civis 9

2 DDDDDEMOCREMOCREMOCREMOCREMOCRAAAAATITITITITICCCCC P P P P POOOOOLITILITILITILITILITICSCSCSCSCS

OOOOOVERVERVERVERVERVIEVIEVIEVIEVIEWWWWWThis book is about democracy. In this first chapter we see how democracyhas expanded during the last hundred years to more and more countriesin the world. More than half of the independent countries in the worldtoday are democracies. The expansion of democracy has not been smoothand straight. It has seen several ups and downs in different countries. Itstill remains an unstable and uncertain achievement.

This chapter begins with different stories on the making and unmakingof democracy from different parts of the world. These stories are meant togive a sense of what it means to experience democracy and its absence.We present the pattern of the spread of democracy first with a series ofmaps and then with a short history. The focus in this chapter is ondemocracy within a country. But towards the end of the chapter, we takea look at democracy or its absence in the relations among differentcountries. We examine the working of some international organisations.This allows us to ask a big question: are we moving towards democracy atthe global level?

CHAPTER I

Democracyin theContemporaryWorld

31.1 T1.1 T1.1 T1.1 T1.1 TWOWOWOWOWO T T T T TALESALESALESALESALES O O O O OFFFFF D D D D DEMOCREMOCREMOCREMOCREMOCRACACACACACYYYYYleader of the Socialist Party of Chileand led the Popular Unity coalitionto victory in the presidentialelection in 1970. After beingelected the President, Allende hadtaken several policy decisions to helpthe poor and the workers. Theseincluded reform of the educationalsystem, free milk for children andredistribution of land to the landlessfarmers. He was opposed to foreigncompanies taking away naturalresources like copper from thecountry. The landlords, the rich andthe Church opposed his policies.Some other political parties in Chilealso opposed his government.

MMMMMilitarilitarilitarilitarilitary Cy Cy Cy Cy Coup of 1973oup of 1973oup of 1973oup of 1973oup of 1973On the morning of 11 September1973, the military took over theseaport. The Defence Minister wasarrested by the military when hearrived at his office. The military

President Salvador Allende(wearing a helmet) and hissecurity guards in front of

La Moneda, ChilesPresidential Palace, on 11

September 1973, hoursbefore his death. What do

you read on everyonesface in this photograph?

Workers of my country, I have faith inChile and its future. Other men willovercome this dark and bitter momentwhen treason seeks to prevail. Keep inmind that, much sooner than later, thegreat avenues will again be opened,through which will pass free men toconstruct a better society. Long liveChile! Long live the people! Long live theworkers!

These are my last words, and I amcertain that my sacrifice will not be invain. I am certain that, at the very least,it will be a moral lesson that will punishfelony, cowardice, and treason.

These are some extracts from thelast speech of Salvador Allende(pronounced Ayen-they). He wasthen the President of Chile, acountry in South America. Thespeech was given on the morning of11 September 1973, the day hisgovernment was overthrown by themilitary. Allende was the founder

Why did PresidentAllende addresshimself mainly to

workers? Whywere the rich

unhappy with him?

DDDDDEMOCREMOCREMOCREMOCREMOCRACACACACACYYYYY INININININ THETHETHETHETHE C C C C COOOOONTEMPONTEMPONTEMPONTEMPONTEMPORRRRRARARARARARYYYYY W W W W WOOOOORLDRLDRLDRLDRLD

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commanders asked the President toresign. Allende refused to resign orleave the country. But realising thedanger to the country and to his life,he addressed the people on theradio, part of which we read in thebeginning. Then the militarysurrounded the Presidents houseand started bombing it. PresidentAllende died in the military attack. This was the sacrifice he was talkingabout in his last speech. Agovernment elected by people wasoverthrown by the military throughconspiracy and violence.

What took place in Chile on 11September 1973 was a militarycoup. General Augusto Pinochet(pronounced Pinoshe), an Armygeneral, led the coup. Thegovernment of the United States ofAmerica was unhappy with Allendesrule and is known to have supportedand funded activities that led to thecoup. Pinochet became thePresident of the country and ruledit for the next 17 years. From agovernment that was elected by thepeople, the power shifted to the

President Michelle Bacheletaddressing her supportersafter her victory in thepresidential election inJanuary 2006. From thisphotograph do you noticeany difference between anelection rally in Chile and inIndia?

Did the army haveany legal right toarrest the defenceminister of thecountry? Shouldthe army have thepower to arrest anycitizen?

military officers. They could do asthey wished and no one couldquestion them. Thus a militarydictatorship was established inChile. Pinochets governmenttortured and killed several of thosewho supported Allende and thosewho wanted democracy to berestored. These included GeneralAlberto Bachelet of the Chilean AirForce and many other officers whorefused to join the coup. GeneralBachelets wife and daughter wereput in prison and tortured. Morethan 3,000 people were killed by themilitary. Many more were reportedmissing. No one knows whathappened to them.

A C T I V I T Y

Locate and shade Chile on the map. Whichstate in our country has a shape similar toChile? Follow the newspaper for one month and collect

news items related to any country in LatinAmerica. Did you find the news coverageadequate?

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Nac

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5RRRRRestestestestesto ro ro ro ro raaaaation of Dtion of Dtion of Dtion of Dtion of Democremocremocremocremocra ca ca ca ca cyyyyyPinochets military dictatorshipcame to an end after he decided tohold a referendum in 1988. He feltconfident that in this referendum,the people would say yes to hiscontinuing in power. But the peopleof Chile had not forgotten theirdemocratic traditions. Their vote wasa decisive no to Pinochet. This ledto Pinochet losing first his politicaland then his military powers. Thehope Allende expressed in his lastaddress was realised: felony,cowardice and treason were finallypunished. Political freedom wasrestored. Since then Chile has heldfour presidential elections in whichdifferent political parties haveparticipated. Slowly, the armys rolein the countrys government hasbeen eliminated. The electedgovernments that came to powerordered inquiries into Pinochetsrule. These inquiries showed that hisgovernment was not only verybrutal, but also very corrupt.

Do you remember a little referencemade earlier to General Bacheletsdaughter who was imprisoned andtortured along with her mother?That girl, Michelle Bachelet(pronounced Mishel Bashelet), waselected President of Chile in January2006. A medical doctor and amoderate socialist, Michelle becamethe first woman to be a DefenceMinister in Latin America. In thepresidential elections she defeated

one of Chiles richest men. In thisphotograph of her victory speech,she is saying to her supporters:

Because I was the victim of hatred, Ihave dedicated my life to reverse thathatred and turn it into understanding,tolerance and why not say it intolove.

DDDDDemocremocremocremocremocra ca ca ca ca cy in Py in Py in Py in Py in PolandolandolandolandolandLet us turn to another event, thistime from Poland, in 1980. At thattime Poland was ruled by the PolishUnited Workers Party. This was oneof the many communist parties thatruled in several countries of EastEurope at that time. In thesecountries no other political partywas allowed to function. The peoplecould not freely choose the leadersof the communist party or thegovernment. Those who spokeagainst the leaders or the party orthe government were put in prison.The government in Poland wassupported and controlled by thegovernment of the Soviet Union(USSR), a vast and powerfulcommunist state.

On 14 August 1980, the workersof Lenin Shipyard in the city ofGdansk went on a strike. Theshipyard was owned by thegovernment. In fact all the factoriesand big property in Poland wereowned by the government. Thestrike began with a demand to takeback a crane operator, a womanworker, who was unjustly dismissed

Poland is famous for itsposter art. Most of the

posters of Solidarity carriedthis special way of writing

Solidarnosc. Can you findsimilar examples of posterart or wall writing in Indian

politics?


Lech Walesa


from service. This strike was illegal,because trade unions independentof the ruling party were not allowedin Poland. As the strike continued,a former electrician of the shipyard,Lech Walesa (pronounced LekWalesha), joined the strikers. He wasdismissed from service in 1976 fordemanding higher pay. Walesa soonemerged as the leader of the strikingworkers. The strike began to spreadacross the whole city. Now theworkers started raising largerdemands. They wanted the right toform independent trade unions. Theyalso demanded the release of politicalprisoners and an end to censorshipon press.

The movement became so popularthat the government had to give in.The workers led by Walesa signed a21-point agreement with thegovernment that ended their strike.The government agreed to recognisethe workers right to formindependent trade unions and theirright to strike. After the Gdanskagreement was signed, a new tradeunion called Solidarity (Solidarnoscin Polish) was formed. It was the firsttime an independent trade unionwas formed in any of the communiststates. Within a year, Solidarityswept across Poland and had aboutone crore members. Revelations ofwidespread corruption andmismanagement in the governmentmade matters worse for therulers. The government, led byGeneral Jaruzelski, grew anxiousand imposed martial law inDecember 1981. Thousands ofSolidarity members were put inprison. Freedom to organise, protestand express opinions was onceagain taken away.

