Democracy Notes 11th Political Science for Tnpsc Exam

Democracy Notes 11th Political Science for Tnpsc Exam

11th Political Science Lesson 5 Notes in English

5. Democracy

Definition and types of 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”.
• Thus the term democracy is Rule by People.
• Democracy is one of the most important and well-debated topics in the world since the beginning of the Twentieth Century and it has increased importance in the Twenty-first century.
• Democracy has been defined in different terms and usage by many philosophers, rulers and scholars from time to time according to the changes taking place in socio-political and economic institutions that were there.
• Democracy encompasses the powerful concepts of Rights, Freedom defined in Liberty, Equality and Fraternity all religions.
• The concept and practice of Democracy in the Modern period evolved in Britain, although it’s ancient concept and practice was in Ancient Greece.
• Democracy is based on the type of the social system of the country or nation.
• The social system determines the type and working of democracy.
• Democracy is important for creating Liberty and Equality that are adopted to bring equality in the unequal society based on political and institutional mechanisms.
• Democracy has become the most popular form of government and universally regarded as a meaningful political concept in the world in the present period.
• The spread of Democracy in began in the world in different countries from the beginning of the Twentieth-century.

As a concept and a system of government, Democracy is an instrument of expression of free speech.

Characteristics of Democracy

• Democracy is a set of principles and practices that protect human freedom.
• Democracy rests upon the principles of majority rule, along with individual and minority rights.
• Democracies as a system guard against all-powerful central governments and it decentralizes government to regional and local levels.
• The right of the people to demand the Government they elected and the duty of the Government to be accessible and responsive to their needs and demands is the main function.
• One of the primary functions of Democracies is to protect such basic Human Rights

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1. Equality before Law,
2. Equal Protection before Law
3. Freedom of Speech,
4. Freedom of Religion;
5. Right to organize and participate fully in the political, economic, and cultural life of society.

• Democracies conduct regular free and fair elections open to all citizens.
• Democracy subjects governments to the Rule of Law and it ensures that all citizens receive equal protection under the law and that their rights are protected by the Legal-constitutional system.
• Democracies are diverse political systems, reflecting each nation’s unique political, social, and cultural life.
• Democracy ensures the citizens to participate in the political system and it protects their rights and freedoms.
• 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 is a system of government in which power and civic responsibility are exercised by all citizens, directly or through their freely elected representatives.
• 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.
• Democracy ensures that all citizens have an equal opportunity to express their opinion.
• 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.”

Types of Democracy

• Democracy by its function has different scope and importance.

1. Political Democracy
2. Social Democracy
3. Industrial Democracy
4. Economic Democracy
5. Totalitarian Democracy
6. Radical Democracy
7. Plebiscitary Democracy

i. Political Democracy

• 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.
• 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.
• Similarly, 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.
• The second type of Democracy is the Representative system of Democracy in which the elected representatives of the people (representative democracy) are elected for a term of office who determine public policy on behalf of the people.
• Political Democracy by Representative system of democracy is the dominant form of Democracy all over the world, whereas the Direct Democracy is practiced in the Federal Republic of Switzerland.

ii. Social Democracy

• 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.
• Social Democracy is based on the principle of Social equality in all aspects of gender, status, beliefs, values and customs.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

iii. Industrial Democracy

• Industrial democracy is defined as the means to promote democratic principles in industry and labour by the provision and protection of Labour Rights and Responsibilities in the workplace.
• 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.
• Industrial democracy enables the workers participate actively in the process of building both community and individual interests for the collective good of the society and state.
• Industrial democracy empowers workers as partners in the industry calling for their joint efforts to build community interests and welfare
• Industrial democracy paves for the development and growth of the country through better productivity and greater harmony

iv. Economic Democracy

• Economic democracy is defined as the process of creating democratic conditions of economic productivity, minimising the rich-poor gap and socio-economic differences, promoting affordable economic development and the ideal of creating greater equality among various classes.
• Economic democracy believes in “workplace democracy” and “employee ownership” that is intended to promote equality and democratic redistribution of wealth.
• Economic democracy believes in the ability of the social system to integrate and society and economy for the betterment of human economic freedom and dignity. Economic democracy believes in social welfare and development as priority.
• Economic democracy is based on the importance of economic rights and social equality.

v. Totalitarian Democracy

• 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.
• 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 becomes dominant over people interests.
• 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.

vi. Radical Democracy

• 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.
• 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.
• Radical democracy brings into Democracy the real sense of people’s participation, accountability of the elected and the power of the people to change the government.

vii. Plebiscitary Democracy

• 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.
• Plebiscitary democracy gives the citizens the right and power to collect a sizeable number of signatures on a petition to draft a law or a public policy programme and put the proposal or draft law to vote by the citizen population
• 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.

