CLASS 9 CIVICS CHAPTER 2 - WHAT IS DEMOCRACY? WHY DEMOCRACY?

Class 9 Chapter 2 - What is Democracy? Why Democracy?

Case Studies about different nations.

Myanmar                    -           Army rule

Chile                            -           General Augusto Pinochet (not elected by the people – non     democratic country)

                        Nepal & Saudi                          -          Monarchy

                        Pakistan                       -           Military (Parvez Musharraf)

                        Poland & Iraq- USSR & USA (External Influence)

                        China                           -           Communist party (One party)

                        Mexico                                  -           PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party)                                                            

                        Zimbabwe                   -          Robert Mugabe (president) 

Origin of the word Democracy - The word democracy is derived from the Greek words

                                    Demos- People

                                    Kratos- Power or rule

Meaning of Democracy- Democracy is a form of government in which the rulers are elected by the people.

Who are the rulers?

What kind of election?

Who are the people?

What kind of form of government?

Abraham Linkon- Democracy is a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

Features of Democracy

—  In a democracy the final decision making power must rest with those who elected by the people.

—  A democracy must be based on a free and fair election where those currently in power have a fair chance of losing.

—  In a democracy, each adult citizen must have one vote and each vote must have one value.

—  A democratic government rules within limits sets by constitutional law and citizen’s right.

—  The opposition parties are allowed to function freely before and after the elections.

—  The democratic governments are based on fundamental principles of political equality.

Merits of Democracy

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

—  Democracy improves the quality of decision making.

—  Democracy provides a method to deal with differences and conflicts. It is suitable the countries like India. India having diversity of language, religion and cultures. Democracy in India made it possible to keep unity in diversity.

—  In a democracy no one is a permanent winner or loser.

—  Democracy is better than other forms of government because it allows us to correct its own mistakes.

—  Democracy enhances the dignity of citizens, because it is based on the principle of political equality, on recognizing that the poorest and least educated have the same status as the rich and the educated.

Demerits of Democracy

—  Leaders keep changing in a democracy. This leads to instability.

—  Democracy is all about political competition and power play. There is no scope for morality.

—  Elected leaders do not know the best interest of the people. It leads to bad decisions.

—  Democracy leads to corruption for it is based on electoral competition.

—  Ordinary people don’t know what is good for them; they should not decide anything.

Distinguish between Democratic and Non Democratic government

Democratic Government

—  Democracy is the best form of government as the rulers are accountable to the people and have to fulfill their needs.

—  In democratic govt. people elect their rulers and have right in decision making.

—  The parliament is a separate body and has no interference of army.

—  Any citizen can aspire to contest election for any post irrespective of his or her caste, religion, socio- economic and educational background which means the right of vote is available to all citizens.

—  Democracy is based on consultation and in democratic govt. people enjoy their right of discussion.

—  There are free and fair elections. Elections offer a choice and fair opportunity to the people to change the current rulers.

—  There is a freedom of expression and people enjoy their fundamental rights.

—  Example- India

Non-Democratic Government

—  The rulers are not accountable to the people and their needs.

—  People do not elect their rulers and have no right in decision making.

—  The parliament cannot pass a law about the army without the consent of the chief of army.

—  The citizens of the country have no right to vote.

—  Non democratic govt. is based on dictatorship. The ruler does what he wishes.

—  In a democratic government elections are either not held and if held they are not fair enough rather they are imposing.

—  There is no freedom of expression and people do not enjoy their fundamental rights.

—  Example- Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe.

Two Types of Democracy- Direct &Indirect

Direct Democracy

It is a political setup, where the people themselves make the laws and parliament directly in the functioning of the govt.

Decisions are taken on the base of the majority of opinion.

It is suitable for the geographically small countries with less population.

Eg : Ancient Greek/ Rome and India 

Modern period- Switzerland

Indirect Democracy

—  In the modern world most of the countries are following the indirect democracy.

—  It is system, in which the representatives are elected by the people and they act on behalf of the people.

—  They are so sensitive to cater (furnish) the needs and opinion of the people.

