Lesson 8 Democracy: Idea and Practice Important Notes

 Lesson 8 Democracy: Idea and Practice

Introduction

Democracy has its real origin in Greek: demos meaning people and kratos meaning rule which makes democracy rule of people. The term democracy and concept are firmly rooted in Ancient Greece. Political thinkers such as David Held define it as, “a form of government in which, in contradistinction monarchies and aristocracies, the people rule.

Democracy is justified because it guarantees the right of each person to be taken care of and respected; but in practice, the decisions of a democratic majority may infringe that right, with regard to what the liberal theory believes to be required by such a right.

The way democracies are distinguished are many. Most importantly the distinctions are based upon direct popular participation in government, and those that operate through some kind of representative mechanism. The models of democracy based on such differentiation are direct democracy and representative democracy. When seen in modern times, democracy is associated with electoral democracy which is largely called liberal democracy. Liberal democracy is one of the most dominant forms of democracy. Yet, there exist a number of other models of democracy. Democracy, though, many critics C.B. Macpherson writes, in The Real World of Democracy,

Democracy: The Idea

To understand what democracy means, one has to go through the debates around the idea. Democracy has been associated with something good. Bernard Crick writes, “Democracy is perhaps the most promiscuous word in the world of public affairs.”

What it aims at giving is an opportunity which is equalizing in nature. It runs in accordance to individual merit. An important feature is that it doesn’t rely on hierarchy and privilege for the ruling. Democracy is essentially the idea of welfare and redistribution which aims at resolving social inequalities. On the other hand, it is a system of decision-making which is based on the principle of majority rule but at the same time secures rights and interests of minorities.

Some of the definitions which are attached to democracy and are somehow complementary to each other to form an understanding of the idea as explained in Andrew Heywood’s book Politics. He writes,

● “A system of rule by the poor and disadvantaged

● A form of government in which the people rule themselves directly and continuously, without the need for professional politicians or public officials

● A society based on equal opportunity and individual merit, rather than hierarchy and privilege.

● A system of welfare and redistribution aimed at narrowing social inequalities

● A system of decision making based on the principles of majority rule.

● A system of rule that secures the rights and interests of minorities by placing checks upon the power of the majority

● A means of filling public offices through a competitive struggle for the popular vote

● A system of government that serves the interests of the people regardless of their participation in political life.”

Principles of Democracy

 

1. Principle of participation

Each person has a role offered by the government which allows people to give consensus to the decisions that the government has to take. This role that the people have is not based on their abilities or talents but for all. Therefore in a democracy, people have a role regardless of any differences that means everyone must have a role which ultimately adds to society. Here, the principle of participation explains another feature of democracy and also tries to give justification for it associating democracy with universal suffrage and with a system of representation.

Interest Principle

The principle of interest gives the feature of collective decisions which has to reflect the principles of equality. Each and every person has to be treated equally. This will also include that the resources are to be distributed evenly. Dwrokin explains, “Along with this principle, we can say that democracy means “government for and by the people”. Each member of society has to be considered in his integrity and democratic decisions should not affect either his autonomy or dignity. The community has to develop social and economic factors so that no individual is excluded from the community.”

Principle of Independence

Dworkin believes that the principle of independence gives birth to one of the most popular expressions of democracy: “We, the people…”. The concept of ‘we the people’ is closely related with collective action. Independence here means that a government which is democratic cannot impose what it thinks is right to its citizens.

What a democratic government should do is to promote diversity of thought and moral, political and ethics. The list of shoulds does not stop there. The government has a responsibility to promote art and culture. It should work for community to promote values. The safeguard to democracy essentially comes from the right to political liberty. The importance of a constitution becomes inevitable in this case.

All these principles are essential for being the core of democracy. In a way gives people maximum liberty and equality by giving space for criticism. The people do not only have to be tolerated in this system, but tolerance is also encouraged. The principle of equality is special in a democracy. A democratic government does no disparity among the people on the basis of caste, creed, religion and position or status. Some of the important example of this principle has been the abolishment of untouchability in India. Other principles of democracy are popular sovereignty, elections at certain intervals, fundamental rights, rule of law and independence of the judiciary.

