Solutions

Democracy in the Contemporary World

Textbook Exercises

1.Which of the following does not to the spread of democracy in the first decade after 1945?
  • Struggle by the people
  • Invasion by foreign countries
  • End of colonialism
  • People desire for freedom
ans:
  • People desire for freedom
  • Which of the following statement is true about today world
  • Monarchy as a form of government has vanished
  • The relationship betwefen different countries has become more democratic than ever before
  • In more and more countries, rulers are being elected by the people
  • There are no more military dictators in the world
ans:
  • In more and more countries, rulers are being elected by the people
  • Use one of the following statements to complete the Sentence. Democracy in international organisations requires that
  • The rich countries should have a greater say
  • Countries should have a say according to their military power
  • Countries should be treated with respect in proportion to their population
  • All countries in the world should be treated equally
ans:
  • All countries in the world should be treated equally
  • Based on the information given in thischapter, match the following countries and Nhe path democracy has taken in that country
Country Path to Democracy
  • Chile
  • Freedom from British colonial rule
  • Nepal
  • End II. of military dictator-ship
  • Poland
  • End of one Party rule
  • Ghana
  • King agreed to give up his powers
  • ans:
    Country Path to Democracy
  • Chile
  • End of military dictator-ship
  • Nepal
  • King agreed to give up his powers
  • Poland
  • End of one Party rule
  • Ghana
  • Freedom from British colonial rule
  • 1.What are the difficulties people face in a non-democractic country ? Give answers drawing from the examples given in this chapter?

    ans:People face numerous difficulties in a non-democratic country. Some such difficulties are as under

    • People are deviod of their basic rights
    • They are not allowed to protest against the atrocities inflicted on them
    • They are not permitted to express and demonstrate their opposition
    • They are not allowed to form, . organisations to state their grievances
    • They do not choose their rulers, nor change them
    • They do riot possess freedom; they do not express their opinion nor can they organise protest and political action
    2.Which freedoms are usually taken away when a demcoracy is overthrown by the military ?

    ans:When a democracy is overthrown by a military, the people lose all their freedoms. They do not have the freedom to speech and, expression of their opinion. They cannot , form political organisations, or organise their protest and action

    3.Which of the following positions can contribute to democracy at the global level? Give reasons for your answer in each case?
    • My country gives more money to international institutions. Therefore, I want to be treated with more respect and exercise more power
    • My country may be small or poor. But my voice must be, heard, with equal respect, because these decisions will affect my country
    • Wealthy nations will have a greater say in international affairs. They cannot let their interests suffer just because they are outnumbered by poor nations
    • Big countires like India must have a greater say in international organizations
    ans:
    • By merely giving more money to the international institutions, a country should not be treated with more respect and exercise power. Democracy does not thrive on luxuries, nor by the rich. It is platoracy, the rule of the rich, and hot the rule of the people
    • A country may be small in size and poor economically. Democracy will strength-en if all the countires, irrespective of their size oreconOmy, are treated equally. Decisions in democracy affect all the countries equally
    • If wealthy nations, because of their wealth, have a greater say in international affairs, they would make decisions which would promote; their interests. This would not contribute to democracy, rather it would harm it adversely
    • Countries Which are large in population and bigger in size such as India should have their say not at the cost of smaller ones. Representation of interests and number should be given corresponding weightage. John Stuart Mill was strongly of the view that the interest should not be sacrificed at the cost of number, nor the vice-versa
    4.Here are three opinions heard in a television debate on the struggle for democracy in Nepal. Which of these do you agr4e with and why?

    Guest India is a democracy. Therefore, the Indian government must support he people of Nepal who . are stuggling againstmonarchy and for democracy. Guest That is a dangerous arugment. We would be in the same position as the US was in Iraq. Remember, no outside force can promote democracy.
    Guest But why should we bother about the internal affairs of another country? We should be worried about our business interests there, not about democracy.

    ans:Democracy breeds from within. Imposition of democracy on others or from above is, indeed, dangerous as the USA. really did in Iraq. It is impertinent that any democratic country, India including, should encourage democracy wherever it exists, but no country should implant democracy. One can teach people swimming if they do not learn themselves to swim. The opinion of guest 3 is really weighty, for we should protect our interests in other countries, not that we make them democrat by losing our interest

    5.In an imaginary country called Happyland, the people overthrew the foreign ruler and brought back the old royal family. They said : "After all their ancestors were our kings before foreigners started ruling us. It is good that we have one strong ruler, - who can help us become rich and powerful". When someone talked about democracy the wise men said it is a foreign idea. Their struggle was to throw the foreigners and their ideas out of the country. When someone demanded freedom for the media, the elders thought that too much criticism of the ruler would not help them improve their living standards. "After, all, the king is so kind and interested in the welfare of all the subjects. Why create problems for him. Dont we all want to be happy?

    After reading the above passage, Chaman, Champa and Chandra made the following observations:
    Chaman: Happyland is a democratic country because people were able to throw out the foreign rulers and bring back the king.

    Champa: Happyland is not a democratic Country because people cannot criticise the ruler. The king may be nice and may provide economic prosperity, but a king cannot give a democratic rule.

    Chandra: What people heed is happiness. So they are willing to allow their new ruler to take decisions for them. If people are happy to must be democracy.

    What is your opinion about each of these statements? What do you think about the form of government in this country?

    as:Democracy means the rule of the people, by them and for them. A slave country is never a democratic Country. National independence is one where people are free from the foreign rule

    The liberation from the British and independence of India were connected with the democratic idea. But, if a country libertes itself from foreign rule and reverts back to the monarchical system does not make that democray, for monarchy is not democracy.

    In fact, Where the rulers are hot subject to criticism by the people in general, there one does not find democracy. The essence of democracy is that the people rule themselves, that they can criticize their rulers and that they have freedom of opinion, and expression, and that they can change their rulers through election:

    Democracy and happiness are not the same, A happy man is not a democratic man, though for a democracy, there is a need to have a good economy. People can build democracy and can also build their economy : the two supplement each other.

    A country which has a kihg at its head is a monarchy and not a democracy, if the king is only a constitutional head, a country can be, as in Britain, a democratic form of a government.

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