Another wave of strikes, againorganised by Solidarity, began in1988. This time the Polish

government was weaker, thesupport from Soviet Union uncertainand the economy was in decline.Another round of negotiations withWalesa resulted in an agreement inApril 1989 for free elections. Solidaritycontested all the 100 seats of theSenate and won 99 of them. InOctober 1990, Poland had its firstpresidential elections in which morethan one party could contest. Walesawas elected President of Poland.

A C T I V I T Y

Locate Poland on the map. Write down thenames of the countries that surround it.Which other East European countries were

ruled by communist par ties in the 1980s?Shade them on the map.Make a list of political activities that you could

not have done in Poland in 1980s but you cando in our country.

TTTTTwwwwwo Fo Fo Fo Fo Fe ae ae ae ae aturturturturtures of Des of Des of Des of Des of Democremocremocremocremocra ca ca ca ca cyyyyyWe have read two different kinds ofreal life stories. The story from Chilewas of a democratic government ledby Allende being replaced by a non-democratic military government ofPinochet, followed by restoration ofdemocracy. In Poland we tracked thetransition from a non-democraticgovernment to a democraticgovernment.

Let us compare the two non-democratic governments in thesestories. There were many differencesbetween Pinochets rule in Chile andthe communist rule in Poland. Chilewas ruled by a military dictator,while Poland was ruled by a politicalparty. The government of Polandclaimed that it was ruling on behalfof the working classes. Pinochetmade no such claim and openlyfavoured big capitalists. Yet bothhad some common features:

Why was anindependent tradeunion so importantin Poland? Why aretrade unionsnecessary?

7Anita made a list of the features of all the five governments that we have discussed so far. But somehowthe list got mixed up. Now she has a list of many features but she does not remember which featureapplies to which government. Can you help her by writing the correct feature under the name of thegovernment in the table below? Remember, some of these features may apply to more than onegovernment and would need to be written separately under each of these.Features:

Chile Chile Chile Poland PolandAllende Pinochet Bachelet Jaruzelski Walesa

The people could not choose orchange their rulers. There was no real freedom to

express ones opinions, formpolitical associations and organiseprotests and political action.

The three democratic governmentsidentified above Allendes Chile,Walesas Poland and BacheletsChile are different in their approachtowards social and economic matters.Allende preferred government controlon all big industries and theeconomy. Walesa wanted the marketto be free of government interference.Bachelet stands somewhere in themiddle on this issue. Yet these threegovernments shared some basicfeatures. Power was exercised by

governments elected by the peopleand not by the army, unelectedleaders or any external power. Thepeople enjoyed some basic politicalfreedoms.

From these two stories let us drawa rough way to identify a democracy.Democracy is a form of governmentthat allows people to choose theirrulers. In a democracy: only leaders elected by people

should rule the country, and people have the freedom to express

views, freedom to organise andfreedom to protest.

We shall come back to this questionin Chapter Two and develop adefinition of democracy. We shall alsonote some features of a democracy.

WidespreadcorruptionCriticis

m of the

government not

allowed

Ruler electedby the people

The president

was once a

political prisonerGovernmentowned allindustries More than oneparty exists

Ruler notelected by the

peopleMissing peoplePeople enjoyed

basic political

freedomsForeignintervention indomestic affairs

CHECKYOUR

PROGRESS


Militarydictatorship


1.2 T1.2 T1.2 T1.2 T1.2 THEHEHEHEHE C C C C CHANGINGHANGINGHANGINGHANGINGHANGING M M M M MAPAPAPAPAP OOOOOFFFFF D D D D DEMOCREMOCREMOCREMOCREMOCRACACACACACYYYYYTwentieth century was full of thekind of stories we have read above:stories of transition to democracy,of challenges to democracy, ofmilitary coups, of struggles of thepeople to bring back democracy.Was there a pattern to these storiesthat record both the march towardsdemocracy and the setbacks todemocracy? Let us use the basicfeatures we noted earlier andidentify democracies amongdifferent countries of the world.

This is what the three maps shownhere do. Take a look at these threemaps below and find out if there wasa pattern in the way democracieshave evolved in the twentieth century.The first map depicts the countries

that were democratic in 1950, a fewyears after the end of the SecondWorld War. This map also showscountries from this set that hadalready become democratic by 1900.The second map presents a pictureof democratic regimes in 1975, aftermost of the colonies had gainedindependence. Finally, we takeanother leap and look at democraciesin the year 2000, at the beginning ofthe twenty-first century.

As we look at these maps, let usask ourselves some questions. Howhas democracy marched throughthe twentieth century? Is there aclear pattern of expansion? Whendid the expansion take place? Inwhich regions?

MAP 1.1: DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENTS IN 1900-1950

DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT IN 1900 AND 1950

DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT IN 1950 BUT NOT IN 1900

9Source: Historical data for these maps is taken from Polity IV Project dataset of Universtiy of Maryland. This dataset defines democracy as existenceof choices about policies and leaders, checks on executive power and guarantee of civil liberties. Here we have used positive Polity scores asindicating the existence of democracy. In some cases the scores of dataset have been modified. For details see http://www.cidcm.umd.edu


MAP 1.3: DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENTS IN 2000

MAP 1.2: DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENTS IN 1975

DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT IN 2000

DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT IN 1975


On the basis of these maps identify up to three countries (in some cases you wont find three countries) thatwere democratic in these continents for the given years and make a table as given below.

Year Africa Asia Europe Latin America195019752000

Identify some countries from map 1.1 that became democratic between 1900 and 1950. Identify some countries from map 1.1 and 1.2 that were democratic in 1950 and 1975. Identify some European countries from map 1.2 and 1.3 that were democratic in 1975 and 2000. Identify some countries in Latin America that became democratic after 1975.Make a list of big countries that were not democratic in 2000.

CHECKYOURPROGRESS

1.31.31.31.31.3 PPPPPHAHAHAHAHASESSESSESSESSES INININININ THETHETHETHETHE E E E E EXPXPXPXPXPANSIANSIANSIANSIANSIOOOOONNNNNOOOOOFFFFF D D D D DEMOCREMOCREMOCREMOCREMOCRACACACACACYYYYY

In Britain, the progress towardsdemocracy started much before theFrench Revolution. But the progresswas very slow. Through theeighteenth and the nineteenthcenturies, series of political eventsreduced the power of monarchy andfeudal lords. The right to vote wasgranted to more and more people.Around the same time as the FrenchRevolution, the British colonies inNorth America declared themselvesindependent in 1776. In the next fewyears these colonies came togetherto form the United States of America.They adopted a democratic

Looking at thesemaps, which perioddo you find mostimportant in theexpansion ofdemocracy? Why?

Let us summarise the main pointsthat emerge from a reading of thesemaps. You need to go back to themaps to answer the question thatcomes after each point.Democracy has expanded

throughout the twentiethcentury. Is it correct to say thatat each point in these maps, thenumber of democratic countries islarger than at the previous pointin time?Democracy did not spread

evenly in all parts of the world.

It was established first in someregions and then spread to otherregions. Which continents in theworld had a large number ofdemocracies in 1900 and 1950?And which continents did not havealmost any?While a majority of countries are

democratic today, there are stilllarge parts of the world that arenot democratic. Which regions inthe world account for most of thecountries that were notdemocracies in 2000?

The BeginningThe BeginningThe BeginningThe BeginningThe BeginningThese maps do not tell us muchabout what happened before thetwentieth century. The story of mod-ern democracy began at least twocenturies ago. You may have readthe chapter on the French Revolu-tion of 1789 in the history book ofthis course. This popular uprisingdid not establish a secure and stabledemocracy in France. Throughoutthe nineteenth century, democracyin France was overthrown and re-stored several times. Yet the FrenchRevolution inspired many strugglesfor democracy all over Europe.

11

constitution in 1787. But here toothe right to vote was limited to veryfew men.

In the nineteenth century strugglesfor democracy often centred roundpolitical equality, freedom and justice.One major demand was the right forevery adult citizen to vote. ManyEuropean countries that werebecoming more democratic did notinitially allow all people to vote. Insome countries only people owningproperty had the right to vote. Oftenwomen did not have the right to vote.In the United States of America, theblacks all over the country could notexercise the right to vote until 1965.Those struggling for democracywanted this right granteduniversally to all adults men orwomen, rich or poor, white or black.This is called universal adultfranchise or universal suffrage. Thebox here tells us when universalsuffrage was granted in manycountries of the world.

