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OUTCOMES OF
DEMOCRACY
Most Important Questions

Previous Year Board
Questions
* These are the most probable questions

some of them are the most important
PYQs and some are highly likely to come
in your board exams.
How is democracy accountable and responsive to
the needs and expectations of the citizens?
Analyse. 1
Accountable- citizens have the right to choose their leaders

& take part in the decision making.
- Citizens have the right to know whether a decision was

taken following the proper norms & procedure.
Responsive- Democracy is based on the idea of deliberation

and negotiation. Decision making in democracy is based on
norms and procedures.
- Democracy gives the responsible form of government

that promotes the decisions in the favour of the public
opinion.
- Wherein, if citizens are dissatisfied by any decision they

have the right to hold out protest against the actions
of govt.
- People can hold protests, carry out campaigns and

organise rallies and force the government to respond
to them.
“Democracy is a better form of government than any
other form of government.” Justify the statement.
2
Democracy is a better form of government than other

alternatives:
● Providing equality among citizens.
● The dignity of an individual can be enhanced only

in a democracy.
● A democratic government improves the quality of

decision making it may be both more acceptable
to the people and more effective.
● It provides a method to resolve conflicts and

produce a harmonious life among citizens.
“Democratic government is legitimate government.”
Support the statement with arguments. 3
A democratic govt is called a legitimate government

because it is people’s own government.
- It may be slow, less efficient and not very

responsive and clean, but it is people's own
government.
- There is an overwhelming support for the idea of

democracy all over the world. People of South
Asia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and
Nepal have no doubt about the suitability of
democracy for their own country.
- People wish to be ruled by representatives elected

by them. Democracy's ability to generate its own
support makes it more legitimate.
Do democracies lead to peaceful and harmonious life
among citizens? Clarify.
4
➔ Non-democratic regimes often turn a blind eye to or

suppress internal social differences. Ability to handle
social differences, divisions & conflicts is thus a
definite plus point of democratic regimes.
➔ But the example of Sri Lanka exhibits that a democracy

must fulfil two conditions in order to achieve this
outcome:
● That democracy is not simply rule by majority opinion.
The majority always needs to work with the minority so
that governments function to represent the general
view.
● That rule by majority does not become rule by majority
community in terms of religion or race or linguistic
group, etc.
It also provides:
● Methods to resolve conflicts
● Certain rights to citizens
● Protects minorities.
Democracies are not appearing to be very successful
in reducing economic inequalities.’ Analyse the
statement. 5
In actual life, democracy is not able to reduce economic

inequality or poverty in the true sense.
- A small number of wealthy individuals control a large

portion of the country's wealth.
- On the other hand, the income of a large number of poor

people keeps on declining. It is becoming difficult for
them to meet their daily needs like food, cloth etc.
Despite the fact that poor people hold a large number of
votes, they are not addressed by the government as they
should be.
- Lack of proper implementation of policies made by the

government to combat poverty is the major reason for
the higher economic inequalities.
- For examples: Bangladesh being a democratic country

has the worst situation where half of its population lives
in poverty. Moreover, people in several poor countries
are dependent on rich countries for food.
‘Democracy is based on the idea of deliberation and
negotiation’. Examine the statement.
6
● Democracy gives importance to public opinion.
● The democratic government will take more time to

follow procedures before arriving at a decision.
● In a democratic government the highest

decision-making authority is Parliament, which has
representatives from almost all the communities in
the country. Thus, its decisions may be both more
acceptable to the people & more effective.
● Democracy ensures that decision making will be

based on norms & procedures.
● The democratic government develops mechanisms

for citizens to hold the government accountable.
“Respect and equal treatment of women are necessary
ingredients of a democratic society.” Examine the
statement.
7
Democracy is based on political, social, and economic,
equality. Providing only political equality to women is not
sufficient. Protection of the human rights of the citizens is
also one of the most important features of democracy.
Women are equal citizens and therefore should be given
equal treatment and respect in society. That is why most
democratic nations provide the following:
- Economic independence or access to an inherited or

self-generated income is considered to be the major
means of empowering women.
- Equal political and civil rights as men.
- Ways of autonomy and freedom.
- Distributive justice to reduce inequalities in resources

and power.
- Removing social evils including violence, torture,

humiliation etc.
‘A democratic government is efficient and effective.’
Analyse the statement.
8
A democratic government is efficient and effective. This