Theories of Democracy

• 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.
• A theory is based on several facts that are logically connected and examined. Democracy is a theory that has various applications in different historical periods, different civilizations and cultures.
• 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.
• Greek Civilization, Culture and Language spread widely throughout Europe in the ancient historical period.

• And it also saw the spread of democracy as a “form” and “system” of government initially in Europe and later into North and South America.
• As the Greek polis increased in size the nation of democracy by elected representatives gained importance and relevance.
• 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).
• Democracy has now emerged as a “universal” form of government widely accepted by several countries with various people groups, cultures and languages.
• It has developed in each country according to their local customs, values and ideas thus strengthening the process of democracy.

There are various Theories of Democracy defined in terms of scope and impact:

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 the spread of democracy as a “form” and “system” of government initially in Europe and later into North and South America.
• As the Greek polis increased in size the nation of democracy by elected representatives gained importance and relevance.
• 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).
• Democracy has now emerged as a “universal” form of government widely accepted by several countries with various people groups, cultures and languages.
• It has developed in each country according to their local customs, values and ideas thus strengthening the process of democracy.
• 800-500 BCE (Before Common Era). 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.
• Given the limited population they were able to gather in the city square and were able to deliberate.
• All citizens were free to express their different opinions, debate, and vote in a system directly and this was called as Classical Democracy.
• 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.
• Classical democracy for its success should have two preconditions:

1. The community must be small enough for citizens to be proficient in attending debates and voting on issues;
2. The economy of the state should be sufficient for enabling the citizens to engage in politics.

The principles of classical democracy

• The chief political ideals were equality among all people, liberty and respect for law and justice.
• Equality before law and equal treatment of law enabled justice to prevail in almost all the spheres of society. Political life was free and open.
• The main subject of classical democracy was the participation of all peoples in the processes of state.
• Classical democracy was to bring equality among citizens in respect of rights and privileges.

Protective Democracy:

• 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.
• In this viewpoint, democracy has been regarded as a means at the disposal of individuals which they can use to safeguard their rights and liberties.
• 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.
• 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.
• The theme of utilitarianism was to safeguard rights, liberty and opportunity as they were the basic principles of democracy.
• Safeguarding the rights was the safeguard of democracy.
• Jeremy Bentham, James Mill and John Stuart Mill emphasized that democracy alone could safeguard all individual rights and interests through the mandate of the people who could be protected and advanced.
• John Locke, James Madison, Jeremy Bentham and James Mills-supported the Rights based protective democracy as an aspect of liberal democracy.

The following are the basic features of protective democracy:

• Protective democracy believes in popular sovereignty.
• Both the popular sovereignty and representative form of government are legitimate.
• It is the primary duty of the state to protect the rights and liberties of citizens.
• The authority is accountable to the People and in order to establish it elections are held on regular basis.
• Separation of the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary are the most important means of protecting the rights, liberties and the distribution of privileges.
• The introduction of rights-based protective democracy brought in the idea of constitutionalism that governed the ruler and the ruled by the principles laid down in constitution.
• The Constitution is the sole source of power for all and is the guarantor of rights and liberties.
• Legal provisions in the constitutions were introduced to protect, individual rights, rights of associations and groups against any violation of rights or encroachment on liberty on behalf of citizens.
• 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.

Marxist Theory of Democracy

• 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’.
• The Marxist theory of Democracy favoured the collapse of capitalism and calls for the revolutionary transformation of the society.
• It 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.
• The Marxists democrats and socialists believe in the removal of class differences and privileges are the necessary step to freedom, equal status and democracy.
• The socialists believed that with universal education people can govern themselves.
• 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.
• The Marxist theory emphasises the importance of economic factor as the key factor for the class divisions and ownership and the control of the means of production.
• However the Marxists democrats in Europe support the strong role of electoral democracy to establish a peaceful, legal and democratic road to socialism.

