Power sharing

Story of Belgium
Belgium is a small country in Europe with a population of over 1 crore, about half
the population of Haryana. Of the country’s total population, 59% speak the
Dutch language, 40% of people speak French, and the remaining 1% speak
German. Look at the map below to know the language variation of Belgium. The
minority French-speaking community was rich and powerful, so they got the
benefit of economic development and education. This created tensions between
the Dutch-speaking and French-speaking communities during the 1950s and
1960s.

Accommodation in Belgium
In Belgium, the government handled the community difference very well.
Between 1970 and 1993, Belgian leaders amended their constitution four times
and came up with a new model to run the government.
Here are some of the elements of the Belgian model.
1. The Constitution prescribes that the number of Dutch and French-speaking
ministers shall be equal in the Central Government. Some special laws
require the support of the majority of members from each linguistic group.
Thus, no single community can make decisions unilaterally.
2. The state governments are not subordinate to the Central Government.
3. Brussels has a separate government in which both communities have
equal representation.
4. Apart from the Central and the State Governments, there is a third kind of
government. This ‘community government’ is elected by people belonging
to one language community – Dutch, French and German-speaking – no
 matter where they live. This government has the power regarding cultural,
educational and language-related issues.
The Belgium model was very complicated, but it helped to avoid civic strife
between the two major communities.
Story of Sri Lanka
Now, let’s take the situation of another country, Sri Lanka. It is an island nation
having a population of 2 crores, about the same as Haryana. Sri Lanka has a
diverse population. The major social groups are the Sinhala speakers (74%) and
the Tamil speakers (18%). Among Tamils, there are two subgroups, “Sri Lankan
Tamils” and “Indian Tamils”. You can see the map below to know the population
distribution of different communities in Sri Lanka.

In Sri Lanka, the Sinhala community enjoyed the bigger majority and imposed its
will on the entire country.
Majoritarianism in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka emerged as an independent country in 1948. The Sinhala community
was in the majority, so they formed the government. They also followed
preferential policies that favoured Sinhala applicants for university positions and
government jobs. These measures taken by the government gradually increased
the feeling of alienation among the Sri Lankan Tamils. Sri Lankan Tamils felt that
the Constitution and government policies denied them equal political rights,
discriminated against them in getting jobs and other opportunities and ignored
their interests. Due to this, the relationship between the Sinhala and Tamil
communities become poor. Sri Lankan Tamils launched parties and struggled for
the recognition of Tamil as an official language, for regional autonomy and for
equality of opportunity in securing education and jobs. But their demand was
repeatedly denied by the government. The distrust between the two
communities turned into widespread conflict and turned into a civil war. As a
result, thousands of people from both communities have been killed. Many
families were forced to leave the country as refugees, and many more lost their
livelihoods. The civil war ended in 2009 and caused a terrible setback to the
social, cultural and economic life of the country.
What have you learned from the stories of Belgium and Sri Lanka?
 Both countries are democracies, but they deal differently with the concept
of power-sharing.
 In Belgium, the leaders have realised that the unity of the country is
possible only by respecting the feelings and interests of different
communities and regions. This resulted in mutually acceptable
arrangements for sharing power.
 Sri Lanka shows that if a majority community wants to force its dominance
over others and refuses to share power, it can undermine the unity of the
country.
Why is power sharing desirable?
You will find the answer to this question in the points below.
1. Power sharing is good because it helps to reduce the possibility of conflict
between social groups.
2. The second reason is that a democratic rule involves sharing power with
those affected by its exercise and who have to live with its effects. People
have a right to be consulted on how they are to be governed.
Let us call the first set of reasons Prudential and the second moral. The
prudential reasons stress that power-sharing will bring out better outcomes,
whereas the moral reasons emphasise the act of power-sharing as valuable.
Form of Power Sharing
Most of you must think that sharing power = dividing power = weakening the
country. A similar thing was believed in the past. It was assumed that all the
power of a government must reside in one person or group of persons located in
one place. Otherwise, it would be very difficult to make quick decisions and to
enforce them. But these notions have changed with the emergence of
democracy. In a democracy, people rule themselves through institutions of self-
government. Everyone has a voice in the shaping of public policies. Therefore, in
a democratic country, political power should be distributed among citizens.
In modern democracies, power sharing can take many forms, as mentioned
below:
1. Power is shared among different organs of government, such as
the legislature, executive and judiciary. This is called horizontal
distribution of power because it allows different organs of government
 placed at the same level to exercise different powers. Such separation
ensures that none of the organs can exercise unlimited power. Each organ
checks the others. This arrangement is called a system of checks and
balances.
2. Power can be shared among governments at different levels – a
general government for the entire country and governments at the
provincial or regional level, which is called the federal government.
3. Power may also be shared among different social groups, such as
religious and linguistic groups. ‘Community government’ in Belgium is a
good example of this arrangement. This method is used to give minority
communities a fair share of power.
4. Power sharing arrangements can also be seen in the way political
parties, pressure groups and movements control or influence those in
power. When two or more parties form an alliance to contest elections,
and if they get elected, they form a coalition government and thus share
power.

