Democracy Online Test 11th Political Science Lesson 5 Questions in English

Democracy is generally defined as “government by the people; that form of government in which the sovereign power resides in the people as a whole, and is exercised either directly by them or by officers elected by them.” Democracy ensures that all citizens have an equal opportunity to express their opinion.

The concept and practice of Democracy in the Modern period evolved in Britain, although it’s ancient concept and practice was in Ancient Greece.

According to Plato “Freedom in a democracy is the glory of the state, and therefore in a democracy only will the freedom of nature design to dwell.”

Democracy rests upon the principles of majority rule, along with individual and minority rights.

One of the primary functions of Democracies is to protect such basic Human Rights i) Equality before Law, ii) Equal Protection before Law iii) Freedom of Speech, iv) Freedom of Religion; vii) Right to organize and participate fully in the political, economic, and cultural life of society.

Democracies as a system guard against all-powerful central governments and it decentralizes government to regional and local levels.

Democratic societies are committed to the values of tolerance, cooperation, and consensus. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit.”

Democracy underlines the Principle of Rule by the people. It ensures a form of government in which all the citizens of a nation determine public policy, the laws, and the actions of their state together either in a Direct Democracy or by Representative Democracy.

There are seven types of Democracy. Democracy by its function has different scope and importance. I) Political Democracy ii) Social Democracy iii) Industrial Democracy iv) Economic Democracy v) Totalitarian Democracy vi) Radical Democracy vii) Plebiscitary Democracy

The term ‘Democracy’ is derived from the Greek word as demo means people and cracy is referred as rule. The concept of democracy in its Greek term comes from “demos and “kratos” meaning “people” and “rule”.

Social Democracy believes strongly in Equality of opportunity and equality in freedom as the basis of human rights and life in a Democracy. Social Democracy enabled the individual through hard work and effort to succeed and excel.

Industrial democracy encourages the participation of labour in decision making along with the management. Industrial democracy promotes dignity and decency of labour and paves way for better efficiency, harmony and unity of purposes of the management and labour.

Political democracy feature's the popular participation of citizens in government by which citizens elect their representatives to the Legislature of the state. The elected representatives are accountable to the citizens who elected them. Social Democracy is a combination of social, economic and political ideas that supports economic and social policies. It promotes social equality and social justice giving strength to economy and representative and participatory democracy.

Alexis De` Tocqueville the eminent French thinker praised the American political system as one of the true democracies as it did not believe and encourage feudalism.

As a political system of government, Democracy works either as a function by the direct involvement of the citizens in making laws and the elected legislators would introduce it in the Legislature. This is known as the process of Popular Initiative.

Social Democracy believed in the progress of equality as progress of liberty and the progress of liberty as the greatest progress of Democracy in a state.

When the legislators elected by the people frame legislation, it is approved by a popular vote that is based on popular acceptance of the laws. This is known as Popular Referendum.

Economic democracy believes in “workplace democracy” and “employee ownership” that is intended to promote equality and democratic redistribution of wealth.

Totalitarian Democracy is known as populist democracy or mass democracy in which Citizens after electing the representatives have no voice in decision making, but the elected representatives decide for the entire country.

Radical Democracy was proposed by M.N.Roy a leading Indian political thinker who believed in “real rule” of the people for the term of office to which the legislators are elected.

Radical democracy supports the idea of direct accountability of the legislators and executive to the people during the term of office. Radical Democracy believed in the humanism of the people who are the real masters of political authority and power and not the elected legislators.

Aristotle said that “The foundation of democratic constitution is liberty. People constantly make this statement implying that only in this constitution is there any share in liberty at all”.

Totalitarian democracy in the name of people’s rights would use internal terror against certain sections of people and also speech restrictions to keep the population under its complete control.

Totalitarian democracy would have complete control of the economy of the state and would use it to control the population

Radical Democracy believed in the “power of the people” in local communities known as local republics who would join in the creation of the state and government. The local republics would finally exercise authority in the national and state levels.

