What is Democracy Notes

Class IX Civics Notes

Ch-2 What is Democracy?Why Democracy?

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1.Definition of Democracy
2. Features of democracy
3. Why Democracy ?
. Arguments against democracy
. Arguments for Democracy
4.Broader Meaning of democracy

Review

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• In this chapter we will clearly learn how to distinguish a democratic form of Government from non democratic form of government.
  
• We will also come to know what makes democracy better than other forms of the government.
  
• One more important thing that we are going to learn from this chapter is that democracy is not only applicable to the form of government but it also cover rest of our life.
  
  

1. Definition of Democracy

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

 This is a very useful definition because it allows us to separate democracy from other forms of government .

 e.g:- a) Military rule of Myanmar cannot be considered a democratic form of government because the head of Army was the ruler over there who has not been elected by the people. 

 b) The monarchy of Nepal and Saudi Arabia where king are not chosen by the people rather they hold this post due to their birth in royal families. 

  #Problem with this definition

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This definition is not adequate as it reminds that democracy is people's rule. It means that any government which has been elected by the people start calling themselves democracy and that would be misleading. 

Now every government wants to be called a democracy so we need to know certain feature of it to clearly distinguish it from other forms of the government. 

  2. Features of Democracy

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There are 4 features of Democracy and they are :-

• Major Decisions by Elected Leaders
  
• Free and Fair elections
  
• One person, One vote and One value.
  
• Rule of law and Respect for rights

1. Major decision by elected leaders

• in Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf overthrew a democratically elected government in 1999 and declared himself the chief executive of the country, later he changed his designation to the president.
  
• he held a referendum in 2002 that granted him 5 year extension, however the referendum was alleged to be based on fraud by media, human right activists etc.
  
• In August 2012, he amended the constitution of Pakistan by issuing a legal Framework order. According to this order the president can dismiss the national and provincial assemblies.
  
• The work of the civilian cabinet is monitored by National Security Council mostly composed by military officers .
  
• After this law election was held to the national and provincial assemblies. so Pakistan has had election,elected representative have some
  powers.

But the final power rests with military officers and General Pervez Musharraf. 

Here we can see that Pakistan under Musharraf cannot be called a democracy because the representatives elected by the people do not have any real power.

  2. Free and Fair election.

       

a. China

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• In China elections are regularly held after every 5 years for electing the parliament. Some members are elected by the army.
  
• The parliament which consists of around 3000 people has the power to appoint the president of the country.
  

Problem

• Only the members of the chinese communist party or its allied power can contest election. It means the government is always formed by the communist party.
  
• The election is not fair because it does not offer any serious choice to the people. There is no way the ruling party can ever be replaced with any other party...

b. Mexico...

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• Mexico got freedom in 1930 and from then it holds election after every 6 years to
  elect its president.
  
• But the strange thing is that every election was won by a party called PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party).
  
• Unlike China opposition party could contest elections here but they never won for 70 years -------
  
• Because PRI used some dirty tricks to get majority of votes.....
  
  1. All government employee must attend its party meetings.
     
  2. The government school's teachers forced parents to vote for the PRI.
     
  3. Media largely ignored the activities of opposition parties except to criticise them.
     
  4. Pooling booths shifted from one place to another in the last minute .
     

Conclusion

Holding election is not sufficient ,the true election must offer a real choice between political alternatives. Election must be free and fair where those in power have a fair chance of losing.

3. One Person , One Vote and One Value

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a. Saudi Arabia 

Women didn't have voting rights till 2015. 

  b. Estonia -- 

People belonging to Russian minority find it difficult to get the right to vote. 

  C. Fiji - 

The value of vote of native of fiji is greater than that of Indian-Fijian.

  Conclusion 

Democracy is based on principal of political equality . 

It means each adult citizen must have one vote and each vote must have one value..

  4. Rule of law and Respect for rights

a. Zimbabwe

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• Like Mexico , Zimbabwe was ruled by a party called ZANU-PF since its independence.
  
• The leader of this party was Robert Mugabe , he was a popular leader but used many dirty tricks to remain in power such as ----
  1. Changing the constitution many times to increase his power.
     
  2. Banning the public protest and harassing the workers of opposition party.
     
  3. Controlling Tv and Radio to broadcast only its viewpoint.
     
  4. Harassing the journalist who questioned the policies of the government.
     
  5. Pressurising the judges to give favourable judgement .

Conclusion....

• To assess a democracy, it is important to look after election but it is equally important to look before the election.
  
  
• Before Election --- There should be sufficient room for normal political activity including opposition in the period before election.
  
  
• After Election - A government cannot do whatever it likes just because it has won an election. it has to respect some basic rules especially respect the fundamental rights to the minorities.
  

Arguments against democracy

1. Leaders keep changing in a democracy. This led to instability and setting back of big decisions.
   
2. It is all about political competition and power play . It is very difficult to find morality here.
   
3. So many people have to be consulted in a democracy which leads to delay in decision making.
4. Many a times elected leaders do not know the best interest of the people and it leads to the bad decision.
   
5. Common people does not know what is good for them so they should not decide anything.
   

Conclusion

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democracy is not a magical solution for all the problems.It only ensures that people take their own decisions, this does not guarantee that their decision will be good.

  Arguments for democracy

1. It is a more accountable form of government..
   
2. It improves the quality of decision making...
   
3. It provides a method to deal with differences and conflics.
   
4. It enhances the dignity of citizens.
   
5. It allows us to correct its own mistakes.
   

Broader Meaning of Democracy

• Democracy can also be applied in home, companies, scool and political parties.
  
• it is basically concerned with the method of decision making.
  
• Democratic decision --- A decision which involves consultation and consent of all those who are affected by the decision. It should be held equally between powerful and not so powerful.
  
  
• Conclusion ---

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• The feature of the democracy we discussed is the minimal requirement of democracy it does not make it an ideal democracy.
  All democracy has to do to is to put constant effort for achieving ideal situation. And this depends upon the citizens, They must be politically active, well-informed and aware about their rights.

~Seminary Classes