When was universaladult franchise granted?

1893 New Zealand1917 Russia1918 Germany1919 Netherlands1928 Britain1931 Sri Lanka1934 Turkey1944 France1945 Japan1950 India1951 Argentina1952 Greece1955 Malaysia1962 Australia1965 US1978 Spain1994 South Africa

As you can see, by 1900 NewZealand was the only country whereevery adult had voting right. But ifyou go back to the map, you can seemany other countries are marked asdemocracies by the beginning of thetwentieth century. These countrieshad by then governments elected bya significant number of people,mostly men, and had grantedpolitical freedom in some measure.Early democracies were establishedin Europe, North America and LatinAmerica.

EEEEEnd of Cnd of Cnd of Cnd of Cnd of ColonialismolonialismolonialismolonialismolonialismFor a very long time most countriesin Asia and Africa were coloniesunder the control of Europeannations. People of the colonisedcountries had to wage struggles toachieve independence. They not onlywanted to get rid of their colonialmasters, but also wished to choosetheir future leaders. Our countrywas one of the few colonies wherepeople carried a nationalist struggleto liberate the country from thecolonial rule. Many of thesecountries became democraciesimmediately after the end of theSecond World War in 1945. Indiaachieved Independence in 1947 andembarked on its journey to transformitself from a subject country to ademocracy. It continues to be ademocracy. Most former colonies didnot have such a good experience.

The case of Ghana, a country inwestern Africa, illustrates the morecommon experience of formercolonies. Ghana used to be a Britishcolony named Gold Coast. It becameindependent in 1957. It was amongthe first countries in Africa to gainindependence. It inspired otherAfrican countries to struggle forfreedom. Kwame Nkrumah(pronounced Enkruma), son of a

Why were womengiven voting rights

much later thanmen in most

countries? Why didthis not happen in

India?


Note: This is only anillustrative list from differentparts of the world. The yearindicates when the principleof one person one vote was

fully realised in thatcountry. The list does not

include those cases wherethe right to vote was

withdrawn later.


goldsmith and himself a teacher,was active in the independencestruggle of his country.

After independence, Nkrumah be-came the first prime minister andthen the president of Ghana. He wasa friend of Jawaharlal Nehru and aninspiration for democrats in Africa.But unlike Nehru, he got himselfelected president for life. Soon af-ter, in 1966, he was overthrown bythe military. Like Ghana, most coun-tries that became democracies aftergaining independence had a mixedrecord. They could not remain de-mocracies for long.

A C T I V I T Y

Locate Ghana in an atlas and then spot it in thethree maps in the previous section. Was Ghanaa democracy in 2000? Do you think it is good to elect someone

President for life? Or is it better to hold regularelections after every few years?

RRRRReeeeeccccce ne ne ne ne nt phaset phaset phaset phaset phaseThe next big push towards democracycame after 1980, as democracy wasrevived in several countries of LatinAmerica. The disintegration of theSoviet Union accelerated this process.From the story of Poland we knowthat the then Soviet Union controlledmany of its neighbouring communistcountries in Eastern Europe. Polandand several other countries becamefree from the control of the SovietUnion during 1989-90. They choseto become democracies. Finally theSoviet Union itself broke down in1991. The Soviet Union comprised 15Republics. All the constituentRepublics emerged as independentcountries. Most of them becamedemocracies. Thus the end of Sovietcontrol on East Europe and the breakup of the Soviet Union led to a big

change in the political map of theworld.

In this period major changes alsotook place in Indias neighbourhood.Pakistan and Bangladesh made atransition from army rule todemocracy in 1990s. In Nepal, theking gave up many of his powers tobecome a constitutional monarch tobe guided by elected leaders.However, these changes were notpermanent. In 1999 GeneralMusharraf brought back army rulein Pakistan. In 2005 the new kingof Nepal dismissed the electedgovernment and took back politicalfreedoms that people had won in theprevious decade.

Yet the overall trend in this periodpoints to more and more countriesturning to democracy. This phasestill continues. By 2005, about 140countries were holding multi-partyelections. This number was higherthan ever before. More than 80previously non-democratic countrieshave made significant advancestowards democracy since 1980. But,even today, there are manycountries where people cannotexpress their opinion freely. They

Kwame Nkrumah MemorialPark in Accra, the capital ofGhana. This park wascommissioned in 1992,twenty years after Nkrumahpassed away. What mighthave caused this delay?

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13

still cannot elect their leaders. Theycannot take big decisions about theirpresent and future life.

One such country is Myanmar,previously known as Burma. Itgained freedom from colonial rule in1948 and became a democracy. Butthe democratic rule ended in 1962with a military coup. In 1990elections were held for the first timeafter almost 30 years. The NationalLeague for Democracy, led by AungSan Suu Kyi (pronounced Soo-chi),won the election. But the militaryleaders of Myanmar refused to stepdown and did not recognise theelection results. Instead, the militaryput the elected pro-democracyleaders, including Suu Kyi, underhouse arrest. Political activistsaccused of even the most trivialoffences have been jailed. Anyonecaught publicly airing views orissuing statements critical of theregime can be sentenced up totwenty years in prison. Due to thecoercive policies of the military-ruled

government in Myanmar, about 6 to10 lakh people in that country havebeen uprooted from their homes andhave taken shelter elsewhere.

Despite being under house arrest,Suu Kyi continued to campaign fordemocracy. According to her: Thequest for democracy in Burma is thestruggle of the people to live whole,meaningful lives as free and equalmembers of the world community. Herstruggle has won internationalrecognition. She has also beenawarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Yetthe people in Myanmar are stillstruggling to establish a democraticgovernment in their country.

A C T I V I T Y

Locate Myanmar on an atlas. Which Indianstates border this country?Write a short essay on the life of Aung San

Suu Kyi. Collect newspaper reports on the struggle for

democracy in Myanmar.

What should be thepolicy of the

government ofIndia towards the

military rulers ofMyanmar?


rrrrreeeeeaaaaadddddttttthehehehehe

cccccaaaaarrrrrtttttoonoonoonoonoon

This cartoonappeared in 2005

when Aung San SuuKyi turned 60. What isthe cartoonist sayinghere? Will the army

rulers feel happy withthis cartoon?

S

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ane

Pera

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1. 4 D1. 4 D1. 4 D1. 4 D1. 4 DEMOCREMOCREMOCREMOCREMOCRACACACACACYYYYY AAAAATTTTT THETHETHETHETHE G G G G GLLLLLOOOOOBBBBBALALALALAL L L L L LEEEEEVELVELVELVELVEL?????After reading about the variousphases of expansion of democracy,a teacher, Mr. Singh, asked thestudents to summarise what theyhad learnt. This is how theconversation took place:

Farida: We have learnt that democracy has beenexpanding to more and more regions andcountries all over the world.

Rajesh: Yes, we live in a better world than before.It seems we are moving towards a worlddemocracy.

Sushmita: World democracy! How can you saythat? I saw a television programme that showedhow the Americans invaded Iraq without anyjustification. The people of Iraq were notconsulted at any stage. How can you call thata world democracy?

Farida: I am not talking about the relationshipbetween different countries. I am only sayingthat more and more countries are becomingdemocratic.

Rajesh: But what is the difference between thetwo? If more and more countries becomedemocratic, isnt it obvious that the world alsobecomes more democratic? After all the Iraqwar was all about taking democracy to thatcountry.

Sushmita: No, it is not obvious to me.Singh sir: I think we are talking about two very

different things here. Farida spoke aboutestablishment of democratic governments withindifferent countries in the world today. Sushmitaand Rajesh have differences over something else.Their difference is over the relationship amongdifferent countries. It is quite possible, Rajesh,that the rulers of a country who aredemocratically elected by their people may wantto dominate over other countries.

Sushmita: Yes sir. That is exactly what happenedin the case of the war on Iraq.

Surinder: I am confused. How can we talk aboutdemocracy at the global level? Is there anyworld government? Who is the president of theworld? If there is no government, how can itbe democratic or non-democratic?

International OrganisationsInternational OrganisationsInternational OrganisationsInternational OrganisationsInternational OrganisationsLet us respond to the question thatcame up in this conversation: Doesan increase in the number ofdemocratic countries all over theworld automatically lead todemocratic relations amongcountries? Before we do that, let usthink about the point raised bySurinder. There is a government ofIndia, a government of the UnitedStates of America, and so on. Butthere is no government of the world.No government can pass any lawthat will apply to all the people ofthe world. If there is no suchgovernment, if there are no rulersand ruled, how can we apply the twofeatures of democracy here? Thesetwo features, you would recall, werethat the rulers should be elected bythe people and that people shouldhave basic political freedoms.

