Essays

Abraham Lincoln defined democracy in the best possible way as-"Government of the people, for the people and by the people."

Democracy, is literally, rule by the people (the Greek word demos means 'people', and kratos means 'rule'). The principles by which this rule is exercised, and indeed the people and meaningful control by them are central to various definitions of democracy. While the term democracy is often used in the context of a political state, these principles are also applicable to other areas of governance.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the word 'democracy' has been embraced by many parts of the world to such an extent that even many dictatorships claim to be democratic and often hold liberal elections to garner legitimacy, both internally and internationally. Most contemporary political ideologies include at least nominal support for some kind of democracy.

Direct democracy, classically termed pure democracy, is a political system where the people vole on government decisions, such as whether to approve or reject various laws. It is called direct because the power of making decisions is exercised by the people directly, without intermediaries or representatives. Historically, this form of government has been rare, due to the difficulties of getting all the people of a certain territory at one place for the purpose of voting. All direct democracies till date have been relatively small communities, usually city-states. The most notable was the ancient Athenian democracy.

Representative democracy is so named because the people do not vote on most government decisions directly, but select representatives to a Governing Body or Assembly, Representatives may be chosen by the electorate as a whole (as in many proportional systems) or represent a particular subset (usually a geographic district or constituency), with some systems using a combination of the two. This form of government has become increasingly common in recent times, and the number of representative democracies experienced such an explosive growth during the 20^th century that the majority of the world's population now lives under representative democratic regimes.

Today, democracy is often assumed to be a liberal form of governance, a form of representative democracy where the ability of elected representatives and the will of the majority to exercise decision-making power is subject to the rule of law, and usually moderated by a constitution which emphasises the protection of liberties, freedoms, and rights of individuals and minorities. The supremacy of constitutional democracy is established only when those toppling elected governments are indicted in courts of law, even if it takes years to effect such prosecutions. And only when this progressive form of governance is exercised, does a nation finally finds out that the authoritarian makers of economic miracles are corrupt, in addition to being violators of human rights. A democracy can never be successful without a politically aware and educated public with its zealous participation. Political parties, pressure groups and interest groups too play a vital role in the functioning of democracy.

India has entered 21st century and is at the take-off stage in her all round economic and social development. It is ready and eager to play its responsible role in carrying along with all its neighbours its journey forward, so that the collective security and strategic stability of the region is ensured for the welfare of all the people of South Asia, As stated above, the modern conception of democracy owes much to the classical Athenian model practised about 2500 years ago. The Athenian citizen was required to participate in legislative assemblies that met once in about ten days and acted as a sovereign authority of the city. Pericles, the Athenian Statesman and General, in his final oration said proudly of Athens: "Here each individual is interested not only in his own affairs but affairs of the state as well; even those who are mostly occupied with their own business are extremely well informed on general politics — this is a peculiarity of ours. We do not say that a man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his own business. We say that he has no business at all."

Another factor, which was emphasized at that time, was fellow feeling. When asked what city was best to live in, Solan, the Athenian Law giver, replied "that city in which those who are not wronged, no less than those who are wronged, exert themselves to punish the wrong-doers."

From these two quotes, we can derive the two essential traits for a living democracy—an interest in general politics or more precisely a striving for public Interest and consideration for other people, particularly their needs, views and well being.

Unfortunately, there has been a gradual decline in respect of the above mentioned trait on the part of the citizens of the Republic of India. There is a growing disenchantment with general politics, matched by a growing indifference towards public interest, which can be seen in the declining trend in voter participation in elections. There has also been an erosion in fellow feeling. Another challenge to the living democracy, particularly during the present time, is the growing consumerism among the people. Consumerism leads to a lack of concern for general well being, and confines one's attention merely to one's own rights and activities of consumption and not to the duties appropriate for being a citizen. It further leads to withdrawal from the community and loss of public awareness and civic consciousness.

A third challenge to living democracy is the emergence of fundamentalism arising out of caste, creed and religion. Such fundamentalism thrives on emphasizing the differences among the people and thus dividing them. It leads to exclusion of others as aliens on the basis of birth or blood and leads to acute intolerance, fanaticism and inhuman treatment of fellow human beings. Unfortunately, in addition to fundamentalism based on birth and blood, we have in our country fundamentalism of other groups based on trade, profession or political preferences. As Kenneth Boulding observed, "the fact that an individual is serving some group, which he regards greater than himself, blinds him to the fact that his group is only a part of the whole and as a result such groups ignore and hamper the interests of the whole when. in their view, the interests of the smaller groups are threatened,"

A vibrant and vigorous democracy cannot be created merely by passing acts of Parliament, Acts and rules are necessary but not sufficient. Act' as a noun is easy to pass; 'act' as a verb is more difficult to be undertaken. We, the people of India, have to shoulder the responsibility to merge these two "acts'.