Democracy | Democracy in India - principal and facts

 Introduction:

• Democracy started in Greek cities, notably ancient Athens where people came together to speak about their concerns and opinions in the presence of their then rulers. This was the beginning of an era where people started to make decisions instead of the rulers.
• When put to practice, democracy gives people the power to be the voice that needs to be heard. Instead of one person making all the decisions in a country, democracy brings the views and interest of all people so that the future of that country can be decided based on all these collective views.
• There are two forms of democracy: Direct and indirect. In a direct democracy, people govern themselves. Each individual will have a say in every decision made, that affects the country. Conversely, in representative/ indirect democracy, the representatives are elected through elections.
• Today most democracies are indirect or representative, which means you can’t vote for a new law yourself but instead you can vote for people who can then make law and present your interests. It is to note that democracy isn’t just about voting. It is about everything that protects the best interest of the people no matter what their race, religion or gender is. These interests can be quality of life, infrastructure, human rights, and respect for the rule of law, political tolerance, multi-party system, and many more.

Modern democracy is divided into three branches: 

• Legislative: people who make the law, Executive: people who make sure you obey the law, 
• Judiciary: Who judge you if you commit a crime.
•  The above three branches are independent of each other and most importantly, even they have the responsibility of following the law and not exceed the authority.
• In general, a democratic set up should reflect the interest, value and desire of the society that it governs. One of the fallback, of a democratic ruling was that the powerful people always had more power and that is why a good democracy also has the law to protect the rights of smaller and weaker groups.
  
  
  
• It is to note that every country has its unique democratic system but all these different democracies are laid on a fundamental set of principles.
• Indian democracy, one of the largest democratic countries in the world, was created in 1947 under the leadership of Indian National Congress. Being a constitutional republic, it is governed under the world’s largest constitution written by B.R. Ambedkar.

Our democratic principles are as follows:

• India is a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic and Republic where Sovereign means independent, Socialist means social and economic equality for all Indian citizens, Secular means freedom to choose and practice your religion, Democratic means democratically elected governance, Republic means head of the state (the president) is not hereditary king/ruler but an individual indirectly elected by people.
• Initially, in countries like USA and Britain, the voting right wasn’t given for all of the citizens. Blacks and women were excluded, In fact, voting right was limited to intellectuals and officials. India, on the other hand, granted voting rights to all its citizens irrespective of caste, race and gender.

Quick Facts:

• The word democracy comes from the Greek terms: ‘Demos’ – people and ‘Kratos’ – to power/rule.
• The first democratic government is thought to have developed during the 6th century B.C.
• Winston Churchill once said democracy is the worst of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.
• Democracy is also sometimes referred as the rule by the majority.
• South Africa transitioned into democracy in the year 1994.
• Bhutan is the world’s youngest democracy where the first election began in the year 2007.
• Fruits of democracy – freedom, equality, Justice, good governance and peace.
  
  
  
• 1/6th of the global population lives in India, which makes Republic India the world’s largest democracy.
• According to The Sixty-first Amendment' of the Constitution of India, the voting age is 18 in India whereas 16 is the minimum voting age in Scotland, Switzerland, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Austria, Nicaragua and Cuba.

Conclusion :

• To create a fair place to live and to voice our opinion, democracy needs to be implemented in every governance. It gives a platform to debate, discuss and promote wise utilization of the spoken words. This kind of environment results in exposing the citizens to various perspectives which can help in the overall development of the country.