WHY DEFINE DEMOCRACY?
You have already read about different forms of government. On the basis of your understanding of democracy so far, mentioning a few examples write down some common features of:
* Democratic governments
* Non-democratic governments
Before we proceed further, let us first take note of an objection by Merry. She does not like this way of defining democracy and wants to ask some basic questions. Her teacher Matilda Lyngdoh responds to her questions, as other classmates join the discussion:
Merry: Ma’am, I don’t like this idea. First we spend time discussing democracy and then we want to find out the meaning of democracy. I mean logically shouldn’t we have approached it the other way round? Shouldn’t the meaning have come first and then the example?
Lyngdoh Madam: I can see your point. But that is not how we reason in everyday life. We use words like pen, rain or love. Do we wait to have a definition of these words before we use them? Come to think of it, do we have a clear definition of these words? It is only by using a word that we understand its meaning.
Merry: But then why do we need definitions at all?
Lyngdoh Madam: We need a definition only when we come across a difficulty in the use of a word. We need a definition of rain only when we wish to distinguish it from, say, drizzle or cloudburst. The same is true for democracy. We need a clear definition only because people use it for different purposes because very different kinds of governments call themselves a democracy.
Ribiang: But why do we need to work on a definition? The other day you quoted Abraham Lincoln to us: “Democracy is the government of the people, by the people and for the people”. We in Meghalaya always ruled ourselves. That is accepted by everyone. Why do we need to change that?
Lyngdoh Madam: I am not saying we need to change it. I too find this definition very beautiful.
But we don’t know if this is the best way of defining unless we think about it ourselves. We must not accept something just because it is famous, just because everyone accepts it.
Yolanda: Ma’am, can I suggest something? We don’t need to look for any definition. I read somewhere that the word democracy comes from the Greek word ‘Demokratia’. In Greek ‘demos’ means, people and ‘kratia’ means the rule. So democracy is rule by the people. This is the correct meaning. Where is the need to debate?
Lyngdoh Madam: That is also a very helpful way of thinking about this matter. I would just say that this does not always work. A word does not remain tied to its origin. Just think of computers. Originally they were used for computing, that is to say calculating, very difficult mathematical sums. These were very powerful calculators. But nowadays very few people use computers for computing sums. They use it for writing, for designing, for listening to music and for watching films. Words remain the same but their meaning can change with time. In that case, it is not very useful to look at the origins of a word.
Merry: Ma’am, so basically what you are saying is that there is no shortcut to our thinking about the matter ourselves. We have to think about its meaning and evolve a definition.
Lyngdoh Madam: You got me right. Let us get on with it now.
Activity :
Let us take Lyngdoh Madam seriously and try to write down the exact definition of some of the simple words that we use all the time: pen, rain and love. For example, is there a way of defining a pen that distinguishes it clearly from a pencil, a brush, chalk or crayon?
* What have you learnt from this attempt?
* What does it teach us about understanding the meaning of democracy?
Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK
A SIMPLE DEFINITION
Let us get back to our discussion on similarities and differences among governments that are called democracies. One simple factor common to all democracies is: the government is chosen by the people. We could thus start with a simple definition: democracy is a form of government in which the rulers are elected by the people.
This is a useful starting point. This definition allows us to separate democracy from forms of government that are clearly not democratic. The army rulers of Myanmar were not elected by the people. Those who happened to be in control of the army became the rulers of the country. People had no say in this decision. Dictators like Pinochet (Chile) are not elected by the people. This also applies to monarchies. The kings of Saudi Arabia rule not because the people have chosen them to do so but because they happen to be born into the royal family.
This simple definition is not adequate. It reminds us that democracy is people’s rule. But if we use this definition in an unthinking manner, we would end up calling almost every government that holds an election a democracy. That would be very misleading. As we shall find out in Chapter 3, every government in the contemporary world wants to be called a democracy, even if it is not so. That is why we need to carefully distinguish between a government that is a democracy and one that pretends to be one. We can do so by understanding each word in this definition carefully and spelling out the features of a democratic government.
This cartoon was drawn when elections were held in Iraq with the presence of US and other foreign powers. What do you think this cartoon is saying? Why is ‘democracy’ written the way it is?
Let’s do it
Ribiang went back home and collected some more famous quotations on democracy. This time she did not mention the names of the people who said or wrote these. She wants you to read these and comment on how good or useful these thoughts are:
* Democracy gives every man the right to be his own oppressor.
* Democracy consists of choosing your dictators after they’ve told you what you think it is you want to hear.
* Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary
* Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.
* All the ills of democracy can be cured by more democracy
Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK