Democracy and its Types

Democracy

By Arfat Hussain

MGM (BA-IJ) student

MEANING:

The definition of democracy is a form of government in which the common people hold political power and can rule either directly or through elected representatives. An example of democracy at work is in The United States, where people have political freedom and equality.

SOME MAJOR FEATURES OF A DEMOCRACY:

1. Popular Sovereignty:

Democracy is based on sovereignty. People can exercise their power in a democracy. They elect their representatives. The government remains responsible for the common mass for its every omission and commission.

2. Political Equality:

Democracy is based on political equality. It means all citizens irrespective of caste, creed, religion, race or sex are considered to be equal before the law and enjoy equal political rights. Political equality gives the right to vote to every citizen.

3. Majority Rules:

In a democratic set-up actual government is carried out with the help of the party which obtains the majority of votes. Support of the majority is accepted by all.

4. Federal:

It is another feature of Indian democracy. Article 1 of the Indian Constitution describes India as a union of states. According to our Constitution, the states are autonomous. They have full freedom in certain matters, and in some other matters they are dependent on center.

5. Collective Responsibility:

In Indian democracy, the Council of Ministers both in states and center are collectively responsible to their respective legislative. No minister is alone responsible for any act of the government. The entire council of ministers is responsible for all the activities.

6. Formation of Opinion:

A democratic government must provide institutions through which public opinion on various matters can be formed. Legislature provides the most important platform to estimate and express public opinion.

7. Respect for Opinion of Minority:

In a democratic setup, majority rules but opinions of minorities are also given respect. They are encouraged to give their opinion. Democracy being a government by free discussion and criticism encourages both the positive and negative aspects of any proposal. The majority must tolerate the opinion of the minority otherwise democracy will degenerate into authoritarianism.

8. Provision for Rights:

Democracy provides individual dignity by giving various rights to the individual.

9. Rule of Laws:

In a democracy, there is rule of law. It means the supremacy of law overall. Under any circumstance, the law cannot be compromised.

10. Rule by Consent:

ADVERTISEMENTS:

Democracy is based on consent in general but not on force or coercion. By collecting consent from the majority through dialogue, debate, and discussion the problems can be solved.

11. Implies open Society:

Democracy implies a free and open society. Every activity of the government is based on public opinion. Different associations, unions, organizations are formed to discuss the problems openly and to find out the solution for the problems.

12. Government by Compromise:

Democracy is a government by adjustment and compromise. Different opinions are to be considered within the ruling party and outside of the party. There is a plurality of ideas to which the government has to take into consideration.

13. It is a welfare Government:

Most of the democratic countries have welfare government. Democracy is a powerful weapon through which all-round welfare is possible. As a welfare government, it retains an individual’s freedom, liberty, dignity, etc.

14. Independent Judiciary:

Democracy is characterized by an independent judiciary. The judiciary does not depend on the executive or legislature. No government organ can influence the judiciary.

Direct Democracy

Direct democracy is where the citizens vote directly in elections. Each citizen has one vote. This type of democracy is common is class elections and other small organizational meetings. Ancient Athenians used direct democracy when they voted. They indicated their vote by using colored shards of pottery. Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which people decide on policy initiatives directly. This differs from the majority of currently established democracies, which are representative democracies. The theory and practice of direct democracy and participation as its common characteristic was the core of work of many theorists, philosophers and politicians, among whom the most important are Jean Jacques Rousseau, John Stuart Mill, and G.D.H. Cole.  In direct democracy, people decide on policies without any intermediary. Depending on the particular system in use, direct democracy might entail passing executive decisions, the use of sorting, making laws, directly electing or dismissing officials, and conducting trials. Two leading forms of direct democracy are participatory democracy and deliberative democracy.

Indirect democracy

Indirect democracy: is where citizens vote for representatives who then go on to vote on issues. This exists in the United States in the form of the people voting to send individuals to Congress. It also exists with the Electoral College, as people do not vote directly for president but for a slate of electors. Representative democracy is also known as indirect democracy, representative government or is a type of democracy founded on the principle of elected officials representing a group of people, as opposed to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies are types of representative democracies; for example, the United Kingdom is a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy, France is a unitary semi-presidential republic, and the United States is a federal presidential republic. It is an element of both the parliamentary and the presidential systems of government and is typically used in a lower chamber such as the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, Lok Sabha of India, and maybe curtailed by constitutional constraints such as an upper chamber. It has been described by some political theorists including Robert A. Dahl, Gregory Houston and Ian Liebenberg as polyarchy. In it, the power is in the hands of the representatives who are elected by the people. Political parties are often central to this form of democracy because electoral systems require voters to vote for political parties as opposed to individual representatives.

Merits

1.  Democracies give people a chance to become personally involved with their government.

2.  Democracy encourages equality in a positive way.

3.  The structure of democracy works to reduce issues with exploitation.

4.  Democracies usually grow faster economically than other forms of government.

5.  There is more consistency available in a democracy than other government structures.

6.  Democracy does not create a centralized power base for ruling over the people.

7.  People identify with their government to create a stronger level of patriotism.

8.  Countries that use democracy are less likely to enter into armed conflicts.

9.  A democracy transitions power smoothly while establishing legitimacy.

10.                   It encourages liberalism more than extremism.

Demerits

1.  It sometimes leads to establish the majority view over the minority view.

2.  “Party leaders and political office holders in government control the citizens and the members of the party."

3.  It does not encourage individuals to give their opinions. 

4.  "It is a very expensive form of government because elections have to be conducted periodically to the various offices."

5.  It is difficult to prevent corruption and malpractices.

6.  It is also known as government by amateurs and leads to the domination of masses.

7.  "The decision-making the process is slow in democracy as it involves long debates and deliberations in the Parliament."

8.  "Self-discipline, a good conscience, and intellect are pre-requisites for every citizen to have a successful democratic society."

9.  "Self-interest is the most common and a majority of the people is unwilling to subordinate it to the general will of the community."

10.                   “Democracy has been characterized by these critics as monocracy; it produces quantity rather than quality. This rule of the majority has at times proved to be the most incompetent and worthless.”