3. The fact that people are complaining is itself a testimony to the success of democracy: it shows that people have developed awareness and the ability to expect and to look critically at power holders and the high and the mighty. Challenges to Democracy What is a challenge? A challenge is not just any problem. We usually call only those difficulties a which are significant and ‘challenge’ which can be overcome. A challenge is a difficulty that carries within it an opportunity for progress. Once we overcome a challenge we go up to a higher level than before. Different countries face different kinds of challenges. 1. Foundational challenge -This involves bringing down the existing non-democratic regime, keeping military away from controlling government and establishing a sovereign and functional state. 2. Challenge of expansion-This involves applying the basic principle of democratic government across all the regions, different social groups and various institutions. Ensuring greater power to local governments, extension of federal principle to all the units of the federation, inclusion of women and minority groups, etc., falls under this challenge. 3. Deepening of democracy is faced by every democracy in one form or another. This involves strengthening of –This the institutions and practices of democracy by more people’s participation and control. Some broad guidelines that can be kept in mind while devising ways and means for political reforms in India: 1. It is ways of reforming politics- law has an important role to play in political reform. Carefully devised changes in law can help to discourage wrong political practices and encourage good ones. (But legal-constitutional changes by themselves cannot overcome challenges to democracy. Democratic reforms are to be carried out mainly by political activists, parties, movements and politically conscious citizens.) 2. Any legal change must carefully look at what results it will have on politics. Laws that give political actors incentives to do good things have more chances of working. The best laws are those which empower people to carry out (The Right to Information Act is a good example of a law that empowers the people to find out democratic reforms. what is happening in government and act as watchdogs of democracy)
3. The fact that people are complaining is itself a testimony to the success of democracy: it shows that people have developed awareness and the ability to expect and to look critically at power holders and the high and the mighty. Challenges to Democracy What is a challenge? A challenge is not just any problem. We usually call only those difficulties a ‘challenge’ which are significant and which can be overcome. A challenge is a difficulty that carries within it an opportunity for progress. Once we overcome a challenge we go up to a higher level than before. Different countries face different kinds of challenges. 1. Foundational challenge -This involves bringing down the existing non-democratic regime, keeping military away from controlling government and establishing a sovereign and functional state. 2. Challenge of expansion-This involves applying the basic principle of democratic government across all the regions, different social groups and various institutions. Ensuring greater power to local governments, extension of federal principle to all the units of the federation, inclusion of women and minority groups, etc., falls under this challenge. 3. Deepening of democracy –This is faced by every democracy in one form or another. This involves strengthening of the institutions and practices of democracy by more people’s participation and control. Some broad guidelines that can be kept in mind while devising ways and means for political reforms in India: 1. It is ways of reforming politics- law has an important role to play in political reform. Carefully devised changes in law can help to discourage wrong political practices and encourage good ones. (But legal-constitutional changes by themselves cannot overcome challenges to democracy. Democratic reforms are to be carried out mainly by political activists, parties, movements and politically conscious citizens.) 2. Any legal change must carefully look at what results it will have on politics. Laws that give political actors incentives to do good things have more chances of working. The best laws are those which empower people to carry out democratic reforms. (The Right to Information Act is a good example of a law that empowers the people to find out what is happening in government and act as watchdogs of democracy)
1482992527_Nationalism-in%20Indo-China.docx