Democratic Marxists view

1. State as an agency of anti-people crimes and considered the abolition of standing army and instituting a citizen’s militia,
2. Implement the election of all officials subjecting them to recall,
3. Totally remove the political attribute of police,
4. Eliminate the monarchy.

Elitist Theory of Democracy

• 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.
• In an industrial, agrarian society the ownership of property and control over production were the important factors.
• Elites from the agrarian and industrial sectors emerge as feudal landlords and owners of industry.
• They later take a political role to govern the state.
• 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

1. Foxes – who rule the masses by cunningness and manipulate their consent,
2. 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 (1883-1950) proposed the concept of democratic elitism.
• Schumpeter defined that democracy was a good political method to arrive at political, legislative and administrative decisions.
• 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.
• Democracy paves way for competitive pursuit means among the elites to achieve their legitimacy and power.
• 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.
• The democratic Elitism theory engages with the groups and individuals to meet their end sand facilitates with their disagreements so as to meet the ends of the both.

Pluralist Theory of Democracy

• 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.
• It 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.
• Pluralism suggests that democracy in the system necessitates the conduct of regular elections that encourages political competition among parties, groups and individuals.
• The thinkers of Utilitarian school were the great advocates of pluralist democracy James Madison, John Stuart Mill and Tocqueville predicted that elections expresses the preferences of divergent competitive groups rather than the wishes of many in the majority group.
• This also provides the bargaining power to the minority groups to assert their rights and share in power.
• Pluralist democracy is also termed as Polyarchy, which is a rule by series of minorities within the political framework.
• 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.

Deliberative Theory of Democracy

• 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.
• Deliberative democracy and participation are usually strong in the grassroots level.
• India’s Panchayati Raj institutions are usually strong in this process.
• Grass roots democracy features Panchayati Raj Institutions and civil societies that strengthen the functioning of the government.
• 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.
• It features the willingness of the people to listen to the views and consider the interests of the others modifying their own opinions accordingly.
• 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

• 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 Later there was a revision in Robert Dahl’s Theory, he forwarded the theory of “Deformed Polyarchy” to better describe the working of American democracy.
• The democratic institutional mechanism balancing the benefits of the competing groups.
• Deliberative democracy is different from other forms of democracy by maintaining a person is rational enough to set aside particular interest and opinion to aspire for fairness and common interests of the collective and deliberation was based on equality, equity, and public goods.
• It 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.
• Deliberative democracy differs from traditional democratic theory in authentic deliberation, not merely confined to voting.
• It is the primary source of legitimacy for the law making processes.
• Deliberative democracy is harmonious with both representative democracy and direct democracy.
• 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 recognises “the full and equal membership of all in the sovereign body responsible for authorizing the exercise of that power, and establishes the common reason and will of that body”.

Modern and Contemporary Democracy:

• 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.
• Modern and contemporary democracies feature:
• Written constitution the basic requirements and it must be kept up in everyday life by politicians and authorities:
• Importance of Constitutionally guaranteed basic Human Rights and fundamental rights to every individual of all the social groups’ especially religious minorities and other underprivileged.

™The Separation of Powers between the institutions of the state:

• Government (Executive Power), Parliament (Legislative Power) and Courts of Law (Judicative Power)
• Freedom of opinion, speech, press and mass media
• Religious liberty
• General and equal right to vote (one person, one vote) – Universal Adult Suffrage
• The “majority rule” is characterized as only important features of democracy, however the process should have free and fair competitive elections.
• Additionally, the importance of Rights is very important viz: freedom of political expression, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press are indispensable in the representative democracy and the masses are informed through political campaign and the manifestoes of the political parties enable to vote in their personal interests.
• Democracies have been practiced by different models of political system ranging from one party rule to multi-party system.
• In several countries, democracy is based on the legal principle of equal rights to vote.
• 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.
• The free flow of information allows both people and governments to make the best informed decisions.
• Democracy has been described or defined broadly as

1. Political System of Competition for Power
2. Right to participation in public life
3. The Rule of Law

TYPES OF MODERN DEMOCRACY:

Representative Democracy:

• 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.
• People elect their representatives to power to run the government through political parties according to their views on ideology, principle, policies and democracy
• Legislature programme for their socio-political and economic development.
• The parties are allowed to have choose the candidates on their own to attract the masses and winning chances.
• During the election they 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.
• The individuals are allowed to contest elections as independent candidates too, if they do not wish to belong any political party.

The role of political parties is vital in a representative democratic system.