 

Kinds of Democracy

· Direct Democracy:

When people express their will for decisions to be taken, this type of government is called direct democracy. It can also be called pure democracy. Here, the people make laws by meeting. Hearn haw writes, “a democratic form of government, in the strict sense of the term, is one in which the community as a whole, directly or immediately, without agents or representatives, performs the functions of sovereignty”.

Democracy which was established in ancient Greek city-states was direct form of democracy. Vajji Sangha during the Buddhist Periods was believed to be Indian form of direct democracy. In today’s time it is impossible to think that each person will be able to meet in large meeting to make government decisions.

People in a direct democracy rule themselves By removing the need for a separate class of professional politicians. They use devices which makes them direct democracy, they are:

(1) Referendum: When people take decisions for important issues or policies like that of amendment of the constitution. These opinions by the people can be compulsory or voluntary.

(2) Initiative: People can take the initiative to pass a law of their choice. They can do that in a democracy where they can send proposals to the Parliament for passing the law.

(3) Recall: This device helps recall a representative of the people which they would have chosen for a constit-uency. United States is one such country which empower their people to do so.

(4) Plebiscite: This device gives the right to the people to directly vote for an issue. For example, in 1935, the people of Saar were asked for their opinion if they wanted to live in Germany.

The following are the merits of direct democracy as mentioned in Politics by Andrew Heywood:

1. It heightens the control that citizens can exercise over their own destinies, as it is the only pure form of democracy

2. It creates a better informed and more politically sophisticated citizenry, and thus it has educational benefits

3. It enables the public to express their own views and interests without having to rely on self-serving politicians

4. It ensures that rule if legitimate, in the sense that people are more likely to accept decisions that they have made themselves.

· Indirect Democracy

In an indirect democracy, people elect representatives. It is practically impossible for people of a country to assemble at one place and discuss matters and make law. They elect their representatives at regular intervals. There are a number of ways in which indirect democracy takes form.

Representative democracy is limited in the sense that popular participation only happens in intervals and is brief. Here, representation is reduced to the act of voting every few years. The public is kept at arm’s length from government. Representative democracy nevertheless qualifies as a form of democracy, even if it is limited. The fact is that voting remains a vital source of popular opinion and their will.

The following are the merits of indirect or representative democracy as mentioned in Politics by Andrew Heywood:

1. It offers a practicable form of democracy (direct popular participation is achievable only in small communities)

2. It relieves ordinary citizens of the burden of decision making, thus making possible a division of labour in politics

3. It allows government to be placed in the hand of those with better education, expert knowledge and greater experience.

4. It maintains stability by distancing ordinary citizens from politics, thereby encouraging them to accept compromise.

Democracy: The Practice

To understand aspects of modern democratic practices one has to understand the ways in which democracy has taken form. While doing so one will get a gist of what the issues around democracy are about such as representative government, voting systems, the role of parliament, and the increasingly global context of democracy. Procedural democracy is about free and fair elections, fair competition among political parties and political equality.

 

Procedural Democracy

The characteristics of a procedural democracy are essentially the procedures such as free and fair elections, fair competition among the political parties and political equality, freedom of the press.

There lie a number of challenges that procedural democracy comes with:

1) It has been seen that procedural democracy has been incapable of generating socio[1]economic equality.

2) It has been largely unable to promote the participation of the greatest possible number of people in government activity

3) It has failed in creating mechanisms that pushes the governments to work for the people and not in their personal interest or de facto powers,

4) It has also been unable to promote order without intervening in the private life of individuals.

 

Substantive Democracy

In a substantive democracy representative of the people is elected. This type of democracy functions in the interests of the governed. The state has to function like a democracy, follow its principles and it should not merely be a set up. Thus it is not enough to have procedures.

It is quite possible that a state has a democratic setup but it may lack the rule of law and civil liberties. There can be a democracy in face where elections are held regularly but they might get rigged and take shape of a dictatorship. Just the mere existence of constitutions does not guarantee that there will be governance with rule of law and with democratic principles.

One of the most important features of democracy is an independent judiciary. In a democracy where elections occur and there is no civil liberties and independent judiciary then it might as well be not called a democracy at all. In a substantive democracy, the form of democracy is such that it has to follow the principles and not just procedures. It is possible, thus to have a procedural democracy without a substantive form of democracy. Substantive democracy aims at generating socio-economic equality.

