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Chap

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Outcomes ofDemocracy

Overview

As we begin to wind up our tour of democracy, it is time to movebeyond our discussion of specific themes and ask a general set ofquestions: What does democracy do? Or, what outcomes can wereasonably expect of democracy? Also, does democracy fulfil theseexpectations in real life? We begin by thinking about how to assessthe outcomes of democracy. After some clarity on how to think onthis subject, we proceed to look at the expected and actual outcomesof democracy in various respects: quality of government, economicwell-being, inequality, social differences and conflict and finallyfreedom and dignity. Our final verdict – positive but qualified –leads us to think about the challenges to democracy in the nextand final chapter.

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How do we assess democracy’s outcomes?Do you remember how students inMadam Lyngdoh’s class argued aboutdemocracy? This was in Chapter 2 ofClass IX textbook. It emerged from thatconversation that democracy is a betterform of government when comparedwith dictatorship or any other alternative.We felt that democracy was betterbecause it:

Promotes equality among citizens;Enhances the dignity of theindividual;Improves the quality of decision-making;Provides a method to resolveconflicts; andAllows room to correct mistakes.

Are these expectations realised underdemocracies? When we talk to peoplearound us, most of them supportdemocracy against other alternatives,such as rule by a monarch or military orreligious leaders. But not so many ofthem would be satisfied with thedemocracy in practice. So we face adilemma: democracy is seen to be good

in principle, but felt to be not so good inits practice. This dilemma invites us tothink hard about the outcomes ofdemocracy. Do we prefer democracyonly for moral reasons? Or are theresome prudential reasons to supportdemocracy too?

Over a hundred countries of theworld today claim and practice somekind of democratic politics: they haveformal constitutions, they hold elections,they have parties and they guarantee rightsof citizens. While these features arecommon to most of them, thesedemocracies are very much differentfrom each other in terms of their socialsituations, their economic achievementsand their cultures. Clearly, what may beachieved or not achieved under each ofthese democracies will be very different.But is there something that we can expectfrom every democracy, just because it isdemocracy?

Our interest in and fascination fordemocracy often pushes us into taking aposition that democracy can address allsocio-economic and political problems.If some of our expectations are not met,we start blaming the idea of democracy.Or, we start doubting if we are living ina democracy. The first step towardsthinking carefully about the outcomesof democracy is to recognise thatdemocracy is just a form of government.It can only create conditions for achievingsomething. The citizens have to takeadvantage of those conditions andachieve those goals. Let us examine someof the things we can reasonably expectfrom democracy and examine the recordof democracy.

Did we reachtheseconclusions inMadam Lyngdoh’sclass? I lovedthat classbecausestudents werenot beingdictated anyconclusions.

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Accountable, responsive and legitimate governmentThere are some things that democracymust provide. In a democracy, we aremost concerned with ensuring thatpeople will have the right to choose theirrulers and people will have control overthe rulers. Whenever possible andnecessary, citizens should be able toparticipate in decision making, that affectsthem all. Therefore, the most basicoutcome of democracy should be thatit produces a government that isaccountable to the citizens, andresponsive to the needs and expectationsof the citizens.

Before we go into this question, weface another common question: Is thedemocratic government efficient? Is iteffective? Some people think thatdemocracy produces less effectivegovernment. It is, of course, true thatnon-democratic rulers do not have tobother about deliberation in assemblies orworry about majorities and public opinion.So, they can be very quick and efficient indecision making and implementation.Democracy is based on the idea ofdeliberation and negotiation. So, some delayis bound to take place. Does that makedemocratic government inefficient?

Let us think in terms of costs.Imagine a government that may takedecisions very fast. But it may takedecisions that are not accepted by thepeople and may therefore face problems.In contrast, the democratic governmentwill take more time to followprocedures before arriving at a decision.But because it has followed procedures,its decisions may be both moreacceptable to the people and moreeffective. So, the cost of time thatdemocracy pays is perhaps worth it.

Now look at the other side –democracy ensures that decision makingwill be based on norms and procedures.So, a citizen who wants to know if adecision was taken through the correctprocedures can find this out. She has theright and the means to examine theprocess of decision making. This isknown as transparency. This factor isoften missing from a non-democraticgovernment. Therefore, when we aretrying to find out the outcomes ofdemocracy, it is right to expectdemocracy to produce a governmentthat follows procedures and isaccountable to the people. We can alsoexpect that the democratic governmentdevelops mechanisms for citizens to holdthe government accountable andmechanisms for citizens to take part indecision making whenever they think fit.

If you wanted to measuredemocracies on the basis of thisexpected outcome, you would look forthe following practices and institutions:regular, free and fair elections; openpublic debate on major policies and

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Can you think of whatand how thegovernment knowsabout you and yourfamily (for exampleration cards andvoter identity cards)?What are the sourcesof information for youabout thegovernment?