• The members of political parties keep the people informed about important issues by holding public meetings, for either supporting or opposing the policies of the government.
• Thus, the political parties mobilize the people in knowing their needs and in turn mould the public opinion.
• The representatives are constitutionally recognized and entitled to execute their duties and responsibilities in the people’s interest, with authority.
• 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.
• Representative democracies are based upon numerous interconnected principles:
• The existence of regular, free, fair elections based upon universal suffrage and secret ballots under the supervision of Election Commission as an independent body.
• The existence of competing political parties offering electoral choice.
• The existence of electoral laws supervised by an independent judiciary.
• Freedom of speech and association.
• Freedom to stand as an election candidate.

Participatory Democracy:

• 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.
• Democracy tends to support more involved forms of citizen participation than traditional representative democracy.
• A civil society based concept, participatory democracy attempts to create opportunities for all members of a group to make expressive contributions to decision-making, and to increase the range of access to such opportunities.
• Social relations is 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 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.
• 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.
• It is designed to revitalize the democratic participation in the era of economic growth, to redress the inequality among the people.
• The most important characteristic is the importance of political equality in democratic system a long side basic or fundamental rights, liberties that needs emphasis and to be highlighted.

Measuring and evaluating democracy

• Democracy has found to be a right, system, approach, mechanism and the profound channel of expression of consent and dissent.
• Measuring and evaluating democracy complement each other.
• As it was strongly expressed by Dr.B.R.Ambedkar, the Drafting Committee Chairman of the Constitution of India, ‘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.’
• Democracy can be measured and evaluated in terms of qualitative and quantitative methods.
• The qualitative analysis will help to understand the dynamics of social change and the quantitative analysis will help to prove the net result of the change to accentuate the democratic process.
• The qualitative analysis of democracy can be measured through the political participation in terms of protest, demonstration, campaign, opinion making, freedom of expression and other constitutionally guaranteed rights.
• The social reflections are adding values to the social changes in terms of social upward mobility occurring within the caste system, religious, gender and cultural perspectives.
• Democracy has direct relationship with changing economic pattern of development through policies to minimize the inequality.
• The quantitative part of the democracy is to evaluate through human development index, per capita income and so on.

The democracy can be measured and evaluated by the following criteria.

a) Sovereignty:

• 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.

b) Authority:

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

c) Elected government:

• The extent to which executive functions are carried forward by officials elected through election through secret ballot.

d) Universal Adult suffrage:

• The extent to which all the adults have been given the right to exercise vote in elections.

e) Turnout:

• The percentage of people’s participation in voting during elections.

f) Regular elections:

• The extent to which elections are held in regular interval (every 5 years) and on schedule, according to the constitution of India.

g) Free and Fair elections:

• The extent to which parties and candidates can gain access to the ballot, and have their votes counted and allocated fairly.
• Also, the extent to which citizens are able to register to vote without fear and favour.

h) Access to media and campaign:

• The extent to which all parties/candidates are granted equal access to the media and to campaign, proportional to their support in the electorate.

i) Ensuring rule of law:

• The extent to which the executive follows the law, as defined by the constitution and as interpreted by the judiciary.

j) Legislative power:

• The extent to which the legislature controls the executive with parliamentary systems

k) Role of Opposition parties:

• The extent to which the opposition parties function in a parliamentary democracy to control the excess of ruling party when it moves out of the constitutional framework.

l) Independent Judiciary:

• The extent to which the highest judicial bodies are independent of the executive and other outside influences.

m) Judicial review:

• The extent to which the highest judicial bodies are able to review acts of legislation and other governmental actions in the light of constitutional provisions, and the extent to which such decisions are respected by other bodies.

n) Party strength:

• The extent to which parties are institutionalized and decentralized its power, functions and inclusiveness.

o) Party ideology:

• The extent to which parties have well-defined, consistent, and coherent ideologies.

p) Party system:

• The number of parties gaining seats in the legislature.

q) Freedom of Press:

• The extent to which major media outlets are independent, free to air their diverse political expert views, and able to reach the citizen.

r) Civil society independence:

• The extent to which civil society is independent of the state and able to voice opinions critical of political leaders.

s) Civil liberty:

• The extent to which citizens enjoy all the fundamental and human rights enshrined in the constitution.

t) Property rights:

• The extent to which property rights are protected.

u) Religious freedom:

