In On Democracy, Robert Dahl presents five criteria that states are required to meet in order to satisfy the primary aim of democracy, which is to provide political equality to all of its citizens (1998, 37). The criteria include effective participation, equal voting, enlightened understanding, open agenda setting and inclusion. (Dahl, 1998, 38). Above these criteria, this paper will only focus on effective participation and enlightened understanding to apply them to India; this is because its citizens are going through a tough time with the two criteria to become a state with effective democracy. Therefore, this paper will demonstrate that India is in the process of achieving effective participation, but significantly lacks enlightened understanding. …show more content…
According to Dahl, this criterion emphasizes that citizens must have the equal and effective opportunities to learn about politics surrounding them (1998, 38). The goal of enlightened understanding is to ensure that citizens can make the best decisions that serve their interests. Analyzing freedom of press is an effective indicator to measure enlightened understanding because media is the best medium that citizens could access to learn about what is going on in their government. Without freedom of press, freedom of expression of journalists and scholars are violated and thus, they might encounter difficulties in reporting about politics. Although India has the Right to Information Act, which assures the promotion of "transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority," it is not being enforced enough (2005, 1). According to a research, India 's press status is evaluated as "partly free" (Freedom House, 2014). Furthermore, the press status of India 's score stands at 39 out of 100, where 0 represents the freest status and 100 represents the least free status (Sinha, 2014). In the World Press Freedom Index, India was ranked as the 140th out of 180 countries in terms of freedom of media (Reporters Without Borders ,
Robert Dahl states his opinion towards the Constitution in his novel How Democratic is the American Constitution? He goes through multiple subjects such as our government compared to other countries, the framers of the constitution, and what is stated in it that can be improved or should remain unchanged. Dahl makes several intriguing cases about laws that our outdated, and things that should be changed because they might not be accurate or modern. This was an enjoyable read and on many topics Robert A. Dahl and I seem to have similar views. I believe the American Constitution is not democratic.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary Democracy is a form of government by the people; especially: rule of the majority(Webster). This is what the United States is represented as, and this is based on the United States Constitution from which the United states draws all legal powers. In Robert Dahls book How democratic Is the American Constitution? He challenges this idea by trying to appeal to his readers in a way that they may view the United States Constitution in a different light. Dahl does this by pointing out flaws that the Constitution has and, draws on facts based on the other democracies around the world that the United States is compared too. He points out how many democratic ideas and innovations have a occurred since the conception of the American Constitution yet it has only adopted some of those idea.
Democracy’s major focus is on the freedom and representation of the people, along with the promotion of a the fluid free market system. “One man, one vote” being one of the inspirational quotes used to demonstrate the democratic outlook on the liberty within the government; and its ability to establish and make decisions based upon the will of the people. However, like our textbook, “Introduction to Comparative Politics,” points out, “No country fully satisfies all these criteria for democracy. Even in long established democratic states, there remains a gap—often a substantial one—between the aspirations and ideals of democracy and the practice and results of any actually existing democracy.” Furthermore, despite efforts to amplify this political system as a proper means for representation and freedom in other countries, various authoritarian regimes now present themselves under the guise of democratic political ideology in order to gain power.
One basis of political democracy during this time period was the debate about property requirements to be able to vote. After the Revolution, no new state required property ownership to be able to vote. Also, constitutional conventions during the 1820s and 1830s got rid of property requirements within older states, mostly because the expanding amount of wage earners who did not have much property insisted on the right to vote. However, by 1860, in the South, where large slave owners controlled politics and did not trust mass democracy, property requisites were extinguished gradually and went away later than the rest of the nation. The personal independence necessary to the citizen was now found in owning one’s self, instead of owning property.
These two democratic forms of government are the most used to demonstrate the key concept of ideal democracy. The aim of having a democratic government is to achieve equality and have equal rights to vote. However, the democratic government is still facing many challenges that limits individuals in many aspects. Democracy is still struggling to accomplish in having the right to vote for certain ethnicity, women, race, religion, and other factors that may be taken account to. Tax systems are proposed directly for achieving economic equality, resulting in large gaps for income tax rate. Whereas, the poor in poverty might pay absolutely no tax or as little as one dollar, while the wealthier person has to pay 25-33% of his/her income towards the contribution. Having said, a democratic government allows all of the people to vote, nevertheless, if your opinion and beliefs differs from the majority, your voice will not be heard. In this essay, I will thoroughly analyze what exactly is democracy and what it means to have a democratic government. I will then contend to derive all of the barriers which limits opinion and
The free press plays a very pivotal role in society. Through the First Amendment, the press is allowed complete and total control over what it publishes or broadcasts, so far as it does not publish a false story that invades ones privacy. In order for members to be aware of what’s going on in society especially in a democracy, they must be informed. With the help of our free press, Americans are guaranteed constant access to critical and noteworthy news protected by the First Amendment.
