Father Agnel School GreaNoida
2025-26
Political science chapter 1
Class -9
What is Democracy? Why
Democracy? Class 9 Extra Questions
Social Science Civics Chapter 2
Short Answer Type Questions
Question 1.
What are three features of democracy?
Answer:
Features of democracy are :
Rulers elected by the people take all the major decisions;
Elections offer a choice and fair opportunity to the people to
change the current rulers;
This choice and opportunity is available to all the people on an
equal basis;
The exercise of this choice leads to a government limited by basic
rules of the constitution and citizens’ rights. (Any three)
Question 2.
Explain any three major political changes that took place recently in India’s
neighbourhood.
Answer:
Pakistan-General Musharaf led a military coup.
Nepal-In 2005, the new king dismissed the elected government.
Iraq-Saddam Hussein’s regime was overthrown.
Question 3.
How does democracy improve the quality of decision making?
Answer:
Democracy is based on consultation and discussion. A democratic decision
always involves many persons, discussions and meetings. When a number of
people put their heads together, they are able to point out possible mistakes
in any decision. This takes time. But there is a big advantage in taking time
over important decisions. This reduces the chances of rash or irresponsible
decisions. Thus, democracy improves the quality of decision-making.
Question 4.
How does democracy enhances the dignity of citizens?
Answer:
Even if democracy does not bring about better decisions and accountable
government, it is still better than other forms of government. Democracy
enhances the dignity of citizens. Democracy is based on the principle of
political equality, on recognising that the poorest and the least educated has
the same status as the rich and the educated. People are not subjects of a
ruler, they are the rulers themselves. Even when they make mistakes, they
are responsible for their conduct.
Question 5.
How is democracy better than other forms of government?
Answer:
It is correct that democracy is better than other forms of
government because it allows us to correct its own mistakes.
There is no guarantee that mistakes cannot be made in
democracy.
No form of government can guarantee that. The advantage in a
democracy is that such mistakes cannot be hidden for long.
There is a space for public discussion on these mistakes. And
there is a room for correction. Either the rulers have to change
their decisions, or the rulers can be changed. This cannot happen
in a non-democratic government.
Question 6.
Democracy cannot get us everything and is not the solution to all problems.
Than why are we interested in democracy?
Answer:
It is clearly better than any other alternative form that we know. It
offers better | chances of a good decision and it is likely to respect
people’s own wishes and allows different kinds of people to live
together.
Even when it fails to do some of these things, it allows a way of
correcting its mistakes and offers more dignity to all citizens. That
is why, democracy is considered the best form of government.
Question 7.
What does ‘one person, one vote, one value’ mean? Name the countries who
deny the equal right to vote.
Answer:
Democracy is based on a fundamental principle of political equality. In a
democracy, each adult citizen must have one vote and each vote must have
one value. Democracy is linked to the demand for Universal Adult Franchise.
Yet, there are many instances of denial of equal right to vote.
Until 2015, in Saudi Arabia, women did not have the right to vote.
Estonia has made its citizenship rules in such a way that people
belonging to Russian minority find it difficult to get the right to
vote.
In Fiji, the electoral system is such that the vote of an indigenous
Fiji has more value than that of an Indian-Fijian.
Question 8.
Is it correct that a democratic government cannot do whatever it likes?
Explain.
Answer:
A democratic government cannot do whatever it likes because it
has won an election. It has to respect some basic rules. In
particular, it has to respect some guarantees to the minorities.
Every major decision has to go through a series of consultations.
Every office bearer has certain rights and responsibilities assigned
by the constitution and the law. Each of these is accountable not
only to the people but also to other independent officials.
A democratic government rules within limits set by constitutional
law and citizens’ rights.
Question 9.
Pakistan under the General Pervez Musharraf is not called a democracy.
Why?
Answer:
Pakistan under the General Pervez Musharraf is not called a democracy
because :
The rulers are not elected by the people in Pakistan. People may
have elected their representatives to the national and provincial
assemblies but those elected representatives are not really the
rulers.
They cannot take the final decisions.
The power to take final excision rests with army officials and with
General Musharraf, and none of them are elected by the people.
Question 10.
How popular governments can be undemocratic? Explain with an example.
Answer:
In Zimbabwe, since it attained independence in 1980, elections have been
held regularly and always won by ZANU-Ph the party that led the freedom
struggle. Its leader, President Robert Mugabe, is popular but also uses unfair
practices in elections. His government has changed the constitution several
times to increase the powers of the President and make him less
accountable. Opposition party workers are harassed. Public protests and
demonstrations against the government are declared illegal. There is a law
that limits the right to criticise the President. Television and radio are
controlled by the government and give only the ruling party’s version.
Question 11.
Till 2000, Mexico was not a democratic country. Explain.
Answer:
In Maxico, people seemed to really have a choice but in practice they had no
choice. There was no way the ruling party could be defeated, even if people
were against it. These are not fair elections. But until 2000 every election
was won by a party called PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party). ‘Opposition
parties did contest elections, but never managed to win. The PRI was known
to use many dirty tricks to
Long Answer Type Questions
Question 1.
