Grade 10 – Political Science
NOTES
- OUTCOMES AND CHALLENGES OF DEMOCRACY
CHAPTER - OUTCOMES OF
DEMOCRACY
DISTINCTIVE FEATURE OF DEMOCRACY
i.
Its examination never gets over, as it passes one test it produces another test
ii.
as people get one benefit they ask for
another and better one
iii.
people
will come up with more expectations, and many complaints
iv.
The fact
people are complaining is itself a testimony (evidence) that people have developed awareness and
ability to expect and judge.
v.
This transforms them from a status
of 'subject' to that of a 'citizen'.
vi.
Most feel that their vote makes a difference to the way government is run and in turn to
their own self-interest.
Merits of democracy
v Promotes
equality among citizens;
v Enhances
the dignity of the individual;
v Improves
the quality of decision making;
v Provides
a method to resolve conflicts; and
v Allows
room to correct mistakes
Common practices in democratic countries
§ Formal constitutions
§ They
hold elections
§ They
have parties
§ They
guarantee rights of citizens
While these features
are common to most of them, these democracies are very much different from each
other in terms of their social situations, their economic achievements and
their cultures.
1. 
Democracies in different
countries have different outcomes
i.
It is just a form of government.
ii.
It is only
a means to achieve, not the end
iii.
It can only create conditions to achieve something.
iv.
Citizens
have to take advantage of those conditions and then achieve
those set goals. v. To judge democracy we need to examine the records of democratic setups.
2. The most basic expectations a citizen can have in a democracy
i.
It should be a govt. that is accountable
to its citizens
ii.
Responsive to the needs and expectations
of the citizens.
Should
follow the procedures and norms
iii.
Mechanism
for to hold the government accountable
iv.
mechanism for citizens to take part in decision making
v.
The government has to be attentive to the needs and the demands
of the people
vi.
Should be largely free of
corruption
3. 
Decision Making –
Critically Examined
i.
Democracy is based on the idea of deliberations and negotiations.
ii.
Democratic government takes more time to follow procedures before arriving at a decision
iii.
Those decisions
are more acceptable to the people and are more effective
iv.
The cost of time that the democracy pays is more but is worth.
4. The main non performance
areas of Democracy
i.
The record of democracies is not
impressive on these two counts,
a)
Corruption
b)
Frustrating people by ignoring their needs on morality grounds
ii.
But at the same time there is nothing to
show that non-democracies are less corrupt or more sensitive to the people.
iii.
Most democracies fall short of elections that provide fair chance to everyone and
allowing all decisions for public debate.
iv.
Democratic
governments do not have a very good record on sharing information with the citizens.
v.
Mixed record on free and fair election and not successful in sharing records with people, however in India we have RTI as a fundamental right.
Democracy is to
recognize that democracy is just a form of government. It can only create
conditions for achieving something. The citizens have to take advantage
of those conditions and achieve those goals
The three bed rocks of democracy
A. Political Outcome - Accountable,
responsive and legitimate government –
1.
Accountable
–
o
Democracy ensures that decision making will be based on norms and procedures,
o
The citizen
can check whether the government is
working in accordance with the correct
procedures or not.
o
Transparency
-
They have the right to examine the process of decision making.
o
This factor is often missing from the non-democratic government.
Expected outcome -
« Non-democratic
governments take quick decisions as compared to democratic governments. But as due to deliberations and negotiations,
the decisions of democratic government are acceptable to citizens
« Democratic
government follows rules and procedures
« People
have the rights and means to examine the process of decision making, as it is
transparent. It develops mechanisms for citizens to take part in decision
making whenever they think fit.
Mechanism
- To measure
democracies on the basis of this expected outcome– regular free and fair
elections, public debate on major policies and legislation, citizens’ right to
information about the government
Actual performance –
v It
has greater success in holding regular and free elections and setting up
conditions for open public debate.
v But
does not provide fair chance to everyone and in subjecting every decision to
public debate.
v Democratic
governments do not have a very good record when it comes to sharing information with citizens.
v But
still compared to non-democracies they are better in this respect
2.
Responsive –
People want the
government to pay attention to their needs, demands and issues which require
urgent notice.
Expected outcome - is attentive to the needs and
demands of the people and is largely free of corruption.
Actual Performance –
o
Democracies often frustrate the needs of
the people and often ignore the demands of a majority of its population.
o
They ignore the needs and demands of a
majority of its population. They are corrupted also but even non democracies
are not less corrupt
3.
