Civics

Chapter 7: Outcomes of Democracy

1. We look at the outcomes of democracy in various respects such as?

We proceed to look at the expected and actual outcomes of democracy in various respects:
quality of government, economic well-being, inequality, social differences and conflict and
finally freedom and dignity

2. Why is democracy better than other forms of government?

i) Promotes equality among citizens; there is 1 vote for each person and there is no
discrimination based on caste, religion, education etc.
ii) Enhances the dignity of the individual; because democracy is based on the principle of
political and social equality. People are the rulers themselves. Even when they make
mistakes, they are responsible for their conduct.
iii) Improves the quality of decision making; because in a democracy a lot of people are
consulted before making decisions . When a number of people put their heads together,
they are able to point out possible mistakes in any decision .so, the chances of rash or
irresponsible decisions are reduced .
iv) Provides a method to resolve conflicts; Different groups look at the world very
differently. The preferences of one group clash with those of other groups. Democracy
provides the only peaceful solution to this problem as no one is a permanent winner or
loser. So, Different groups can live with one another peacefully.
v) Allows room to correct mistakes; in a democracy mistake cannot be hidden for long.
There is a space for public discussion and a room for correction. Either the rulers have to
change their decisions, or the rulers can be changed.

For e.g.: China’s famine of 1958-1961 was the worst recorded famine in world history.
During those days, India’s economic condition was not much better than China Yet India
did not have a famine. Economists think that this was a result of different government
policies in the two countries. The existence of democracy in India made the Indian
government respond to food scarcity. If China too had multiparty elections, an opposition
party and a press free to criticise the government, then so many people may not have died
in the famine

3. Tell 1 dilemma about democracy?

When we talk to people around us, most of them support democracy against other
alternatives, such as rule by a monarch or military or religious leaders. But not so many of
them would be satisfied with the democracy in practice. So, we face a dilemma: democracy is
seen to be good in principle, but felt to be not so good in its practice. This dilemma invites us
to think hard about the outcomes of democracy

4. How many democracies are there in the world? Are they identical?
Over a hundred countries of the world today claim and practice some kind of democratic
politics: they have formal constitutions, they hold elections, they have parties and they
guarantee rights of citizens. While these features are common to most of them, these
democracies are very much different from each other in terms of their social situations, their
 economic achievements and their cultures. Clearly, what may be achieved or not achieved
under each of these democracies will be very different

5. What is the first step towards thinking about outcomes of democracy?

Our interest in and fascination for democracy often pushes us into taking a position that
democracy can address all socio-economic and political problems. If some of our expectations
are not met, we start blaming the idea of democracy. Or, we start doubting if we are living in
a democracy. The first step towards thinking carefully about the outcomes of democracy is to
recognise that democracy is just a form of government. It can only create conditions for
achieving something. The citizens have to take advantage of those conditions and achieve
those goals.

6. Answer the following question on the cartoon on page 90 titled ‘Is democracy all about
coping with multiple pressures and accommodating diverse demands?’
i) What is shown in the given cartoon?
The cartoon throws a light on the issues faced in a democracy. It includes the Indian
examples- language dispute, separatist movements, students' demands, border disputes
with different countries, excesses made by the police and bureaucrats.

ii) Identify the man sitting on the rock named democracy.

This is the famous cartoonist R.K Laxman who gave Indian politics a new dimension by
releasing political cartoons which commented on all relevant issues. He is seen worried
here due to an array of problems faced by India.

7. Name 1 thing that a democracy must provide?

There are some things that democracy must provide. In a democracy, we are most concerned
with ensuring that people will have the right to choose their rulers and people will have
control over the rulers. Whenever possible and necessary, citizens should be able to
participate in decision making, that affects them all.

8. What is the most basic outcome of democracy?

the most basic outcome of democracy should be that it produces a government that is
accountable to the citizens, and responsive to the needs and expectations of the citizens.

9. Is democracy efficient? Is the decision-making delay in democracy Beneficial?

i) Some people think that democracy produces less effective government. It is, of course,
true that non-democratic rulers do not have to bother about deliberation in assemblies or
worry about majorities and public opinion. So, they can be very quick and efficient in
decision making and implementation.
ii) Democracy is based on the idea of deliberation and negotiation. So, some delay is bound
to take place
iii) Imagine a government that may take decisions very fast. But it may take decisions that are
not accepted by the people and may therefore face problems.
iv) 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.

