Q- What have you understood by the term ‘Democracy’?
Answer- Democracy is a form of government in which rulers are elected by the people. But, this definition is not adequate to define democracy. Elections offer a choice and fair opportunity to the people to the current rulers. This choice and opportunity is available to all the people on an equal basis. The exercise of this choice leads to a government limited by basic rules of the constitution and citizen’s rights.
We needs to define democracy accurately because of the following reasons:
1. Every government in the contemporary world wants to be called a democratic country, even if it is not so.
2. But if we use this definition in an unthinking manner, we could end up calling almost every government that holds an election is democratic. That would be misleading.
3. The simple definition of democracy is not adequate. It reminds us that democracy is people’s rule.
4. That is why we need to carefully distinguish between a democratic country, even if it is not so.
5. We can do so by defining it carefully that democracy is a form of government in which the rulers are elected by the people and the final decision-making power must rest with those elected by the people.