Democracy: meaning, kinds, merits, defects and direct democracy

1. Meaning and definitions

The word comes from the Greek demos (people) and kratos (power or rule): rule by the people.

• Abraham Lincoln (Gettysburg Address, 1863): government of the people, by the people, for the people.
• Seeley: a government in which everyone has a share.
• Bryce, Modern Democracies (1921): a form of government in which the ruling power of the State is legally vested not in any particular class but in the members of the community as a whole.
• Dicey: a form of government in which the governing body is a comparatively large fraction of the entire nation.

Democracy is also wider than a form of government. It is a form of State (where sovereignty rests with the people), a form of society (equality of status) and a way of life (tolerance, discussion, respect for others).

2. Nature and features

1. Popular sovereignty: final authority rests with the people.
2. Free and fair elections at regular intervals, on universal adult franchise.
3. Majority rule with minority rights.
4. Responsible government, accountable to the people or their representatives.
5. Political equality: one person, one vote, one value.
6. Fundamental rights and liberties: speech, association, assembly.
7. Rule of law and an independent judiciary.
8. Multi-party system and a recognised opposition.
9. Government by discussion and consent, and peaceful change of government.

3. Kinds

• Direct (pure) democracy: the people make laws and decisions themselves in a general assembly. Practised in the Athenian city-state (the Ecclesia) and today in a few Swiss cantons. Possible only in small communities.
• Indirect (representative) democracy: the people elect representatives who make laws and govern on their behalf. J.S. Mill, Considerations on Representative Government (1861), argued it is the ideal form for large modern States. It takes two main forms:
  • Parliamentary: the executive is drawn from and responsible to the legislature (Britain, India);
  • Presidential: an independently elected executive with a fixed term, separated from the legislature (United States).
• Other classifications: liberal democracy (stress on individual rights and the market), social democracy (with welfare and economic equality) and the people’s democracies claimed by communist States, which are not democracies in the liberal sense.

4. Merits

• Based on equality and the dignity of the individual.
• Responsible and accountable government; abuse of power can be corrected at the next election.
• Political education: elections, debates and participation train citizens. Mill valued this most.
• Legitimacy and stability: government rests on consent, so revolution is unnecessary; change comes through the ballot.
• Protects liberty and rights.
• Promotes patriotism and a sense of ownership.
• Peaceful resolution of conflict through discussion and compromise.
• Good for welfare: governments must respond to the needs of voters. Amartya Sen has argued that no major famine has occurred in a functioning democracy with a free press.

5. Defects

• Rule of the incompetent: counts heads, not brains; Plato and Carlyle’s objection.
• Tyranny of the majority (Tocqueville, Mill).
• Expensive elections and the role of money.
• Party spirit: factionalism, defections, appeals to caste and religion.
• Slow and inefficient, especially in a crisis.
• Demagogy and populism: leaders promise what is popular, not what is wise.
• Rule of the rich in practice: Marxists call it bourgeois democracy; elite theorists (Pareto, Mosca, Michels’ “iron law of oligarchy”) say a minority always rules.
• Voter apathy and low participation.

6. Conditions for success

7. Direct democracy: importance, devices and practice

Large States cannot hold assemblies of all citizens, so modern direct democracy works through devices that let the people act directly on particular questions while representatives govern in general. Their importance is that they correct the gap between representatives and voters, check the legislature, and educate citizens.

1. Referendum: a law or constitutional amendment passed by the legislature is referred to the voters for approval. It may be compulsory (Swiss constitutional amendments must be approved by a majority of voters and of cantons) or optional (in Switzerland, if 50,000 citizens ask for it within 100 days). Britain’s referendum of 2016 on leaving the European Union is a well-known example.
2. Initiative: citizens propose a law or amendment themselves. In Switzerland 100,000 signatures within 18 months can force a popular vote on a constitutional amendment. Several American States also allow it.
3. Recall: voters can remove an elected representative or official before the end of the term by petition and vote. Used in some American States: California recalled Governor Gray Davis in 2003. India has no recall at the national level.
4. Plebiscite: a direct vote on a question of public importance, especially sovereignty or territory, usually not on a law. Examples: Saar (1935), and plebiscites on the accession of Junagadh (1948).

Practice: the Landsgemeinde, an open-air assembly of all citizens, still meets in the Swiss cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden and Glarus. In India the Gram Sabha (Article 243A), consisting of all registered voters of a village, is the nearest equivalent.

Criticism: voters may lack the expertise for complex legislation; low turnout lets a minority decide; devices can be used by demagogues or well-funded groups; frequent votes weaken responsible government.

How this is examined

January 2026 (80-mark): “Define Democracy. Explain its feature” (10 marks) and “Write a short note on Direct democracy” (6). June 2025: “Explain the meaning, kinds and features of Democracy” (10) and “Explain the meaning of direct and indirect democracy” (6). August 2024: “Define democracy, bring out its merits and demerits” (10) and “Types of democracy” (6). April 2023: “Define democracy. Explain the types of democracy” (10). Close a long answer with the conditions for success and an Indian example.