Outcomes Of Democracy

Democracy :-
Democracy is a government of the people, by the people
and for the people.
Dictatorship :-
An autocratic form of absolute rule by leadership
unrestricted by law, constitution, or other social and
political factors.
How do we assess democracy’s outcomes?
The expected and actual outcomes of democracy can be
assessed by quality of government, economic well-being,
inequality, social differences, freedom and dignity.
How are democratic governments better than other
forms of governments :-
Democracy is always preferable and superior to any other form of government because of the following reasons :-
• promotes equality among citizens
• enhances the dignity of an individual
• improves the quality of decision-making
• provides a method to resolve conflicts
• allows room to correct mistakes
• Democracy provides and accountable, responsive and legitimate government.
Democracy is considered to be successful because:
a. The rulers elected by the people must take all major decision and not the rich and powerful.
b. The election must offer a free choice and opportunity to the people.
c. The choice should be available to all the people based on political equality.
Political Outcomes :-
The political outcomes of democracy are to produce accountable, responsive and legitimate government.
Is the Democratic government efficient? Is it effective?
• Imagine that other forms of government may take decisions very fast. But it may take decisions that are not
accepted by the people and may, therefore, face problems.
• Democracy is based on the idea of deliberation and negotiation. So, some delay is bound to take place.
• In contrast, the democratic government will take more time to follow procedures before arriving at a decision.
• But because it has followed procedures, its decisions may be both more acceptable to the people and more
effective.
• So, the cost of time that democracy pays is perhaps worth it.
Democracy is based on political equality:
a. All citizens have equal role in electing representatives.
b. Parallel to the process of bringing individuals into the political arena, we find growing economic inequalities.
c. Democracy does not appear to be very successful in reducing economic inequalities.
d. The ultra-rich enjoy a highly disproportionate share of wealth and income. At the bottom of the society, the
people have very little to depend on.
e. It is difficult to meet their basic needs of life, such as food, clothing, house, education and health.
Transparency :-
A citizen who wants to know if a decision was taken through the correct procedures can find this out. She has the
right and the means to examine the process of decision making. This is known as transparency.
Transparency is the most important feature of democracy:
a. Democracy ensures that decision-making will be based on certain norms and procedures.
b. So, a citizen who wants to know if a decision was taken through correct procedures can find this out.
c. The citizen has the right and the means to examine the process of decision-making. This is known as
transparency
Accountability :-
An accountable government is answerable to its citizens. It is responsible for all the decisions it makes on behalf of
its citizens.
Democratic governments in practice are accountable because:
• It is right to expect democracy to form a government that follows procedures and is accountable to the people.
• It is also expected that the democratic government develops mechanisms for citizens to take part in decision-
making whenever they think it as fit
• The democratic government is accountable to the people. If it ignores the will of the people, they will not elect
their ruler in the next general election.
• The procedures and decision-making process should be transparent for democratic government to be
accountable to the people.
Legitimate Government :-
Legitimate government is a government under which law and action of the government are revealed to the people
and government function in a transparent manner.
Why is democratic government known as legitimate government?
a. A democratic government is called legitimate government because it is people’s own government.
b. It maybe slow, less efficient and not very responsive and clean, but it is people’s government.
c. There is an overwhelming support for the idea of democracy all over the world. People of South Asia,
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and Nepal have no doubt about the suitability of democracy for their
own country.
d. People wish to be ruled by representatives elected by them. Democracy’s ability to generate its own support
makes it more legitimate.
How does democracy produce an accountable, responsive and legitimate government?
Democracy produces an accountable, responsive and legitimate government in the following ways :-
• Democratic government is responsible to the people. It cares about the opinions, need and expectations of the
people.
• In a democratic government, people have the right to choose their leaders and have control over their leaders.
• In a democratic government, citizens are able to participate in decisions making. In this way the basic outcome
of democracy is that it produces a government, accountable to the citizens.
• Democracy produces legitimate government because after every four or five years, the representatives of the
people are elected by secret ballot. The majority party forms government which works according to the
constitution.
How do democratic governments ensure transparency :-
• Democratic govt, make sure that decision-making will be based on norms and procedures.
• They allow every citizen to participate in decision-making, directly or indirectly.
• Citizens can examine and find out about the correctness of the procedure of decision-making.
• They are accountable to the’people. They have the right to change the government in the next general elections.
• They provide people with power to demand answers from their representatives and reduce the chances
of corruption.
“Democracy accommodates social diversities”:
a. Democracies develop a procedure to conduct their competition. This reduces the possibility of these tensions
becoming explosive or violent.
b. No society can fully and permanently resolve conflicts among different groups. But we can certainly learn
to respect these differences and can evolve a mechanism to negotiate these differences.
c. Ability to handle social differences, divisions and conflicts is thus a definite plus point of democratic
regimes.
d. Example: Belgium has successfully negotiated differences among its ethnic population. This reduces the
possibility of tensions.
Differences between democratic and non-democratic governments in the decision making process :-
Democratic governments Non-Democratic governments
Democratic government is slow. The decision-making process in non-democratic
government is quick.
