Why Democracy? Video Lecture - Class 9

we all need to introspect weigh the pros
and cons of democracy and arrive at our
own personal views on the subject let's
start with the review of the main
arguments typically presented against
democracy democracy can lead to
instability as the leaders keep changing
in a democratic government quick action
is not possible in democracy because
many people need to be consulted before
making any kind of decision politicians
are not too concerned about morality in
a democracy because this form of
government is all about political
competition and power play in fact
electoral competition provides a lot of
scope for corruption elected leaders may
not necessarily be qualified to
understand the best interests of the
people this can lead to bad decisions
finally it can be said that ordinary
people are not qualified to select a
good leader and so should not be given
that power many of these arguments are
indeed valid however some of the points
mentioned could apply to any form of
government where power is misused the
above arguments against democracy may
showcase it is not the ideal form of
government
but the debate here is whether democracy
is better than other forms of
governments that we are aware of to
resolve this dilemma let's look at the
other side of the coin the arguments for
democracy China recorded the worst
famine from 1958 to 1961 in the history
of the world with the tool of more than
three crore whereas India in spite of
worse economic conditions did not have
such an acute famine economists think it
was because the government's policies in
India were different India being a
democracy had multi-party elections an
opposition party looking over the
government's shoulder and a press free
to criticize the government therefore
the Indian government responded to the
food scarcity in a manner very different
from that of the Chinese government
in a non democracy the rulers may or may
not respond to the needs and wishes of
the people the poor thus we arrive at
our first argument in favor of democracy
a democratic government is more
accountable to its people
as mentioned earlier democratic
decisions involve a series of
consultations meetings and discussions
among many persons granted that such a
decision-making process is
time-consuming this helps a democracy
guard against rash or irresponsible
decisions that's our second argument in
favor of democracy a democratic
government can ensure better decisions
during our earlier discussions on
democracy you learned that all
individuals may have different ideas
ideals and values this is especially
true in a country of vast social
diversity such as India however in a
democracy no one can be regarded as a
winner or loser
permanently therefore democracy enables
people to deal with differences and
conflicts in a peaceful manner
this was the some of the arguments about
the effects of democracy on the quality
of government and social life
however the more important aspect of
democracy is the effect of democracy on
citizens in enforcing political equality
democracy enhances the dignity of
citizens it accounts the same status to
all people regardless of wealth or
education rather rather than being
subservient to a ruler the citizens rule
themselves through elected
representatives when they make mistakes
they assume responsibility for their own
mistakes as well thus democracy is
better than other forms of government
because it allows us to correct our own
mistakes no form of government can
guarantee perfection however democracy
as a form of government allows for
relatively more transparency public
discussion and correction of mistakes
ours is a representative democracy
people rule through their elected
representatives the limited
understanding of representative
democracy is
firstly it is not physically possible
for all of them to sit together and make
collective decisions secondly all
citizens may not have the time skill or
inclination to take part in the
decision-making process it also limits
us to democracy in a government for an
understanding of the operations of a
democracy beyond government functions we
need to look at the broader meaning of
democracy
for example families and schools can be
democratic as well in a democratic
family the opinion of each family member
is given equal importance in making a
decision
similarly there is scope for democracy
in schools as well
l students like teachers who encouraged
them to be curious learners a decision
is democratic if it is made after
consultation of everyone likely to be
affected by it
for example in relatively small
communities like a gram sabha all the
members can sit together and make
decisions directly the features of
democracy that we discussed in earlier
modules provided a basic foundation for
our understanding of democracy and also
what an ideal democracy should be like
thus broadly speaking democracy involves
public participation consultation and
rep and representation