Question

In what ways democracy has succeeded in maintaining the dignity and freedom of citizens?

Answer 1

Democracy enhances the dignity of citizens of a country in the following ways:

• Recognition of the principle of equality becomes easier for women to wage a struggle against what is now unacceptable legally and morally.
• Democracy in India has strengthened the claims of the disadvantaged and discriminated castes for equal status and equal opportunity. There are instances still of caste-based inequalities and atrocities, but these lack the moral and legal foundations. Perhaps it is the recognition that makes ordinary citizens value their democratic rights.
• A public expression of dissatisfaction with democracy shows the success of the democratic project: it transforms people from the status of a subject into that of a citizen. Most individuals today believe that their vote makes a difference to the way the government is run and to their own self-interest.