Should there be aworld government?If yes, who shouldelect it? And, whatpowers should ithave?

This cartoon was publishedin Mexico in 2005 and wastitled International Games.Which games is thecartoonist talking abouthere? What does the ballsymbolize? Who are theplayers?

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15

While Surinder is right in a simplesense, we cannot say that thequestion of democracy does not arisehere. There is no single WorldGovernment, but there are manyinstitutions in the world thatperform partially the functions ofsuch a government. Theseorganisations cannot commandcountries and citizens in a way agovernment can, but they do makerules that put limits on whatgovernments can do. Consider thesepoints:Who makes laws and rules to

govern the seas that do not fallwithin the boundaries of any onecountry? Or who takes steps tocontrol environmental degradationthat threatens all the countriestogether. The United Nations (UN)has evolved many Conventions onthese questions that are nowbinding on most countries of theworld. The UN is a globalassociation of nations of the worldto help cooperation ininternational law, security,economic development and socialequity. The UN Secretary Generalis its chief administrative officer.What happens when a country

attacks another country in anunjust manner? The UN SecurityCouncil, an organ of the UN, isresponsible for maintaining peaceand security among countries. Itcan put together an internationalarmy and take action against thewrongdoer.Who lends money to governments

when they need it? The Interna-tional Monetary Fund (IMF) doesso. The World Bank also givesloans to the governments. Beforelending they ask the concernedgovernment to show all itsaccounts and direct it to makechanges in its economic policy.

Are these decisionsAre these decisionsAre these decisionsAre these decisionsAre these decisionsdemocrdemocrdemocrdemocrdemocraaaaatic?tic?tic?tic?tic?So, there are many institutions atthe world level that perform someof the functions that a worldgovernment would perform. But weneed to know just how democraticthese organisations are. Theyardstick here is whether each ofthe countries has free and equalsay in the decisions that affectthem. In this light let us examinethe organisation of some of theseworld bodies.

Every one of the 193 memberstates (as on 1 September 2012)of the UN has one vote in the UNGeneral Assembly. It meets inregular yearly sessions under apresident elected from among therepresentatives of the membercountries. General Assembly is likethe parliament where all thediscussion takes place. In thatsense the UN would appear to be avery democratic organisation. Butthe General Assembly cannot takeany decision about what actionshould be taken in a conflictbetween different countries.

The fifteen-member SecurityCouncil of the UN takes suchcrucial decisions. The Council hasfive permanent members US,Russia, UK, France and China. Tenother members are elected by theGeneral Assembly for two-yearterms. The real power is with fivepermanent members. Thepermanent members, especially theUS, contribute most of the moneyneeded for the maintenance of theUN. Each permanent member hasveto power. It means that theCouncil cannot take a decision ifany permanent member says no tothat decision. This system has ledmore and more people andcountries to protest and demandthat the UN becomes moredemocratic.

Should thepermanent

members of theUN be given the

power to veto?



International Monetary Fund (IMF)is one of the biggest moneylendersfor any country in the world. Its 188member states (as on 1 September2012) do not have equal votingrights. The vote of each country isweighed by how much money it hascontributed to the IMF. More than52% of the voting power in the IMFis in the hands of only ten countries(US, Japan, Germany, France, UK,China, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Canadaand Russia). The remaining 178countries have very little say in howthese international organisations takedecisions. The World Bank has asimilar system of voting. The Presidentof the World Bank has always been acitizen of the US, conventionallynominated by the Treasury Secretary(Finance Minister) of the USgovernment.

A C T I V I T Y

Find out more about the history and variousorgans of the United Nations. Collect any news about the decisions of the

World Bank and the IMF.

Compare these to the kind ofdemocratic practices that we havebeen discussing in this chapter.What would you say about a countrywhere some persons have apermanent position in the ministryand have the power to stop thedecision of the entire parliament? Ora parliament where five per cent ofthe members hold a majority ofvotes? Would you call thesedemocratic? Most of the globalinstitutions fail to pass the simpletest of democracy that we use fornational governments.

If global institutions are notdemocratic, are they at leastbecoming more democratic thanbefore? Here too the evidence is notvery encouraging. In fact, while

nations are becoming moredemocratic than they were earlier,international organisations arebecoming less democratic. Twentyyears ago there were two big powersin the world: the US and the SovietUnion. The competition and conflictbetween these two big powers andtheir allies kept a certain balance inall the global organisations. After thecollapse of the Soviet Union, the USappears to be the only superpowerin the world. This Americandominance affects the working ofinternational organisations.

This is not to say that there is nourge or move towards globaldemocracy. The urge comes frompeople who get more opportunitiesto come in touch with one another.Over the last few years the people ofdifferent countries have cometogether without their governmentssupport. They have formed globalorganisations against war andagainst domination of the world bya few countries and businesscompanies. As in the case ofdemocracy within the nations, theinitiative for democracy amongnations has come from the strugglesof the people.



Wolfowitz was asenior official in the

Department ofDefence in the US

(commonly called thePentagon). He was anaggressive supporterof the invasion of Iraq.

The cartooncomments on his

appointment as thePresident of the WorldBank. What does thecartoon tell us about

the relationshipbetween the WorldBank and the US?

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Here are some suggestions to strengthen world democracy. Do you support these changes? Are thesechanges likely to happen? Give your reasons for each of these.More nations should become permanent members of the Security Council. UN General Assembly should become like a world parliament with representatives from each country

in proportion to the population of the country. These representatives should elect a world government. Individual countries should not have armies. The UN should maintain task forces to bring about

peace in case of conflict between nations. A UN President should be elected directly by all the people of the world.

rule in 1932. Three decades laterthere were a series of coups bymilitary officers. Since 1968, it wasruled by Arab Socialist Bath Party(the Arabic word Bath meansrenaissance). Saddam Hussein, aleading Bath party leader, played akey role in the 1968 coup thatbrought the party to power. Thisgovernment abolished traditionalIslamic law and gave women theright to vote and several freedomsnot granted in other west Asiancountries. After becoming thepresident of Iraq in 1979, Saddamran a dictatorial government andsuppressed any dissent oropposition to his rule. He was knownto have got a number of politicalopponents killed and persons ofethnic minorities massacred.

The US and its allies like Britain,alleged that Iraq possessed secretnuclear weapons and otherweapons of mass destructionwhich posed a big threat to theworld. But when a UN team wentto Iraq to search for such weapons,it did not find any. Still the US andits allies invaded Iraq, occupied itand removed Saddam Hussein frompower in 2003. The US installed aninterim government of itspreference. The war against Iraqwas not authorised by the UNSecurity Council. Kofi Annan, theUN Secretary General, said that theUS war on Iraq was illegal.

DDDDDEMOCRACYEMOCRACYEMOCRACYEMOCRACYEMOCRACY INININININ THETHETHETHETHE C C C C CONTEMPORARYONTEMPORARYONTEMPORARYONTEMPORARYONTEMPORARY W W W W WORLDORLDORLDORLDORLD

Democracy promotionDemocracy promotionDemocracy promotionDemocracy promotionDemocracy promotionTake a close look at the twocartoons on this and on the nextpage. These cartoons raise afundamental question related toglobal democracy. Recently, manypowerful countries in the world,particularly the United States ofAmerica, have taken on the task ofdemocracy promotion in the rest ofthe world. They say that propagatingthe values of democracy is notenough. Existing democraciesshould directly intervene incountries that are non-democraticto establish democracy there. Insome cases powerful countries havelaunched armed attack on non-democratic countries. This is whatSushmita was talking about.

Let us see what happened in Iraq.Iraq is a country in Western Asia. Itbecame independent from British

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The cartoon Cactusof Democracy waspublished in 2004.

What does the cactuslook like here? Who is

gifting it, and towhom? What is the

message?

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A C T I V I T Y

Collect information on the debate related to Iraqwithin the US and the UK. What were the reasonsoriginally offered for the Iraq invasion by thePresident of US and the Prime Minister of UK?What were the reasons offered after the war?

The example of Iraq raises somebasic questions that we need tothink about: Is this the right way to promote

democracy? Should a democraticcountry wage a war and invadeother countries for establishingdemocracy there?Does external help work in every

case? Or does it work only whenthe people of a nation are activelyengaged in a struggle to make theirsocieties democratic?Even if external intervention leads

to the establishment of democracyin a country, would it last long?Would it enjoy the support of itscitizens? Finally, is the use of external force

to gift democracy to the people inkeeping with the spirit ofdemocracy?

