Class 9 Chapter What is Democracy? why Democracy notes is concisely explained so students would have knowledge of basic concepts related to democracy,meaning and features of democracy, merits and demerits of democratic form of government, reason to consider best form of government etc. It will be very helpful to develop good understanding about the basic concepts discussed in class 9 political science chapter 1 what is democracy? Why democracy? Notes.
Class 9 Chapter 1 What is Democracy why Democracy Notes
In chapter 1 Political science class 9 Notes, democracy is described as the best form of government based on many factors that’s the reason many countries changed from monarchies and dictatorship to democracy. It means democracy is widely accepted by most countries of the world as it gives certain rights to citizens which are not enjoyed in non democratic government and it makes differences between democratic and non democratic government. Class 9 Chapter 1 What is Democracy Why Democracy notes is explained in detail for proper understanding of democracy.
Differences between democratic and non democratic Government
A democratic government is elected directly by the people, This government is of the people, for the people and by the people so ultimately it is people’s government but in non democratic, rulers are Inheritedly from the Royal family which is ruling for long and people have no right to elect and they are bound by the rules of government. Example of non democratic government is Pinochet’s rule in Chile, Communists rule in Poland where rulers ruled like a dictator or military officers where no one could question the government.
Simple Definition
Democracy– Democracy is a form of government in which rulers are elected by the people.
Every country’s government in contemporary world wants to be called a democracy, even if it is not so. Only holding an election doesn’t make any country democratic so there is a need to understand between a democratic and one that pretends to be democratic. Democracy is people’s rule, it raises many questions in our mind
Who are rulers and official that are allowed to take decisions?
What kind of election is considered democratic?
Who are the people who are entitled to elect rulers? What kind of a form of government is democracy?
Features of Democracy.
1.Major decisions by elected Leaders
In Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf declared himself as the chief executive of the country by leading a military coup in October 1999 and changed his designation to President. He held referendum based on fraud malpractices and in August 2002 he issued a legal framework order that amended Constitution of Pakistan. After it, the final decision making power was in the hands of General Pervez Musharraf himself and army officials instead of rulers (representatives )elected by the people of Pakistan for the provincial and national Assembly. This happens in many dictatorship and monarchies where real power is with those who are not elected.
This is the first feature– In a democracy the final decision making power must rest with those elected elected by the people.
2.Free and fair electoral Competition
In China, election are held regularly for electing country’s parliament called Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui(National People’s congress) which has power to appoint president. Before election, candidates needs to take approval from Chinese communist party to contest election or he be a member of any of 8 allied parties.The government is always formed by Communist Party. Mexico after it’s independence in 1930 holds election after every 6 years even never under military or dictator’s rule. Despite it until 2000 every election is won by only one party called PRI(Institutional Revolutionary Party). This party pressurize government employees to attend party meeting, teachers are instructed to force parents for vote and media criticise only opposition party and sometimes pooling booths get shifted in last minutes which made difficult for people to cast votes. In these two examples, we have seen china doesn’t offer any other political alternative and Mexico doesn’t make possible to change existing rulers that shows elections are undemocratic.
The second feature– democracy must be based on a free and fair election where those currently in power have a fair chance of losing.
3. One person one vote one value
The concept of universal adult franchise gives political equality to all citizens of the country without discrimination based on gender, religion, caste, region and language etc. But many instances of denial of equal right to vote. Until 2015,saudi Arabia women didn’t have right to voteIn Estonia, Russian minority find it difficult to get right to voteIn Fiji, indigenous Fiji has more value of votevthan Indian Fijis. All these instances show that political equality is denied to people.
Class 9 Civics Chapter 2 Constitutional Design Notes
The third feature– In a democracy, each adult citizen must have one vote and each vote must have one value.
4. Rule of Law and respect for Right
Rule of law says that everybody is equal in the eyes of law and nobody is above the law and all laws apply equally to all citizens of the country. In Zimbabwe, ZANU PF, the party that led freedom struggle movement ,after independence it got popular support and its leader Robert Mugabe always became president after every election. Over the years, his government changed Constitution to make himself less accountable to the people which is an important feature of democracy. He made illegal to criticize his government and controlled radio, television and newspapers that opposed government and even ignored courts judgement. All these things show that popular approval is not necessary in a democracy, popular leader can be autocratic. It is equally important to look that govt give sufficient room for normal political activity like state should respect some basic rights of the citizens like freedom to think, to criticize, to form association and take other political action.
