Gowri Dixit
Democracy translates to “people’s rule.” In the present common context, democracy has become synonymous with the idea of freedom to express oneself. The commonly known definition of democracy is the one given by the former President of the USA, Abraham Lincoln. In the words of Lincoln, democracy is “Of the people, by the people, and for the people.” People are at the center of this system of governance.
The most common form of democracy practiced is a representative democracy. People elect their representatives from among themselves through a system of voting. Although democracy meant that people are the authority, not long ago, all the sections of the society were not allowed to cast their vote. People were deprived of voting rights based on skin color, gender, societal status, etc.
The USA is one of the oldest and famous democracies. Only after the American Civil War, in the 1870s, men of color were granted the right to vote. Whereas the women of the colored community gained their voting rights only in the 1960s.
Britain is considered the mother of parliamentary democracies. However, there was similar discrimination against women and people of the working class. The women gained voting rights much later as compared to men.
Direct democracy is another form of democracy, but it is not widely in use. Switzerland started practicing direct democracy as early as 1848, has a well-laid out direct democracy system. Here, the people of the country directly decide on policies and laws without any intermediary in the form of representatives. It is not widely in practice because of many constraints like high population, the process is expensive, and education.
Coming to our country, India is the largest democracy in the world. The people of India chose to make India the Democratic Republic in 1950 by bringing into force the Constitution of India, which is considered the lengthiest written constitution in the world.
The constitution mandated the right to vote without any discrimination to all the citizens of India based on the Universal Adult Franchise. The world looked at us in awe and doubted our ability as to how a nascent nation with not many resources could afford suffrage to all the citizens, educated and uneducated, rich, and poor, men and women. India proved to the world that there should be no discrimination while empowering people.
Democracy is not just about voting and choosing a representative. Democracy also stands for certain values that empower people, the right to express oneself, the right to pursue one’s aspirations, the right to follow any faith, and the right to live with dignity. And these rights are granted to all people equally.
In a democracy, with these rights, every person must adhere to certain duties to keep the democratic system of the country intact. And all these rights people enjoy are subject to certain aspects like, not infringing upon the rights of others, the greater good, etc.
There are some critiques of representative democracy as well. Mary Parker Follet says that representative democracy is based on the law of consent and not on the law of coaction. She says that representative democracy justifies the arbitrary use of power.
William Inge, an English author, and an Anglican priest said about democracy, “Democracy is only an experiment in government, and it has the obvious disadvantage of merely counting votes instead of weighing them.”
With all the views criticizing this form of governance, Democracy is still the best type of governance known. The kind where people can always choose who will represent them in each election, the kind where voices of people are not silenced. Democracy serves the idea of the greater good to a greater number of people. In the current times, when threats of terrorism, authoritarianism, inequality are hindering the democratic process, the need is more for nations to strengthen the roots of their democracy. Focusing on overall growth and equal rights, the spirit of democracy must be kept alive and passed on to the generations to come.
References
- https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/elections/right-to-vote/voting-rights-for-african-americans/
- https://aceproject.org/regions-en/countries-and-territories/CH/case-studies/esy_ch02
- https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/william_inge_392964
Gowri Dixit is a student of M.A in Public Policy at Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences
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POLICY MILIEU 