Democracy in India

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Topic: Democracy in India
The following material is a guide for ninth graders who are making a project file on the topic of
Democracy in India and it is expected that it will only be used as a guide and will not be copied directly
on the project file.
Page 1: Democracy in India

(1) What is a democracy?
(2) Other definitions
(3) Democracy in ancient India
(4) Democracy in modern India
(5) The problems of the Indian democratic system
(6) Possible solutions
(7) Conclusion
Page 2: What is a Democracy?

Democracy is a form of ruling, in which the people have the supreme power. The word ‘democracy’
comes from the two Greek words: demos (people) and kratos (power). Traditionally, the origins of the
concept of democracy are traced back to the year 503 BC in Athens, ancient Greece but critics argue the
concept might have originated well before the 5 th century at other places.
Today in the world, there are parliamentary democracies like ours and there are presidential
democracies, like the one in the Russian Federation or the United States of America. Whatever their
type is, there are some conditions that a democracy has to satisfy in order to be classified as a
democracy: (1) equality, (2) the rule of law, (3) liberty and (4) work in the general interest of the people.
Page 3: Other Definitions

In spite of the common characteristics, each democracy shows, it means different things to different
people. Here is how different people define democracy:
(1) Democracy is not a majority rule: democracy is the diffusion of power, representation of
interests, recognition of minorities
John Calhoun
(2) Democracy is a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people."
Abraham Lincoln
(3) A form of government in which the people have a voice in the exercise of power, typically
through elected representatives.
Oxford English Dictionary
(4) Régime politique dans lequel le peuple exerce la souveraineté (It is a political system in which
the people exercise sovereignty.)
Dictionnaire de la Langue Française
(5) A political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to
represent them.
Princeton Dictionary
Page 4: Democracy in Ancient India

India is one of those few nations with a serious claim that democratic institutions existed in these
countries as early as more than two millennia ago. A Greek historian, Diodorus, writing two hundred
years after the Alexander the Great’s invasion of India mentions the existence of independent and
democratic states in India constituting a republic. It has also been suggested that a system of sanghas
(assembly) and ganas (body of attendants) existed as early as the fourth century BC. Arthshastra, a
treatise on economics, military strategy and statecraft, was written around third century BC and
contains a chapter which deals with the topic of how to manage sanghas. In spite of all this, experts still
say that the evidence is too sparse and scattered to say with certainty if democracy really existed in
ancient India or not.
Page 5: Democracy in Modern India

India gained its independence from Britain on 15 August 1947 and it took the newly independent nation
close to three years to draw up its constitution. The country has the longest constitution in the world
and India became a republic on the 26 January 1950.
India is a federal state which means that the power is divided between the central governing authority,
colloquially known as the Central Government, and the constituent political units i.e. the states. Today,
in terms of the number of the electorate, the Indian Republic is the largest democracy in the world. The
Prime Minister is the head of the government and the President is the head of the state and of the
armed forces. The country is divided into 28 states and 7 union territories. There are 543 electoral
constituencies in the nation and the elections are held every five years by an independent Election
Commission to elect members of the Parliament (Sansad Bhawan) and the parliament consists of the
Upper House (Rajya Sabha) and the Lower House (Lok Sabha).
Page 6: The Problems of the Indian Democratic System

Although largest in the world, the Indian democratic system is not without faults of its own. The critics
are quick to cite the examples of widespread poverty, illiteracy and corruption. According to the World
Bank, a third of world’s poor live in India and the country is the home to world largest group of illiterate
people; more than 350 million people can’t read or write and the country has become so corrupt that it
is virtually inconceivable to have some work done with the government involvement without paying
bribes. All this, the critics argue, is the result of a democracy which is certainly not functioning the way it
should. The polls cost a lot and holding elections every five years puts a burden to already-a-poor-
country’s economy.
Page 7: Possible Solutions

There is no dearth of people who continue wailing about the corrupt and the useless politicians but one
thing that is worth asking them is: who brought them in power? The answer is it is we the people! Vote
rigging is a problem but it hasn’t yet reached the levels from where it can affect the election results.
Therefore, the task choosing the right and educated politicians again falls in our hands. The only possible
solution, I believe, is to for every citizen to vote and elect the right person.
Page 8: Conclusion
Democracy may not be the perfect system but as Winston Churchill put it “it is the least harmful of all
systems known to man”. It is the essence of the concept of democracy that one needs to remember.
About our country, the democratic system clearly shows the colonial legacy and although, there are
some good politicians in our system, overall it is still going to the dogs. It is true that it’s the duty of the
ministers and the bureaucrats to run a country but it is our vote that runs these bureaucrats and
ministers and the only thing that we can do to bring things to track is to vote the right person in power
and no other system in the world can give the folks this right.
Chetan Anand

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Homework Help

Topic: Democracy in India

Page 1: Democracy in India

Page 2: What is a Democracy?

Page 3: Other Definitions

Page 4: Democracy in Ancient India

Page 5: Democracy in Modern India

Page 6: The Problems of the Indian Democratic System

Page 7: Possible Solutions

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