Think about these questions in thelight of all that you have learnt inthis chapter.



Helping Democracywas a comment onthe presence of USforces during the

elections in Iraq. Doyou think the cartoon

can apply to manyother situations?

Identify someexamples from thischapter which thiscartoon can help

understand.

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exercises

GLOSSARY

Censorship: A condition under which the freedom of expression is takenaway. Citizens have to take prior permission from the censor authorities of

the government for making a speech or publishing news and views.Anything that the government finds objectionable cannot be published.

Coalition: An alliance of people, associations, parties or nations. This alliancemay be temporary or a matter of convenience.Colony: Territory under the immediate political control of another state.Communist state: A state governed by a communist party without allowingother parties to compete for power. The state controls all the big property andindustry.Coup: A coup dtat (pronounced ku deta), or simply a coup, is the suddenoverthrow of a government illegally. It may or may not be violent in nature.The term is French for a sudden blow or strike to a state.Martial law: A system of rules that takes effect when a military authoritytakes control of the normal administration of justice.Political prisoners: Persons held in prison or otherwise detained, perhapsunder house arrest, because a government considers their ideas, image oractivities as a threat to the authority of the state. Often exaggerated or falsecases are foisted on them and they are kept in detention without followingnormal law.Referendum: A direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to eitheraccept or reject a particular proposal. This may be adoption of a newconstitution, a law or a specific governmental policy.State: Political association occupying a definite territory, having an organisedgovernment and possessing power to make domestic and foreign policies.Governments may change, but the state continues. In common speech, theterms country, nation and state are used as synonyms.Strike: Mass refusal by workers or employees to perform work due to certaingrievances or because of demands not met. In most democratic countries theright to strike is legal.Trade Union: An association of workers for the purpose of maintaining orimproving the conditions of their employment.Veto: The right of a person, party or nation to stop a certain decision or law.The word comes from Latin, which means I forbid. A veto gives unlimitedpower to stop a decision, but not to adopt one.

1 Which of the following does not lead to the spread of democracy?a Struggle by the peopleb Invasion by foreign countriesc End of colonialismd Peoples desire for freedom

2 Which of the following statements is true about todays world?a Monarchy as a form of government has vanished .b The relationship between different countries has become more

democratic than ever before.c In more and more countries rulers are being elected by the people.d There are no more military dictators in the world.



3 Use one of the following statements to complete the sentence:Democracy in the international organisations requires that a The rich countries should have a greater say.b Countries should have a say according to their military power.c Countries should be treated with respect in proportion to their

population.d All countries in the world should be treated equally.

4 Based on the information given in this chapter, match the followingcountries and the path democracy has taken in that country.

COUNTRY PATH TO DEMOCRACYa Chile i Freedom from British colonial ruleb Nepal ii End of military dictatorshipc Poland iii End of one party ruled Ghana iv King agreed to give up his powers

5 What are the difficulties people face in a non-democratic country?Give answers drawing from the examples given in this chapter.

6 Which freedoms are usually taken away when a democracy isoverthrown by the military?

7 Which of the following positions can contribute to democracy at theglobal level? Give reasons for your answer in each case.a My country gives more money to international institutions.

Therefore, I want to be treated with more respect and exercisemore power.

b My country may be small or poor. But my voice must be heardwith equal respect, because these decisions will affect my country.

c Wealthy nations will have a greater say in international affairs.They cannot let their interests suffer just because they areoutnumbered by poor nations.

d Big countries like India must have a greater say in internationalorganisations.

8 Here are three opinions heard in a television debate on the strugglefor democracy in Nepal. Which of these do you agree with and why?Guest 1: India is a democracy. Therefore, the Indian government

must support the people of Nepal who are strugglingagainst monarchy and for democracy.

Guest 2: That is a dangerous argument. We would be in the sameposition as the US was in Iraq. Remember, no outside forcecan promote democracy.

Guest 3:But why should we bother about the internal affairs of anothercountry? We should be worried about our business intereststhere, not about democracy. exerc

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21DDDDDEMOCREMOCREMOCREMOCREMOCRACACACACACYYYYY INININININ THETHETHETHETHE C C C C COOOOONTEMPONTEMPONTEMPONTEMPONTEMPORRRRRARARARARARYYYYY W W W W WOOOOORLDRLDRLDRLDRLD

exercises9 In an imaginary country called Happyland, the people overthrew the

foreign ruler and brought back the old royal family. They said: Afterall their ancestors were our kings before foreigners started ruling us. It is goodthat we have one strong ruler, who can help us become rich and powerful.When someone talked about democracy the wise men said it is aforeign idea. Their struggle was to throw the foreigners and theirideas out of the country. When someone demanded freedom for themedia, the elders thought that too much criticism of the ruler wouldnot help them improve their living standards. After all, the king is sokind and interested in the welfare of all the subjects. Why create problems forhim. Dont we all want to be happy?

After reading the above passage, Chaman, Champa and Chandrumade the following observations:Chaman: Happyland is a democratic country because people were

able to throw out the foreign rulers and bring back theking.

Champa: Happyland is not a democratic country because peoplecannot criticise the ruler. The king may be nice and mayprovide economic prosperity, but a king cannot give ademocratic rule.

Chandru: What people need is happiness. So they are willing to allowtheir new ruler to take decisions for them. If people arehappy it must be a democracy.

What is your opinion about each of these statements? What do youthink about the form of government in this country?

Form different groups in your class and collect different types of information(news clippings, articles, photographs, cartoons, etc.) about struggles fordemocracy in any country that is currently not democratic. Focus on thefollowing questions:

What makes the government non-democratic? What are the main complaints and demands of the people in that

country? How do the existing rulers react to peoples demands? Who are the main leaders of the struggle for democracy?

You could present the information thus collected in various forms: anexhibition, a collage, a report or a wallpaper.


OOOOOVERVERVERVERVERVIEVIEVIEVIEVIEWWWWWThe stories and the analysis in the previous chapter gave us a sense ofwhat democracy is like. There we described some governments asdemocratic and some as non-democratic. We saw how governments insome of those countries changed from one form to the other. Let us nowdraw general lessons from those stories and ask the more basic question:What is democracy? What are its features? This chapter builds on a simpledefinition of democracy. Step by step, we work out the meaning of theterms involved in this definition. The aim here is to understand clearly thebare minimum features of a democratic form of government. After goingthrough this chapter we should be able to distinguish a democratic formof government from a non-democratic government. Towards the end ofthis chapter, we step beyond this minimal objective and introduce a broaderidea of democracy.

In the previous chapter, we have seen that democracy is the mostprevalent form of government in the world today and it is expanding tomore countries. But why is it so? What makes it better than other forms ofgovernment? That is the second big question that we take up in this chapter.

CHAPTER 2

What isDemocracy?WhyDemocracy?

23

2.12.12.12.12.1 WWWWWHAHAHAHAHATTTTT ISISISISIS D D D D DEMOCREMOCREMOCREMOCREMOCRACACACACACYYYYY?????distinguishes these governmentsfrom Pinochets rule in Chile,communist rule in Poland or the laterperiod of Nkrumahs rule in Ghana?What do these governments have incommon with the military rule inMyanmar? Why do we say that thesegovernments are not democratic?

On the basis of this analysis, writedown some common features of:Democratic governmentsNon-democratic governments

WWWWWhhhhhy defy defy defy defy define democrine democrine democrine democrine democra ca ca ca ca cy ?y ?y ?y ?y ?Before we proceed further, let usfirst take note of an objection byMerry. She does not like this wayof defining democracy and wantsto ask some basic questions.

WWWWWHAHAHAHAHATTTTT ISISISISIS D D D D DEMOCREMOCREMOCREMOCREMOCRACACACACACYYYYY? W? W? W? W? WHYHYHYHYHY D D D D DEMOCREMOCREMOCREMOCREMOCRACACACACACYYYYY?????

News items like this appear very often in newspapers.Do they all use the word democracy in the same sense?

In Chapter One we read many storiesfrom different parts of the world.Through these stories we discussedvarious governments andorganisations. We called some ofthese democracies. Others weredescribed as non-democracies. Canyou recall, for each of these countries,something about the governmentsthat were described as democracies?Chile, before and after Pinochets

rule Poland, after the fall of communist

ruleGhana, in the early period of

Nkrumahs governmentWhat do you think is common to

them? Why do we club them all underthe label of democracy? What is it that


Her teacher Matilda Lyngdohresponds to her questions, as otherclassmates join the discussion:Merry: Maam, I dont like this idea. First we

spend one whole chapter discussing democ-racies in different parts of the world and thenwe want to find out the meaning of democ-racy. I mean logically shouldnt we have ap-proached it the other way round? Shouldnt themeaning have come first and then the example?

