NCERT Class 10 - Democratic Politics II • NCERT Class 9 - Democratic Politics I

Outcomes and Challenges of Democracy

Democracy must be judged by what it actually produces. NCERT assesses it on five outcomes - accountable government, economic development, reduction of inequality, accommodation of diversity, and dignity and freedom - and then sets out the three challenges every democracy faces.

Assessing the outcomes

• Accountable, responsive and legitimate government is democracy's clearest success. It is slower but it is transparent, follows procedure, and can be questioned.
• On economic development and growth, the record is mixed and depends on population, priorities, international conditions and cooperation with other countries.
• On reduction of inequality and poverty, democracies have not performed as expected; political equality of one person one vote coexists with very unequal ownership of wealth.
• On accommodation of social divisions, democracies do much better than alternatives, provided majority rule is understood as the rule of a changing majority, not the permanent rule of one community.
• On dignity and freedom, democracy has succeeded most clearly - in the standing of women, of scheduled castes and tribes, and of every citizen before the law.

The three challenges

• The foundational challenge involves keeping the military out of politics, establishing sovereign functioning government, and protecting the state from external control.
• The challenge of expansion means extending federal principles to all units, including women and minorities in decision making, and bringing local government and institutions under democratic control.
• The deepening challenge means strengthening those institutions that permit people's participation and control, and reducing the influence of money and powerful interests.

Democratic reform

• Legal change alone has limits - laws that seek to ban undesirable practices usually do not work unless democratic movements and citizens' organisations push them.
• The best laws are those that empower people to carry out democratic reforms themselves, such as the right to information, which strengthens the citizen's hand rather than adding a new restriction.
• Democratic reform is carried out mainly by political activity and popular movements, not by courts or officials alone.
• Any proposal for reform should be thought through for how it will be implemented, not just for how good it sounds.

Democracy in India - the record

• Regular elections since 1952 under universal adult franchise, with peaceful transfers of power, are the strongest evidence of democratic success.
• Participation of the poor and of disadvantaged groups is higher in India than in many older democracies, which reverses the usual global pattern.
• Constitutional protections - fundamental rights, an independent judiciary, and an independent election commission - provide the institutional base.
• Continuing problems include the role of money and criminality in elections, the weakness of internal democracy in parties, and unequal access to justice.