Is democracy the ideal form of government? To what extent do you agree?
An ordinary man trying to get his documents from the government’s office took so long that now his son and wife are receiving it. Is it what democracy is? ‘Democracy is of the people, for the people and by the people’, this statement simply explains democracy in one sentence. But do all the citizens actually get to participate in this? It is a form of government where the citizens of the country indirectly play a role in making decisions so there is some power given to them, while the democratic leaders take an active and major role in the decision-making process. Democracy may have its drawbacks but in all, it works very fluidly.
Democracy was unanimously accepted as the ideal form of government in most countries. Previously, before the 20th century, all the countries were ruled by oligarchies, monarchies, autocratic rulers, etc but notably after World War I and II, countries embraced democracy as it gave people freedom. Many people saw drawbacks of facist leaders like Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. Thus, Democracy was seen as a way to make sure no one person had too much power and promoted equality.
Moreover, democracies allow people to speak freely and give them the right to criticize leaders they feel might not be doing what the public wants. People are fully aware of whatever happens in the economy due to transparency of work by the government, this enables them to explore different points and views before making a decision. Every sector has varied sections, with clearly defined roles. However, This advantage often leads to debates between people and the government or between different parties. For example – the conflict between NDA and UPA in India; democrats and republicans in the USA.
Democracies also are obliged to solve social problems. For ex – Belgium has successfully negotiated differences among its ethnic population. This reduces the possibility of tensions, but as seen in North Korea, people still starve for electricity or to just have the permit to travel to another city. People elect representatives so that they can solve their daily life problems in the best manner, be it inflation, lower income levels, lower output, crimes like theft or murder,etc. Thus development accelerates in democracies because the government is divided at national, state, district, provincial, and local levels, which allows sharing of workload and solving the issues better.
In a diverse country, like India, it is obvious that people have differences of opinions and interests. To figure out these differences, democracy is the only known solution as there is no permanent winner and no permanent loser. As if the mistake is made then either the decision changes or the leader.
However as everything has it cons democracy also has drawbacks. People are dissatisfied with the functioning of democracy in their countries for a many of reasons.
Partisanship also plays a role. Those who are in favour of popular parties feel satisfied with democracy seeing their party ruling the country but those who support parties that are not currently in power are more dissatisfied. In Europe, those who have unfavorable opinions of the EU always resist integration into society and tend to be unhappier with the state of democracy.
The decision making process in democracy is time-taking. For example – After 7 years, 3 months and four days, Nirbhaya (December 16 gangrape victim) got the much awaited justice as the four convicts were hanged to death in delhi tihar jail. Hence it is believed that justice delayed is justice denied, which amounts to failure of democracy.
Many governments are not able to respond to grievances faster which leads to confrontation by people through means like protests, damaging public properties, etc. For example in India, when Farm laws were amended , the farmers and opposition started to protest which lasted for a year long, due to which amended farm laws were later repealed. Thus, lakhs of farmers protested and destroyed the public properties. Such incidents prove the power of public opinion in democracy and compel the leader to act in the interest of people.
In a research conducted by Pew Research Center, across 27 countries, the figures of unsatisfied people with democracy were much more than satisfied. Thus, even after being an ideal form of government, democracy is hard to achieve fully. Democratic Republic form of government can also be used rather than just going with plain democracy form as it promotes more voting systems rather than constitution based decisions.
Corruption is still a root problem in democracy. Every year, hundreds of millions of money is known to be wasted in corruption. Money set aside for budgets is getting gulped up by mere politicians. A historic corruption case, famously known as Whiskey Ring occurred from back in the 1870s, which means it is not a current issue but a problem since people started to civilize. They bribed officials in order to keep liquor taxes for themselves.
In conclusion, modern democracy is the best form of power for ruling any country, whether rich or poor, educated or uneducated, skilled or unskilled, all are equal. One
should always strive towards a liberal democracy, which promotes peace, literacy and equality to everyone.
Author:- Dolly Singh Gehlot, a Student of BM Law College
