Overview
This chapter evaluates democracy’s outcomes, exploring what it achieves, what we can expect, and how it performs in practice. It assesses democracy across governance, economic well-being, inequality, social diversity, and individual dignity and freedom.
How Do We Assess Democracy’s Outcomes?
Democracy is preferred over alternatives like dictatorship for moral and prudential reasons, but its practice often falls short of expectations.
Expectations from Democracy
- Promotes equality among citizens.
- Enhances individual dignity.
- Improves decision-making quality.
- Provides methods to resolve conflicts.
- Allows room to correct mistakes.
Question:
Is democracy all about coping with multiple pressures and accommodating diverse demands?
Assessing Democracy
- Dilemma: Democracy is valued in principle but criticized in practice, prompting scrutiny of its outcomes.
- Realistic Expectations: Democracy is a form of government that creates conditions for progress, but citizens must act to achieve goals.
- Global Context: Over 100 countries practice democracy with varying social, economic, and cultural outcomes, making universal expectations challenging.
Insight: Democracy’s appeal leads to high expectations, but blaming it for all failures ignores its role as an enabler, not a direct problem-solver.
Accountable, Responsive, and Legitimate Government
Democracy’s core outcome is a government accountable and responsive to citizens, with participation in decision-making.
Efficiency vs. Effectiveness
- Criticism: Non-democratic regimes make quicker decisions, while democracies face delays due to deliberation and negotiation.
- Counterargument: Democratic decisions, following procedures, are more acceptable and effective, justifying the time cost.
- Transparency: Citizens can access decision-making processes, unlike in non-democratic setups, ensuring accountability.
Performance
- Strengths: Democracies excel in regular, free, and fair elections and fostering open public debate.
- Weaknesses: Many fail to ensure equal electoral opportunities, universal public debate, or transparent information-sharing.
- Responsiveness and Corruption: Democracies often ignore majority needs and are not free of corruption, though non-democracies perform no better.
- Legitimacy: Democratic governments, as people’s own, enjoy widespread support globally, even in non-democratic countries.
Data Insight: South Asia surveys show 62-71% prefer democracy over dictatorship, with strong belief in its suitability (SDSA, 2007).
Question:
Is the best outcome of democracy that it is a democracy?
Economic Growth and Development
Democracy is expected to foster development, but its economic performance is mixed.
- Evidence (1950-2000): Dictatorships had slightly higher growth rates (4.42% vs. 3.95% for democracies), but among poor countries, the difference is negligible (4.34% vs. 4.28%).
- Factors: Growth depends on population, global conditions, cooperation, and economic priorities, not just governance type.
- Preference for Democracy: Despite no guaranteed economic edge, democracy’s other benefits (e.g., legitimacy) make it preferable.
Question:
Should economic growth gains be evenly distributed? How can the poor get a voice for a better share?
Table 1: Growth rates: All democracies (3.95%), dictatorships (4.42%), poor democracies (4.28%), poor dictatorships (4.34%).
Reduction of Inequality and Poverty
Democracies are expected to reduce economic disparities, but they often fail to do so effectively.
Economic Inequality
- Reality: Despite political equality, economic inequalities grow, with the ultra-rich holding disproportionate wealth and the poorest struggling for basics.
- Data: In South Africa and Brazil, the top 20% take over 60% of income, leaving under 3% for the bottom 20%. Denmark and Hungary perform better (34.5% and 9.6% respectively).
- Cartoon Insight: Economic opportunities remain unequal, especially for the poor.
Table 2: Income inequality: South Africa (64.8% top, 2.9% bottom), Brazil (63%, 2.6%), Denmark (34.5%, 9.6%).
Poverty
- India: Despite large poor voter bases, governments are less focused on poverty reduction than expected.
- Global: In Bangladesh, over 50% live in poverty; poor countries rely on rich nations for food.
Question:
What would be your verdict on democracy based purely on economic performance?
Accommodation of Social Diversity
Democracies are expected to foster harmonious social life by managing diversity and conflicts.
- Strength: Democracies develop procedures to negotiate differences, reducing violent conflicts (e.g., Belgium’s ethnic accommodation).
- Conditions for Success:
- Majority must work with minorities to represent general views, avoiding permanent majorities.
- Rule by majority must not mean dominance by a single community (e.g., religion, race); every citizen should have a chance to be in the majority.
- Challenges: Sri Lanka’s example shows that majority dominance can undermine harmony.
Dignity and Freedom of Citizens
Democracy excels in promoting individual dignity and freedom, recognizing equality in principle.
- Women’s Dignity: Historically male-dominated societies now recognize women’s equality legally and morally, enabling struggles for respect (e.g., Rosa Parks’ inspiration).
- Caste Equality: In India, democracy strengthens claims of disadvantaged castes for equal status, though inequalities persist without moral/legal backing.
- Continuous Testing: Democracy’s constant examination by citizens, through complaints and demands, reflects its success in fostering critical awareness and citizenship.
Key Sentences: “Democracy stands much superior… in promoting dignity and freedom of the individual.” “The passion for respect and freedom are the basis of democracy.”
Question:
Why does democracy have so many exams and examiners?
Case Study: Nannu’s RTI Application
Nannu, a daily wage earner, used the Right to Information Act to expedite his duplicate ration card application, highlighting democracy’s accountability mechanisms.
- Outcome: His RTI filing prompted quick action, with officials offering warm treatment to resolve the issue.
- Impact: Demonstrates how citizen action can hold officials accountable, reinforcing transparency and responsiveness.
Key Learnings
- Democracy creates conditions for accountable, responsive, and legitimate governance, though it struggles with transparency and corruption.
- Economic growth is not guaranteed, and inequalities persist, but democracy’s legitimacy and other benefits make it preferable.
- Democracies accommodate social diversity through inclusive majority-minority cooperation, reducing conflict.
- Democracy promotes dignity and freedom, empowering struggles for equality, with constant citizen scrutiny as a sign of success.
Exercises
- Democracy produces accountable, responsive, legitimate government through elections, public debate, and transparency mechanisms.
- Conditions: Majority-minority cooperation, no permanent community dominance, equal chance to be in majority.
- Arguments:
- Industrialized countries afford democracy: Oppose; poor countries benefit from democracy’s legitimacy and accountability.
- Democracy can’t reduce inequality: Support; data shows persistent income disparities in democracies.
- Poor countries spend less on poverty: Oppose; poverty reduction is critical for equitable growth.
- One vote means no domination: Oppose; political equality doesn’t eliminate economic or social conflicts.
- Challenges and Solutions:
- Temple entry: Challenge: Caste discrimination. Solution: Enforce anti-discrimination laws, promote awareness.
- Farmers’ suicides: Challenge: Economic distress. Solution: Expand agricultural subsidies, mental health support.
- Fake encounter: Challenge: Human rights violations. Solution: Strengthen independent inquiries, police reforms.
- Democracies eliminated: (D) Idea of political inequality.
- Odd one out: (C) Majority rule; others are universal democratic principles.
- Inequalities in democracy: (B) Inequalities exist in democracies.