Question

What are the advantages and disadvantages of democracy?

Answer 1

Answer:

Democracy is a form of government in which the rulers are elected by the people.

Advantages of Democracy

• In a democracy people expect the government to work for their welfare. This could be through development of electricity, roads, through the provision of housing, employment, health, education, etc.
• Democracy gives room to correct the mistakes.
• If there are conflicts, Democracy gives room to resolve the conflicts.
• Democracy helps in improving the quality of decision making.
• The dignity of all individuals gets enhanced due to Democracy.
• Very importantly, Democracy helps in promoting equality among all the citizens of the country.
• In a Democracy, the Governments are accountable, legitimate, and responsive to the expectations and needs of the citizens.
• All the citizens have equal weight in electing their Government representatives.

Disadvantages of Democracy

• As Democracy is based on electoral competition, it leads to corruption.
• As any ordinary citizen can contest elections and win elections, and any citizen can elect its Government representatives, it is argued that, ordinary citizens who do not know what is good for them should not be involved in decision making.
• Elected Government representatives end up making bad decisions as they do not understand what decision taken is in the best interest of the people.
• The decision making in a Democracy gets delayed as many people have to be consulted.
• There is no scope for morality in Democracy as Democracy is all about power play and political competition.
• There is constant instability in Democracy as the leaders keep changing in the Democracy as the elections are held regularly.