Legitimate government
i.
A democratic government is a
legitimate government which may be slow, less
efficient.
ii. Not
always very responsive or clean but it is peoples own government
iii.
People wish to be ruled by the representatives elected by them
iv.
They also believe that democracy is
suitable for it has an ability to
generate its own support is itself an outcome that cannot be ignored.
v.
Various South Asian countries show support
for it.
Expected Outcome - Democratic government is
people’s own government. Actual Performance –
There is an overwhelming support for the idea of democracy all over the world.
The accompanying evidence from South Asia shows, the support exists in
countries with democratic regimes as well as countries without democratic
regimes.
People wish to be
ruled by representatives elected by them.
They also believe
that democracy is suitable for their country.
Democracy’s ability to generate its own
support is itself an outcome that cannot be ignored
The
basic parameters to evaluate democracy- critically examined
a)
Regular free and fair elections,
b)
Open public debate on major policies and legislations,
c)
Citizen’s right to information about the
govt. and its functioning.
Actual
record
i.
Democracies
show
a mixed record on the above grounds
ii.
Democracies have had greater success in setting up regular free and fair elections and
in setting up conditions for open public debate.
iii.
Government not very good in sharing records with the public however, In India
Citizens have RTI as a fundamental right
B.
Economic growth and development (Economic outcome)
i.
Democracies
do produce good governments but are not always able to produce development.
ii.
Dictatorships
have slightly showed higher rate of
economic growth between 1950-2000.
Though the difference
is negligible
iii.
It is also been noticed that when two
poor countries, one being democratic
and other being non democratic are compared then the difference in their economic growth is not
at all alarming.
iv.
In developed
countries the poor class which
is on the higher side of the population
tends to
have a reasonable share in the national
income.
v.
For
example Denmark and UK have a higher percentage share for bottom 20% of population. Where as in
south Africa and brazil top 20 % of population take away more 60% of national income
vi.
But we expect democracy not to lag behind dictatorship in this respect.
Therefore
it is better to prefer democracy as
it has several other positive outcomes.
Factors
on which economic growth is dependent
i.
population
ii.
size,
iii.
global
situation,
iv.
endowments
It can concluded that democracy is not a guarantee of economic
development
Dictatorships have
slightly higher rate of economic growth
Economic development
depends upon several other factors – population, global situation, cooperation
from other countries, economic policies.
Differences in the rates of economic development between less developed
countries with dictatorships and democracies are negligible.
Conclusion
- Democracy is not
a guarantee of economic development. But we can expect democracy not to lag
behind dictatorships in this respect. When we find such significant difference
in the rates of economic growth between countries under dictatorship and
democracy, it is better to prefer democracy as it has several other positive
outcomes
C.
Reduction of inequality and poverty
(Economic outcome)
Expectations
i.
To reduce economic disparities
ii.
Equitable distribution of wealth
iii.
Justice in distribution of goods and opportunities
Actual
record
i.
Democracies ensure political equality but
fall short on economic front
ii.
a small number of ultra-rich enjoy highly disproportionate share of wealth and incomes
iii.
most resources and wealth is owned by handful of rich
population
iv.
Gap
between
rich and poor in terms of income
distribution is widening
v.
major proportion of population is not able
to meet their basic needs
vi.
the poor
constitute a large proportion of our voters and no party likes to lose
their votes
To
conclude
i.
Democratically elected governments do not appear to be as keen to address the
question of poverty as you would expect them to.
ii.
Example in Bangladesh, more than half of
its population lives in poverty
Democracy is based on political equality. But along with this we can see
economic inequality growing.
A small number of ultra-rich enjoy a highly disproportionate share of wealth
and incomes and their share in total income of the country is increasing..
On the other hand the income of poor is declining. Sometimes they find it
difficult to meet their basic needs of life, such as food, clothing, house,
education and health.
Though poor constitute a large proportion of voters, yet the democratic
governments are not keen to take up the question of poverty
The situation is much
worse in some other countries.
D.
Accommodation of social diversity (Social outcome)
How democracy
accommodate diversities
# Democracies develop a procedure to conduct
their competition which reduces tension among
them
# The social differences are respected in
democracies and some mechanism is evolved to
negotiate the differences
Conditions to
achieve the above outcome
Ø Democracy
is not just rule by majority but also takes minority’s view. The majority
always needs to work with the minority
Ø Rule
by majority should not be rule by majority community in terms of religion or
caste or linguistic group. Democracy allows every citizen to be in majority at
some point of time
Expectations
a)
Democracy should produce a
harmonious social life.
b)
Accommodate all differences and divisions in society
c) It should have mechanisms to resolve conflicts peacefully
Actual
record
i. No society can
permanently resolve conflicts among different groups ii. We
can evolve mechanisms to negotiate the differences.
iii.
democracy has the Ability
to handle social differences, division and conflicts
iv.