Plebiscitary Democracy is defined as the process of a direct voting by the people of a candidate, or party or a public issue or the adoption of a new constitution of a state or to determine the association of the province with the state known as national self-determination. The voters have the choice to accept or reject the choice.

Democracy would, it seems, a delightful form of government, anarchic and mostly, assigning a kind of equality indiscriminately to equals and unequals alike.”

Plebiscitary democracy can by a collection of signatures could result in the recall of the elected representative because of failure to represent the real interests of the people.

Totalitarian Democracy elevates the ruler, party and the elected legislators over the voting citizens and captures power through democratic means but runs as dictatorship. The political ideology of the ruler, party and the legislators become dominant over people interests.

A theory is defined as an explanation of a concept in its historical account and different stages of its development. A theory could be tested in different countries and different cultures to examine its importance and application.

The Ancient theory of Democracy emerged in Ancient Greece that saw the rise of several city-states (polis) which believed and applied the procedure of Direct election, Debating of public policies and Decision by the people.

Representative democracy later emerged as the dominant form and system of government in the European Middle Ages, the Age of Enlightenment. The mass popular demand for Democracy was made in the American (1775-1783) and French Revolutions (1789-1799).

Classical Democracy Emerged as a direct form of democracy in Ancient Greece. Athens was the first city to introduce such a democracy. Direct democracy in Athens emerged in between 800-500 BCE (Before Common Era).

All citizens were free to express their different opinions, debate, and vote in a system directly and this was called as Classical Democracy. In Athenian direct democracy, the citizens of the city-state are all as members of the assembly, who participated directly in the decision making and the process of legislation.

As population increased, the idea of representation in government was proposed. It resulted in the elected representatives participating in the governing process. Gradually it created institutions like the Assembly of the Demos, the Council, and the People’s Court as the three important pillars of democracy.

the community must be small enough for citizens to be proficient in attending debates and voting on issues.

Protective democracy as a Rights-based democracy emerged in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries placing it as an instrument of protecting human rights and liberties. As Classical Democracy grew it began to take shape into protective democracy in Athens which was by the emphasis on different aspects of classical democracy.

The English thinker John Locke (1631-1704) was regarded as the great advocate of protective democracy. Locke argued that the citizen’s freedom and right to vote was based on the existence of natural rights characterized by Life, Liberty and Property.

Protective Democracy was proposed by English thinkers Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) James Mill 1773-1836) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) of the Utilitarian School of Democracy and Rights. Utilitarianism was powerfully advocated in favour of protective democracy.

John Locke, James Madison, Jeremy Bentham and James Mills-supported the Rights based protective democracy as an aspect of liberal democracy.

Both the popular sovereignty and representative form of government are legitimate. Separation of the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary are the most important means of protecting the rights, liberties and the distribution of privileges.

This brought in a competition among the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary in all spheres for the strengthening of protective democracy. It resulted in a clear distinction between state and civil society.

The Marxist theory views the democracy in the social context of class analysis during the era of industrial revolution.

Society was divided into two classes viz: capitalists or owners of the property are called as ‘bourgeois’ and the working class is called as ‘proletariat’. The Marxist theory of Democracy held the political position to always challenge the dominance of capitalists and against the exploitations of working class.

The Marxist theory of democracy did not support electoral rights, but strongly supported economic rights and the creation of ‘socialist democracy’.

Marxist theory believes that political power is possible only through the ideals of ‘socialism’; and is based on the equal distribution of economic power against the unequal wealth and ownership of production.

Totally remove the political attribute of police

Abraham Lincoln said Democracy is the form of the government for the people, of the people, by the people.

The Marxist theory criticises the falseness of the liberal democracies are thus seen as ‘capitalist’ or ‘bourgeois’ democracies which are manipulated and controlled by the entrenched power of ruling class.

Marxists democrats in Europe support the strong role of electoral democracy to establish a peaceful, legal and democratic road to socialism.

The role of the elites in a democracy is an unavoidable force. Elites of Leaders rule, control key resources and enforce major decision for centuries. Three important theorists Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923), Gaetano Mosca (1857-1941) and Robert Michels (1876-1936) are the leading thinkers of elitist democracy

Pareto classified the elites into governing and non-governing elite from the masses. The governing elite are the power elites who are the ruling classes. They derive power from the variety of sources such as education, social status, bureaucratic position, political connections, and wealth.

