‘Democracy is seen to be good in principle, but felt, to be not so good in practice.’ Justify the statement with suitable arguments (CBSE 2014)

1. Democracy as a form of governance has always been considered much better than the alternative non-democratic regimes from the past as well as present experiences. Promoting equality among all, enhancing the dignity of the individual, providing the means to resolve conflicts and greater participation are some of the progressive mechanisms that democracies offer.

2. People, however, are not very much satisfied from its performance in practice due to the differences in terms of social situations, economic achievements and cultural experiences which tend to make a difference towards the democratic output in various countries.

3. Further, often the ideals of democracy push the society towards taking a position that democracy can address all socio-economic and political problems. In such a situation, when democracy fails to meet the expectations, people tend to blame the idea of democracy or may start doubting about the existence of democracy. Therefore, it is essential to understand the ideas of democracy and take considerable advantage of the conditions in order to achieve something.

NOTE–It is important to understand that democracy can only create those required conditions of bringing about change and it is only in the hands of the people, who can take advantage of those conditions and bring that required change.