 Eg ; India/ France/ USA

PAKISTAN

—  General Parvez Mushraff led a military coup in oct 1999.

—  He overthrew the democratically elected govt.

—  He declared the chief executive of the country.

—  In 2002 he changed his position to president

—  Then held a referendum- five years extension

—  Media, Human right organizations and democratic activist said- referendum was based on malpractices and fraud.

—  In Aug 2002- he issued Legal Frame Work order- amended the constitution of Pakistan.

—  According to this order- president can dismiss the national or provisional assemblies.

—  The work of civilian cabinet supervised by national Security Council dominated by military officers.

—  After passing this law the election held to the national and state assemblies.

—  The elected representatives have some powers.

—  But final power rest with military officers and General Parvez Mushrraf

(Check these incidents along with the features of Democracy and find out which aspects violated)

CHINA

—  In China elections are regularly held after every five years for electing the Country’s parliament- Quanguo Renmin Diabiao Dahui (National people’s congress)

—  They have the power to appoint the president

—  It have nearly 3ooo peoples elected from all parts

—  Some members are elected by the army

—  Before contesting the elections the candidates needs the approval of Chinese Communist party.

—  Only those who member in communist party or eight smaller parties allied to it were allowed to contest election held in 2002-2003.

—  The government is always formed by the communist party

(Check these incidents along with the features of Democracy and find out which aspects violated)

MEXICO

—  Since its independence in 1930, Mexico holds elections after every six tears to elect its president.

—  The country has never been under military rule or dictator rule.

—  But until 2000 all election was won by a party called PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party)

—  Opposition parties did contest the elections but never win the election

—  The PRI use many dirty tricks to win the election

—  All those who employed in govt offices had to attend its party meetings.

—  Teachers of govt. school forced parents to vote PRI

—  Media ignored the activities of opposition parties except to criticise them.

—  Sometimes the polling booths were shifted from one place to another place in the last minutes, which made difficult to the people cast their votes.

—  The PRI spent a large sum of money in the campaign for its candidates

(Check these incidents along with the features of Democracy and find out which aspects violated)

SAUDI ARABIA/ ESTONIA/ FIJI

—  Saudi Arabia women do not have the right to vote.

—  Estonia made its citizenship rules in such a way that people belonging to Russian minority find it difficult to get the right to vote.

—  In Fiji, the electoral system such that the vote of an indigenous Fiji has more value than that of an Indian Fijian

 (Check these incidents along with the features of Democracy and find out which aspects violated)

ZIMBABWE

—  Attained independence from white minority- 1980

—  Since then the country has been ruled by ZANU-PF, the party led the freedom struggle.

—  Leader- Robert Mugabe, has been ruling the country since independence.

—  Elections have been held regularly- always won- ZANU

—  President is popular- but uses unfair practices in election

—  Changed the constitution and increased the power of president and makes him less accountable.

—  Opposition party workers harassed and disrupted.

—  There is a law that limits the right to criticize the president

—  T V and radio were controlled by govt. and give only ruling party version.

—  There are independent newspapers but the govt. harasses those journalists who go against this.

—  The govt. has ignored some court judgments and went against it and has pressurized judges.

(Check these incidents along with the features of Democracy and find out which aspects violated)

Try to find out on which aspects are violated in Democracy and which are preserved

—  Bhutan- King declared that in future he will be guided by the advice given to him by elected representatives.

—  Sri Lanka- Many Tamil workers migrated from India were not given to the right to vote.

—  Nepal- King imposed a ban on political gatherings, demonstrations and rallies.

—  Bihar- The Indian Supreme Court held that the dissolution (end) of Bihar assembly was unconstitutional

—  Bangladesh- Political parties agreed that a neutral govt. should rule the country at the time of elections

—  Major decision by elected leaders.

—  One person, One vote and one value

—  Respect for rights

—  Rule of law

—  Free and fair electoral competitions.

BROADER MEANING OF DEMOCRACY

—  On this chapter we understood the meaning of Democracy in a limited and descriptive sense.

—  We have understood Democracy is a form of govt.