Pareto described the Elite qualities in two psychological types (a) Foxes – who rule the masses by cunningness and manipulate their consent, (b) Lions – who achieve power through domination, coercion and violence. Elitism developed as a critique of egalitarian idea such as democracy and socialism.

Robert Michels had an alternative view about the democracy that even though the organization tend to be democratic but the small group of dominant figures who can organize and make decision rather than having deliberation with rank and file of the organization and called it as ‘iron law of oligarchy’.

Joseph Alois Schumpeter (18831950) proposed the concept of democratic elitism. Schumpeter defined that democracy was a good political method to arrive at political, legislative and administrative decisions by placing in certain individuals in power to decide on all matters of the masses as a representative means and the result of successful pursuit of people’s vote.

The Elitist theory partly accepts the Marxian view of democracy that large corporations dominate in production and distribution of goods, however it does not agree with Marxian class analysis.

Karl Marx states that Democracy is the road to socialism

Pluralism is an inclusive concept. It addresses the interests and rights and the representation of the minorities thus forming the core content of liberal democracy. It affirms the separation of power from state and civil society and also economy from the political power.

Pluralism offers the scope of institutions for the democratic process in the case of Legislature known as Bicameralism and a form of governance namely Federalism to govern the state through various set of representation.

Pluralism paves way for participatory democracy that enables diverse group participation, to protect their rights. In this scheme, political power is distributed and shared to many groups in the society representing diverse interests.

Pluralism leads to defend their particular interests through government by creating ‘competitive equilibrium’ that intends to benefit large sections of the society for the long run.

The thinkers of Utilitarian school were the great advocates of pluralist democracy James Madison, John Stuart Mill and Tocqueville predicted that elections express the preferences of divergent competitive groups rather than the wishes of many in the majority group.

Pluralist democracy is also termed as Polyarchy, which is a rule by series of minorities within the political framework. This also provides the bargaining power to the minority groups to assert their rights and share in power.

Robert Dahl pointed out that the very essence of democracy is realized by Polyarchy that accommodates the presence of divergent groups, association, organizations in large number to enjoy relative autonomy in governmental power and jurisdiction.

The preconditions for a functioning of polyarchy are consensus on the rule of procedure, range of policy options and legitimate scope of political activity.

Democracy is Deliberative in its scope. It emphasizes on the form of democracy that emphasizes the need for deliberation, discourse and debate that defines the public interest. Deliberation and participation are two critical aspects of democracy.

James Miller defines that deliberative democracy is built on the system of deliberation that features that decisions are reflective of the discussion among the participants.

Public interest and public opinion are the key components of the deliberative democracy. It emphasizes on the consensus built upon the acceptance from the masses rather than the influential individuals.

Deliberative democracy is usually based on a rights-based approach of the current model of the development discourse. It provides for resolution of the scope for conflicts of interest with the democratic institutional mechanism balancing the benefits of the competing groups.

Deliberative Democracy values the decisions arrived after open discussion that heard all the points of view the most. Deliberative democracy is ‘discursive’ in scope. It is a type of democracy in which deliberation is central to decision making. It is the primary source of legitimacy for the law-making processes

Mahatma Gandhi states that “My notion of democracy is that under it the weakest should have the same opportunity as the strongest. This can never happen except through non-violence”.

Rawls and Habermas famous theorists of justice and public opinion have observed that political choice, to be legitimate, must be the outcome of deliberation about ends among free, equal, and rational agents.

Deliberative democracy is harmonious with both representative democracy and direct democracy. Deliberative democracy differs from traditional democratic theory in authentic deliberation, not merely confined to voting.

On April, 2006 the leaders of Nepal ‘s vibrant pro-democracy civil society movement “Seven Party Alliance” (SPA) called for a millionstrong demonstration to be staged at seven different points along the ring road encircling the capital Kathmandu.