10. Answer the following questions on cartoon on page 91 titled ‘Government Secrecy’?
i) What is shown in this cartoon?
 It shows how the government is keeping an eye on the citizens through a lens/
telescope and knows each and every detail about the but the citizens on the other hand
do not have any such information about the government.

ii) Can you think of what and how the government knows about you and your
family?
The government of India has various tools through which information about the
citizens can be taken, for example - Aadhar cards, ration cards and voter identity
cards etc. Every ten years, the government conducts census. In this census, there are
records of each adult member of the family along with his/her sex, age and education.
There is a provision of registering birth, marriage and death of the family members
with the government institutions.
iii) What are the sources of information for you about the government?
Right to Information, information on government websites, newspapers etc. Political
leaders either local or national are the main sources information to the common
people. They make them aware of the polices and decisions taken by the government.

11. How is a democratic government Transparent?

democracy ensures that decision making will be based on norms and procedures. So, 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. This factor is often missing from a non-democratic government. Therefore,
when we are trying to find out the outcomes of democracy, it is right to expect democracy to
produce a government that follows procedures and is accountable to the people

12. What other things can we expect from democratic governments?

We can also expect that the democratic government develops mechanisms for citizens to hold
the government accountable and mechanisms for citizens to take part in decision making
whenever they think fit

13. What things do we look for while measuring democracies?

If you wanted to measure democracies on the basis of this expected outcome, you would look
for the following practices and institutions: regular, free and fair elections; open public debate
on major policies and legislations; and citizens’ right to information about the government
and its functioning.

14. In this regard, what had the actual record of democracies?

The actual performance of democracies shows a mixed record on this.
i) Democracies have had greater success in setting up regular and free elections and in setting
up conditions for open public debate.
ii) But most democracies fall short of elections that provide a fair chance to everyone and in
subjecting every decision to public debate.
iii) Democratic governments do not have a very good record when it comes to sharing
information with citizens.
iv) All one can say in favour of democratic regimes is that they are much better than any non-
democratic regime in these respects

15. What can be expected from democracies? State 1 evil that exists in democracies?
In substantive terms it may be reasonable to expect from democracy a government that is
attentive to the needs and demands of the people and is largely free of corruption. The record
of democracies is not impressive on these two counts. Democracies often frustrate the needs
of the people and often ignore the demands of a majority of its population. The routine tales
 of corruption are enough to convince us that democracy is not free of this evil. At the same
time, there is nothing to show that non-democracies are less corrupt or more sensitive to the
people.

16. Why is there a overwhelming support for democracy all over the globe?
OR
‘Democracy’s ability to generate its own support is itself an outcome that cannot be
ignored’ Justify?
OR
Describe 1 respect in which democracy is certainly better than its competitors?
i) There is one respect in which democratic government is certainly better than its
alternatives: democratic government is legitimate government.
ii) It may be slow, less efficient, not always very responsive or clean. But a democratic
government is people’s own government.
iii) That is why there is an overwhelming support for the idea of democracy all over the
world.
iv) As the accompanying evidence from South Asia shows, the support exists in countries
with democratic regimes as well as countries without democratic regimes.
v) People wish to be ruled by representatives elected by them.
vi) They also believe that democracy is suitable for their country. Democracy’s ability to
generate its own support is itself an outcome that cannot be ignored.

17. Answer the following questions on the basis of graphs on page 92

i) Which south Asian countries prefer democracy over dictatorship?
Countries that prefer democracy
a) Bangladesh
b) India
c) Sri Lanka
d) Nepal
ii) Which country prefers Dictatorship over democracy?
Pakistan
iii) What is conclusion drawn from graph 1 titled ‘How suitable is democracy for
your country?’
Very few doubt the suitability of democracy for their own country
iv) What is conclusion drawn from graph 2 titled ‘Those who agree with the rule of
leaders elected by the people’
Overwhelming support for democracy
v) ‘If democracies are expected to produce good governments, then is it not fair to
expect that they would also produce development?’ Justify the given statement
using suitable arguments?
Evidence shows that in practice many democracies did not fulfil this expectation.
i) If you consider all democracies and all dictatorships for the fifty years between
1950 and 2000, dictatorships have slightly higher rate of economic growth.
ii) The inability of democracy to achieve higher economic development worries us.
But this alone cannot be reason to reject democracy.
iii) As you have already studied in economics, economic development depends on
several factors: country’s population size, global situation cooperation from other
countries, economic priorities adopted by the country, etc.
iv) However, the difference in the rates of economic development between less
developed countries with dictatorships and democracies is negligible.
v) Overall, we cannot say that democracy is a guarantee of economic development.
But we can expect democracy not to lag behind dictatorships in this respect.
 vi) When we find such significant difference in the rates of economic growth
between countries under dictatorship and democracy, it is better to prefer
democracy as it has several other positive outcomes.

18. What does the cartoon on page 93 titled ‘The rich get buff convey’?
i) What does these cartoons represent?
It talks about the economic growth and income distribution gains of 2000-2006, It tells us
about the disparities between the rich and poor. The rich are getting richer and poor are
getting poorer. The economic gains are distributed in society in such a way that this inequality
fails to disappear.

ii) Should the gains of economic growth be evenly distributed?