Governmental Secrecy

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So, the bestoutcome ofdemocracy isthat it is ademocracy! Thatis what we havediscovered afterall this mentalgymnastics?

legislations; and citizens’ right toinformation about the government andits functioning. The actual performanceof democracies shows a mixed recordon this. Democracies have had greatersuccess in setting up regular and freeelections and in setting up conditions foropen public debate. But mostdemocracies fall short of elections thatprovide a fair chance to everyone and insubjecting every decision to public debate.Democratic governments do not have avery good record when it comes tosharing information with citizens. All onecan say in favour of democratic regimesis that they are much better than anynon-democratic regime in these respects.

In substantive terms it may bereasonable to expect from democracy agovernment that is attentive to the needsand demands of the people and is largelyfree of corruption. The record ofdemocracies is not impressive on thesetwo counts. Democracies often frustratethe needs of the people and often ignorethe demands of a majority of its

population. The routine tales ofcorruption are enough to convince us thatdemocracy is not free of this evil. At thesame time, there is nothing to show thatnon-democracies are less corrupt ormore sensitive to the people.

There is one respect in whichdemocratic government is certainlybetter than its alternatives: democraticgovernment is legitimate government.It may be slow, less efficient, not alwaysvery responsive or clean. But ademocratic government is people’s owngovernment. That is why there is anoverwhelming support for the idea ofdemocracy all over the world. As theaccompanying evidence from SouthAsia shows, the support exists incountries with democratic regimes aswell as countries without democraticregimes. People wish to be ruled byrepresentatives elected by them. Theyalso believe that democracy is suitablefor their country. Democracy’s abilityto generate its own support is itself anoutcome that cannot be ignored.

Source: SDSA Team, State of Democracy in South Asia, Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2007

Democracy is preferredover dictatorship

everywhere exceptPakistanSouth Asia28

621062

Bangladesh India Nepal Pakistan Sri LankaDemocracy ispreferable 69 70 62 37 71Sometimes dictatorshipis better 6 9 10 14 11Doesn’tmatter to me 25 21 28 49 18

Those who agree with one ofthe statements

Very few doubt the suitability of democracyfor their own countryHow suitable is democracy for your country?

Very suitable SuitableSouth Asia 88

Bangladesh 93Sri Lanka 92

India 92Pakistan 84

Nepal 790 50 100

Overwhelming support for democracyThose who agree with the rule of leaders elected by the people

Strongly agree AgreeSouth Asia 94

Sri Lanka 98Bangladesh 96

India 95Nepal 94

Pakistan 81

0 50 100

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Economic growth and developmentIf democracies are expected to producegood governments, then is it not fair toexpect that they would also producedevelopment? Evidence shows that inpractice many democracies did not fulfilthis expectation.

If you consider all democracies andall dictatorships for the fifty years between1950 and 2000, dictatorships have slightlyhigher rate of economic growth. Theinability of democracy to achieve highereconomic development worries us. Butthis alone cannot be reason to rejectdemocracy. As you have already studiedin economics, economic developmentdepends on several factors: country’spopulation size, global situation,

The Rich Get Buff

cooperation from other countries,economic priorities adopted by thecountry, etc. However, the difference inthe rates of economic developmentbetween less developed countries withdictatorships and democracies isnegligible. Overall, we cannot say thatdemocracy is a guarantee of economicdevelopment. But we can expectdemocracy not to lag behinddictatorships in this respect.

When we find such significantdifference in the rates of economicgrowth between countries underdictatorship and democracy, it is betterto prefer democracy as it has severalother positive outcomes.

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Cartoon on this pageand next three pages tellus about the disparitiesbetween the rich andpoor. Should the gainsof economic growth beevenly distributed? Howcan the poor get a voicefor a better share in anation? What can thepoor countries do toreceive a greater sharein the world’s wealth?

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Arguments about democracy tend tobe very passionate. This is how itshould be, for democracy appeals tosome of our deep values. Thesedebates cannot be resolved in asimple manner. But some debatesabout democracy can and should beresolved by referring to some factsand figures. The debate about theeconomic outcomes of democracy isone such debate. Over the yearsmany students of democracy havegathered careful evidence to seewhat the relationship of democracywith economic growth and economicinequalities is. The tables and thecartoon here present some of the evidences:

Table 1 shows that on an average dictatorial regimes have had a slightly better recordof economic growth. But when we compare their record only in poor countries, there isvirtually no difference.

Table 2 shows that within democracies there can be very high degree of inequalities. Indemocratic countries like South Africa and Brazil, the top 20 per cent people take awaymore than 60 per cent of the national income, leaving less than 3 per cent for the bottom20 per cent population. Countries like Denmark and Hungary are much better in this respect.