Federalism
What Is Federalism?
Federalism is a system of government in which power is divided between a
central authority and various constituent units of the country.
A federation has two levels of government. Both these levels of government
enjoy their power independently of the other.
1. One is the government for the entire country, which is usually responsible
for a few subjects of common national interest.
2. Governments at the level of provinces or states, which look after much of
the day-to-day administering of their state.
Difference Between Unitary System and Federal System

Unitary System Federal System

There is only one level of government, or the sub-units There are two or more levels
are subordinate to the Central Government. (or tiers) of government.

The Central Government can pass on orders to the The Central Government
provincial or local government. cannot order the state
government to do something.

The central government is supreme, and the State Government has powers
administrative divisions exercise only powers that the of its own for which it is not
central government has delegated to them. Their answerable to the central
powers may be broadened and narrowed by the central government.
government

Key Features of Federalism

Some of the key features of the federalism system are:
1. There are two or more levels (or tiers) of government.
2. Different tiers of government govern the same citizens, but each tier has
its own JURISDICTION in specific matters of legislation, taxation and
administration.
3. The existence and authority of each tier of government is constitutionally
guaranteed.
4. The fundamental provisions of the Constitution cannot be unilaterally
changed by one level of government. Such changes require the consent of
both levels of government.
5. Courts have the power to interpret the Constitution and the powers of
different levels of government.
6. Sources of revenue for each level of government are clearly specified to
ensure its financial autonomy.
 7. The federal system has dual objectives: i) To safeguard and promote the
unity of the country and ii) To accommodate regional diversity.
Different Routes Through Which Federations Can Be Formed
Two aspects are crucial for the institutions and practice of federalism: mutual
trust between the government of different levels and agreement to live together.
There are two kinds of routes through which federations have been formed.
1. The first route involves independent States coming together on their own
to form a bigger unit. This kind of “coming together” federation is formed
in the USA, Switzerland and Australia.
2. The second route is that a large country decides to divide its power
between the constituent States and the national government. This kind of
‘holding together’ federation is followed in India, Spain and Belgium
countries.
What Makes India a Federal Country?
All the features of the federal system apply to the provisions of the Indian
Constitution. The Indian Constitution is a three-fold distribution of legislative
powers between the Union Government and the State Governments. The 3 lists
are mentioned below:
1) Union List: It includes subjects of national importance such as the defence of
the country, foreign affairs, banking, communications and currency. The Union
Government alone can make laws relating to the subjects mentioned in this list.
2) State List: It contains subjects of State and local importance such as police,
trade, commerce, agriculture and irrigation. The State Governments alone can
make laws relating to the subjects mentioned in this list.
3) Concurrent List: It includes subjects of common interest to both the Union
Government as well as the State Governments. The list includes education,
forest, trade unions, marriage, adoption and succession. Both the Union as well
as the State Governments can make laws on the subjects mentioned in this list. If
their laws conflict with each other, the law made by the Union Government will
be considered.
How Is Federalism Practised?
The real success of federalism in India is attributed to its nature of democratic
