OUTCOMES OF DEMOCRACY

SUBJECT POLITICAL SCIENCE CLASS X

TERM II

Q.1.Why is democracy considered a better form of govt.?

A.a)It promotes equality among students.

b)Democracy enhances the dignity of individuals.

c)Democracy allows us to correct our mistakes. d)It improves the quality of decision
making.

Q.2.What should democracy provide?

A.2.a)People should have the right to choose their rulers and have control over
them.

b)Citizens should be able to participate in decision-making that affects them all.

c)The government should be termed accountable to the citizens and responsive to

the needs and expectations of the citizens.

Q.3.Is a non democratic government efficient?

A. Non-democratic rulers do not have to bother about decisions, majority and public
opinion. So they are able to have quick and efficient decision. However, democracy
is based on idea of deliberation and negotiation and so some delay is bound to take
place. A democratic govt. takes more time to follow procedures before arriving at a
decision. Its decisions are both more acceptable and more efficient to the people.

Q.4.How does democracy produce an accountable responsive and legitimate govt.?

A.4.Democracy is an accountable form of govt. as all the citizens have the right to
choose their rulers and control over them. If the govt. does not function, then the
people can vote out the govt. in next elections. Whenever possible the citizens are
able to participate in decision making through formation of public opinion. Thus, the
govt. follows procedures and is accountable to its people. In a democracy, we have
regular ,free and fair elections and conditions for open debates. We have a
responsible govt. which cares about the opinions, needs and aspirations of people.
Democracy has a legitimate govt. as it is elected by the people through elections.
The elected govt. works in accordance with the constitution of India.

Q.5.Have democracies promoted economic growth and development?

A.If we consider all democracies and dictatorships in 50 years between 1950 and
2000, we find that dictatorships have a slightly higher rate of economic
development. Moreover economic growth is dependent on several factors such as:
-the countrys population size, global situation, co-operation from other countries,
economic priorities adopted by the country etc. So we cannot say that democracy
can guarantee economic development but democracy will not lag behind
dictatorships in this respect.

Q.6.What are the negative features of democracy?

A1)Most democracies fall short of elections that provide a fair chance to everyone
and in subjecting every decision to public debate.

2)Democratic govts. do not have a very good record when it comes to sharing
information with the people.

3)Democracies often frustrate the needs of people and often ignore the demands of
majority of the population.

4)The routine cases of corruption are enough to convince us that democracy is not
free of this evil.

Q.7.Mention the practices and institutions measure democracy.

A-1)Regular, free and fair elections.

2)Open public debate on major policies.

3)Legislations and citizens right to information about the govt. and its functioning.

Q.8.Discuss the outcomes of democracy with reference to the following

a)Democratic reduction of inequality and poverty.

A.a)1.A small number of ultra rich enjoy a highly disproportionate share of wealth
and income.

2.Those at bottom of the society have little to depend upon and sometimes they
find it difficult to meet the basic needs of their lives like food; clothing; housing;
education and health.

3.The poor constitute a large proportion of our voters and no party likes to lose their
votes.

4.Yet,democratically elected govts.do not appear to be as keen to address the

question of poverty as we would expect them to.

b)Accomodation of Social Diversity

1.No society can fully and permanently resolve conflicts among different groups.
2.But we can certainly learn to respect these differences and we can evolve
mechanisms to negotiate the differences.

3.Democracy is best suited to produce this outcome but it must fulfill two conditions
in order to achieve this:

i)it is easy to understand that democracy is not simply rule by majority opinion, the
majority always needs to work with the minority so that the govt. functions to
represent the general view. Majority and minority opinions are not permanent.

ii)It is also necessary that rule by majority does not become rule by majority in
terms of religion or race or group etc. Rule by majority means that in case of every
election; different persons and groups may and can form a majority .Democracy
remains democracy as long as every citizen has a chance of being in majority at
same point of time.

4.If someone is barred from being in majority on the basis of birth, then the
democratic rule seems to be accommodative for that person or group.

MORE EXTRA QUESTIONS

Q.1:- How does democracy produce an accountable, responsive and

legitimate government?
Ans.:- 1. Democracy is a form of govt. in which people rule themselves through the
representatives who are
elected by them
2. The elected members from the govt. and make policies and run the
administration of the country.
3. The govt. elected by the people is also accountable to them.

Q.2:- List the various aspects and qualifications which help in giving a clear
definition of democracy.
Ans.:- 1. The rulers elected by the people must take all the major decisions
2. Elections must offer a choice and fair opportunity to the people to change the
existing rulers.
3. Choice and opportunity should be available to all the people on an equal basis
4. Besides political rights, some social and economical rights are offered to the
citizens by the democracy.
5. Power sharing is the spirit of democracy and is necessary between government
and social groups in a
democracy.

Q.3:- Democratic governments are better than its alternatives. Explain

the statement?
Ans.:- 1. Democratic government is a legitimate government
2. It may be slow, less efficient, not always very responsive or clean. But it is the
peoples own govt.
3. There is overwhelming support for the idea of democracy all over the world ; in
countries with
democratic regimes as well as countries without democratic regimes.

Q.4:- How democracy accommodates social diversity?

Ans.:- 1. It is necessary to understand that democracy is not simply rule by
majority opinion. The majority
always needs to work with the minority so that governments function to represent
the general view.
2. It is also necessary that rule by majority does not become rule by
majority community. In terms of religion, or race or linguistics groups. Rule by
majority means that in case of every decision or in case of every election, different
persons or groups may and can form a majority.
3. Democracy remains a democracy only as long as every citizen has a choice
of living in majority, at some point of time.

Long Answers Type Questions

Q.1:- Explain the characteristics of Democracy?

Ans.:- 1. Elected representatives
2. Elections
3. Civil liberties
4. Rules of law
5. Independent judiciary
6. Organized opposition parties
7. Freedom of religion of culture

Q. 2:- Describe the features of dictatorship?

Ans.:- Following features can be explained-
1. Monopoly of powers.
2. One party
3. Faith in force
4. Emphasis on duty and discipline
5. Belief in racial superiority

Q.3:- Democracy is better than any other form of government. Give

arguments in favors of this statement
Or
Explain the merits of democracy.
Ans.:- Democracy is considered to be the best form of government and most of the
countries in the world have adopted it. Following are the merits of democracy-
1. It safeguards the interest of the people
2. Based on the principle of equality
3. Possibility in administration
4. Political education to the people
5. Little chance of revolution
6. Based on public opinion
7. Helps people to become good citizens
8. Accommodate all diversities and differences.