You can see in the cartoon, there is often inequality of opportunities available to thepoorer sections.

What would be your verdict on democracy if you had to base it purely on economicperformance of democratic regimes in terms of growth and equal distribution?

Table 1Rates of economic growth for different countries,1950-2000

Table 2Inequality of income in selected countries

Type of regimes and countriesAll democratic regimesAll dictatorial regimesPoor countries under dictatorshipPoor countries under democracy

Growth Rate3.954.424.344.28

Name of the % share of nationalCountries income

Top 20 % Bottom 20 %South Africa 64.8 2.9Brazil 63.0 2.6Russia 53.7 4.4USA 50.0 4.0United Kingdom 45.0 6.0Denmark 34.5 9.6Hungary 34.4 10.0

Source: A Przeworski, M E Alvarez, J A Cheibub and F Limongi, Democracy andDevelopment: Political Institutions and Well-Being in the World, 1950-1990.Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Poor Kids

democracyEconomic outcomes

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Reduction of inequality and povertyPerhaps more than development, it isreasonable to expect democracies toreduce economic disparities. Even whena country achieves economic growth, willwealth be distributed in such a way thatall citizens of the country will have ashare and lead a better life? Is economicgrowth in democracies accompanied byincreased inequalities among the people?Or do democracies lead to a justdistribution of goods and opportunities?

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Democracies are based on politicalequality. All individuals have equal weightin electing representatives. Parallel to theprocess of bringing individuals into thepolitical arena on an equal footing, wefind growing economic inequalities. Asmall number of ultra-rich enjoy a highlydisproportionate share of wealth andincomes. Not only that, their share in thetotal income of the country has beenincreasing. Those at the bottom of thesociety have very little to depend upon.Their incomes have been declining.Sometimes they find it difficult to meettheir basic needs of life, such as food,clothing, house, education and health.

In actual life, democracies do notappear to be very successful in reducingeconomic inequalities. In Class IXEconomics textbook, you have already

studied about poverty in India. Thepoor constitute a large proportion

of our voters and no party willlike to lose their votes. Yet

democratically electedgovernments do notappear to be as keen toaddress the question ofpoverty as you wouldexpect them to. Thesituation is much worse insome other countries. InBangladesh, more thanhalf of its population livesin poverty. People inseveral poor countries arenow dependent on the richcountries even for foodsupplies.

Voice of the Poor

Democracy is arule of themajority. Thepoor are inmajority. Sodemocracy mustbe a rule of thepoor. How canthis not be thecase?

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World’s Wealth Owned by a Few

Accommodation of social diversity

All you are sayingis thatdemocracyensures thatpeople do notbreak eachother’s head.This is notharmony. Shouldwe be happyabout it?

Do democracies lead to peaceful andharmonious life among citizens? It willbe a fair expectation that democracyshould produce a harmonious social life.We have seen in the earlier chapters howdemocracies accommodate various socialdivisions. We saw in the first chapter howBelgium has successfully negotiateddifferences among ethnic populations.Democracies usually develop a procedureto conduct their competition. This reducesthe possibility of these tensions becomingexplosive or violent.

No society can fully and permanentlyresolve conflicts among different groups.But we can certainly learn to respect thesedifferences and we can also evolvemechanisms to negotiate the differences.Democracy is best suited to produce thisoutcome. Non-democratic regimes oftenturn a blind eye to or suppress internal

social differences. Ability to handle socialdifferences, divisions and conflicts is thusa definite plus point of democraticregimes. But the example of Sri Lankareminds us that a democracy must fulfiltwo conditions in order to achieve thisoutcome:

It is necessary to understand thatdemocracy is not simply rule by majorityopinion. The majority always needs towork with the minority so thatgovernments function to represent thegeneral view. Majority and minorityopinions are not permanent.

It is also necessary that rule bymajority does not become rule bymajority community in terms of religionor race or linguistic group, etc. Rule bymajority means that in case of everydecision or in case of every election,different persons and groups may and

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can form a majority. Democracy remainsdemocracy only as long as every citizenhas a chance of being in majority at somepoint of time. If someone is barred

The two images depict two different kinds ofeffects democratic politics can have on socialdivisions. Take one example for each imageand write a paragraph each on the outcomeof democratic politics in both situations.

from being in majority on the basis ofbirth, then the democratic rule ceasesto be accommodative for that personor group.

Dignity and freedom of the citizensDemocracy stands much superior to anyother form of government inpromoting dignity and freedom of theindividual. Every individual wants toreceive respect from fellow beings.Often conflicts arise among individualsbecause some feel that they are nottreated with due respect. The passion forrespect and freedom are the basis ofdemocracy. Democracies throughout theworld have recognised this, at least in

principle. This has been achieved invarious degrees in various democracies.For societies which have been built forlong on the basis of subordination anddomination, it is not a simple matter torecognize that all individuals are equal.

