300 Words Short Essay on Democracy in India – Democracy, often described as the government “of the people, for the people and by the people”, is globally accepted as the best possible governance.
It is a social order aiming at the greatest good of the greatest number. The idea of governing a mass of people as per their collective will might sound perfect but it has its own pitfalls pointed out by many thinkers from Plato onwards.
Democracy is widely seen as people-centered governance but it has also been pointed out by the political scientists and jurists that it is sometimes nothing more than a rule of the majority, and worse still, at times it turns into the rule of a particular class of people.
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Despite its shortcomings democracy is still our best bet because its virtues outweigh the problems it brings. Besides, it is the form of governance that best guarantees the most active participation of the governed in the governance.
There are two kinds of democracy – Direct and Indirect. In Switzerland there is direct democracy where the head of the State is directly elected by the people.
In case of indirect democracy, like in India, the Government is formed by peoples’ representatives elected as members of Parliament and such elected representatives choose the Prime Minister. Similarly, at the State level the members of legislative assembly are elected directly by the people and they elect the Chief Minister.
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In India, the President is elected through the Electoral College system where the elected members vote on the basis of representation. The Governors for the States are appointed by the President himself and the elections are conducted by the Election Commission of India.
The basic features of Indian democracy are liberty, equality and fraternity. The freedom of thought, speech and expression form the corner stone of this democratic nation.