Outcomes of Democracy Class 10 Political Science Notes

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Outcomes of Democracy
There are various Type of Government such as Monarchy i.e. Rule by King or Queen, Dictatorship i.e. Rule by Single Person or Group but democracy is far better than them.

Why democracy is better?

    • It Promotes Equality among the citizens of country.
    • It enhances the Self Respect of Individuals
    • It is a best method to Solve Political Conflicts
    • It improves the quality of Decision Making
    • It allows Correction of Mistakes

Ways to Evaluate the Outcomes of Democracy

  • People believes in democracy but also shows dissatisfaction with the democracy in practice. In other word we can say that democracy is good in words but not in its practice.
  • Democracies in different countries did not bring similar Achievements. e.g. Democratic countries have formal Constitution, they have multiple Political Parties, they hold elections, they also guarantee the rights of citizens in common, but these countries differs in social situations, Economic Strength, and Cultures.
  • People think that democracy can solve all the problems such as Socio-Economic and political problems, but when our expectations are not met, we immediately start blaming the democracy.
  • We need to understand that democracy is just a form of Government, making the use of it, citizens have to achieve their goals.

Things that Democracy Must Provide:

    • Accountable Government: Democracy must provide right to choose the government and also the right to control them. Thus this suggests that democracy must provide the most basic outcome i.e. government, accountable to the citizens and also it should tend to fulfill the needs and expectations of the citizens.
    • Effective Government: Consider the case of Non-Democratic Governments i.e. the power is in the hands of single individual or group. In such situation decisions can be quick and efficient but the chances of caring about public opinion is very less. On the other hand in democratic government before taking any decisions public opinion must be considered. This process may take time but it will be an effective decision.
    • Procedure Wise Decision Making: Government can take decisions very fast but many times such decisions are not accepted by the people. In contrast to this, democratic government takes more time and follow its procedures to take any decision and hence produce effective decision that is more acceptable to people. Thus even if time is consumed but at the end effective decision can be produced.
    • Transparency: Since the government follows Rules and Procedures to make Decisions. Being a Citizen of democratic country every individual has right to know if the decision is taken with correct rules and procedures. This is called Transparency. If needed government should involve public opinion for any decision.
  • Free of Corruption: Democracy must provide a government that is responsive to the needs and demands of the people and should be free of corruption. 
  • People’s Government: Even if the democratic government is slow, Less Efficient, not always responsive or Corrupt, still it is ‘People’s Government’ i.e. the ultimate power belongs to people.

Economic Growth and Development

  • If we are expecting that the democracy should provide good government then we also expect that the government should bring economic growth and development.
  • But in last 50 years it is observed that the dictatorships have slightly higher rate of economic growth than democratic government. This does not mean dictatorship is better than democratic government. Economic growth depends on factors such as population size, world economic situation, cooperation from other countries, economic priorities of country, etc.
  • Since the difference of economic growth is minimum hence we should accept democratic government as it has other positive outcomes than dictatorship. (Freedom, people’s power, rights)

Reduction of Inequality and Poverty

  • The prime objective of democracy is equality. But in current situation we find that economic inequalities are growing in democratic country like India. As a result huge wealth belongs to very few rich people however a large population of poor can’t afford even their basic needs of life i.e. food, clothes, shelter, education and health.
  • Every citizen whether rich or poor should have equal right to elect a representative. Since poor people constitute a huge population hence no party will want to lose their votes. but after winning election it is seen that the party did not take any measure to reduce poverty.
  • Being a democratic government it can be expected that the government should address the problem of poverty and think in direction of reducing the poverty.

Accommodation of Social Diversity

  • Democracies can have various social divisions. A democracy must negotiate differences among different social groups and bring peaceful and harmonious social life to citizens of the country.
  • We know that there may be conflict among different social groups and no society can fully resolve these conflicts but democracy should try to reduce the possibility of tension. People should also respect other social groups.
  • A democracy must fulfil two conditions
    • Majority should work with Minority: Democracy should not rule by majority opinion, it should consider the minority opinion too. Only by working together a government can produce an effective government that work for people.
    • Majority in democracy did not mean ruling of majority community i.e. any religion or race or linguistic group, instead it means forming a major opinions of people of different groups. that may or may not belongs to same social group. Thus every citizen has right to be a part of majority opinion.

Dignity and Freedom to citizens

  • Every individual seek to get respect from others. Often conflicts arise as one feel that he or she is not treated with due respect.
  • Recognising this, the dignity and freedom to citizen become principles of the democracy. But democracies are not following this principle. E.g. In many male dominated countries women are not getting equal rights. Today after a long struggle women showed that respect and equal treatment are necessary for democracy.
  • In India, democracy helped the disadvantaged and discriminated caste people to get equal status and opportunities. There are legal measures to preserve these rights.
  • Our demands from democracy are never ending, when we get some benefits then we ask for few more benefits. Sometimes these are not fulfilled then we start blaming the democracy. At the positive side this suggests that people’s are awared about their rights and wanted good functioning of democracy.
  • Today people believes that their single vote can impact on the government and in turn their own self-interest.