Take the case of dignity of women.Most societies across the world werehistorically male dominated societies.Long struggles by women have createdsome sensitivity today that respect to and

Enemies

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equal treatment of women are necessaryingredients of a democratic society. Thatdoes not mean that women are actuallyalways treated with respect. But once theprinciple is recognised, it becomes easierfor women to wage a struggle againstwhat is now unacceptable legally andmorally. In a non-democratic set up, thisunacceptability would not have legal basisbecause the principle of individualfreedom and dignity would not have thelegal and moral force there. The same istrue of caste inequalities. Democracy inIndia has strengthened the claims of thedisadvantaged and discriminated castesfor equal status and equal opportunity.There are instances still of caste-basedinequalities and atrocities, but these lackthe moral and legal foundations. Perhapsit is the recognition that makes ordinarycitizens value their democratic rights.

Expectations from democracy alsofunction as the criteria for judging anydemocratic country. What is most

distinctive about democracy is that itsexamination never g ets over. Asdemocracy passes one test, it producesanother test. As people get some benefitsof democracy, they ask for more andwant to make democracy even better.That is why, when we ask people aboutthe way democracy functions, they willalways come up with more expectations,and many complaints. The fact thatpeople are complaining is itself atestimony to the success of democracy:it shows that people have developedawareness and the ability to expect andto look critically at power holders andthe high and the mighty. A publicexpression of dissatisfaction withdemocracy shows the success of thedemocratic project: it transforms peoplefrom the status of a subject into that ofa citizen. Most individuals today believethat their vote makes a difference to theway the government is run and to theirown self-interest.

The above cartoon and graph illustrate a point made in this section(Dignity and freedom of the citizens). Underline the sentences fromthis section which connect to the cartoon or graph.

I am anxiousabout my boardexams. Butdemocracy hasso many exams.And millions ofexaminers!

Source: SDSA Team, State of Democracy in SouthAsia, Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2007.

Rosa Parks Still Inspires

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Belief in the efficacy of vote is placed above thecalculus of utilityThose who say that their vote makes a difference...

South Asia 65

Bangladesh 66

India 67Nepal 75

Pakistan 50

Sri Lanka 65

0 80

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Exer

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1. How does democracy produce an accountable, responsive andlegitimate government?

2. What are the conditions under which democracies accommodatesocial diversities?

3. Give arguments to support or oppose the following assertions:Industrialised countries can afford democracy but the poorneed dictatorship to become rich.Democracy can’t reduce inequality of incomes betweendifferent citizens.Government in poor countries should spend less on povertyreduction, health, education and spend more on industries andinfrastructure.In democracy all citizens have one vote, which means thatthere is absence of any domination and conflict.

4. Identify the challenges to democracy in the following descriptions.Also suggest policy/institutional mechanism to deepen democracyin the given situations:

Following a High Court directive a temple in Orissa that hadseparate entry doors for dalits and non-dalits allowed entryfor all from the same door.A large number of farmers are committing suicide in differentstates of India.Following allegation of killing of three civilians in Gandwara in afake encounter by Jammu and Kashmir police, an enquiry hasbeen ordered.

5. In the context of democracies, which of the following ideas iscorrect – democracies have successfully eliminated:

A. conflicts among peopleB. economic inequalities among peopleC. differences of opinion about how marginalised sections

are to be treatedD. the idea of political inequality

6. In the context of assessing democracy which among the followingis odd one out. Democracies need to ensure:

A. free and fair electionsB. dignity of the individualC. majority ruleD. equal treatment before law

7. Studies on political and social inequalities in democracy show thatA. democracy and development go together.B. inequalities exist in democracies .C. inequalities do not exist under dictatorship.D. dictatorship is better than democracy.

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s8. Read the passage below:

Nannu is a daily wage earner. He lives in Welcome MazdoorColony, a slum habitation in East Delhi. He lost his rationcard and applied for a duplicate one in January 2004. Hemade several rounds to the local Food & Civil Supplies officefor the next three months. But the clerks and officials wouldnot even look at him, leave alone do his job or bother to tellhim the status of his application. Ultimately, he filed anapplication under the Right to Information Act asking for thedaily progress made on his application, names of theofficials, who were supposed to act on his application andwhat action would be taken against these officials for theirinaction. Within a week of filing application under the Right toInformation Act, he was visited by an inspector from theFood Department, who informed him that the card had beenmade and he could collect it from the office. When Nannuwent to collect his card next day, he was given a very warmtreatment by the Food & Supply Officer (FSO), who is thehead of a Circle. The FSO offered him tea and requested himto withdraw his application under the Right to Information,since his work had already been done.

What does Nannu’s example show? What impact did Nannu’saction have on officials? Ask your parents their experienceswhen they approach government officials to attend to theirproblems.

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