Class 10 NCERT Solutions Civics Chapter 5 - Outcomes of Democracy

Democracy builds an accountable government as the government can frame or develop various laws or policies by which citizens can hold the government responsible for any of their policies or programmes.

In a democracy, as the government is elected by the people, it has to respond to their demands. If the government does not pay attention to their demands, people can hold protests, carry out campaigns and organise rallies and force the government to respond to them.

A democratic government is a legitimate government as it is elected by citizens and enjoys the confidence and trust of the citizens.

Democracies accommodate social diversities as democracy is not just the rule of the majority. In democratic countries, both the majority and minority work together to achieve progress and development of the nation. It is equally important to understand that the rule of majority is not expressed in terms of religion or languages. Any person or group may become a majority in a democracy.

1. This is an incorrect statement. There is no relationship between democracy and industrial growth of a nation. Dictatorship cannot guarantee economic development. Had this been the case then many countries such as Nigeria and Myanmar, which are under dictatorial rule, would have become rich. Economic development depends on the literacy level of the people of the country, availability of natural resources, development of infrastructure, guarantee of employment to the people and sound financial planning and reforms of the government.
2. I agree with the statement that democracy cannot reduce inequality of incomes between different citizens. Democracies are based on political equality which means that in a democracy every person above a certain age gets the right to vote. Though democratically elected governments are expected to work towards the reduction of poverty, they have not been successful in reducing economic disparities.
3. This is an incorrect statement. No country can become a successful industrialised nation until and unless its population is literate and healthy. Only after the government pays attention towards increasing the literacy rates and improving the health standards of the people, it can develop required human resources which are essential for the industrial development of the country.
4. I do not agree with the statement. Though it is right that in a democracy every citizen has the right to cast one vote but it does not mean that there is an absence of conflicts or domination. Conflicts and domination of one group may be the result of social and economic structure of the country. Democracy may go a long way in avoiding such conflicts but may not necessarily eliminate them.

1. The challenge is to eliminate the inequalities that are based on castes. In this case, those people who indulge in such discriminations should be severely punished as our constitution declares any discrimination based on caste as a crime punishable by law.
2. This situation reflects the challenge of economic inequalities that still exist in our country. The Government should provide these farmers with cheap loans and subsidies on seeds and fertilizers and the methods of irrigation should be improved.
3. The challenge for the government to make powerful agencies such as the police and army responsible for every act that takes away the right to life and right to freedom. Laws should be made to curb the special powers that are given to the police and armed forces of certain states.

D. The idea of political inequality

C. Majority rule

B. Inequalities exist in democracies

Nannu's example shows that in a democracy, poor, helpless and common people can take the help of number of Acts and laws that have been implemented by the government for their benefit. In this case, Nannu after visiting a governmental organisation several times, filed the Right to Information Act for enquiring about the progress that has been made by the officials in his case. As soon as he filed this Act, a ration card was immediately issued to him and he was also treated properly by the officials.

Experience of many people has not been pleasant when it comes to visiting any governmental organisation for getting work done. Mostly, the attitude of officials is not very friendly and most of the time their work is done only after paying several visits to them.