Democracy in India-legal methods, Essays (high school) of Political studies

Download Democracy in India-legal methods and more Essays (high school) Political studies in PDF only on Docsity! WHAT IS DEMOCRACY? Democracy is a form of government in which rulers are elected by the people. It is a system of government where the citizens exercise power by voting or electing their desired representatives’. The basic meaning of democracy is that it is form of government by the people, of the people and to the people. It is a system where people especially majority have supreme power which are exercise directly or indirectly through system of representation or voting or election which are periodically held. This is a useful information or starting point as it allows us differentiate democracy from forms of government that are not democratic in nature. But it is not adequate as if we use this definition in an unthinking manner we would end up calling every government that holds election as democratic government. In order to distinguish that which government is democratic and which is not we have to understand the basic and essential features of democracy. FEATURES OF DEMOCRACY We have a simple definition of democracy which stated that “democracy is a form of government in which the rulers are elected by the people. “as mentioned above. This raises many questions such as Who are the rulers in this definition? What kind of elections constitute a democratic election?, Who are the people who can elect rulers or get elected as tulers?, what kind of form of government is democracy? BASIC FEATURES OF DEMOCRACY e ONE PERSON, ONE VOTE, ONE VALUE Democracy is based on the fundamental principle of political equality that states “in a democracy each adult citizen of the country must have one vote and vote has one value, “It is linked to the demand for universal adult franchise’. e FREE AND FARE ELECTORAL COMPETITION Elections must offer a real choice between political options and it should be possible for people to use this choice to remove the current or existing rulers/representatives.therefore”a democracy must be based on a free and fair election where those in existing power have fair chances of losing it.’For example in china elections do not offer people any serious choice as a candidate need approval from the communist party before standing in the elections, moreover the government is always formed by the communist party. e RULE OF LAW AND RESPECT FOR RIGHTS Democratic government cannot do whatever it likes as it is elected by the people, it has to respect some basic rules. In particular, it has to provide some guarantees to the minority. Every major or crucial decision has to go through a series or combinations of consulations.Every office bearer/elected person has some responsibilities assigned by the constitution and law which is not only accountable to people bit also the officials. Therefore “a democratic government rules within limits set by constitutional law and citizens’ rights*.” * Definition of democracy(http//www.wikiencyclopidia.org.in)accessed on 11" sept at 7:10pm ? Universal adult franchise(http://www.encyclopedia.org.in)accesssed on 13" sept at 8:20pm 5 (http://www.toppr.com)accessed on 15" September 2019 at 5:00pm e MAJOR DECISION BY ELECTED LEADERS “In a democracy the final decision making power must rest with those elected by the people.” WHY DEMOCRACY? ARGUMENTS AGAINST DEMOCARCY Democracy is not the magical solution each and every major and minor problem in the country. It has not extinguished or eradicated issues such as poverty in many parts of the country and world.Democractic form of government only ensures people taking their own decisions but does not guarantees or provides a warranty that they will be justified/beneficial. People can make mistakes involving those whose choices can lead to delay in decision making. Democracy leads to continuous changes in leadership after a period of time which can set back crucial decisions and influence government efficiency. Therefore, in democracy ¢ Leaders keep changing leading to instability. ¢ Democracy is political battle field and power play cutting scope for morality. ¢ Numerous consultations in democracy causes delay. ¢ Elected representatives lack awareness about the best interest of people leading to unsatisfactory decisions. ¢ Democracy leads to corruption for it is based on electoral competition. * Ordinary people aren’t aware what is good for them and shouldn’t decide anything*. ARGUMENTS FOR DEMOCARCY A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT IS BETTER FORM OF GOVERNMENT AS IT’S A MORE ACCOUNTABLE FORM OF GOVERNMENT. Democracy is a better form of government in responding to the needs of people, a non- democratic government may and can respond to the needs of the people but it depends upon decision of the people who rule. If the rulers don’t wish to then they wouldn’t act according to the wishes of the people. A democracy requires people who tend to the needs of the people. For example, china’s famine in 1958-1961 was the worst recorded famine in the world history, nearly 3 crore people died in the famine. During those time India’s economic condition was not any better than china which lead the economist think that it was a result of difference in government policies between the two nations’. The existence of democracy leads the Indian government to look toward crucial problem of scarcity in a view which the Chinese government did not. If china too had multiparty elections, an opposition party and a press to pressurize the government, many people wouldn’t have died. This gives a conclusive explanation that no large scale famine has taken place in a democratic country. DEMOCRACY IMPROVES QUALITY OF DECISION MAKING Democracy is based upon discussion and various consultations. A democratic decision always requires various meetings, discussions and consultations. When many minds work * Arguments(http://www.wikiencyclopedia.org.in)accessec on 15" September 2019 at 6:30pm 5 China’s famine(http://www.quora.com)accessed on 15" September 2019 at 7:15pm.