Accountablr, responsive and legitimate government - Concepts - Chapter 5 Class 10 Political Science - Outcomes of Democracy - Political Science

ACCOUNTABLE, RESPONSIVE, AND LEGITIMATE GOVERNMENT

• In a democracy, we are most concerned with ensuring that people will have the right to choose their rulers and that people will have control over the rulers.
  
  
• Citizens should be able to participate in decision-making.
  
  
• The most basic outcome of democracy should be that it produces a government that is accountable to the citizens, and responsive to the needs and expectations of the citizens.
  
  
• Non-democratic rulers do not have to bother with deliberation in assemblies or w orry about majorities and public opinion . So they can be very quick and efficient in decision-making and implementation.
  
  
• Democracy is based on the idea of deliberation and negotiation .
  
  
• The democratic government will take more time to follow procedures before arriving at a decision . But because it has followed procedures, its decisions may be both more acceptable to the people and more effective.
  
  
• Democracy ensures that decision-making will be based on norms and procedures.
  
  
• A citizen who wants to know if a decision was taken through the correct procedure can find this out. One has the right and the means to examine the process of decision-making. This is known as transparency.
  
  
• Transparency is often missing from a non-democratic government.
  
  
• Democratic government develops mechanisms for citizens to hold the government accountable and mechanisms for citizens to take part in decision-making.
  
  
• Democratic government is certainly better than its alternatives: democratic government is a legitimate government.
  
  
• It may be slow, less efficient, not always very responsive or clean. But democratic government is people’s own government.
  
  
• People wish to be ruled by representatives elected by them.