politics. Have a look at some of the major ways in which federalism is practised
in India.
Linguistic States
The creation of linguistic States was the first and a major test for democratic
politics in India. From 1947 to 2017, many old States vanished, and many new
States were created. Areas, boundaries and names of the States have been
changed. Some States have been formed of people who speak the same
language. These states are known as Linguistic States.
Language Policy
A second test for the Indian federation is the language policy. Hindi was
identified as the official language. Besides Hindi, there are 21 other languages
recognised as Scheduled Languages by the Constitution. States, too, have their
own official languages, and government work takes place in the official language
of the concerned State.
Centre-State relations
Restructuring the Centre-State relations is one more way in which federalism has
been strengthened in practice. Suppose no single party gets a clear majority in
the Lok Sabha, the major national parties can alliance with many parties,
including several regional parties, to form a government at the Centre. This led
to a new culture of power sharing and respect for the autonomy of State
Governments.
Decentralisation in India
When power is taken away from Central and State governments and given to the
local government, it is called decentralisation. The basic idea behind
decentralisation is that there are a large number of problems and issues which
are best settled at the local level. Local people can also directly participate in the
decision-making.
A major step towards decentralisation was taken in 1992. The Constitution was
amended to make the third tier of democracy more powerful and effective. Here
are the key features of 3-tier democracy:
1. It is constitutionally mandatory to hold regular elections for local
government bodies.
2. Seats are reserved in the elected bodies and the executive heads of these
institutions for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other
Backward Classes.
3. At least one-third of all positions are reserved for women.
4. State Election Commission has been created in each State to conduct
panchayat and municipal elections.
5. The State governments are required to share some powers and revenue
with local government bodies. The nature of sharing varies from State to
State.
Panchayati Raj System
Rural local government is popularly known as Panchayati Raj. Each village, or a
group of villages in some States, has a gram panchayat. This is a council
consisting of several ward members, often called panch, and a president or
sarpanch. They are directly elected by all the adult population living in a village
or ward. Gram Panchayat is the decision-making body for the entire village.
The Panchayat works under the overall supervision of the Gram Sabha. All the
voters in the village are its members. It has to meet at least twice or thrice a
year to approve the annual budget of the gram panchayat and to review the
performance of the Gram Panchayat.
When Gram Panchayat are grouped together, they form a Panchayat
Samiti or Block or Mandal. The member of the Panchayat Samiti
representatives are elected by all the Panchayat members in that area.
All the Panchayat Samitis or Mandals in a district together constitute the Zilla
(district) Parishad. Members of the Lok Sabha, MLAs of the district, and some
other officials of other district-level bodies are members of Zilla Parishad.

Municipalities
As Gram Panchayat is for Rural areas, similarly, we have Municipalities for urban
areas. Big cities are constituted into Municipal Corporations. Both Municipalities
and Municipal Corporations are controlled by elected bodies consisting of
people’s representatives. The Municipal Chairperson is the political head of the
Municipality. In a Municipal Corporation, such an officer is called the Mayor.
This new system of local government is the largest experiment in democracy
conducted anywhere in the world. Constitutional status for local government has
helped to deepen democracy in our country. It has also increased women’s
representation and voice in our democracy.

