Chapter 2- What is Democracy? Why Democracy?

Political Science
Class IX
Q1. Define the term Democracy.
A1.
Democracy comes from a Greek word "Demokratia", ‘Demos means
people and ‘Kratia’ means rule. In short, democracy means the rule
by the people.
Democracy can be broadly defined as a form of government where
rulers are elected by the people. The representatives are elected
through free and fair elections.

Q2. What are the main features of Democracy?

A2.
a) Major decisions by Elected Leaders:
In a democratic government the major b) Free and Fair Electoral
decisions are taken by the leaders who are Competition:A democracy is based on a
elected by the people of that country. free and fair election where those
These elected leaders represent the whole currently in power have a fair chance of
country so in this way the need of all losing.
people are satisfied.

Features of Democracy

c) One Person, One Vote, One Value:In

d) Rule of Law and Respect of
a democratic country each and every
Rights:A democratically elected
adult is provided a single vote which is
government works within limits set by
having equal value. It means each vote
constitutional law and citizens' rights.
must have one value.

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Q3. Should we consider the elections in China and Mexico as examples of people electing their
rulers?
The elections held in China and Mexico cannot be considered democratic because of the
following reasons.

CHINA

1) In China, elections are regularly held after every five years

for electing the country's Parament, National People's
Congress. The NPC has the power to appoint the President. It
has 3000 members elected from all over China.

2) In China, a candidate who is willing to contest elections,

needs to take approval from the Chinese Communist Party. It
means that no one can contest elections without permission of
the Chinese Communist Party.

3) Only those people are allowed to contest elections who are

members of the Chinese Communist Party or eight smaller
parties allied to it.

4) The government is always formed by the Chinese

Communist Party.

MEXICO:

1) In Mexico, elections are held after every six years. But until year 2000, every election
was won by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) since its independence in 1930.
Opposition parties had contested elections but never won the elections. The ruling party
used many dirty tricks to win the elections.
•2) All those who were employed in government offices, had to attend its party
meetings. Teachers of government schools used to force the parents to vote for PRI.
Media largely ignored the activities of opposition political parties except to criticize
them.
•3) The PRI had always tried to suppress the opposition political parties to win the
elections.
•4) Sometimes the polling booths were shifted from one place to another at the last
moment, which made difficult for the people to cast their vote

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Q4. Give examples of countries where Right to Vote is yet denied.
A4. Countries where Right to Vote is yet denied are

(i) 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.

(ii) In Fiji, the electoral system is

such that the vote of an
indigenous Fijian has more value
than that of an Indian Fijian.

Q5. Explain the political conditions prevailing in Zimbabwe to show that popular governments
can be undemocratic.
OR
“All popular governments are not necessarily democratic”. Justify the statement citing
examples from Zimbabwe.

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 i. Zimbabwe attained Independence from White minority rule in
1980. Since then the country has been ruled by ZANU-PF, the
party that led the freedom struggle.

ii. Its leader, Robert Mugabe, has been ruling the country since
independence. Elections have been held regularly and always
won by ZANU-PF. President Mugabe is popular but also uses
unfair practices in elections.

iii. His government has changed the constitution several times to

increase the power of the President. These make him less
accountable.

iv. Opposition parties are harassed and their meetings are

disrupted. Journalists supporting the oppositions parties are
harassed. Public protest are declared illegal. Television and
Radio are controlled by the government.

v. The government has ignored some of the court judgments,

judiciary is sometimes forced to give decisions in favour of the
government.

Q6. What democratic conditions should prevail before the elections?

A6. Five democratic conditions that should prevail before the elections-
a. There should be sufficient room for normal political activity including political opposition in
the period before the election
b. People should be free to think, to have opinion, express them in public, to form association, to
protest and take other political action
c. should respect some basic rights
d. Everyone should be equal in the eyes of law,
e. These rights must be protected by an independent judiciary whose order are obeyed by all.

Q7. What conditions apply to the way a government is run after elections?

A7. i. A democratic government cannot do whatever it likes simply because it has won the
elections. It has to respect some basic rules. In particular it has to provide some guarantees to
the minorities.
ii. Every major decision has to go through a series of consultations.
iii. Every office bearer has certain rights and responsibilities assigned by the constitution and
the law. Each of these is accountable not only to the people but also to other independent
officials.

