Unit 3 Ch 8 : Challenges to Democracy — Social Studies STD 10 — Question
CBSE BoardEnglish MediumSTD 10Social StudiesUnit 3 Ch 8 : Challenges to Democracy5 Marks
Question
Mention some of the guidelines that can be kept in mind while devising ways and means for political reforms in India.
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Answer
Some broad guidelines that can be kept in mind while devising ways and means for political reforms in India are:
Legal ways of reforming politics:Carefully devised changes in laws can help to discourage wrong political practices and encourage good ones. But, legal constitutional changes by themselves cannot overcome challenges to the democracy. Democratic reforms are to be carried out mainly by the political activists, parties, movements and politicallyconscious citizens.
Careful study of consequencesshould be done: If there is any legal change, it must carefully look at what results it will have on politics. Sometimes the results may be counter-productive. For example, many states have banned people from contesting Panchayat elections who have more than two children. This has resulted in denial of political opportunity to many poor and women,which was not intended.
Ways to strengthen the democraticpractice: Democratic reforms are to be brought about principally through political practice. Therefore, the main focus of the reforms should be on ways to strengthen the democratic practice. The most important concern should be to increase and improve the quality of political participationby ordinary citizens.
Proposal and implementation: Anyproposal of political reform should think about a good solution and consider about who will implement it and how. It is not wise to think that legislatures will pass legislations against the interest of all political parties and MPs, but measures that rely on democratic movements, citizens, organisations and the mediaare likely to succeed.
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