statement can be analysed by giving the following
arguments:
● A democratic government is mainly a government

of people. It is the people who run a democracy by
electing their own government.
● A democratic government works for the

betterment and welfare of the people.
● A democratic government promotes equality of

status and opportunity. There is no discrimination
on the basis of caste, class, gender, religion, etc.
● A democratic government gives freedom of

thought, expression and belief, (i.e), in a
democratic government, the rights of the people
are protected. They can even fight if their rights
are encroached.
Read the given text and answer the following questions:
If democracies are expected to produce good governments, then is it not fair to expect that they
would also produce development? Evidence shows that in practice many democracies did not fulfil
this expectation.
If you consider all democracies and all dictatorships for the fifty years between 1950 and 2000,
dictatorships have slightly higher rate of economic growth. The inability of democracy to achieve
higher economic development worries us. But this alone cannot be reason to reject democracy. As you
have already studied in economics, economic development depends on several factors: country’s
population size, global situation, cooperation from other countries, economic priorities adopted by
the country, etc. However, the difference in the rates of economic development between less
developed countries with dictatorships and democracies is negligible. Overall, we cannot say that
democracy is a guarantee of economic development. But we can expect democracy not to lag behind
dictatorships in this respect.
When we find such significant difference in the rates of economic growth between countries under
dictatorship and democracy, it is better to prefer democracy as it has several other positive
outcomes.
9
a) Between 1950 and 2000, which type of government
had higher rate of economic growth?
b) On which factors does economic development depend?
c) Why should we prefer democracy over dictatorship?
9
a) Between 1950 and 2000- dictatorship had higher rate

of economic growth.
b) Economic development depends on several factors

like country’s population size, global situation,
cooperation from other countries, etc.
c) When we find such significant differences in the rate

of economic growth between countries under
dictatorship and democracy, it is better to prefer
democracy as it has several other positive outcomes,
like it enhances the dignity of individuals, provides a
method to resolve conflicts, etc.
1. Define transparency?
2. How can you say that democracy is based

on political equality?
3. What are the two weakness of democratic

form of government?
ANSWERS
1. Transparency- It means that the citizens of the

country have the right to examine the process of
decision-making in the government.
2. Democracy is based on political equality as every

citizen in the country above the age of 18 years has
the right to vote irrespective of caste, colour,
religion, sex, etc.
3. Two weakness of democratic form of government

are:
- Delay in decision-making.
- Often frustrate the needs of people, and ignore

the demand of majority population.

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OUTCOMES OF

Most Important Questions

* These are the most probable questions

Accountable- citizens have the right to choose their leaders

- Citizens have the right to know whether a decision was

Responsive- Democracy is based on the idea of deliberation

- Democracy gives the responsible form of government

- Wherein, if citizens are dissatisﬁed by any decision they

- People can hold protests, carry out campaigns and

Democracy is a better form of government than other

● Providing equality among citizens.

● The dignity of an individual can be enhanced only

● A democratic government improves the quality of

● It provides a method to resolve conﬂicts and

A democratic govt is called a legitimate government

- It may be slow, less efficient and not very

- There is an overwhelming support for the idea of

- People wish to be ruled by representatives elected

➔ Non-democratic regimes often turn a blind eye to or

➔ But the example of Sri Lanka exhibits that a democracy

In actual life, democracy is not able to reduce economic

- A small number of wealthy individuals control a large

- On the other hand, the income of a large number of poor

- Lack of proper implementation of policies made by the

- For examples: Bangladesh being a democratic country

● Democracy gives importance to public opinion.

● The democratic government will take more time to

● In a democratic government the highest

● Democracy ensures that decision making will be

● The democratic government develops mechanisms

- Economic independence or access to an inherited or

- Equal political and civil rights as men.

- Ways of autonomy and freedom.

- Distributive justice to reduce inequalities in resources

- Removing social evils including violence, torture,

A democratic government is efficient and effective. This

● A democratic government is mainly a government

● A democratic government works for the

● A democratic government promotes equality of

● A democratic government gives freedom of

a) Between 1950 and 2000- dictatorship had higher rate

b) Economic development depends on several factors

c) When we ﬁnd such signiﬁcant differences in the rate

2. How can you say that democracy is based

3. What are the two weakness of democratic

1. Transparency- It means that the citizens of the

2. Democracy is based on political equality as every

3. Two weakness of democratic form of government

- Often frustrate the needs of people, and ignore

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