Yes, up to a certain extent it should be. Even Marxism supports this idea. Of course, the gains
of economic growth should be equally distributed among the citizens so as to make an
economically even society. Also, this would be as per one of the basis causes of democracy
i.e., economic justice.

iii) How can the poor get a voice for a better share in a nation?
The poor will get better share in democratic nation when they will be given proper
representation and also, they get a chance to participate in a decision making.

iv) What can the poor countries do to receive a greater share in the world's wealth?
They should get united to fight for the cause. Only then, they will be able to get their share.
At the same time, they will have to take initiatives to strengthen their internal democracy and
exploit their own available natural resources

19. Give some facts relating to economic progress of democracies and dictatorship
i) On an average, dictatorial regimes have had a slightly better record of economic
growth. But when we compare their record only in poor countries, there is virtually
no difference.
ii) Within democracies there can be very high degree of inequalities. In democratic
countries like South Africa and Brazil, the top 20 per cent people take away more
than 60 per cent of the national income, leaving less than 3 per cent for the bottom 20
per cent population.
iii) Countries like Denmark and Hungary are much better in this respect.
iv) There is often inequality of opportunities available to the poorer sections

20. What does the cartoon on Page 94 depict?

The cartoon depicts that there is often inequality of opportunities available to the poorer
sections

21. What would be your verdict on democracy if you had to base it purely on economic
performance of democratic regimes in terms of growth and equal distribution?
On the basis of economic performance, dictatorial regimes have performed slightly better in
last 50 years. The democratic regimes witnessed 3.95 per cent growth rate on an average
while the dictatorial regimes 4.42 per cent. Therefore, dictatorship is better than democracy
based on economic performance

22. What should one expect from democracy?

More than development, it is reasonable to expect democracies to reduce economic disparities

23. What are democracies based on?

 Democracies are based on political equality. All individuals have equal weight in electing
representatives

24. “Parallel to the process of bringing individuals into the political arena on an equal
footing, we find growing economic inequalities” Explain
Parallel to the process of bringing individuals into the political arena on an equal footing, we
find growing economic inequalities.
i) A small number of ultra-rich enjoy a highly disproportionate share of wealth and
incomes.
ii) Not only that, their share in the total income of the country has been increasing.
iii) Those at the bottom of the society have very little to depend upon. Their incomes
have been declining.
iv) Sometimes they find it difficult to meet their basic needs of life, such as food,
clothing, house, education and health.

25. “In actual life, democracies do not appear to be very successful in reducing economic
inequalities” Explain
In actual life, democracies do not appear to be very successful in reducing economic
inequalities
i) The poor constitute a large proportion of our voters and no party will like to lose their
votes
ii) Yet democratically elected governments do not appear to be as keen to address the
question of poverty as you would expect them to.
iii) The situation is much worse in some other countries.
iv) In Bangladesh, more than half of its population lives in poverty.
v) People in several poor countries are now dependent on the rich countries even for
food supplies

26. Answer the following with respect to the cartoon on page 95

i) How can the poor get a voice for a better share in a nation?
The poor will get better share in democratic nation when they will be given proper
representation and also, they get a chance to participate in a decision making

27. Democracy is a rule of the majority. The poor are in majority. So, democracy must be a
rule of the poor. How can this not be the case?
i) Democracy is a rule of the majority means that rule by majority views.
ii) Rule by majority does not mean rule by majority in terms of religion, race, linguistic
groups, poor or rich.
iii) It means that in case of every decision or in case of every election, different persons
and groups may and can form majority.
iv) So, to say that democracy must be a rule of the poor will give rise to a further division
of society on a different line and lead to conflict.
v) Democracy remains democracy only as long as every citizen has a chance of being in
majority at some point of time

28. What does the cartoon on page 96 represent?

It tells us about the disparities between the rich and poor. The rich are getting richer and the
poor are getting poorer. The economic gains are distributed in society such a way that this
inequality fails to disappear

29. Should the gains of economic growth be evenly distributed?

 Yes, up to a certain extent it should be. Of course, the gains of economic growth should be
equally distributed among the citizens so as to make an economically even society. Also, this
would be as per one of the bases causes of democracy i.e., economic justice.

30. What can the poor countries do to receive a greater share in the world’s wealth?
They should get united to fight for the cause. Only then, they will be able to get their share.
At the same time, they will have to take initiatives to strengthen their internal democracy and
exploit their own available natural resources

31. Is a harmonious social life a fair expectation from democracy?

It is a fair expectation that democracy should produce a harmonious social life. Democracies
accommodate various social divisions. For example, Belgium has successfully negotiated
differences among ethnic populations

32. How does a Democracy achieve accommodation of social diversity?

Democracies usually develop a procedure to conduct their competition. This reduces the
possibility of tensions, between different social groups, becoming explosive or violent.

