Chapter 8: Challenges to Democracy

overview

• Makes some suggestions about the way in which we can approach the questions of challenges and reforms.
• Invites us to think on our own and come up with the challenges and how to overcome these and our own definition of democracy.

broad challenges to democracy

foundational challenges

• Some countries had to face the challenges of transition to the democratic styles of government.

challenge of expansion

• Countries which are already democratic face the challenges of expanding it to all social groups and regions.

deepening of democracy

• It means strengthening those institutions that have people’s participation and control.

devising ways and means for political reforms in india.

reforms

• One way is legal reform, making new laws to ban undesirable things.

legal changes

• Legal changes sometimes have a counterproductive result.

democratic reforms

• Democratic reforms are spread or brought about through political practice.

political funding

challenge

• Most of the political parties are dependent on money given by big business houses.
• The worry is that the role of money in politics will reduce whatever little voice the poor have in our democracy.

reform proposals

• The financial accounts of every political party should be made public.
• There should be state funding of elections. Parties should be given some money by the government to meet their election expenditure.
• Citizens should be encouraged to give more donations to parties and to political workers.