Lyngdoh Madam: I can see your point. But thatis not how we reason in everyday life. We usewords like pen, rain or love. Do we wait to havea definition of these words before we usethem? Come to think of it, do we have cleardefinition of these words? It is only by using aword that we understand its meaning.

Merry: But then why do we need definitions at all?Lyngdoh Madam: We need a definition only when

we come across a difficulty in the use of a word.We need a definition of rain only when we wishto distinguish it from, say, drizzle or cloudburst.The same is true for democracy. We need a cleardefinition only because people use it for differ-ent purposes, because very different kinds ofgovernments call themselves democracy.

Ribiang: But why do we need to work on a defi-nition? The other day you quoted Abraham Lin-coln to us: Democracy is government of thepeople, by the people and for the people. We inMeghalaya always ruled ourselves. That is ac-cepted by everyone. Why do we need to changethat?

Lyngdoh Madam: I am not saying we need tochange it. I too find this definition very beauti-ful. But we dont know if this is the best way ofdefining unless we think about it ourselves. Wemust not accept something just because it isfamous, just because everyone accepts it.

Yolanda: Maam, can I suggest something? Wedont need to look for any definition. I read some-where that the word democracy comes from aGreek word Demokratia. In Greek demosmeans people and kratia means rule. So de-mocracy is rule by the people. This is the cor-rect meaning. Where is the need to debate?

Lyngdoh Madam: That is also a very helpful wayof thinking about this matter. I would just saythat this does not always work. A word does

not remain tied to its origin. Just think of comput-ers. Originally they were used for computing, thatis to say calculating, very difficult mathematicalsums. These were very powerful calculators. Butnowadays very few people use computers forcomputing sums. They use it for writing, for de-signing, for listening to music and for watchingfilms. Words remain the same but their meaningcan change with time. In that case it is not veryuseful to look at the origins of a word.

Merry: Maam, so basically what you are sayingis that there is no shortcut to our thinking aboutthe matter ourselves. We have to think aboutits meaning and evolve a definition.

Lyngdoh Madam: You got me right. Let us get onwith it now.

A C T I V I T Y

Let us take Lyngdoh Madam seriously and try towrite down the exact definition of some of thesimple words that we use all the time: pen, rainand love. For example, is there a way of defininga pen that distinguishes it clearly from a pencil, abrush, a chalk or crayon.What have you learnt from this attempt?What does it teach us about understanding the

meaning of democracy?

A simple defA simple defA simple defA simple defA simple definitioninitioninitioninitioninitionLet us get back to our discussionon similarities and differencesamong governments that are calleddemocracies. In the previous chapterwe identified one simple factorcommon to all democracies: thegovernment is chosen by the people.We could thus start with a simpledefinition: democracy is a form ofgovernment in which the rulersare elected by the people.

This is a useful starting point. Thisdefinition allows us to separatedemocracy from forms of governmentthat are clearly not democratic. Thearmy rulers of Myanmar are notelected by the people. Those whohappen to be in control of the army

I have heard adifferent version.Democracy is offoffoffoffoffthe people, farfarfarfarfar(from) the peopleand (where they)buybuybuybuybuy the people.Why dont weaccept that?

25

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become the rulers of the country.People have no say in this decision.Dictators like Pinochet are not electedby the people. This also applies tomonarchies. The kings of Nepal andSaudi Arabia rule not because thepeople have chosen them to do so butbecause they happen to be born intothe royal family.

This simple definition is notadequate. It reminds us thatdemocracy is peoples rule. But if weuse this definition in an unthinkingmanner, we would end up calling

almost every government that holds anelection a democracy. That would bevery misleading. As we shall find outin Chapter Four, every government incontemporary world wants to becalled a democracy, even if it is notso. That is why we need to carefullydistinguish between a governmentthat is a democracy and one thatpretends to be one. We can do so byunderstanding each word in thisdefinition carefully and spelling outthe features of a democraticgovernment.

Ribiang went back home and collected some more famous quotations on democracy. This time she didnot mention the names of the people who said or wrote these. She wants you to read these and commenton how good or useful these thoughts are: Democracy gives every man the right to be his own oppressor. Democracy consists of choosing your dictators after theyve told you what you think it is you want

to hear.Mans capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but mans inclination to injustice makes

democracy necessary Democracy is a device that insures we shall be governed no better than we deserve. All the ills of democracy can be cured by more democracy.


This cartoon wasdrawn when electionswere held in Iraq withthe presence of USand other foreign

powers. What do youthink this cartoon is

saying? Why isdemocracy written

the way it is?



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2.2 F2.2 F2.2 F2.2 F2.2 FEAEAEAEAEATURESTURESTURESTURESTURES OOOOOFFFFF DDDDDEMOCREMOCREMOCREMOCREMOCRACACACACACYYYYYwant in a democracy? Or must ademocratic government functionwith some limits? Is it necessaryfor a democracy to respect somerights of the citizens?Let us consider each of these

questions with the help of someexamples.

MMMMMajor deajor deajor deajor deajor decisions bcisions bcisions bcisions bcisions by eley eley eley eley elecccccttttteeeeedddddleadersleadersleadersleadersleadersIn Pakistan, General PervezMusharraf led a military coup inOctober 1999. He overthrew ademocratically elected governmentand declared himself the ChiefExecutive of the country. Later hechanged his designation to Presidentand in 2002 held a referendum inthe country that granted him a five-year extension. Pakistani media,human rights organisations anddemocracy activists said that thereferendum was based on

We have started with a simpledefinition that democracy is a formof government in which the rulersare elected by the people. Thisraises many questions:

Who are the rulers in thisdefinition? Which officials must beelected for any government to becalled a democracy? Whichdecisions may be taken by non-elected officials in a democracy?What kind of election constitutes

a democratic election? Whatconditions must be fulfilled for anelection to be considereddemocratic?Who are the people who can elect

the rulers or get elected as rulers?Should this include every citizen onan equal basis? Can a democracydeny some citizens this right?Finally, what kind of a form of

government is democracy? Canelected rulers do whatever they

Syria is a small westAsian country. Theruling Baath Party

and some of its smallallies are the only

parties allowed in thatcountry. Do you think

this cartoon couldapply to China or

Mexico? What doesthe crown of leaves

on democracysignify?



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malpractices and fraud. In August2002 he issued a Legal FrameworkOrder that amended the Constitutionof Pakistan. According to this Order,the President can dismiss the nationaland provincial assemblies. The workof the civilian cabinet is supervisedby a National Security Council whichis dominated by military officers.After passing this law, elections wereheld to the national and provincialassemblies. So Pakistan has hadelections, elected representativeshave some powers. But the finalpower rests with military officers andGeneral Musharraf himself.

Clearly, there are many reasonswhy Pakistan under GeneralMusharraf should not be called ademocracy. But let us focus on oneof these. Can we say that the rulersare elected by the people inPakistan? Not quite. People mayhave elected their representatives tothe national and provincialassemblies but those electedrepresentatives are not really therulers. They cannot take the final

decisions. The power to take finaldecision rests with army officials andwith General Musharraf, and noneof them are elected by the people.This happens in many dictatorshipsand monarchies. They formally havean elected parliament andgovernment but the real power iswith those who are not elected. Inthe previous chapter we read aboutthe role of the USSR in communistPoland and that of the US incontemporary Iraq. Here the realpower was with some externalpowers and not with locally electedrepresentatives. This cannot be calledpeoples rule.

This gives us the first feature. In ademocracy the final decision-making power must rest withthose elected by the people.

FFFFFrrrrree and fair eleee and fair eleee and fair eleee and fair eleee and fair elecccccttttto ro ro ro ro ra la la la la lcccccompetitionompetitionompetitionompetitionompetitionIn China, elections are regularly heldafter every five years for electing thecountrys parliament, calledQuanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui(National Peoples Congress). TheNational Peoples Congress has thepower to appoint the President of thecountry. It has nearly 3,000members elected from all overChina. Some members are electedby the army. Before contestingelections, a candidate needs theapproval of the Chinese CommunistParty. Only those who are membersof the Chinese Communist Party oreight smaller parties allied to it wereallowed to contest elections held in2002-03. The government is alwaysformed by the Communist Party.

Since its independence in 1930,Mexico holds elections after every sixyears to elect its President. Thecountry has never been under amilitary or dictators rule. But until2000 every election was won by a

This cartoon wasdrawn in the contextof Latin America. Doyou think it applies tothe Pakistani situation

as well? Think ofother countries where

this could apply?Does this happensometimes in ourcountry as well?