The millions of citizens who made up the people’s movement demanded a end to autocratic rule of monarchy and restoration of total democracy in the Himalayan Kingdom. An unprecedented development forced the King Gyanendra to step down and paved the way for democracy.

The fourth King of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck travelled to all the 20 districts of the tiny Kingdom. The purpose of the travel is to explain the importance of historic transition to the people of Bhutan. Transition from the hereditary monarchy to the Parliamentary Democracy.

In 2006, the King Singye Wangchuck has abdicated the throne, 34 years after ascending it. His son Crown Prince Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck becomes the fifth monarch and head of State of the Himalayan Kingdom. Now Bhutan is a parliamentary democracy and King Jigeme a constitutional monarch.

Modern and contemporary democracies emerged in the late eighteen centuries in Western Europe as a result of industrial revolution, rise of labour and the social changes that emerged.

The Separation of Powers between the institutions of the state: Government (Executive Power), Parliament (Legislative Power) and Courts of Law (Judicative Power)

General and equal right to vote (one person, one vote) – Universal Adult Suffrage

People in Asian and European countries use the term “democracy” as the basic expression meaning for liberal democracy, which has the salient features of political pluralism; equality before the law; civil liberties; human rights; and elements of civil society outside the government. Freedom of speech is the fundamental requirement of modern democracy.

All democratically elected Governments are held responsible by free speech, every decision must have a reason, accountable. Democracy has been described or defined broadly as a) Political System of Competition for Power b) Right to participation in public life c) The Rule of Law.

A representative democracy is the system of government in which all qualified citizens vote to elect their representatives based on the constituencies divided by the population or eligible voters. Participatory democracy is been promoted to achieve equity reversing the concept of equality. In the recent days participatory democracy is a process that enables and ensures the wider participation of constituents in the direction and operation of political systems.

During the election political party announce to the people about their programmes and policies are known as the ‘party manifesto’. A transforming country like India, every national and regional party used to release their election manifesto to have a direction and trajectory of their future plan of action so as to win the confidence of the masses.

Representative Democracy is closely associated with Liberal Democracy which describes the political system which originated in the USA and Western Europe and has subsequently been adopted in numerous Third World countries and may gradually be well established in the former USSR and its former states in Eastern Europe.

Liberal Democratic regimes may be classified as either Presidential or Parliamentary systems and there are also important variations within these broad categories.

The existence of competing political parties offering electoral choice

International day of the worlds indigenous people are celebrated on August 9.

The U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples was adopted in September 2007 by the General Assembly with the support of 143 Member States. This support keeps expanding. Significantly, Colombia and Australia – two of the countries that originally did not approve the text have now endorsed the Declaration.

The aim of participatory democracy is to make people interested to take part in the political, legal and economic processes of the state and also to make people more responsible for the decisions made. participatory Democracy tends to support more involved forms of citizen participation than traditional representative democracy.

Social relations are base for its “political” operation in that it revolves around a structure of authority increasing and extending the scope of participation and political equality involves democratizing society.

The important feature of a participatory democracy is that people will have the opportunity to directly participate in the functions and access to the decision-making institutions of state and there shall be no provision for delegating power to another body or organ.

The degree to which a polity is able to govern itself in its domestic affairs and foreign policies and free from interference of other nations is known as Sovereignty.

Democracy has found to be a right, system, approach, mechanism and the profound channel of expression of consent and dissent. Dr B. R. Ambedkar, was the Drafting Committee Chairman of the Constitution of India.

The extent to which the highest judicial bodies are independent of the executive and other outside influences is known as independent judiciary.

Legislative power – The extent to which the legislature controls the executive with parliamentary systems.

Dr B. R. Ambedkar said “In politics we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality. In politics we will be recognizing the principle of one man one vote and one vote one value. In our social and economic life, we shall, by reason of our social and economic structure continue to deny the principle of one man one value”.

Authority – The degree to which central governmental authority is pre-eminent throughout the territory claimed as part of the polity

The extent to which women achieve equal representation with indiscriminate dignity in the legislature, social institutions and other high positions within government is known as Gender Equality.