“Democracy provides a method to deal with differences and conflicts”.
Discuss.
Answer:
Democracy provides a method to deal with differences and conflicts. In any
society, people are bound to have differences of opinions and interests.
These differences are particularly sharp in a country like ours which has an
amazing social diversity. People belong to different regions, and have
different languages, practise different religions and have different castes.
They look at the world very differently and have different preferences. The
preferences of one group can clash with those of other groups. Democracy
provides the only peaceful solution to this problem. In democracy, no one is
a permanent winner. No one is a permanent loser. Different groups can live
with one another peacefully. In a diverse country like India, democracy keeps
our country together.
Question 2.
What are the various aspects of democracy?
Answer:
We may refer to three aspects of democracy—political, social and economic.
Political Aspect: Political democracy requires “government by
consent and political equality.” Democracy, as a form of
government, implies that elections must be held with reasonable
frequency. Moreover, there should be more than one political
party competing for political power.
Social Aspect: A democratic society is one in which an atmosphere
of equality prevails. There should be no discrimination on grounds
of religion, race, caste or sex. Every one should have equal access
to shops, restaurants, hotels and places of public entertainment.
Our Constitution guarantees equality to every person before law.
Economic Aspect: Political democracy will be a reality only when it
is supported by economic democracy. The most stable
democracies of the world are those which have extensive welfare
schemes for the poor people.
Question 3.
What are the merits of a democratic government?
Answer:
The merits of a democratic government are :
A democratic government is a better government because it is a
more accountable form of government.
Democracy improves the quality of decision-making.
Democracy provides a method to deal with differences and
conflicts.
Democracy enhances the dignity of citizens.
It is better than other forms of government because it allows us to
correct its own mistakes.
Question 4.
Why has India not experiences a famine as severe as that of China in 1958-
61?
Answer:
China’s famine of 1958-1961 was the worst recorded famine in the world
history.
Nearly three crore people died in this famine. During those days, India’s
economic condition was not much better than China. Yet India did not have a
famine of the kind China had. Economists think that this was a result of
different government policies in the two countries.
The existence of democracy in India made the Indian government respond to
food scarcity in a way that the Chinese government did not. They point out
that no large-scale famine has ever taken place in an independent and
democratic country. If China too had multiparty elections, an opposition
party and a press free to criticise the government, then so many people may
not have died in the famine.
Question 5.
What are the drawbacks of a democracy.
Answer:
The following are the draw backs of a democracy :
Leaders keep changing in a democracy. This leads to instability.
Democracy is all about political competition and power play. There
is no scope for morality.
So many people have to be consulted in a democracy that it leads
to delays.
Elected leaders do not know the best interest of the people. It
leads to bad decisions.
Democracy leads to corruption for it is based on electoral
competition.
Ordinary people don’t know what is good for them; they should
not decide anything.
Question 6.
How far is it correct that no country has a perfect democracy?
Answer:
No country has a perfect democracy because :
Every democracy has to try to realise the ideals of a democratic
decision-making. This cannot be achieved once and for all. This
requires a constant effort to save and strengthen democratic
forms of decision-making. What we do as citizens can make a
difference to making our country more or less democratic. This is
the strength and the weakness of democracy: the fate of the
country depends not just on what the rulers do, but mainly on
what we, as citizens, do.
This is what distinguished democracy from other governments.
Other forms of government like monarchy, dictatorship or one
party rule do not require all citizens to take part in politics.
In fact, most non-democratic governments would like citizens not
to take part in politics. But democracy depends on active political
participation by all the citizens. That is why, a study of democracy
must focus on democratic politics.
Question 7.
Why did the Institutional Revolutionary Party in Mexico never lose any
election till 2000?
Answer:
The Institutional Revolutionary Party in Mexico was very strong till 2000.
There are many reasons behind it:
Until 2000, every election was won by Institutional Revolutionary
Party in Mexico. Opposition parties did contest elections, but
never managed to win.
All those who were employed in government offices had to attend
its party meetings. Teachers of government schools used to force
parents to vote for the PRI.
Media largely ignored the activities of opposition political parties
except to criticise them.
Sometimes, the polling booths were shifted from one place to
another in the last minute, which made it difficult for people to
cast their votes.
The PRI spent a large sum of money in the campaign for its
candidates.
Question 8
What were the steps taken by Musharraf in Pakistan to empower himself?
Answer:
The following steps were taken by Musharraf in Pakistan to empower himself:
In Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf led a military coup in
October 1999. He overthrew a democratically elected government
and declared himself the ‘Chief Executive’ of the country.
Later, he changed his designation to President and in 2002, held a
referendum in the country that granted him a five-year extension.
In 2002, he issued a ‘Legal Framework Order’ that amended the
Constitution of Pakistan. According to this Order, the President can
dismiss the national or provincial assemblies.
The power to take final decision rested with army officials and
with General Musharraf.
The work of the civilian cabinet was supervised by a National
Security Council which was dominated by military officers.