• The extent to which freedom of religion is guaranteed to maintain religious harmony and secular content of government policies and programs.

v) Equal access to resources:

• The extent to which resources are redistributed to achieve economic equilibrium through income, education, and health which would make greater impact of participating in politics.

w) Equal access to natural and common property:

• The extent to natural and common resources to ensure their livelihood, environment and social emancipation.

x) Gender equality:

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

y) Political equality to achieve socio-economic status for underprivileged:

• The extent to which underprivileged ethnic groups defined as caste, tribe, race, religious minority, or other ascriptive characteristics are granted constitutional rights
• And remedies to come up to positions of power within the government, as well as the extent to which such groups actually gain representation in the legislature and other high positions within government according to their political participation and social position.

Achievements of Indian Democracy

• The founding fathers of India and its Constitution had built strong democratic foundations in the Indian State and the Constitution thus making India a great country.
• The democratic constitutional foundations have strengthened the Constitution in every aspect of socio-political and economic changes.
• The Preamble of the Constitution laid down clear road map with Fundamental Rights and Duties, Directive Principles; Parliamentary System and Amendment Procedures; Judicial Review and Basic Structure doctrine.

Political front

• 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.
• 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 number of contestants was increased to 8,251.
• 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 world’s the largest democracy proved success in accommodation of group and regional demands in a complex, quasi-federal, polity.
• 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 and mayors.
• 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.

Social Front:

• The democratic process has brought about a shift of political power from the middle and higher castes and classes of urban society to backward classes who are now the politically most influential ones in the country.
• They have won reservations for themselves in legislatures and government services as were accorded to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes after independence through Constitutional provisions.
• India’s institutions like the free press and an independent judiciary have ensured that India remains a society based on rule of law.
• 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 well-being of the people to get away from the epidemics, endemics, communicable and non-communicable diseases.
• Similarly, diseases like smallpox and polio have been eradicated.
• 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. Similarly, literacy rates have almost quadrupled from 18.3 percent of the population in 1951 to 73 percent in 2011.

Economic Front:

• These include strategic affairs and security, politico-legal democratic governance as well as society and economy.
• India has been able to emerge as a regional power in Asia and super power in south Asia backed by its economic, military and nuclear capabilities.
• It meant centralized planning 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
• Market driven model of the economy starting in the 1991 reforms called as Structural Adjustment Programme.
• Post this, the economy has seen greater private and foreign participation found the base for the emergence of professional new middle class.
• The technological innovations applied in transforming the service sector particularly Education, Health and transportation along with rural and urban infrastructure lead to digital India and reforms in banking sectors has brought a great social transformation in reality.
• 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.
• 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 five-fold increase and the fact that India is food secure for the time being.
• It was made possible with rapid advances in agricultural technology.

Challenges to Indian Democracy

• The challenges that are faced by Indian democracy ranges from individual to society as a whole the problems of Illiteracy
• which resulted in poor implementation of universalization of education, Poverty, corruption, Casteism, Communalism, religious fundamentalism,
• Sustainable development, gender discrimination, violence against women, political violence, regional disparity in development,
• Inadequate Judicial and administrative reforms, civil society participation, civil–military relationship, criminalization of politics and growing economic offences.
• The challenges now and for the future include ensuring greater transparency, accountability and independence in the broad framework of checks and balances on which India’s democratic framework rests.

More To Know:

• Even after 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments, there were villages in which panchayat elections were not conducted for many years.

Democracy defined by Philosophers:

• “Democracy would, it seems, a delightful form of government, anarchic and mostly, assigning a kind of equality indiscriminately to equals and unequals alike.” –Socrates
• “Freedom in a democracy is the glory of the state, and therefore,in a democracy only will the freedom of nature design to dwell.” – Plato
• “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”.- Aristotle

Scholars view of Democracy

• Democracy is a ‘living reality’ in every sphere of social, economic and political activity. – George Douglas Howard Cole
• Democracy is defined as,
• A government by the people; especially: rule of the majority:
• A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.- Thomas Jefferson

Views of leaders on Democracy

• Democracy is the road to socialism.-Karl Marx.
• Democracy is the form of the government for the people, of the people, by the people.-Abraham Lincoln.
• 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.- Mahatma Gandhi

Deformed Polyarchy

Later there was a revision in Robert Dahl’s Theory, he forwarded the theory of “Deformed Polyarchy” to better describe the working of American democracy.