NCERT Class 9 Political Science Chapter 1: What is Democracy? Why Democracy?
1. What is a democracy? Discuss the main features of democracy.
Answer: Democracy is a type of government in which the people have the power to elect their representatives who ultimately form the government.
The important features of a democratic form of the government are discussed below.
(i) The elected representatives should have the power to take the major decisions for the country.
The elected leaders should have the power to take decisions independently. He should not act according to the orders of anyone else. As for instance, in Pakistan, during the rule of General Pervez Musharraf, the major decisions for the country were taken by him although he was not an elected representative of the people. So Pakistan cannot be called a democratic country at that time although elections were held and representatives of the people were elected.
(ii) In a democratic form of government, there should be free and fair electoral competition.
In a democracy, there should be more than one political party so that people can have a choice. In other words, in a democracy, there should be opposition party or parties in addition to the ruling party.
In China, there was no electoral competition during the period 2002-2003. Although there was more than one political party, the people did not have any choice.
In Mexico, although opposition parties did exist, opposition parties never got the opportunity to form the government due to the unfair practices by the ruling party from 1930 to 2000. So there was no free and fair electoral competition.
(iii) Every citizen should have one vote and it should have the same value.
In a democracy, every citizen should get an equal opportunity to participate in the formation of the government. In other words, no citizen should be denied the right to vote based on caste, religion, sex, etc.
As for example, in Saudi Arabia, women did not have the right to vote until 2011. Also in Estonia, Russian minority people do not enjoy the same rights when compared with other citizens. In that sense, Estonia is also not a democratic country.
(iv) A democratic country should be governed according to the law and citizens should be able to enjoy various rights
A democratic country should be governed according to the constitution. The leaders should not be able to modify the laws according to their wish. The constitutional law should be the supreme law of the country.
Moreover, in a democratic country, every citizen should be able to enjoy the fundamental rights granted to them by the constitution. If the citizens were not allowed to enjoy the fundamental rights, that country cannot be called a democratic country.
2. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a democratic form of government.
Answer: A democratic form of government is regarded as the best form of government because it has several advantages over other forms of government like monarchy, military dictatorship, etc.
Some of the advantages of a democratic form of government are discussed below.
(i) A more accountable form of government
A democratic form of government has to look after the needs of the people. Leaders in a democratic form of government can survive only when they look after the welfare of the people. If the leader does not work for the welfare of the people, he/she will be thrown away from power by the people in the next election.
But in a monarchy or military dictatorship rule, the leader can do whatever he/she likes. So a democratic form of government is the best form of government as it is a more accountable form of government.
(ii) Democratic government helps the leaders to make quality decisions.
As democratic decisions involve a lot of discussions and debates before it is finally accepted, so there is a lot of scopes to correct any mistakes. This helps democratic countries to take correct decisions.
(iii) Democracy provides a peaceful solution to various kinds of conflicts.
In a democratic country, whenever there is a conflict between two persons, two societies or two states, the conflict is always solved by the Judicial System of the country preventing the possibility of fight or war.
(iv) Democracy increases the self-respect of the citizens.
In a democratic country, people of all caste, religion, sex, etc enjoy equal rights and opportunities. As for instance, the rich and the poor enjoy the same rights, men, as well as women, were treated equally, etc. Thus it can be concluded that democracy enhances the dignity of the citizens.
(v) Democracy allows us to correct our mistakes.
Democracy allows general citizens as well as leaders to correct their mistakes. Even the representatives elected by the people can be removed by the people themselves in the next election if the citizens think that they have made a mistake in electing a particular representative.
Disadvantages of democracy.
Although democracy is regarded as the best form of government as it has several advantages, it is not free from disadvantages. The disadvantages of a democratic form of government are discussed below.
(i) Unstable government.
In a democracy, as leaders keep on changing after every five years, it leads to instability. A project started by the current ruling party may have to be completed by the present opposition party in the future. This leads to bad planning.
(ii) Political competition.
In a democracy, the main aim of the political parties is not to work for the welfare of the people. Their main aim is to win the elections. So this hampers the interests of the general citizens.
(iii) Leads to delays.
In a democracy, leaders cannot take decisions independently. The decision has to be accepted and approved by different departments and individuals. Thus it takes a lot of time.
(iv) Leaders do not know what people want.
Elected leaders do not know the best interest of the people. Thus the decisions taken by the elected leaders may not be beneficial for the general public.
(v) Leads to corruption.
As democracy involves political competition, the leaders may just work to win the election and not for the welfare of the citizens which may lead to corruption.
(vi) Many people do not know what is good for them.
Many people, mostly the illiterate people do not know what is good for them as well as for the society or country. So a vote by such citizen may not be in favor of the deserving candidate. Thus it may lead to bad decisions.
From the above discussion, we have seen that democracy has advantages as well as disadvantages. But its advantages outweigh its disadvantages. So in spite of all the disadvantages, democracy is regarded as the best form of government.
3. Discuss the broader meaning of democracy.
Answer: The word democracy does not mean only as a form of government where people elect their representatives who rule the country. In actual sense, democracy is a system where people have the freedom to live with dignity and enjoy certain rights and ultimately be happy.
Thus we may distinguish a democratic family from a non-democratic family, a democratic classroom from a non-democratic classroom, etc. A democratic family is a family where the head of the family does not take decisions independently but consults with the other members before taking the final decision. In the same way, a democratic classroom is one where the teacher does allow students to ask questions and participate in the teaching-learning process.
Thus we can say that true democracy can prevail in a country only when the democratic principles are followed from the top to the bottom i.e. from the government to the individual level.
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that no democracy in a democratic country can be regarded as a perfect democracy as we are very far away from attaining such a milestone. True democracy will prevail not when everyone has got the right to vote but when every citizen will become happy, have sufficient food to eat, have an equal right to education, equal information, etc.
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