Social Sciences: Class 10 (Part 4) — Chapter 5: Outcomes of Democracy

As we wind up our tour of democracy, we ask general questions: What does democracy do? What outcomes can we reasonably expect of democracy? Does democracy fulfil these expectations in real life? We assess the expected and actual outcomes of democracy across quality of government, economic well-being, inequality, social differences, and freedom and dignity.

Democracy is widely considered a better form of government compared to dictatorship or other alternatives because it:

• Promotes equality among citizens.
• Enhances the dignity of the individual.
• Improves the quality of decision-making.
• Provides a method to resolve conflicts.
• Allows room to correct mistakes.

However, there is a dilemma: democracy is seen to be good in principle, but felt to be not so good in practice. This invites us to think about whether we support democracy for moral or prudential reasons.

Democracy is just a form of government. It can only create conditions for achieving something; the citizens must take advantage of those conditions to achieve their goals.

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

If democracies produce good governments, we might expect them to produce economic development. However, evidence shows a mixed record:

• Between 1950 and 2000, dictatorial regimes had a slightly higher rate of economic growth.
• Economic development depends on multiple factors: population size, global situation, cooperation from other countries, and economic priorities.
• The difference in economic growth rates between less developed countries under dictatorship and democracy is negligible. Therefore, democracy is preferred as it offers other positive socio-political outcomes.

Democracies are based on political equality, where all individuals have equal weight in electing representatives. However, this does not automatically translate to economic equality:

• A small number of ultra-rich enjoy a highly disproportionate share of wealth and income.
• Those at the bottom of society have very little to depend upon, and their incomes have been declining.
• Democratically elected governments often fail to address poverty as decisively as expected (e.g., in Bangladesh, more than half the population lives in poverty).

Democracies are expected to produce a harmonious social life by developing procedures to conduct competition and negotiate differences among various social divisions.

To achieve this outcome, a democracy must fulfill two critical conditions:

1. Not just majority rule: Democracy is not simply rule by majority opinion. The majority must always work with the minority so that governments represent the general view.
2. No communal majority: Rule by majority must not become rule by a majority community in terms of religion, race, or linguistic group. Democracy remains democracy only as long as every citizen has a chance of being in the majority at some point.

Democracy stands superior to any other form of government in promoting the dignity and freedom of the individual.

• Dignity of Women: Long struggles by women have created sensitivity that respect and equal treatment are necessary ingredients of a democratic society, providing a legal basis to wage struggles against discrimination.
• Caste Inequalities: Democracy in India has strengthened the claims of disadvantaged and discriminated castes for equal status and equal opportunity.

The most distinctive feature of democracy is that its examination never gets over. As it passes one test, it produces another. Public expression of dissatisfaction is a testimony to the success of democracy, transforming people from subjects into citizens.