33. “Ability to handle social differences, divisions and conflicts is thus a definite plus point
of democratic regimes.” Explain
i) No society can fully and permanently resolve conflicts among different groups.
ii) But we can certainly learn to respect these differences and we can also evolve
mechanisms to negotiate the differences.
iii) Democracy is best suited to produce this outcome.
iv) Non-democratic regimes often turn a blind eye to or suppress internal social
differences.
v) Ability to handle social differences, divisions and conflicts is thus a definite plus
point of democratic regimes.

34. All you are saying is that democracy ensures that people do not break each other’s head.
This is not harmony. Should we be happy about it?
i) When a democracy tries to accommodate social diversity, it does not mean it ensures
that people do not break each other’s head.
ii) In fact, democracy teaches us to respect these differences and evolve mechanisms to
negotiate them.
iii) We should be happy that we can live together with dignity and freedom, with all our
differences only when there is a democratic set up

35. What conditions a democracy must fulfil to achieve accommodation of social diversity?
The example of Sri Lanka reminds us that a democracy must fulfil two conditions in order to
achieve this outcome:
i) It is necessary to understand that democracy is not simply rule by majority opinion.
a) The majority always needs to work with the minority so that governments
function to represent the general view
b) Majority and minority opinions are not permanent
ii) It is also necessary that rule by majority does not become rule by majority community
in terms of religion or race or linguistic group, etc.
a) Rule by majority means that in case of every decision or in case of every election,
different persons and groups may and can form a majority.
b) Democracy remains democracy only as long as every citizen has a chance of
being in majority at some point of time.
 c) If someone is barred from being in majority on the basis of birth, then the
democratic rule ceases to be accommodative for that person or group.

36. Explain the cartoons on Page 97

(i) Democratic politics when make race, religion, caste or any other existing social
division as its base, it further divided the society and gave an impetus to the conflict.
This is not healthy for democracy itself
(ii) Contrary to it, when the existing divisions are minimized through democratic means
on the basis of moral and prudential reasons, it leads to the solid ration of the country.
It also contributes in the development of each and every class of the society. It makes
an environment where people can grow and prosper together

37. Democracy stands much superior to any other form of government in?
i) Democracy stands much superior to any other form of government in promoting
dignity and freedom of the individual.
ii) Every individual wants to receive respect from fellow beings.
iii) Often conflicts arise among individuals because some feel that they are not treated
with due respect.
iv) The passion for respect and freedom are the basis of democracy.
v) Democracies throughout the world have recognised this, at least in principle
vi) This has been achieved in various degrees in various democracies

38. Where is it difficult to recognize all individuals as equal?

For societies which have been built for long on the basis of subordination and domination, it
is not a simple matter to recognize that all individuals are equal

39. What is the status of women in democracies today?

i) Most societies across the world were historically male dominated societies.
ii) Long struggles by women have created some sensitivity today that respect to and
equal treatment of women are necessary ingredients of a democratic society.
iii) That does not mean that women are actually always treated with respect.
iv) But once the principle is recognised, it becomes easier for women to wage a struggle
against what is now legally and morally unacceptable
v) In a non-democratic set up, this unacceptability would not have legal basis because
the principle of individual freedom and dignity would not have the legal and moral
force there.

40. What makes the citizens value their democratic rights?

It is the recognition that makes ordinary citizens value their democratic rights

41. Democracy in India has strengthened the claims of?

Democracy in India has strengthened the claims of the disadvantaged and discriminated
castes for equal status and equal opportunity. There are instances still of caste-based
inequalities and atrocities, but these lack the moral and legal foundations

42. What functions as the criteria for judging any democratic country?
Expectations from democracy also function as the criteria for judging any democratic country

43. What is the most distinctive feature of democracy?

The most distinctive about democracy is that its examination never gets over.
i) As democracy passes one test, it produces another test.
 ii) As people get some benefits of democracy, they ask for more and want
to make democracy even better.
iii) That is why, when we ask people about the way democracy functions,
they will always come up with more expectations, and many complaints
iv) The fact that people are complaining is itself a testimony to the success
of democracy: it shows that people have developed awareness and the
ability to expect and to look critically at power holders and the high and
the mighty.
v) A public expression of dissatisfaction with democracy shows the success
of the democratic project: it transforms people from the status of a
subject into that of a citizen.

44. What do the individuals believe about their vote?

Most individuals today believe that their vote makes a difference to the way the government
is run and to their own self-interest.

45. What does the cartoon and graph on Page 98 represent?

The cartoon relates to inequality that women face today all over the world. This reflects
insecurity to women’s dignity.
The graph shows that even after many complaints against it, democracy has been the most
acclaimed form of government in the South Asian nations.