OUTCOMES OF
What is Democracy ?
What makes
Democracy a better
form of Government ?
• It Promotes equality among
citizens
• Enhances the dignity of citizens.
Every individual is prioritized and
hence enhances their trust.
• The quality of decision making is
enhanced.
• Provides a method to resolve
conflicts
• Allows room to correct mistakes
Democracy provides a better form
of governance than monarchy and
dictatorship
• Have a formal
constitution
• Hold elections
• Guarantees rights of
citizen
Democracies are very much
different from each other in terms
of their social situations, their
economic achievements and their
cultures.
Why do we have doubt in
Democracy ?
• Democracy can address all socio-
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
in a democracy.
How do we asses the
outcomes of a Democracy ?
Basic Outcomes of Democracy
Accountable Government
• Democracy produces an accountable governments, as the
people have the right in choosing their representatives
through the electoral process.
• These elected representatives form the government and
participate in the decision-making process on behalf of
the people.
• If these elected representatives do not work properly,
people have a chance to not elect them in the next
election.
Transparency is the
key feature of an Accountable
Government
• A Citizen who wants to know if a decision was taken through
the correct procedures can find this out. She has the right
and the means to examine the process of decision
making.
Democracy is slow but
relatively efficient compared
to Non-democratic regimes.
• Democracy can sometimes create a less efficient government. Non-
democratic rulers do not have to bother about deliberation in
assemblies or worry about majorities and public opinion and hence
have less restrain over their actions.
• Democratic is more based on deliberation and negotiations and
hence decision making can take a lot of time since they keep
everyone into consideration. These decisions are better
welcomed by the citizens and mostly bear fruitful results.
Responsive Government
• Democratic governments are elected by the people and
are responsible towards the people and Parliament.
• These governments promote the formation of public
opinion and take care of the needs and expectations of
the people.
Is Democracy a complete
accountable and responsive
form of Government ?
• Most of the democracies fall short of elections that provide a
fair chance to everyone.
• Lack of transparency as it fails in sharing information with
citizens.
• Democracies often frustrate the needs of the people and often
ignore the demands of a majority of its population.
• The routine tales of corruption.
Legitimate Government
• A democratic government is people’s own government.
• People wish to be ruled by representatives elected by
them.
Democracy’s ability to generate its own
support is itself an outcome that cannot
be ignored.
Economic Outcome of
Democracy
Economic
Development
• Economic development depends on several factors:
1. Country’s population size
2. Global situation & cooperation from
other countries
3. Economic priorities adopted by the
country.
There is a significant difference in the rates of economic
growth between countries under dictatorship and
democracy. So, democracy is preferred as it has
several positive outcomes.
The Relationship of democracy with
economic growth and economic
inequalities.
• The dictatorial regime has had a slightly better record of
economic growth. But when we compare their record only
in poor countries, there is virtually no difference.
• There can be a very high degree of inequality within
democracies.There is often inequality of opportunities
available to the poorer sections of the society.
Economic Inequality
• All individuals have equal weight in electing representatives. In the
process of bringing individuals into the political arena on an equal
footing, we find growing economic inequalities.
• A small number of ultra-rich enjoy a highly disproportionate share
of wealth and incomes. Their share in the total income of the
country has been increasing.
• Those at the bottom strata of society have very little to depend
upon. Their incomes have been declining.
In actual life, democracies do not appear to be very
successful in reducing economic inequalities.
Social Outcome of
Democracy
Accommodation of Social Diversity
1. Democracy is not simply rule by majority opinion -
majority always needs to work with the minority so
that governments function to represent the general
view.
2. It is also necessary that rule by majority does not
become rule by majority community in terms of
religion or race or linguistic group, etc.
In case of every decision or in case of every election,
different persons and groups may and can form a
majority.
Democracy remains democracy only as long as
every citizen has a chance of being in majority at
some point of time.