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Q8. Give arguments against Democracy?
OR
“Despite being a better form of government, democracy does not provide a magical solution to
all problems.” Justify
A8. The arguments against democracy are:

(i) Leaders keep changing

in a democracy. This leads
to instability.

(vi) Ordinary people don't (ii) Democracy is all about

know what is good for political competition and
them, so they should not power play. There is no
decide anything. scope for morality.

Arguments
against
democracy
(v) Democracy leads to (iii) So many people
corruption because it is have to be consulted
based on electoral in a democracy that it
competition. leads to delays.

(iv) Elected leaders do not

know the best interest of
the people. It leads to bad
decision-making.

Q9. Give arguments for Democracy.

A9. Arguments for democracy are:

i. A democratic government is a better government because it is a more accountable form

of government:
a. China suffered from one of the worst famines in 1958–1961. Nearly three crore people died
in the famine. No major famine occurred in India at this time. Democracy in India made the
Government respond to food scarcity in a way in which the Chinese Government did not.
b. Question Hour- In the Parliament Sessions, answers can be sought from the Ruling
Government by the opposition.
c. Vote of No-Confidence-The government stays in power so long as it enjoys the confidence
of the Lok Sabha
d. Role of opposition- The opposition acts as a watchdog and keeps the government on its toes.

ii. Democracy improves the quality of Decision Making:

a. Democracy is based on consultations and discussions. People collectively discuss and take
decisions as many heads are involved.
b. The time taken is more and might lead to delay but is well worth it.
c. This reduces the possibility of taking any irresponsible decision.

iii. Democracy provides a method to deal with differences and conflicts:

a. Democracy provides the only peaceful solution to diversity/conflicts that exist in a
society. In a democracy.

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 b. In democracy, no one is a permanent winner. No one is a permanent loser.
c. Different groups can live with one another peacefully. In a diverse country like India,
democracy keeps our country together.

iv. Democracy allows people to correct their own mistakes:

a. There are possibilities of taking wrong decisions in a democracy. However, as there is a
space for public discussions, such mistakes cannot remain hidden from the people for long.
b. If the representatives of the people do not change their incorrect decisions, they may not get
elected by the people in the next elections.

Q10. What is the broader meaning of Democracy?

A10. i. In its broader meaning we use democracy for organisations or institutions other than
the government that take decisions after discussions and arrive at some consensus.
ii. A democratic decision involves consultation with and consent of all those who are affected
by that decision.
iii. Those who are not powerful have the same say in taking the decision as those who are
powerful. This can apply to a government or a family or any other organisation.
iv. Democracy should ensure that no person goes hungry to bed.
v. In a Democracy every citizen must be able to play an equal role in decision making. Every
citizen needs to have basic information, equal resources and a lot of commitment.

Ideal-

Q11. What is the most common form that Democracy takes and why?
A11.

a. The most common form that democracy takes is

representative democracy.

b. Modern democracies involve such large number of

people that it is physically impossible for them to sit
together and take a collective decision.

c. Even if they could, the citizen does not have the time,
the desire or the skills to take part in all the decisions.

Q12. Describe the ideal standards of a Democracy.

A12. Two ideal standards that democracy must aim at are:

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 2) In a
Democracy
1) every citizen
must be able to
Democracy play an equal
should role in decision Ideal standards
ensure that making. Every that democracy
no person citizen needs to aims at
have basic
goes hungry information,
to bed. equal resources
and a lot of
commitment.

Q13. Give reasons why Pakistan under General Pervez Musharraf could not be regarded as a
Democracy.
A13. Pakistan under General Musharraf could not be called a democracy due to the following
reasons:
(i) People may have elected their representatives
to the National and Provincial assemblies but
those elected representatives are not really the
rulers. They cannot take the final decisions.

(iv) The real powers in Pakistan

are with military officers and not
with locally elected
representatives. (ii) The power to take final decision rests with
army officials and with General Musharraf,
and none of them are elected by the people.

(iii) They formally have an elected Parliament

and government. The work of the Civilian
Cabinet is supervised by the National Security
Council which is dominated by military
officials.