Democratic government is slow. In non-democratic government implementation of the
decisions is fast
Democratic governments have to follow Non-democratic government do not follow any fixed
certain procedures. procedure.
Democratic government is based on non-democratic government do not bother about such
deliberation and negotiation. deliberation or public opinion.

There is an overwhelming support for the idea of democracy all over the world because:
a. A democratic government is people’s own government.
b. The evidence from South Asia shows that the support exists in countries with democratic regimes.
c. People wished to be ruled by representatives elected by them.
d. People believe that democracy is suitable for their country.
e. Democracy has the ability to generate its own support which in itself is an outcome that cannot be ignored.
Economic Outcomes :-
Economic growth, development, reduction of
poverty and inequality are the prominent
economic outcomes of democracy.
factors that determine the economic growth of
a country :-
The factors that determine the economic growth of
a country are :-
• Population
• Size
• Natural Resources
• Relationship with other countries
• Global situation
• Geographic position
• Economic policies of the government.
Economic growth and development :-
• Economic development depends on
several factors-country’s population
size, global situation, cooperation from
other countries, economic priorities
adopted by the country, etc.
• However, the difference in the rates of
economic development between less
developed countries with dictatorships
and democracies is negligible.
• Overall, we cannot say that democracy
is a guarantee of economic development. But we can expect democracy not to lag behind dictatorships in
economic development.
Democracy and the economic outcomes:
• Slow economic development and economic growth due to population.
• Basic needs of life, such as food clothing, shelter are difficult to achievPrevalence of economic inequalities.
• Poverty is still a big issue.
• Allocation of resources in few hands.
• Unjust distribution of goods and opportunities.
The outcomes one can reasonably expect of the democracy are:
a. In the political sphere—Right to vote, right to contest.
b. In the economic sphere—minimized economic inequalities.
c. In the social sphere—Equal protection to women, SCs, STs and OBCs.
Democracy reduces economic inequality and poverty :-
• Democracies have growing economic inequalities. A small number of ultra-rich enjoy a lion’s share of wealth
and those at the bottom of the society have very little to depend upon and find it very difficult to meet their
basic needs of life, such as food, clothing, house, education and health.
• Democratically elected governments address the question of poverty by making various welfare schemes to
remove poverty.
• Democracies not only make welfare schemes but also give reservations for socially and economically backward
people in jobs, elections and educational institutions.
Four ways in which democracies have been able to reduce inequality and poverty :-
• It ensures political equality by giving equal voting rights to every citizen,
• It provides a suitable environment for group activism which leads to equal opportunity to raise the concerns of
poor people.
• It supports the redistributive mechanism for transferring economic benefits on the basis of requirement of any
section of society.
• It protects the rights of every citizen without discrimination on the basis of economic status ensuring social
equality.
Social Outcomes :-
The social outcomes of a democracy should be accommodating social diversity and providing dignity and freedom
to the citizens.
Democracy accommodates social diversity :-
• Democracies usually develop a procedure to accommodate various social groups. This reduces the possibility
of social tensions becoming explosive or violent.
• No society can fully and permanently resolve conflicts among different groups. But democracy is best to handle
social differences, divisions and conflicts.
Democracy accommodates social diversities in the following ways :-
• Democracy develops competitive attitudes. Democracy develops a procedure to conduct competition among
social classes. This reduces the possibility of conflicts and social tensions.
• Democracy evolves mechanisms to negotiate : No Society can fully and permanently resolve conflicts among
different groups, but we can certainly learn to respect these differences. Democracies are best suited to produce
this outcome.
Dignity and Freedom of the Citizens :-
• Democracy stands much superior to any other form of government for promoting dignity and freedom of the
individual.
• Every individual wants to receive respect from fellow beings. Sometimes conflict arises among individual as
they feel that they are not treated with due respect.
• The passion for respect and freedom are the basis of democracy. Democracies throughout the world have
recognised and achieved this (respect and freedom) in various degrees. But it is not a simple matter to recognise
that all individuals are equal.
Weaknesses of democracy
o Democracies take more time in decision-making.
o Democracies fall short of elections that provide a fair chance to everyone and subjecting every decision to
public debate.
o The routine tales of corruption are enough to convince that democracies are not free of evil.
Dignity and Freedom of Women :-
• The long struggles by women have created some sensitivity today that respect and equal treatment of women
are necessary for democratic societies.
• But women are not always treated with respect. Once the respect’ is recognised, it becomes easier for women
to struggle for it.
• In a non-democratic set-up, the principle of individual freedom and dignity sometimes have no legal force.
Dignity and Freedom of Disadvantaged Groups :-
• Democracy in India has strengthened the claims of the disadvantaged and discriminated castes for equal status
and equal opportunity.
• There are still cases of caste-based inequalities and atrocities, but these lack the moral and legal foundations.
It is the recognition that makes ordinary citizens to value their democratic rights.
The role of citizens in a democracy are as follows:
o Citizens exercise their rights and freedoms and get benefited from democratic set-up.
o They must be aware of
their rights and duties.
o They should be aware of
the issues and problems
the country is facing.
o They must cooperate in
maintaining law and order.
o People must consider other’s needs and interest also.