What is Democracy Why Democracy - Solutions
CBSE Class - IX Social Science
NCERT Solutions
Political Science chapter-2
What is Democracy? Why Democracy?
Question 1 Here is some information about four countries. Based on this information, how would you classify each of these countries. Write ‘democratic’, ‘undemocratic’ or ‘not sure’ against each of these.
a. Country A: People who do not accept the country’s official religion do not have a right to vote.
b. Country B: The same party has been winning elections for the last twenty years.
c. Country C: Ruling party has lost in the last three elections.
d. Country D: There is no independent election commission.
Answer (a) Undemocratic (b) Not sure (c) Democratic (d) Undemocratic
Question 2 Here is some information about four countries. Based on this information, how would you classify each of these countries. Write ‘democratic’, ‘undemocratic’ or ‘not sure’ against each of these.
a. Country P: The parliament cannot pass a law about the army without the consent of the Chief of Army.
b. Country Q: The parliament cannot pass a law reducing the powers of the judiciary.
c. Country R: The country’s leaders cannot sign any treaty with another country without taking permission from its neighbouring country.
d. Country S: All the major economic decisions about the country are taken by officials of the central bank which the ministers cannot change.
Answer (a) Undemocratic (b) Democratic (c) Undemocratic (d) Undemocratic
Question 3 Which of these is not a good argument in favour of democracy? Why?
a. People feel free and equal in a democracy.
b. Democracies resolve conflict in a better way than others.
c. Democratic government is more accountable to the people.
d. Democracies are more prosperous than others.
Answer : Option 'D' "Democracies are more prosperous than others" is not a good argument in favour of democracy as there are many democratic countries such as Sri Lanka which opted for democracy after gaining independence in 1948, but are not prosperous as yet. On the other hand,there are some non-democratic countries such as China or Saudi Arbia which have communist and monarchy form of government, respectively, and are more prosperous. The prosperity of any country depends on the right planning and policies designed by the government for the development of the country. Economic prosperity of a nation also depends on the availability of natural resources and human resources in the country and a suitable resource planning to make efficient use of the same. Hence, it can be concluded that the prosperity of a nation depends on a number of factors, out of which form of Government is just one factor.
Question 4 Each of these statements contains a democratic and an undemocratic element. Write out the two separately for each statement.
a. A minister said that some laws have to be passed by the parliament in order to conform to the regulations decided by the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
b. The Election Commission ordered re-polling in a constituency where large-scale rigging was reported.
c. Women’s representation in the parliament has barely reached 10 per cent. This led women’s organisations to demand one-third seats for women.
Answer : (a) A minister said that some laws have to be passed by the parliament - Democratic element
to the regulations decided by the World Trade Organisation (WTO). - Undemocratic element
(b) The Election Commission ordered re-polling in a constituency - Democratic element
large-scale rigging was reported - Undemocratic element
(c) Women’s representation in the parliament has barely reached 10 percent - Undemocratic element. This led women’s organisations to demand one-third seats for women. - Democratic element
Question 5 Which of these is not a valid reason for arguing that there is a lesser possibility of famine in a democratic country?
a. Opposition parties can draw attention to hunger and starvation.
b. Free press can report suffering from famine in different parts of the country.
c. Government fears its defeat in the next elections.
d. People are free to believe in and practise any religion.
Answer : Option ‘d’ is not a valid reason for arguing that there is a lesser possibility of famine in a democratic country. This is because practising a religion has nothing to do with preventing famine.
Question 6 There are 40 villages in a district where the government has made no provision for drinking water. These villagers met and considered many methods of forcing the government to respond to their need.
Which of these is not a democratic method?
a. Filing a case in the courts claiming that water is part of right to life.
b. Boycotting the next elections to give a message to all parties.
c. Organising public meetings against government’s policies.
d. Paying money to government officials to get water.
Answer :Option ‘d’, which advocates paying the government officials money, is an undemocratic method.
Question 7 Write a response to the following arguments against democracy:
a. Army is the most disciplined and corruption-free organisation in the country. Therefore army should rule the country.
b. Rule of the majority means the rule of ignorant people. What we need is the rule of the wise, even if they are in small numbers.
c. If we want religious leaders to guide us in spiritual matters, why not invite them to guide us in politics as well. The country should be ruled by religious leaders.
Answer : A democracy is the government elected by the people, from among the people themselves. The Army is integral in protecting the country, but it is not elected by the people; hence, it cannot form a democratic government.
The second statement is not true as rule of majority does not necessarily mean rule of ignorant. In a highly literate country, there may be a majority who is wise.
The third statement is dangerous because bringing religion into politics can cause serious threat to the secular nature of a democratic country. Further, politics involves awareness of social, commercial and diplomatic issues which may not be guided well by religious leaders.
Question 8 Are the following statements in keeping with democracy as a value? Why?
a. Father to daughter: I don’t want to hear your opinion about your marriage. In our family children marry where the parents tell them to.
Answer: This statement of father is undemocratic as every adult has right to choose their life partner. The father does not have right to impose the family's choice on daughter.
b. Teacher to student: Don’t disturb my concentration by asking me questions in the classroom.
Answer: This statement also is not under democratic setup. Students have right to ask questions. It is undemocratic if this right is denied to a student in the class.
c. Employee to the officer: Our working hours must be reduced according to the law.
Answer: The third statement is democratic as it calls for a rule of law which is a democratic right of the employees.
Question 9 Consider the following facts about a country and decide if you would call it a democracy. Give reasons to support your decision
a. All the citizens of the country have right to vote. Elections are held regularly.
Answer :(a) This country is a democracy as only democratic setup allow right to vote to its citizens and also election at regular time period.
b. The country took loan from international agencies. One of the conditions for giving loan was that the government would reduce its expenses on education and health.
Answer : Goal of a democratic country is social welfare. A democratic government has to look after the quality of life of its people. The condition of reducing expenses on health and education is against the welfare of the people.
c. People speak more than seven languages but education is available only in one language, the language spoken by 52 percent people of that country.
Answer : In a democratic country, education should be available in all languages so that the diverse communities can learn in their choice of language. However, Official language can be the language of majority of people in a country.
d. Several organisations have given a call for peaceful demonstrations and nation wide strikes in the country to oppose these policies. Government has arrested these leaders.
Answer : In a democracy people have right to express their opinion in peaceful manner. It is undemocratic behaviour of the government to arrest the leaders.
e. The government owns the radio and television in the country. All the newspapers have to get permission from the government to publish any news about government’s policies and protests.
Answer :This is undemocratic nature as in democracy freedom of press and media is a must. Media is considered as the fourth pillar of a democratic country. If a government owns radio and television and the newspapers have to get government permission for publishing news, then freedom of Media is violated.