Gender, religion and politics

Gender and Politics
The gender division tends to be understood as natural and unchangeable. It is
not based on biology but on social expectations and stereotypes.
Public/Private Division
The result of this division of labour is that though women constitute half of
humanity, their role in public life, especially politics, is minimal in most societies.
Earlier, only men were allowed to participate in public affairs, vote and contest
for public offices. Gradually the gender issue was raised in politics. It demanded
to enhance the political and legal status of women and improve their educational
and career opportunities. The movements which were raised by women to get
equality in personal and family life are called Feminist movements.
The political expression of gender division and political mobilisation helped to
improve women’s role in public life. As India is a male-dominated, PATRIARCHAL
society, women face disadvantage, discrimination and oppression in various
ways:
1. The literacy rate among women is only 54 per cent compared with 76 per
cent among men.
2. On average, an Indian woman works one hour more than an average man
every day and yet much of her work is not paid. The Equal Remuneration
Act of 1976 provides that equal wages should be paid to equal work.
3. In India, sex-selective abortion led to a decline in the child-sex ratio
(number of girl children per thousand boys).
4. Urban areas have become particularly unsafe for women.
Women’s Political Representation
Issues related to women are not given adequate attention. This has led many
feminists and women’s movements to the conclusion that unless women control
power, their problems will not get adequate attention. In India, the percentage of
elected women members in Lok Sabha touched 12 percent of its total strength
for the first time in 2014. Their share in the state assemblies is less than 5 per
cent.
One way to solve women’s problems is to have a fair proportion of women in the
elected bodies. In Panchayats and Municipalities, one-third of seats in local
government bodies are reserved for women. Now there are more than 10 lakh
elected women representatives in rural and urban local bodies. Gender division is
an example that some form of social division needs to be expressed in politics.
This also shows that disadvantaged groups do benefit when social divisions
become a political issue.
Religion, Communalism and Politics
Religion
The division based on religious differences is often expressed in the field of
politics. In India, there are followers of different religions. People should be able
to express in politics their needs, interests and demands as a member of a
religious community.
Communalism
The use of religion in politics is called communal politics:
1. When beliefs of one religion are presented as superior to those of other
religions
 2. When the demands of one religious group are formed in opposition to
another
3. When state power is used to establish the domination of one religious
group over the rest.
Communalism can take various forms in politics, as mentioned below:
1. The most common expression of communalism is in everyday beliefs that
involve religious prejudices, stereotypes of religious communities and
belief in the superiority of one’s religion over other religions.
2. A communal mind often leads to a quest for political dominance of one’s
own religious community.
3. Political mobilisation on religious lines involves the use of sacred symbols,
religious leaders, emotional appeal and plain fear in order to bring the
followers of one religion together in the political arena.
4. Sometimes communalism takes its ugly form of communal violence, riots
and massacre. India and Pakistan suffered some of the worst communal
riots at the time of the Partition.
Secular State
India is a secular state. Some of the features of India’s Secular states are:
1. There is no official religion in the Indian state.
2. The Constitution provides to all individuals and communities the freedom
to profess, practice and propagate any religion or not to follow any.
3. The Constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.
4. The Constitution allows the state to intervene in matters of religion in
order to ensure equality within religious communities. For example, it bans
untouchability.
Caste and Politics
Caste and politics both have some positive and some negative aspects. Let’s
look at them:
Caste Inequalities
In most societies, occupations are passed on from one generation to another. The
caste system is an extreme form of this. In this system, members of the same
caste group were supposed to form a social community that practised the same
or similar occupation, married within the caste group and did not eat with
members from other caste groups.
With economic development, large-scale urbanisation, growth of literacy and
education, occupational mobility and the weakening of the position of landlords
in the villages, the old notions of Caste Hierarchy are breaking down. The
Constitution of India prohibited any caste-based discrimination and laid the
foundations of policies to reverse the injustices of the caste system.
Caste in Politics
Caste can take various forms in politics:
1. When parties choose their candidate or when governments are formed,
political parties usually take care that representatives of different castes
and tribes find a place in it.
