Chapter 4

Key Elements of a Democratic Government

Participation
The key elements of a democratic government are participation of people,
resolution of conflicts and maintenance of equality and justice.
A democratic government is formed by the process of election of
representatives by people at regular intervals.
The election process is the main source of power of the people in a
democracy. It also helps to check the power of the government.
Dharnas, rallies, strikes, signature campaigns, etc. are other ways for people
to participate in a democracy and make their voice heard by the government.
There are several people from adivasi groups, Dalits, minority communities,
and women etc. who are unable to participate directly in a democracy.
Therefore, they organize themselves into social movements and challenge
the governments work. This is another type of peoples participation in
democracy.
Resolving Conflict
Conflict occurs when different cultural, religious, regional or economic
groups do not get along well with each other or any one of them feels
discriminated by the other.
Conflict may occur between states over sharing of resources as well. The
distribution of waters of the River Cauvery between Karnataka and Tamil
Nadu is an example of this type of a conflict.
It is the duty of the government to resolve conflicts in a fair manner.
Equality and justice
A democratic government is committed to provide equality and justice to its
people.
A democratic government makes special provisions to provide justice to the
people who are unequal. For example, banning the practice of
untouchability and lowering the school and college fees to promote girls
education as they are treated unequal to boys.