CHALLENGE TO DEMOCRACY

challenge to democracy

®      We usually call only those difficulties a ‘challenge’ which are significant and which can be overcome. A challenge is a difficulty that carries within it an opportunity for progress. Once we overcome a challenge we go up to a higher level than before.

®      At least one fourth of the globe is still not under democratic government. The challenge for democracy in these parts of the world is very stark.

foundational challenge

®      Non-Democratic countries face the foundational challenge of making the transition to democracy and then instituting democratic government. This involves bringing down the existing non-democratic regime, keeping military away from controlling government and establishing a sovereign and functional state.

         

          Examples

1.       Restoration of Democracy in Chile        

®      Military coup in Chile (1973). Salvador Allende the President of Chile died in Military attack. Pinochet’s military dictatorship came to end after he decided to hold a referendum in 1988.

2.      Democracy in Poland

®      Polish united worker’s party (communist party) deafeated by Solidarity under the leadership of Lech Walesha.

3.      Case of Ghana (Gold Coast)

®      President Kwame Nkrumah overthrown by military in 1966.

4.      Case of Myanmar

®      The National League for democracy led by Aung San Su Kyi (Soo-chi) won election in 1990. She was put into house arrest.

5.       Case of China

®      Communist party adopts economic reforms but maintain monopoly over political power.       

challenge of expansion

®      The established democracies face the challenge of expansion. This involves applying the basic principle of democratic government across all the regions, different social groups and various institutions.

®      Ensuring greater power to local governments, extension of federal principle to all the units of the federation, inclusion of women and minority groups, etc., falls under this challenge. This also means that less and less decisions should remain outside the arena of democratic control.

          Example

1.       Sri Lanka         

®      In Sri Lanka democratically elected government adopted a series of ‘Majoritarian’ measures to establish Sinhala supermacy.

2.      US, Civil Rights 

®      Blacks have won equal rights, but are still poor, less educated and marginalised.

3.      Saudi Arabia

®      Women not allowed to take part in public activities, no freedom of religion for minorities.

4.      US, Guantanamo Bay

®      UN Secretary General calls this a violation of international law, US refused to respond.

challenge of deepening of democracy

®      The challenge of deepening of democracy is faced by every democracy in one form or another. This involves strengthening of the institutions and practices of democracy.

         

          In general terms, it usually means strengthening those institutions that help people’s participation and control. This requires an attempt to bring down the control and influence of the rich and powerful people in making governmental decision.

          Example

1.       United Nation and US

®      The US and its allies like Britain, alleged that Iraq possessed secret nuclear weapons and other ‘weapons of mass destruction. But when a UN team went to Iraq to search for such weapons, it did not find any. Still the US and its allies invaded Iraq, occupied it and removed Saddam Hussein from power in 2003.

2.      Security Council

®      The fifteen member Security Council of the UN takes any decision about what action should be taken in a conflict between different countries. The Council has five permanent members - US. Russia, UK, France and China. Ten other members are elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms. The real power is with five permanent members.

3.      IMF

®      International Monetary Fund (IMF) is one of the biggest moneylenders for any country in the world. Its 188 member states (as on 1 September 2012) do not have equal voting rights. The vote of each country is weighed by how much money it has contributed to the IMF.

political reforms

®      All the suggestions or proposals about overcoming various challenges to democracy are called ‘democratic reform’ or ‘political reform’.

®      Carefully devised changes in law can help to discourage wrong political practices and encourage good ones. But legal-constitutional changes by themselves cannot overcome challenges to democracy.

®      Any legal change must carefully look at what results it will have on politics. Sometimes the results may be counter-productive. For eg. many states have banned people who have more than two children from contesting panchayat elections. This has resulted in denial of democratic opportunity to many poor and women, which was not intended. 

®      Generally, laws that seek to ban something are not very successful in politics. The best laws are those which empower people to carry out democratic reforms.

          Example

®      The Right to Information Act is a good example of a law that empowers the people to find out what is happening in government and act as watchdogs of democracy. Such a law helps to control corruption and supplements the existing laws that banned corruption and imposed strict penalties.

®      Any proposal for political reforms should think not only about what is a good solution but also about who will implement it and how. It is not very wise to think that the legislatures will pass legislations that go against the interest of all the political  parties and MPs. But measures that rely on democratic movements, citizens’ organisations and the media are likely to succeed.

redefining democracy

®      Democracy is a form of government in which the rulers are elected by the people. We can have democracy in a real sense only when people and politicians overcome the barriers of caste and religion.

®      The rulers elected by people must take all the major decisions; elections must offer a choice and fair opportunity to the people to change the current rulers.

®      This choice and opportunity should be available to all the people on an equal basis; the exercise of this choice must lead to a government limited by basic rules of the constitution and citizens’ rights.

®      Power sharing is the spirit of democracy. Power sharing between governments and social groups is necessary in a democracy.

®      A good democracy is what we think it is and what we wish to make it.