Question

What are the challenges before democracy?

Answer 1

The following are the major challenges of democracy:

1. The foundational challenge involves transitioning from a non-democratic to a democratic form of government. It means keeping power in the hands of civilians instead of military and establishing a sovereign state. It also means granting basic rights associated with democratic governance to citizens.

2. The challenge of expansion consists of the application of democratic principles to all social groups, across regions and institutionalising democracy. Expansion includes taking democracy to grassroots through local governments, empowering women and minorities as well as applying federal principles to ensure autonomous decision-making and decentralisation.

3. Deepening of democracy is the challenge of strengthening the practices and institutions that uphold democracy. This challenge focuses on the expectations of the people in different societies. These expectations are bound to vary and therefore, it needs to be viewd in the different contexts.