In his article, Democracy as a Universal Value, Amartya Sen asserts that democracy is a universal value. In order to develop his argument Sen needs to state his definition of democracy and define what he means by universal value. In the course of Sen's argument he gives his view of the relationship between democracy and the economy. He then defends his view of democracy as a universal value against a main argument that deals with cultural differences between regions.
In Robert Dahl’s Who Governs?, he relates the political structure of the United States to that of New Haven, CT. This form of government is pluralistic. The author reports that the shift to pluralism was not random. Oligarchies that involved people who were very powerful and had all the resources they needed transitioned to pluralistic societies where power was not concentrated. While power is allocated across a larger range, all people do not have the same opportunities.
Since its independence in 1947, political stability has been a key factor which has ensured that India is the largest democracy in the world today. In spite ...
Direct democracy means forms of direct participation of citizens in democratic decision making in contrast to indirect or representative democracy, based on the sovereignty of the people. This can happen in the form of an assembly democracy or by initiative and referendum with ballot voting, with direct voting on issues instead of for candidates or parties. Sometimes the term is also used for electing representatives in a direct vote as opposed to indirect elections (by voting for an electing body, electoral college, etc.), as well as for recalling elected officeholders. Direct democracy may be understood as a full-scale system of political institutions, but in modern times, it means most often specific decision-making institutions in the broader
There have been enormous efforts to spread democracy as a political system throughout the world by the developed democratic countries and the international development organizations including the World Bank. By the late 1990s the United States alone spent over a half billion dollars to promote democratic expansion throughout the world (Diamond, 2003). These were done considering that the democratic system leads towards development. As a result in the late 20th century we saw a huge political transformation towards democracy. During the last few decades a huge number of countries adopted democracy as their political system. However, it retain a big question how far democracy is successful in bringing development of a country? At this stage, some people also criticizes the effort of democratization arguing that it is done without considering the context of a country, sometimes democracy is not ideal for all countries and it is an effort to extinct diversity of political system. In studying the literature regarding the debate, we found a paradoxical relationship between democracy and development. Some argue that democracy has failed to ensure expected outcomes in terms of development. While others confronted that democracy has a considerable impact on development. Another group of people argue that form of political system actually does not have any impact on development process. On the verge of these debates, some development institutions and academics throw light on why democracy is not working properly, and what measure should be taken to make it more successful in bringing effective development of developing countries. Consequently, this writing is an effort of revisiting the different views about impact of democra...
The current challenges of democracy around the world should prioritize each encounter that should be addressed through networks, global gatherings, and various activities. As a continuous concern, the progress of democracy discusses various strategies and activities. These various strategies and activities lead to lessons that are learned in advancing democracy, making democracy deliver, strengthening democratic fundamentals, and more current challenges. Democracy faces threats from every spectrum as the threats surge the need to reinforce democratic forces through aid and greater international solidarity. Each country reflects on a certain assessment towards the current status of democracy.
In a democracy, free and fair elections which are held after around half a decade, guarantee social rights and equality. These elections ensure that every citizen has the right to vote, and hence they create social stability among the society. Each and every individual casting his vote in the elections reduces discrimination among the people. Citizens are not judged on the basis of religion, race, color, social status and so on. In this way, the dignity of nationals is not damaged and people can live in peace. In addition to voting rights, a democracy also assures access to other services like security, education, property rights, and healthcare facilities. These human rights maintain social equity and involv...
Actually, democracy is deemed to be a difficult form of government regardless if it is favourable circumstances or not. It seems to be all the more difficult when society’s economic environment is weak, civil society is still developing, and finally ...
The link between democracy and human rights has been recognized by many scholars. For example O’Donnell (2004) summarized the quality of democracy as: Quality of Democracy = human rights + human development. This viewpoint indicates that democracy encapsulates human rights. Several research findings strongly support the idea that states with higher levels of democracy, regardless of their election rules, are more respectful of human rights (Davenport 1997; Poe, Tate, and Keith 1999).