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All this is so remotefor me. Is

democracy allabout rulers and

governments? Canwe talk about a

democraticclassroom? Or a

democratic family?


party called PRI (InstitutionalRevolutionary Party). Oppositionparties did contest elections, butnever managed to win. The PRI wasknown to use many dirty tricks to winelections. All those who wereemployed in government offices hadto attend its party meetings. Teachersof government schools used to forceparents to vote for the PRI. Medialargely ignored the activities ofopposition political parties except tocriticise them. Sometimes the pollingbooths were shifted from one placeto another in the last minute, whichmade it difficult for people to cast theirvotes. The PRI spent a large sum ofmoney in the campaign for itscandidates.

Should we consider the electionsdescribed above as examples ofpeople electing their rulers? Readingthese examples we get a sense thatwe cannot. There are many problemshere. In China the elections do notoffer the people any serious choice.They have to choose the ruling partyand the candidates approved by it.Can we call this a choice? In theMexican example, people seemed toreally have a choice but in practicethey had no choice. There was noway the ruling party could bedefeated, even if people were againstit. These are not fair elections.

We can thus add a second featureto our understanding of democracy.Holding elections of any kind is notsufficient. The elections must offera real choice between politicalalternatives. And it should bepossible for people to use this choiceto remove the existing rulers, if theywish so. So, a democracy must bebased on a free and fair electionwhere those currently in powerhave a fair chance of losing. Weshall find out more about ademocratic election in Chapter Four.

One person,One person,One person,One person,One person, one v one v one v one v one vo to to to to teeeee,,,,,one vone vone vone vone valuealuealuealuealueIn the previous chapter we read abouthow the struggle for democracy waslinked to the demand for universal adultfranchise. This principle has now cometo be accepted almost all over theworld. Yet there are many instancesof denial of equal right to vote.

In Saudi Arabia women do nothave the right to vote.Estonia has made its citizenship

rules in such a way that peoplebelonging to Russian minority findit difficult to get the right to vote. In Fiji, the electoral system is such

that the vote of an indigenous Fijihas more value than that of anIndian-Fijian.Democracy is based on a

fundamental principle of politicalequality. That gives us the thirdfeature of democracy: in ademocracy, each adult citizen musthave one vote and each vote musthave one value. We shall read moreabout it in Chapter Four.

This cartoon wastitled Building

Democracy and wasfirst published in a

Latin Americanpublication. What domoneybags signify

here? Could thiscartoon be applied to

India?



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This cartoon is aboutthe Iraqi election held

after SaddamHussains regime was

overthrown. He isshown behind thebars. What is thecartoonist saying

here? Compare themessage of this

cartoon with the firstcartoon in this

chapter.

RRRRRule of laule of laule of laule of laule of law and rw and rw and rw and rw and respeespeespeespeespeccccctttttfffffor ror ror ror ror righighighighight st st st st sZimbabwe attained independencefrom White minority rule in 1980.Since then the country has beenruled by ZANU-PF, the party that ledthe freedom struggle. Its leader,Robert Mugabe, has been ruling thecountry since independence.Elections have been held regularlyand always won by ZANU-PF.President Mugabe is popular but alsouses unfair practices in elections.Over the years his government haschanged the constitution severaltimes to increase the powers of thePresident and make him lessaccountable. Opposition partyworkers are harassed and theirmeeting disrupted. Public protestsand demonstrations against thegovernment are declared illegal.There is a law that limits the rightto criticise the President. Televisionand radio are controlled by thegovernment and give only the rulingpartys version. There are

independent newspapers but thegovernment harasses thosejournalists who go against it. Thegovernment has ignored some courtjudgments that went against it andhas pressurised judges.

The example of Zimbabwe showsthat popular approval of the rulers isnecessary in a democracy, but it isnot sufficient. Popular governmentscan be undemocratic. Popular leaderscan be autocratic. If we wish to assessa democracy, it is important to lookat the elections. But it is equallyimportant to look before and after theelections. There should be sufficientroom for normal political activity,including political opposition, in theperiod before elections. This requiresthat the state should respect somebasic rights of the citizen. They shouldbe free to think, to have opinions, toexpress these in public, to formassociations, to protest and take otherpolitical actions. Everyone should beequal in the eyes of law. These rightsmust be protected by an independent

Why talk aboutZimbabwe? I read

similar reports frommany parts of ourown country. Whydont we discuss

that?

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judiciary whose orders are obeyed byeveryone. We shall read more aboutthese rights in Chapter Six.

Similarly, there are some conditionsthat apply to the way a governmentis run after the elections. Ademocratic government cannot dowhatever it likes, simply because ithas won an election. It has to respectsome basic rules. In particular it hasto respect some guarantees to theminorities. Every major decision hasto go through a series ofconsultations. Every office bearer hascertain rights and responsibilitiesassigned by the constitution and thelaw. Each of these is accountable notonly to the people but also to otherindependent officials. We shall readmore about this in Chapter Five.

Both these aspects give us thefourth and final feature of democracy:a democratic government ruleswithin limits set by constitutionallaw and citizens rights.

SSSSSummarummarummarummarummary defy defy defy defy definitioninitioninitioninitioninitionLet us sum up the discussion so far.We started with a simple definitionthat democracy is a form ofgovernment in which the rulers areelected by the people. We found thatthis definition was not adequateunless we explained some of the keywords used in it. Through a series ofexamples we worked out four featuresof democracy as a form ofgovernment. Accordingly, democracyis a form of government in which:Rulers elected by the people take

all the major decisions;Elections offer a choice and fair

opportunity to the people tochange the current rulers; This choice and opportunity is

available to all the people on anequal basis; and The exercise of this choice leads

to a government limited by basicrules of the constitution andcitizens rights.

Chinese governmentblocked free flow ofinformation on theinternet by placing

restrictions on popularwebsites like Google

and Yahoo. Theimage of tanks and an

unarmed studentreminds the reader ofanother major event in

recent Chinesehistory. Find out about

that event.



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Read these five examples of working or denial of democracy. Match each of these with the relevantfeature of democracy discussed above.

Example Feature

King of Bhutan has declared that in future he will beguided by the advice given to him by elected representatives.

Many Tamil workers who migrated from India werenot given a right to vote in Sri Lanka.

The king of Nepal imposed a ban on political gatherings,demonstrations and rallies.

The Indian Supreme Court held that the dissolution ofBihar assembly was unconstitutional.

Political parties in Bangladesh have agreed that a neutralgovernment should rule the country at the time of elections.

2.3 W2.3 W2.3 W2.3 W2.3 WHYHYHYHYHY DDDDDEMOCREMOCREMOCREMOCREMOCRACACACACACYYYYY?????An argument broke out in MadamLyngdohs class. She had finishedteaching the previous section onwhat is democracy and asked thestudents if they thought democracywas the best form of government.Everyone had something to say.

DDDDDebaebaebaebaebating merting merting merting merting merits ofits ofits ofits ofits ofdemocrdemocrdemocrdemocrdemocra ca ca ca ca cyyyyyYolanda: We live in a democratic country. We read

in the previous chapter that all over the worldpeople want democracy. Countries that were notdemocratic earlier are becoming democratic now.All great people have said nice things about de-mocracy. Isnt it obvious that democracy is thebest? Do we need to debate this?

Tangkini: But Lyngdoh Madam had said weshould not accept something just because it isfamous, just because everyone else acceptsit. Isnt it possible that everyone is following awrong path?

Jeni: Yes, it actually is a wrong path. What hasdemocracy brought to our country? More thanhalf a century of democracy and there is somuch poverty in the country.

Ribiang: But what has democracy got to do withit? Do we have poverty because we are demo-cratic or do we have poverty despite being ademocracy?

Jeni: Whatever, how does it make a difference?The point is that this cant be the best form ofgovernment. Democracy is all about chaos, in-stability, corruption and hypocrisy. Politiciansfight among themselves. Who cares for thecountry?

Poimon: So, what should we have instead? Goback to the British rule? Invite some kings torule this country?

Rose: I dont know. I think what this country needsis a strong leader, someone who does not haveto bother about elections and parliament. Oneleader should have all the powers. He shouldbe able to do whatever is needed in countrysinterest. That alone can remove corruption andpoverty from this country.

Someone shouted: That is called dictatorship!Hoi: What if that person starts using all these

powers for himself and his family? What if heis corrupt himself?

Rose: I am speaking only of the honest, sincereand strong leader.

Hoi: But that is not fair. You are comparing a realdemocracy with an ideal dictatorship. Weshould compare an ideal with an ideal, the realwith the real. Go and check the record of dic-tators in real life. They are most corrupt, self-ish and brutal. It is just that we dont get toknow about this. And what is worse, you canteven get rid of them.

I want to be inLyngdoh Madamsclass! That sounds

like a democraticclassroom.Doesnt it?

Rule of law

Respect for Rights

One person one voteone value

Free and fairelectoral competition

Major decisions byelected leaders


Madam Lyngdoh was listening to thisdiscussion with interest. Now shestepped in: I was delighted to see youall arguing so passionately. I dontknow who is right and who is wrong.That is for you to settle. But I did feelthat you all wanted to speak yourmind. You may have felt very bad ifsomeone tried to stop you or ifsomeone punished you for sayingwhat you felt. Would you be able todo that in a country that is notdemocratic? Is that a good argumentfor democracy?

AAAAArgumenrgumenrgumenrgumenrguments againstts againstts againstts againstts againstdemocrdemocrdemocrdemocrdemocra ca ca ca ca cyyyyyThis conversation has most of thearguments that we routinely hearagainst democracy. Let us go oversome of these arguments: Leaders keep changing in a

democracy. This leads to instability.Democracy is all about political

competition and power play. Thereis no scope for morality.So many people have to be

consulted in a democracy that itleads to delays.Elected leaders do not know the

best interest of the people. It leadsto bad decisions.Democracy leads to corruption for

it is based on electoral competition.Ordinary people dont know what

is good for them; they should notdecide anything.Are there some other arguments

against democracy that you canthink of? Which of these argumentsapplies mainly to democracy? Whichof these can apply to misuse of anyform of government? Which of thesedo you agree with?

Clearly, democracy is not amagical solution for all theproblems. It has not ended povertyin our country and in other parts ofthe world. Democracy as a form of

government only ensures thatpeople take their own decisions. Thisdoes not guarantee that theirdecisions will be good. People canmake mistakes. Involving the peoplein these decisions does leadto delays in decision making. Itis also true that democracy leadsto frequent changes in leadership.Sometimes this can set backbig decisions and affect thegovernments efficiency.

These arguments show thatdemocracy of the kind we see maynot be the ideal form of government.But that is not a question we face inreal life. The real question we faceis different: is democracy better thanother forms of government that arethere for us to choose from?

AAAAArgumenrgumenrgumenrgumenrguments fts fts fts fts for democror democror democror democror democra ca ca ca ca cyyyyyChinas famine of 1958-1961 wasthe worst recorded famine in worldhistory. Nearly three crore peopledied in this famine. During thosedays, Indias economic conditionwas not much better than China. YetIndia did not have a famine of thekind China had. Economists think

This cartoon is fromBrazil, a country thathas long experienceof dictatorship. It isentitled The HiddenSide of Dictatorship.Which hidden sidesdoes this cartoon

depict? Is itnecessary for every

dictatorship to have ahidden side? Find this

out about thedictators discussed inthe first chapter and,if possible, about SaniAbacha in Nigeria andFerdinand Marcos in

the Philippines.



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that this was a result of differentgovernment policies in the twocountries. The existence ofdemocracy in India made the Indiangovernment respond to food scarcityin a way that the Chinesegovernment did not. They point outthat no large-scale famine has evertaken place in an independent anddemocratic country. If China too hadmultiparty elections, an oppositionparty and a press free to criticise thegovernment, then so many peoplemay not have died in the famine.

This example brings out one of thereasons why democracy is consideredthe best form of government.Democracy is better than any otherform of government in responding tothe needs of the people. A non-democratic government may and canrespond to the peoples needs, but itall depends on the wishes of thepeople who rule. If the rulers dontwant to, they dont have to actaccording to the wishes of the people.A democracy requires that the rulershave to attend to the needs of thepeople. A democratic government isa better government because it is amore accountable form ofgovernment.

There is another reason whydemocracy should lead to betterdecisions than any non-democraticgovernment. Democracy is based onconsultation and discussion. Ademocratic decision always involvesmany persons, discussions andmeetings. When a number of peopleput their heads together, they areable to point out possible mistakesin any decision. This takes time. Butthere is a big advantage in takingtime over important decisions. Thisreduces the chances of rash orirresponsible decisions. Thusdemocracy improves the qualityof decision-making.

This is related to the thirdargument. Democracy provides amethod to deal with differencesand conflicts. In any society peopleare bound to have differences ofopinions and interests. Thesedifferences are particularly sharp ina country like ours which has anamazing social diversity. Peoplebelong to different regions, speakdifferent languages, practisedifferent religions and have differentcastes. They look at the world verydifferently and have differentpreferences. The preferences of onegroup can clash with those of othergroups. How do we resolve such aconflict? The conflict can be solvedby brutal power. Whichever groupis more powerful will dictate itsterms and others will have to acceptthat. But that would lead toresentment and unhappiness.Different groups may not be able tolive together for long in such a way.Democracy provides the onlypeaceful solution to this problem. Indemocracy, no one is a permanentwinner. No one is a permanent loser.Different groups can live with oneanother peacefully. In a diversecountry like India, democracy keepsour country together.

These three arguments were aboutthe effects of democracy on thequality of government and social life.But the strongest argument fordemocracy is not about whatdemocracy does to the government.It is about what democracy does tothe citizens. Even if democracy doesnot bring about better decisions andaccountable government, it is stillbetter than other forms ofgovernment. Democracy enhancesthe dignity of citizens. As wediscussed above, democracy isbased on the principle of politicalequality, on recognising that the

What would havehappened if India

was not ademocracy?

Could we havestayed together as

a single nation?



CHECKYOURPROGRESS

poorest and the least educated hasthe same status as the rich and theeducated. People are not subjects ofa ruler, they are the rulersthemselves. Even when they makemistakes, they are responsible fortheir conduct.

Finally, democracy is better thanother forms of government becauseit allows us to correct its ownmistakes. As we saw above, there isno guarantee that mistakes cannotbe made in democracy. No form ofgovernment can guarantee that. Theadvantage in a democracy is thatsuch mistakes cannot be hidden forlong. There is a space for publicdiscussion on these mistakes. Andthere is a room for correction. Either

the rulers have to change theirdecisions, or the rulers can bechanged. This cannot happen in anon-democratic government.

Let us sum it up. Democracycannot get us everything and is notthe solution to all problems. But itis clearly better than any otheralternative that we know. It offersbetter chances of a good decision, itis likely to respect peoples ownwishes and allows different kinds ofpeople to live together. Even whenit fails to do some of these things, itallows a way of correcting itsmistakes and offers more dignity toall citizens. That is why democracyis considered the best form ofgovernment.

This cartoon waspublished in Canada

just before itsparliamentary

elections of 2004.Everyone, including

the cartoonist,expected the Liberalparty to win onceagain. When the

results came, theLiberal Party lost the

elections. Is thiscartoon an argumentagainst democracy or

for democracy?

Rajesh and Muzaffar read an article. It showed that no democracy has ever gone to war with anotherdemocracy. Wars take place only when one of the two governments is non-democratic. The articlesaid that this was a great merit of democracy. After reading the essay, Rajesh and Muzaffar haddifferent reactions. Rajesh said that this was not a good argument for democracy. It was just a matterof chance. It is possible that in future democracies may have wars. Muzaffar said that it could not bea matter of chance. Democracies take decisions in such a way that it reduces the chances of war.Which of the two positions do you agree with and why?



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2.4 B2.4 B2.4 B2.4 B2.4 BROADERROADERROADERROADERROADER MEANINGSMEANINGSMEANINGSMEANINGSMEANINGS OFOFOFOFOF DEMOCRACYDEMOCRACYDEMOCRACYDEMOCRACYDEMOCRACYIn this chapter we have consideredthe meaning of democracy in alimited and descriptive sense. Wehave understood democracy as aform of government. This way ofdefining democracy helps us toidentify a clear set of minimalfeatures that a democracy musthave. The most common form thatdemocracy takes in our times is thatof a representative democracy. Youhave already read about this in theprevious classes. In the countries wecall democracy, all the people do notrule. A majority is allowed to takedecisions on behalf of all the people.Even the majority does not ruledirectly. The majority of people rule

through their elected representatives.This become necessary because:Modern democracies involve such

a large number of people that it isphysically impossible for them tosit together and take a collectivedecision.Even if they could, the citizen does

not have the time, the desire or theskills to take part in all thedecisions.This gives us a clear but minimal

understanding of democracy. Thisclarity helps us to distinguishdemocracies from non-democracies.But it does not allow us todistinguish between a democracyand a good democracy. It does not

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