So, the fourth and final feature– a democratic government rules within limits set by constitutional law and citizens rights.
Summary Definition
Democracy- Democracy is a form of government in which rulers are elected by the people.
The key features explain every word of a definition of democracy which are as follows-
- Rulers elected by the people take all the major decisions
- Elections offer a choice and fair opportunity to the people to change the current rulers
- This choice and opportunity is available to all people on an equal basis
- The exercise of this choice leads to a government limited by basic rules of the constitution and citizens’ rights
Why Democracy?
Argument against democracy
- Leaders keep changing in a democracy leading to instability.
- Democracy is all about political competition and power play, leaving no scope for morality.
- Many people have to be consulted in a democracy, which leads to delays.
- Elected leaders do not know the best interest of the people, resulting in bad decisions.
- Democracy leads to corruption since it is based on electoral competition.
- Ordinary people don’t know what is good for them; they should not decide anything.
From these arguments, we can see that democracy of the kind we see may not be the ideal form of government. However, we will see if democracy is better than other forms of government that are there for us to choose from.
Arguments in Favour of Democracy
A democractic government is a better form of government because it is more accountable form of government
A democractic government has to respond to the needs of the people as democractic government faces criticism, opposition of people, media and organization but non democractic government is not answerable to anyone , it depends upon the ruler’s wish whether he wants to take decisions regarding any problems or not.
Eg China faced famine of 1958-1961 in which almost 3 crores people died but no large famine is faced in an independent India as it is democratic and has multiparty system but China has only one party system.
Democracy improves the quality of decision making
It is based on consultation and discussion where number of people’s heads put together to point out possible mistakes and reduces the chances of rash and irresponsible decisions despite they take more time as it may affect the whole country.
Democracy provides a method to deal with differences and conflicts
India has complex social diversity where people of different castes, religion, region, language reside and have differences of opinions, interests and preferences that can cause clashes of one group with other groups. In this situations, whichever group is powerful will dominate and dictate its terms on minority that would lead to resentment and unhappiness and difficult to live together for long. Here, democracy provides the peaceful solution to keep country together by respecting the rights of every society like fundamental rights.
Democracy enhances the dignity of the citizens
Democracy is not about what democracy does to the government , it is about what democracy does to the citizens. Democracy is based on the principle of political equality on recognizing that poorest and least educated has same status as rich and educated.
Democracy is better than other forms of government because it allows us to correct its own mistakes
In a democracy, if people mistakenly choose wrong representatives then this mistake can be corrected after every five years if rulers doesn’t change his decisions which is not possible in non democratic government.
Hence, democracy is not the solution to all problems, it offers better chances of a good decision. It respects people’s own wishes and respect their rights and dignity and give chances to correct their own mistakes. So, democracy is considered the best form of government.
Broader Meaning of Democracy
Here, democracy is defined in a limited and descriptive sense. It helps us to identify a set of minimal conditions that every democracy must have all over the world. In contemporary time, every country adopt a representative democracy in which all people do not rule, their representative is allowed to rule on behalf of the majority of the people. This model of democracy is followed because of the reasons given below
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.
But these conditions doesn’t allow us to distinguish between a democracy and good democracy.
The word democracy is not used only for government, it is applied for organization, family, society, class etc. It means democracy is also a principle that has crucial role in every sphere of life. It means a democratic decisions always involves consultation with and consent of all those who are affected by its decisions.
Thus, democracy is an ideal standard that all democratic countries must aim to become but it is difficult to get any country in the world which is true democratic. True democracy means that democracy where no corruption, no poverty, equality in all aspects .
Conclusion– The common form of democracy in today’s world is rule through people’s elected representatives who have final decision making power and follow minimal and ideal standard that can distinguish between a minimal democracy and good democracy. And, good democracy depends on the active political participation by all the citizens.