIONS

DESCRIBED ABOVE AS EXAMPLES OF
PEOPLE ELECTING THEIR RULERS?
SECOND FEATURE OF DEMOCRACY:

A DEMOCRACY MUST BE BASED ON A

FREE AND FAIR ELECTION WHERE THOSE
CURRENTLY IN POWER HAVE A FAIR
CHANCE OF LOSING.
ONE PERSON, ONE VOTE,
ONE VALUE
Th e p r i nc i p l e o f Uni v e r s a l Adult
Franchise is a c c e p t e d a l m o s t a l l
over the world but there are many
i n s ta n c e s o f d e n i a l o f t h e equal
right of vote.
● Until 2015, in Saudi Arabia, women did
not have the Right to vote.
• Estonia has made its citizenship rules in
such a way that people belonging to
Russian minority find it difficult to get the
right to vote.
• In Fiji, the electoral system is such that
the vote of an indigenous Fijian has more
value than that of an Indian-Fijian.
THIRD FEATURE OF DEMOCRACY:

IN A DEMOCRACY, EACH ADULT CITIZEN

MUST HAVE ONE VOTE AND EACH VOTE
MUST HAVE ONE VALUE.
 RULE OF LAW AND RESPECT FOR RIGHTS
CASE STUDY OF ZIMBABWE
• In spite of being elected , the government
of President Robert Mugabe became
autocratic.To remain in power he took
following undemocratic steps-
• He made several changes in the
constitution to increase his power.
• Meetings of the opposition were
disrupted.
• Demonstrations and protests were
declared illegal.
• Government controlled television and
radio.
• Government harassed journalists who
were against it.
• The Government put pressure on Judges.
BASIC FEATURE OF RULE OF LAW AND
RESPECT FOR RIGHTS
• People should be allowed to have normal political
activity.
• The state should respect some basic rights of the citizen
• People should be equal in the eyes of laws.There should
be no discrimination.
• The state should grant certain rights such as freedom of
expression, to form association .These rights should be
protected by independent judiciary.
• Government should grant some guarantees to the
minorities.
FOURTH FEATURE OF DEMOCRACY:

A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT RULES

WITHIN LIMITS SET BY CONSTITUTIONAL
LAW AND CITIZENS’ RIGHTS.
 Features of Democracy
● In a democracy the final decision making power must rest with those
elected by the people.
● A democracy must be based on a free and fair election where those
currently in power have a fair chance of losing.
● In a democracy, each adult citizen must have one vote and each vote
must have one value.
● A democratic government rules within limits set by the constitutional
law and citizen’s right.
● The opposition parties are allowed to function freely before and after
the elections.
● The democratic governments are based on fundamental principles of
political equality.
 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
Read these five examples of working or denial of democracy. Match
each of these with the relevant feature of democracy.
EXAMPLE FEATURE
● King of Bhutan has declared that in Rule of law
future he will be guided by the advice
given to him by elected representatives.
● Many Tamil workers who migrated from India Respect for Rights
were not given a right to vote in Sri Lanka.
● The king of Nepal imposed a ban on One person, one vote,
political gathering, demonstrations one value
and rallies.
● The Indian Supreme Court held that the Free and fair
dissolution of Bihar assembly was electoral competition
unconstitutional.
● Political parties in Bangladesh have agreed that Major decisions by
a neutral government should rule the country at elected leaders
the time of elections.
 MERITS OF DEMOCRACY

▪ A democratic government is a better government because it is a

more accountable form of government.
▪ Democracy improves the quality of decision making.
▪ Democracy provides a method to deal with differences and
conflicts. It is suitable for the countries like India having diversity
of language, religion and cultures. Democracy in India made it
possible to keep unity in diversity.
▪ In a democracy, no one is a permanent winner or loser.
 DEMERITS OR DRAWBACKS OF DEMOCRACY

▪ Leaders keep changing in a democracy. This leads to

instability.
▪ Democracy is all about political competition and power play.
There is no scope for morality.
▪ Elected leaders do not know the best interest of the people. It
leads to bad decisions.
▪ Democracy leads to corruption for it is based on electoral
competition.
▪ Ordinary people don’t know what is good for them; they
should not decide anything.
A QUICK RECAP ON MERITS AND
DEMERITS OF DEMOCRACY…
Categorise the following as merits and demerits of democracy.
1. A democratic government is better form of government because it is more accountable form
of government.
2. Leaders keep on changing, this leads to instability.
3. Democracy improves the quality of decision making.
4. Democracy enhances the dignity of citizens.
5. So many people have to be consulted in a democracy that it leads to delays.
6. Poor and least educated has the same status as the rich and educated.
7. Ordinary people don't know what is good for them, they should not decide anything.
8. Democracy allows us to correct our own mistakes.
9. Democracy is all about political competition and power play, there is no scope for morality.
10. Democracy leads to corruption for it is based on electoral competition.
 POSTER MAKING
‘Democracy is considered the best form of government.’
Mention any two reasons with illustrations to support the above
mentioned statement.
● To be done on two adjacent pages of Political Science note book/pin
page/A4 size sheet/e-poster.
LEARNING OUTCOME
● Appreciate the merits / advantages of democratic form of government.
 B R O A DE R M E A N IN G OF
D E M O C R A CY
T H E M O S T C O M M O N F OR M O F D E M O C R A C Y I S
R E P R E S E N TA T I V E D E M O C R A C Y. I N T H I S , T H E
MA J O R I T Y O F P E O P L E R UL E T H R O U G H T H E I R
E L E C T E D R E P R E S E N TAT I V E S .
IT IS SO BECAUSE :
• M O D E R N D E M O C R A C I E S I N V O LV E S U C H A L A R G E
N U M BER O F P E O P L E T H A T I T I S P H Y S I C A L LY
I M P O SSI B L E F O R T H EM TO SI T T O G ET H ER A N D
TA K E C O L L E C T I V E D E C I SI O N S.
• E VEN I F T H EY C O U LD , TH E C I T I Z EN D O ES N OT
H AV E T H E T I M E , T H E D E SI R E O R T H E SK I L L T O
T A K E PA RT I N A L L T H E D E C I S I O N S .
BROADER MEANING OF DEMOCRACY
INCLUDES:
• Use for other organisation, than the government e.g
a democratic family where decisions are taken
jointly. It relates to decision making process.
• Democracy as an ideal standard e.g in a true
democracy, no one goes hungry to bed or to equal
information, basic education , and equal resources.
 MAP WORK (not to be tested)
● Identify the democratic countries from the names given below.
● Locate and label them on a political map of the world.

➢ New Zealand ➢ China

➢ United States of America ➢ India
➢ Bhutan ➢ Morocco
➢ Finland ➢ Denmark
➢ Iraq ➢ Saudi Arabia