Democracy

Shadiya

Updated on September 3, 2022

Democracy as the “Government of the people, by the people, for the people”.It is the words of the 16th U.S. President Abraham Lincoln defining Democracy. Which means that the welfare of the state is taken into account by the Government of the state and the supreme power of the government is vested in the hands of the people, which the people can exercise directly or through the appointed or elected officials under a free electoral system.

The word Democracy is a blend of two Greek words i.e. ‘demos’ and ‘kratos’, In Greek, ‘demos’ means people and ‘ kratos’ means power. It is a form of government, which is superior to other forms. Because, treating every person equally, it enhances the dignity of the individual. India is a democratic country. Do you know what democracy is? Let’s get to know

Mahatma Gandhi says that Democracy is “ an impossible thing until the power is shared by all”. The nobel prize laurent Amartya Sen defined “Democracy is the only system of government that captures global respect”

India became a sovereign democratic republic when its constitution came into effect.Thereafter, the Indian citizens were given the right to vote and elect their leaders irrespective of their caste, color, creed, religion, and gender. In India, there are five democratic principles – sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic and republic.

Table of Contents

Direct and Indirect Democracy

Democracy is the system in which the people are governed themselves directly or by their elected representatives. There are two types of democracy i.e Direct and Indirect Democracy.

People directly take important decisions in direct democracy . In the indirect democracy,

the representatives elected by the people take decisions on behalf of people.

Democracy and election

In indirect democracy the people elect their representatives at various levels from the local level to the Parliament for governance. Based on universal adult franchise, the elections are held. In elections, A citizen, who attains the age of 18 years has the right to vote. Through voting, The representatives to Local Self Governments, State Legislative Assemblies and Lok Sabha are elected. One of the basic features of democracy is Election.

Stages of election

Election is an important part of democracy.The election process passes through certain stages, Which is prescribed under the Representation of people Act 1950 and the Act of 1951. The Stages of election are

1 Formation of election constituencies; It is territorial area where election contest take place for a candidate

2 Issue of election notification ; The issue of election is notified by the Election Commission, which is the federal body of India.

3 Submission of Nominations; Every candidate in an election must nominate.

4 Scrutiny of nomination; It is done for checking the information in nominations,whether it is correct or not.

5 Withdrawal of nomination;The candidates are given a date for withdrawal when the scrutiny is over.

6 Campaigning ; After the election is announced, Political parties and candidates begin active campaigning. TV, radio, newspapers, pamphlets and visits etc they use to promote their ideas.

7 Voting/ Polling; presiding officers and polling officers supervise the polling/voting. Through secret ballots, voters exercise their votes.

8 Counting of votes and declaration of result; Counting is done on a fixed date and time. The candidate who gets the highest votes is declared as elected.

Factors sustaining democracy

The Rule of Law
Rights
Social and economic justice
Mass Media
Opposition

Democracy upholds individual liberty and human values. Every individual has the right to agree or disagree with others opinion. When we are able to form collective decisions, then democracy becomes meaningful . For the progress of the society, every individual should respect the democratic activities of others. The best form of government in the world is democracy, which enables each citizen to be a part of the government.

Also read : The largest bacteria ever Discovered