—  The most common form that democracy takes in our times is that of a representative democracy.

—  In the countries we call democracy, all the people do not rule.

—  A majority is allowed to take decisions on behalf of all the people.

—  Even majority does not rule directly.

In Democracy majority of people rule through their elected representatives- Why?

—  Modern democracies involve such a large number of people that it is physically impossible for them to sit together and take a collective decision.

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

AIMS OF DEMOCRACY

—  True democracy will come to this country only when no one goes hungry to bed.

—  In a democracy every citizen must be able to play equal role in decision making. For this you don’t need just an equal right to vote. Every citizen needs to have equal information, basic education, equal resources and a lot of commitment.

Some question and answers

1. Give arguments in favour of democracy?

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

·         Democracy improves the quality of decision making.

·         Democracy provides methods to deal with differences and conflicts.

·         Democracy enhances the dignity of citizens.

·         Democracy is better than other forms of government as it allows to correct its own mistake.

2. Give arguments against democracy?

·         Leaders keep changing in a democracy. This leads to instability.

·         Democracy is all about political competition and power play. There is no scope for morality.

·         So many people have to be consulted in a democracy that it leads to delays.

·         Elected leaders do not know the best interest of the people. It leads to bad decision making.

·         Democracy leads to corruption because it is based on electoral competition.

·         Ordinary people don’t know what is good for them, so they should not decide anything.

3. How does democracy allow us to correct its own mistakes?

There is no guarantee that mistakes cannot be made in democracy. No form of government can guarantee that. The advantage in a democracy is that such mistakes cannot be hidden for long. There is a space for public discussion on these mistakes. And there is room for correction. Either the rulers have to change their decisions or the rulers can be changed. This cannot happen in a non-democratic government.

4. State the main features of democracy.

a)      In a democracy, the final decision-making power must rest with those elected by the people.

b)      A democracy must be based on free and fair elections, where those currently in power have a fair chance of losing.

c)      In a democracy, each adult citizen must have one vote and each vote must have one value.

d)      A democratic government rules within limits set by the constitutional laws and citizens’ rights.

e)      Democracy provides a method to deal with differences and conflicts. It enhances the dignity of the citizens.

5. Give an example of Zimbabwe, show how laws were made by one single ruler.

Since Zimbabwe got independence in 1980, it is being ruled by ZANU-PF which led the freedom struggle.

a)      Its leader, Robert Mugabe has been ruling the country since independence. But ZANU-PF won due to unfair practices in elections.

b)      His government has made changes in the constitution several times to increase the power of the President and make him less accountable.

c)      The opposition party workers were harassed and their meetings were disrupted.

d)      Public demonstrations are declared illegal.

e)      Laws are made to limit the right to criticize the President.

f)       The media has been forced to write and speak in favour of the ruling party.

g)      There are independent newspapers but the government harasses those journalists who go against it.

This example of Zimbabwe shows that popular government can be undemocratic. Popular leaders can be autocratic. If we wish to assess a democracy, it is important to look at the elections.

6. What was PRI? What dirty tricks did it play to win elections in Mexico?

PRI was a party called Institutional Revolutionary Party of Mexico. All those who were employed in government offices had to attend its party meetings. Even the teachers of government schools used to forced parents to vote for the PRI. Media largely ignored the activities of opposition political parties except to criticize them. Sometimes the polling booths were shifted from one place to another in the last minute, which made it difficult for people to cast their votes. The PRI spent a large sum of money in the campaign for its candidates.

7. What are the hindrances in the smooth functioning of democracy in India?

In the preamble it is mentioned that the aim of the Constitution is to provide social, economic and political justice to all the citizens. But in practice Indian democracy is suffering from various social and economic evils which have proved a curse. Major hindrances in the smooth functioning of democracy in India are as follows:

1. Social and Economic Inequalities: To make democracy a success, social and economic equalities are essential. But in India, they do not exist even after 65 years of Independence.

2. Communalism and Casteism: In India, there prevails the communal disharmony. The casteism is also prevalent in the Indian society.