2. Political parties and candidates in elections make appeals to caste
sentiment to win the elections.
3. To gain support, political parties raise caste-based issues during elections
to get political support, as the ‘one man, one vote’ system or adult
franchise has made the voter very powerful.
4. Political Parties have made people belonging to lower castes conscious
about their rights to vote and their powers.
During elections, caste matters, but it is not everything. There are many other
factors that impact the elections. People’s assessment of the performance of the
government and the popularity rating of the leaders are considered during
elections. Just have a look at the below points:
1. Candidates and parties need to win the confidence of more than one caste
and community to win elections.
2. No party wins the votes of all the voters of a caste or community.
3. Some voters have more than one candidate from their caste, while many
voters have no candidate from their caste.
4. The ruling party and the sitting MP or MLA keep changing whenever fresh
elections take place.
Politics in Caste
Politics also influence the caste system and caste identities by bringing them into
the political arena. Here are a few points that support this;
1. Each caste group tries to become bigger by incorporating within its
neighbouring castes or sub-castes.
2. Various caste groups are formed with other castes or communities, and
then they enter into a dialogue and negotiation.
3. New kinds of caste groups have come up in the political arena, like
‘backward’ and ‘forward’ caste groups.
Thus, caste plays different kinds of roles in politics. In some cases, caste division
leads to tensions, conflict and even violence.
Political parties
Why Do We Need Political Parties?
A Political Party is a group of people who come together to contest elections
and hold power in the government. They agree on some policies and
programmes for society with a view to promoting the collective good. Parties
reflect fundamental political divisions in society. Thus, a party is known by which
part it stands for, which policies it supports and whose interests it upholds. A
political party has three components:
 The leaders
 The active members
 The followers
Functions of Political Parties
Political parties fill political offices and exercise political power. Parties do so by
performing a series of functions mentioned below:
1. Parties contest elections.
2. Parties put forward different policies and programmes, and the voters
choose from them.
3. Parties play a decisive role in making laws for a country.
4. Parties form and run governments.
5. Those parties that lose in the elections play the role of opposition to the
parties in power by voicing different views and criticising the government
for its failures or wrong policies.
6. Parties shape public opinion.
7. Parties provide people access to government machinery and welfare
schemes implemented by governments.
The Necessity of Political Parties
We need political parties because they perform all the functions which are
mentioned above. Apart from this, political parties help represent different views
on various issues to the government. They bring various representatives
together so that a responsible government can be formed. They work as a
mechanism to support or restrain the government, make policies, and justify or
oppose them. Political parties fulfil the needs that every representative
government has.
How Many Parties Should We Have?
In a democracy, any group of citizens is free to form a political party. More than
750 parties are registered with the Election Commission of India. But not all
these parties are serious contenders in the elections. So the question, then, is
how many major or effective parties are good for democracy?
In some countries, only one party is allowed to control and run the government.
These are called one-party systems. This system is not considered as a good
option for democracy.
In some countries, power usually changes between the two main parties. Such a
party system is called a two-party system. E.g., The United States of America
and the United Kingdom.
If several parties compete for power, and more than two parties have a
reasonable chance of coming to power either on their own strength or in alliance
with others, it is called a multiparty system. E.g., India.
When several parties in a multi-party system join hands for the purpose of
contesting elections and winning power, it is called an alliance or a front.
National Parties
Every party in the country has to register with the Election Commission. It offers
some special facilities for large and established parties. The Election Commission
has laid down detailed criteria for the proportion of votes and seats that a party
must get in order to be a recognised party.
1. A party that secures at least 6% of the total votes in an election to the
Legislative Assembly of a State and wins at least 2 seats is recognised as
a State Party.
2. A party that secures at least 6% of the total votes in Lok Sabha elections
or Assembly elections in 4 States and wins at least 4 seats in the Lok
Sabha is recognised as a National Party.
Major National Parties in India
There were 7 recognised national parties in the country in 2018. Here are the
details of these parties:
1) All India Trinamool Congress (AITC)
 Launched on 1 January 1998 under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee.
 Recognised as a national party in 2016.