Non-democratic
regimes often turn a
blind eye to or suppress internal social
differences.
But we also need to learn from what happened in Sri Lanka
E.
Dignity and freedom of the citizens
Democracy
respects all the individuals equally. The passion for respect and freedom are
the basis of democracy
Instances
Dignity of women –
Long struggles against male dominated
societies have created some sensitivity to respect and treat women equally.
It becomes easier for women now to wage a
struggle against what is now unacceptable legally and morally.
In a non-democratic set up, this unacceptability
would not have legal basis because the principle of individual freedom and
dignity would not have the legal and moral force there.
Caste
discrimination –
The claims of disadvantaged and discriminated
castes for equal status and dignity have been strengthened.
Caste based inequalities are still practiced
in our society but it lacks legal and moral
foundations.
It is the recognition that makes ordinary
citizens value their democratic right
People’s
demand for more benefits –
Most distinctive about democracy is that its
examination never gets over. As democracy passes one test, it produces another
test. As people get some benefits of democracy, they ask for more and want to
make democracy even better
The fact that people are complaining is
itself a testimony to the success of democracy. This shows people’s awareness
and ability to expect and look at power holders and high and mighty.
It shows the transformation of people from
the status of subject into that of citizen.
The citizens believe that their votes make a
difference to the way the government is run and to their own self interest.
Expectation
a)
Every
individual wants to receive respect from fellow beings
b)
Should promote dignity and freedom amongst its citizens
Actual record
i.
It seen that worldwide democracies have
recognized and adopted this feature at least in principle
ii.
Dignity
of women- after long struggles, equal treatment to women has
become a key ingredient in
democratic societies
iii.
Once the principle is recognized it becomes easier to make morally and legally acceptable.
iv.
Unlike in non-democracies where moral
and legal force is not present, many
non-democratic governments do not equal status to women and men.
v.
Case
of caste inequalities- India has strengthened the claims of the
disadvantaged and discriminated castes for equal status and equal opportunity.
·
Example
– India claims to provide equal status and opportunity to discriminated groups
CHAPTER - CHALLENGES OF DEMOCRACY
A. Foundational
challenge –
1. This
involves transition to democracy and then instituting democratic government.
2. This
involves bringing down the existing non-democratic regimes, keeping military
away from controlling government and establishing sovereign and functional state
B. Challenge
of expansion –
1. This
involves applying basic principle of democratic government across all the
regions, different social groups and various
institutions.
2. Ensuring
great power to local governments, extension of federal principle to all the
units of the federation, inclusion of women and minority groups.
3. Less
and less decisions should remain outside the arena of democratic control.
4. USA,
India and other democracies face this challenge
C. Deepening
of democracy -
1. This
involves strengthening of the institutions and practices of democracy that help
people’s participation and control.
2. This
must happen in such a way that people will realize their expectations which
differ from people to people.
3. It
means strengthening those institutions that help people’s participation and control.
4. This
requires an attempt to bring down the control and influence of the rich and
powerful people in making governmental decision.
Guidelines
¨ Only
legal-constitutional changes cannot overcome
challenges.
For eg – the rules of
cricket . A change in rules for LBW decisions helped to reduce negative batting
tactics. But the quality of cricket could be improved only through changes in
rules but should be done mainly by the players, coaches and administrators.
Similarly in politics
the actual reform should be carried out by political activists, parties,
movements and citizens.
¨ Any
legal change must carefully look at what results it will have on politics.
Generally laws that seek to ban something are not very successful in politics.
Laws must empower the people to carry out reforms.
For eg: The Right to Information
Act - it empowers the people to find out what is happening in government and
act as watchdogs of democracy. Such a law helps to control corruption and
supplements the existing laws that banned corruption and imposed strict
penalties
¨ Main
focus of political reforms should be on ways to strengthen democratic practice.
Quality of political participation must be increased and improved.
¨ Not
only a good solution but who will implement and how, should also be considered.
The political parties and MPs may not pass legislations which will go against
them. In such cases democratic movements, citizen’s organizations and media can
be more successful.
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