Democratic System in India

Democracy is defined as a form of government in which the citizens of that country have direct power to participate in the election and elect the representatives for forming a government body called a parliament. A democratic form of government is based on the majority’s rule i.e. a government can be formed by a party when they have the majority number of votes with them and the process is similar in the case of choosing representatives. The power of a democratic form of government cannot be inherited. 

Democracy in India

The democratic government in India is the largest one. The beginning of the democratic system in India was when the Constitution of India came into effect on 26th January 1950. Democratic India reveals that for choosing representatives through the election, every citizen of India has the right to vote without any discrimination irrespective of any creed, caste, religion, region, and sex. The principles on which the democratic government of India is based are liberty, equality, fraternity, and justice. In India, there is a state government and a central government which means it is a federal form of government. The government i.e. at the center and the state follows the democratically elected government respectively and the parliament’s two houses – Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. The country’s president (the official head) is chosen by the two governments i.e., the central and the state. The beginning of the democratic system was put a way forward when the election was held for the first time, to say more prominently when the first government was created by the people’s vote. The election in India for the first time was noticed to be one of the biggest experiments in the world’s democracy. Based on the universal adult franchise the elections were conducted, according to the universal adult franchise, the citizens of India who are 18 years or above 18 years have the right to vote and form government irrespective of their religion, culture, creed, sex, region, and caste.  As this was the beginning of the democratic system in India, the procedure of the election was new to the citizens as well as those who are conducting it. The election procedure occurred for about four months which was from October 25, 1951, to February 21, 1952. The election was contested by 14 national parties along with regional parties (63) and several candidates were independent. By getting the majority of votes and majority of the seats, the National Congress party won the election for the first time in India.

Features of democratic government in India

Features of democratic government in India from the beginning of the democratic system in India are as follows –

• Collective Responsibility

In the democratic government in India, both the center and state, the Council of Ministers to their respective legislatures are collectively responsible. For any act by the government, the entire ministers of the council are responsible and not a single minister alone. 

• Majority Rules

The majority rule is one of the main features of Indian democracy. The party which forms the government needs to get the majority number of votes in the election. This is the majority rule and every citizen of the country must support and accept the government that got the majority number of votes from the citizens.

• Opinions of the minority are respected

Though Indian democracy has the feature of majority rules opinions of minorities are also considered. Minorities are also asked to give their opinions on any field. As India is a democratic form of government so both positive and negative criticisms are taken into consideration and minorities’ opinions must be tolerated by majorities.

• Provisions for Rights

Indian democratic government provides several rights to the individual. These rights include the Right to Education, Freedom of speech and expression, the Right to form a union or association, etc.

• Government that Compromise

Indian democracy is a form of government that considers the opinion of the ruling party as well as the other parties. It is a type of government that compromise and adjusts.

• Independent Judiciary

The Independent judiciary is another feature of democratic government. Independent judiciary means that in a democratic form of government the judiciary need not depend on the legislature or executive.

• Political equality

Indian democracy is based on political equality, which means every citizen of India is equal before the law and has the right for voting irrespective of class, creed, caste, race, sex, and religion. 

Conclusion

It is to be concluded that democracy is a form of government where the ruling party is chosen by the people of the country. The party which can form the government must get the majority of the vote in the election and the election occurs every 5 years, so forming a government is not inherited.