 The party’s symbol is flowers and grass.
 Committed to secularism and federalism.
 Has been in power in West Bengal since 2011 and has a presence in
Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura.
 In the General Elections held in 2014, it got 3.84% of votes and won 34
seats, making it the fourth-largest party in the Lok Sabha.
2) Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP):
 Formed in 1984 under the leadership of Kanshi Ram.
 Seeks to represent and secure power for the Bahujan samaj, which
includes the Dalits, Adivasis, OBCs and religious minorities.
  Stands for the cause of securing the interests and welfare of the Dalits and
oppressed people.
 It has its main base in the state of Uttar Pradesh and a substantial
presence in neighbouring states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,
Uttarakhand, Delhi and Punjab.
 Formed government in UP several times by taking the support of different
parties at different times.
3) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
 Founded in 1980, formed by Syama Prasad Mukherjee in 1951.
 Wants to build a strong and modern India by drawing inspiration from
India’s ancient culture and values and Deendayal Upadhyaya’s ideas of
integral humanism and Antyodaya.
 Cultural nationalism (or ‘Hindutva’) is an important element in its
conception of Indian nationhood and politics.
 Earlier limited to north and west and to urban areas, the party expanded
its support in the south, east, northeast and to rural areas.
 Emerged as the largest party with 282 members in the 2014 Lok Sabha
elections.
4) Communist Party of India (CPI):
 Formed in 1925. Believes in Marxism-Leninism, secularism and democracy.
 Opposed to the forces of secessionism and communalism.
 Accepts parliamentary democracy as a means of promoting the interests
of the working class, farmers and the poor.
 Significant presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal, Punjab, Andhra
Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
 It secured less than 1 per cent votes and 1 seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha
elections.
5) Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPI-M):
 Founded in 1964. Believes in Marxism-Leninism. Supports socialism,
secularism and democracy and opposes imperialism and communalism.
 Accepts democratic elections as a useful and helpful means for securing
the objective of socio-economic justice in India.
 Enjoys strong support in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura.
 The party was in power in West Bengal without a break for 34 years.
 In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, it won about 3% of votes and 9 seats.
6) Indian National Congress (INC):
  Popularly known as the Congress Party. One of the oldest parties in the
world. Founded in 1885 and has experienced many splits.
 Under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, the party sought to build a
modern secular democratic republic in India.
 The ruling party was at the centre till 1977 and then from 1980 to 1989.
After 1989, its support declined, but it continues to be present throughout
the country.
 The party’s main idea is to promote secularism and the welfare of weaker
sections and minorities.
7) Nationalist Congress Party (NCP):
 Formed in 1999 following a split in the Congress party.
 Supports democracy, Gandhian secularism, equity, social justice and
federalism.
 A major party in Maharashtra and has a significant presence in Meghalaya,
Manipur and Assam.
 A coalition partner in the state of Maharashtra in alliance with the
Congress. Since 2004, a member of the United Progressive Alliance.
State Parties
The Election Commission has classified some of the major parties of the country
as ‘state parties’. These are also referred to as regional parties. Some of these
parties are:
 Biju Janata Dal
 Sikkim Democratic Front
 Mizo National Front
 Telangana Rashtra Samithi
The Map below shows the Regional Parties in India (as of 13th April 2018):
Challenges to Political Parties
Popular dissatisfaction and criticism have focused on 4 problem areas in the
working of political parties. These are:
1. Lack of internal democracy within parties. Parties do not keep membership
registers, do not hold organisational meetings, and do not conduct internal
elections regularly.
2. Most political parties do not practice open and transparent procedures for
their functioning, so there are very few ways for an ordinary worker to rise
 to the top of a party. In many parties, the top positions are always
controlled by members of one family.
3. The third challenge is about the growing role of money and muscle power
in parties, especially during elections. Since parties are focused only on
winning elections, they tend to use shortcuts to win elections. In some
cases, parties support criminals who can win elections.
4. People do not find parties to be a meaningful choice for their votes.
Sometimes people cannot even elect very different leaders either because
the same set of leaders keeps shifting from one party to another.
How Can Parties Be Reformed?
Have a look at some of the recent efforts and suggestions to reform political
parties and their leaders in India. Some efforts are listed below:
1. The Constitution was amended to prevent elected MLAs and MPs from
changing parties.
2. The Supreme Court passed an order to reduce the influence of money and
