India: Truely a Democratic Country???

India has a multi-party political system and those political parties "have different understandings" as the recent debate over the China-India border issue has demonstrated (China blames India's

Before pondering the extent of democracy one must determine what the term “democracy” means. Democracy is a “means of selecting

There would be no improvement in the country if there was no democracy. I think that is it very important to have one because a country cannot thrive if others opinions are not adhered. Democracy is really what you put into it

Therefore, 49.9 percent of a country’s population can have no voice in a country’s political future. While democracy is a fair way of handling a child’s playground argument on what sport to play, it should not be used to run a country. Democracy sounds like a fantastic idea on the outside, but the majority of humans are incredibly stupid and selfish. As soon as a group of corrupt or ill-led people realizes they are the majority in a country, all hope is lost for the foreseeable future of that country.

There are many different types of government systems used all over the world today. Democracy is the type of government used here in the United States in order to maintain peace and run the country from day to day. A democratic government system allows each individual citizen to have a voice and the power for that voice to be heard. With the United States being founded under the Constitution, the democracy also found in America is deeply engraved into the history of this nation. There are many people that believe that democracy is a dying trend here in the Land of the Free, which begs the question of, how democratic is America?

But the democracy too has its limitations. In somebody’s words, “In democracy the heads are counted and not the brains.” Yes, if the donkeys are allowed to choose their leader they will not look towards horse. Why it is failing in countries like us and prospering in Europe and America. It is the literacy rate which plays a pivotal role. In third world countries, a common man knows that the slogans of the leaders are hollow yet he goes and castes vote for that leader just in the greed of very petty matters. The leader after assuming powers forgets his people but the voter continues to support that leader. In developed countries, a small move in the wrong direction by the leader can pull him

The country of India only got a democracy when the British left (Effects of British Imperialism on India).

If look at societies that differ from “Democracy”

For approximately two thousands five hundred years ago, democracy a government ruled by the vote od citizen has played a vital role in the world political the preferred political system of free people through the world democracy originated on the streets of athens and because ingrained in greek. Society in 508 b.c clothier an athenian ruler, had reformed by the people theise he established the world's first democracy.

Through the study of human history it is evident authoritative and monarch governments prevailed as legitimate authorities but with careful considerations these political systems were seen as inaccurate by many. New political systems, functions and responsibilities soon began to surface. Democracy was among these new political systems and argues for the influence of citizens in politics and the protection of rights (Dahl, 1998, p. 44). Democracy can be found through many political systems around the world particularly in first world countries such as Canada and the United States of America. Fortunately the notions of democracy can also be found in some developing countries such as India. ¬¬¬Although democratic views and notions are found throughout Indian politics and its associated practices India does not prove to be completely democratic in relation to Robert Dahl’s criteria of democracy highlighted in his book, On Democracy. Robert Dahl, a political scientist and professor, sets up 5 criteria of democracy that includes effective participation, voting equality, enlightened understanding, inclusion and control of agenda (Dahl, 1998, p. 36-7). He argues that a sense of true democracy is founded when all 5 criteria of democracy are fulfilled (Dahl, 1998, p. 36). Unfortunately India is unable to accommodate the criteria of voting equality and effective participation due to its

In his article, Democracy as a Universal Value, Amartya Sen asserts that democracy is a universal value. In order to develop his argument Sen needs to state his definition of democracy and define what he means by universal value. In the course of Sen's argument he gives his view of the relationship between democracy and the economy. He then defends his view of democracy as a universal value against a main argument that deals with cultural differences between regions.

Winston Churchill once remarked that “democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried”. In agreement with his statement, this paper will examine the problems of democratic governments using specific examples, and compare it to the failure of fascist governments in Nazi Germany and Italy and communist governments in the Soviet Union and China.

India is the biggest democracy in the world, with a government type of federal republic. The country’s form of government mimics the United States with its federal structure. The federal government consists of executive, legislative, and judicial branches. In addition, India has adopted the a British style parliamentary system that allows for it its central government to have great power in relation to its states, according to US Department of State- Background Notes website (The Office of Electronic

Additionally, in more precarious democratic governments such as India’s, peoples right to power is still recognized. Ronojoy Sen remarks of India’s 2009 elections that, “a handful of successful professionals and entrepreneurs even ran”(cite). Despite implying that only successful peoples were exercising their liberties, elucidated in this article is the potential of any citizen to attain political power, demonstrating true liberal democracy in its purest form. Communism does not give its people these liberties, the party is the “agent for creating political development” (Janos, pg. 2) and there is little need for elections as the outcome is pre-determined. In the case of Nazism, while Hitler utilised democracy to attain power, once in control democracy was replaced with autocracy.

India being such a diverse country with multiple languages, cultures, ethnic groups and religious divisions, and the fact that it is a country with a large portion of its population being poor, in the context of political science, democracy in India should not have survived. India has a per capita income of below $3000, with high poverty rates and low literacy, ethnic politics is a feature of Indian politics and despite its diversity and violent insurgencies, democracy has survived in India. This makes India an outlier and a unique outcome. India has been able to conduct free and regular elections over the years, which has allowed it to remain democratic since its inception. Even though it was seen that Congress dominated in the early years, and remained in power for a long period of