Models of Democracy

● Classical democracy: The kind of direct democracy which is discussed above began in Athens in the fourth and fifth century. It was the ideal system of popular participation a government by mass meeting. Each one had a responsibility of public office and decision making.

● Protective democracy: The revived form of democracy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were less mechanic. Democracy took a protective form; the citizen could now protect themselves from the encroachments of the government. Protective democracy is a form of government which is indirect and limited. Accountability is extracted from regular voting process. An important feature of this democracy is constitutional democracy which keeps a check on the government and is run on the principle of individual liberty.

● Development democracy: The focus of this form of democracy is on development of the human individual and the community. The credit of development of this model was Jean Jacques Rousseau. It was a departure from the dominant liberal tradition of democracy. For him, democracy was ultimately a means through which human beings could achieve freedom. In a development democracy, citizens are free only when they participate directly and continuously in shaping the life of their community.

● People’s democracy: This form of democracy was developed in the twentieth century from the communist states. It was essentially developed by the ideas of V.I. Lenin. This theory was dismissive of the liberal or parliamentary democracy. People’s democracy was used to signify the importance of people and to designate the goal of social equality which could be brought via common ownership of wealth.

Indian Democracy: Idea and Practice

India is the world’s largest democracy. The citizens have the right to vote and elect their leaders. It goes irrespective of their religion, caste, color, creed, and gender. Constitution of India essentially sums up democratic principles it forwards; sovereign, socialist, secular and democratic and republic.

The basic tenets of democracy are that the citizen must be equal. Equality must be present in the individual vote. Each individual vote has equal weight which pushes forward the concept of ‘one person one vote’.

The ideals of democracy in India are the system of adult franchise and indirect participation by the people. People are equal before the law. It is democratic state which is essentially based on equality of opportunity, welfare state, free and fair elections. The Head of the State is elected although indirectly elections periodically. Every citizen has a right to elect representatives to all levels from panchayats, municipal boards, state assemblies and parliament. Indian democracy keeps concepts of participatory democracy and decentralised governance to its core.

Problems with substantive democracy arise when there are problems in the following principles of democracy itself. The issues of communalism, social injustice of caste, subjugation of women and corruption tend to erode democracy. So how do we reach substantialization of democracy? The answer lies in strengthening of formal structures of procedural democracy and to incorporate value in the system. Procedural democracy in India functions well. Elections are held regularly and India has never and there has been no military coup.

The problem associated with Indian democracy is widespread inequality, unemployment and poverty. Democracy has been often said to be slow with respect to growth. It has been often argued that democracy is not for poor countries and that the pace of development is slow. ‘Lee thesis’ based on Lee Kuan Yew, who was the former Prime Minister of Singapore, believed that democratic rights should be suspended as well as political freedom should be denied. The sole reason for this authoritative argument is economic growth.

There is uniqueness in strength of democracy; it has been capable of addressing the challenges of politics. There exists rival opinions of democracy and difference in interests but democratic societies have shown its strength and have come out to be peaceful and stable Democracies essentially rely on open debate, persuasion and compromise.

Democracy is rooted in ideas like individualism. It gives importance to the principles of equality, citizenship, one person, one vote, pluralism. The dominant form of democracy is liberal western-style democracy, and its spread, sometimes imposed and always encouraged, to the non-western world can be viewed as a form of cultural imperialism. Good government not popular government.

The problem with democracy is that the dictates of wisdom and experience tend to be ignored because the views of the well-educated minority are swamped by those of the less well[1]educated majority. Being committed to the principle of political equality, democracy cannot cope with the fact that the majority is not always right. This is a particular concern for economic policy, where options, such as raising taxes or cutting government spending, which may best promote long-term economic development, may be ruled out simply because they are unpopular.

Rights of political participation and access to power, especially the right to vote, are universally applicable because they stem from the basic entitlement to shape the decisions that affect one’s own life. It gives the right to self-rule. It gives equal access to power and the right to political participation could be viewed as virtues in their own right and as preconditions for the maintenance of all other rights and freedoms.

Governments and leaders need to be checked or constrained, and there is no more effective constraint on power than democracy. It deepens tribal, regional or ethnic tensions, and strengthens the tendency towards charismatic leadership, thereby breeding authoritarianism.

Democracy is based on values and assumptions that betray the cultural biases of its western heartland.