criminals. Now, it is mandatory for every candidate who contests elections
to file an AFFIDAVIT giving details of his property and criminal cases
pending against him.
3. The Election Commission passed an order making it necessary for political
parties to hold their organisational elections and file their income tax
returns.
Besides these, many suggestions are made to reform political parties. These
suggestions have not yet been accepted by political parties.
1. A law should be made to regulate the internal affairs of political parties.
2. It should be made mandatory for political parties to give a minimum
number of tickets, about one-third, to women candidates. Similarly, there
should be a quota for women in the decision-making bodies of the party.
3. There should be state funding of elections. The government should give
parties money to support their election expenses.
There are two other ways in which political parties can be reformed.
1. People can put pressure on political parties. This can be done through
petitions, publicity and agitations.
2. Political parties can improve if people who want change can join political
parties. It is difficult to reform politics if ordinary citizens do not take part
in it and simply criticise it from the outside.
Outcomes of democracy
How Do We Assess Democracy’s Outcomes?
Democracy is a better form of government than dictatorship in the following
respects:
 Promotes equality among citizens.
 Enhances the dignity of the individual.
 Improves the quality of decision-making.
 Provides a method to resolve conflicts.
 Allows room to correct mistakes.
Democracy Produces Accountable, Responsive and Legitimate
Government
People have the right to choose their rulers, and they have control over their
rulers. Citizens can participate in decision-making. Thus, democracy produces a
government that is accountable to the citizens and responsive to the needs and
expectations of the citizens.
Democracy ensures that decision-making is based on norms and procedures. So,
a citizen who wants to know if a decision was taken through the correct
procedures can find out this information. Citizens can take part in decision-
making whenever they want.
A democratic government is the people’s own government. People wish to be
ruled by representatives elected by them.
Economic Growth and Development
Economic development depends on several factors: the country’s population
size, global situation, cooperation from other countries, economic priorities
adopted by the country, etc. There is a significant difference in the rates of
economic growth between countries under dictatorship and democracy. So,
democracy is preferred as it has several positive outcomes.
Economic Outcomes of Democracy
The following points show the relationship of democracy with economic growth
and economic inequalities.
1. The dictatorial regime has had a slightly better record of economic growth.
But when we compare their record only in poor countries, there is virtually
no difference.
2. There can be a very high degree of inequality within democracies.
3. There is often inequality of opportunities available to the poorer sections
of the society.
Reduction of Inequality and Poverty
All individuals have equal weight in electing representatives. In the process of
bringing individuals into the political arena on an equal footing, we find growing
economic inequalities.
 A small number of ultra-rich enjoy a highly disproportionate share of
wealth and incomes. Their share in the total income of the country has
been increasing.
 Those at the bottom strata of society have very little to depend upon.
Their incomes have been declining.
In actual life, democracies do not appear to be very successful in reducing
economic inequalities.
Accommodation of Social Diversity
No society can fully and permanently resolve conflicts among different groups.
However, we can learn to respect these differences and we can evolve
mechanisms to negotiate the differences. Democracy is best suited to produce
this outcome. The ability to handle social differences, divisions and conflicts is a
plus point of democratic regimes. But democracy must fulfil 2 conditions in order
to achieve this outcome:
1. The majority always needs to work with the minority so that governments
function to represent the general view.
2. Rule by majority means that in the case of every decision or in the case of
every election, different persons and groups may and can form a majority.
Dignity and Freedom of the Citizens
Democracy stands much superior to any other form of government in promoting
the dignity and freedom of the individual. The passion for respect and freedom is
the basis of democracy. Let’s take the case of the dignity of women. The long
struggles of women have created some sensitivity that respect and equal
treatment of women are necessary ingredients of a democratic society. The same
is true of caste inequalities. Democracy in India has strengthened the claims of
the disadvantaged and discriminated castes for equal status and equal
opportunity.
Most individuals today believe that their vote makes a difference in the way the
government is run and in their own self-interest. Democratic examination never
gets over. As it passes one test, it produces another test. As people get some
benefits of democracy, they ask for more and want to make democracy even
better. The fact that people are complaining is itself a testimony to the success
of democracy.