Equal access to natural and common property. Equal access to resources

The first general election in India was conducted in 1951

During the first general election in the 1951 India had 54 political parties and now it has grown up to 464 in the 2014 general election as an evident of deepening of the democratic process.

Since 2004, votes are recorded through (EVMs) electronic voting machines. These are manufactured in India and their accuracy is ensured and secrecy has been fully tested.

Our electoral system known as FPTP or First-Past-The-Post system, is a single member district, simple-plurality system in which voters cast a single ballot to choose a single representative to the lower house of parliament or the State legislative assembly, the candidate with largest number of votes, even if only a plurality, getting elected to represent the constituency

Since 1989, the citizens were given a chance to elect their representatives at the age of 18, this is another feather in the crown of democracy.

India is the largest democratic country in the world. India is the world’s the largest democracy proved success in accommodation of group and regional demands in a complex, quasi-federal, polity.

Totally 17 general election took place in India. 17th general election happened in 2019.

In the first General election 1951, 173 million citizens were given right to vote; of these, 44.87 percent exercised their franchise. In the 16th general election in 2014, the size of the electorate had increased to 814 million the voting percentage had gone up to 66.4 and of these, 67.9 percent were men and 65.6 percent women.

The 73rd and 74th amendment of the constitution has given the reservation for SC/STs, women in the Local self-governing bodies like panchayats, municipalities and corporations as members, councillors

India’s democratic set up has been vibrant and able to keep the military out of political power. It also shows prudence on the part of military generals and defence personnel earning respect from the executive.

The life expectancy at birth has almost doubled from 36 years in 1951 to 66 years in 2011 due to the availability of better health facilities and the health programmes consistently implemented for the wellbeing of the people to get away from the epidemics, endemics, communicable and non-communicable diseases.

The diseases like small pox and polio have been eradicated from India.

In education, the number of universities and colleges has gone up from a minuscule 27 universities and 578 colleges in 1950-51 to an estimated 712 universities and 36,671 colleges in 2014.

The literacy rates have almost quadrupled from 18.3 percent of the population in 1951 to 73 percent in 2011.

When India move towards more open liberalized and market driven model of the economy? Jawaharlal Nehru said “Democracy is good. I say this because other systems are worse. So, we are forced to accept democracy. It has good points and also bad. But merely saying that democracy will solve all problems is utterly wrong. Problems are solved by intelligence and hard work”.

India move towards more open liberalized and market driven model of the economy in year 1991.

Till 2017 and a very big public sector for industries catering employment and science and technology education for the youth in the country, but soon there were inefficiencies and labour issues it resulted in a move towards a more open liberalized and market driven model of the economy starting in the 1991 reforms called as Structural Adjustment Programme.

Dr B. R. Ambedkar Political democracy cannot last unless there lies at the base of its social democracy. What does social democracy mean? It means a way of life which recognizes liberty, equality and fraternity of the principles of life.

India’s institutions like the free press and an independent judiciary have ensured that India remains a society based on rule of law.

Food grain production grew from 50.8 million tonnes in 1950-51 to an estimated 264.77 million tonnes in 2014-15 that indicates more than a fivefold increase and the fact that India is food secure for the time being. It was made possible with rapid advances in agricultural technology.

India’s Gross National Income (GNI) at constant prices has increased more than 35 times from 2.92 lakh crore in 1950-51 to 105.28 lakh crore 2014-15. Similarly, the per capital income at current prices has risen from a poultry 274 In 1950-51 to a decent 88,533 in 2014-15.

Capitalism is an ideology and also an economic system involving private ownership over the means of production, distribution of goods and the overall structure of business is based on profit motive.

The social system constructed by hierarchical structure with graded inequality which determines the social status of the individual playing a vital role in every sphere of Indian citizen is known as casteism.

Communalism as a political ideology that has come to be associated with conflicts, tensions and resulting it in violence between different religious, ethnic and caste groups.

Elite means that a minority in whose hands power, wealth or prestige is concentrated

Panchayati Raj is the institution functions at the grass root level with constitutional safe guards making the people to participating in the process and practice of local self-governance to design their political process and decision-making for fulfilling the needs.