What is democracy -We all know that Democracy is "Government of the people, for the people, by the people.

" In other word

Democracy by definition means the government by people.

Thus, citizens have great political importance in system of current government. Of course, this type of government is considered to be much more successful when it comes to power of people. India's one of the largest democratic countries in the world.

Is it a success or a failure?
Actually, this form of government isn't new to us. The Graham Panchayat's practice started very long ago, when democratic practices were unheard of in the world. However, with our becoming independent architects of our constitution, it laid out the foundations of a truly democratic and secular country. They rightly visualised that a country as large as India with a multitude of caste, creed, religion could thrive only, and only in a democratic system. Thus, present democratic system is based on the west. Provisions were made for backward classes and communities, so that they could effectively have their say in governance of the country. Such provisions were made in various spheres like Education, Employment, Legislature, Parliament etc..

Distortions and flaws in Today's democracy

However, the ideals that our leaders planned have been distorted to some extent in today's India. Instead of encouraging and following democratic principles, some political parties have, in their own vested interest, divided the community on caste and creed lines, just to feather their own nests. Thus we have parties championing the interest of different castes and communities, to deteriment of national cause.

Contrary to the secular tenets of our constitution, we have seen a distinct rise in religion fundamentalism in the country; Disputes based on religion are increasing. It portends a dangerous future. People are still being treated as vote banks, and all political and administrative decisions are taken, after considering the effect of the same on the vote bank. The consequences of this are already discernable, in the slackening of the pace of development and economic growth of the country. Well, on the other hand, it is also true that "people get the government they deserve." This does apply to us. The dismally low level of education and correspondingly great disparity in their economic growth makes such people gullible to mechanization of crafty politicians..Such people act as a fodder on which the ambitions of politicians thrive.

Indias democracy has its flaws but it is still a democracy

India is very proud of her democracy, despite the wheeling and dealing that goes on. But according to The Economist Intelligence Units Index of Democracy* India is not a full democracy. Its a flawed democracy. Thats difficult to argue with. Its not just the electoral process, political culture, political participation, and pluralism which is taken into account while taking the democracy score, but also indicators like voter turnout, civil liberties, the functioning of government and political participation.

The 165 countries and two territories which were measured were categorised under four types of regimes: Full democracies (30 countries) Flawed democracies (50)

Hybrid regimes (36) Authoritarian regimes (51) Full Democracies: It isnt surprising to know that countries in Western Europe as well as the U.S.A, Australia, Canada, Japan and the UK are in this group. What may not be so commonly known is that countries like Malta, the Czech Republic, Costa Roca, Slovenia, Uruguay and Mauritius are also full democracies. Flawed Democracies: India is a flawed democracy and for company we have countries like South Africa, Chile, Taiwan, Poland, Hungary, Israel, Thailand, Mexico, Argentina, Indonesia, Peru and the Philippines. Hybrid regimes: Singapore, Hong Kong, Ghana, Kenya, Pakistan, Russia, Bhutan and Iraq fall in this category. Its a little disconcerting to see a successful state like Singapore clubbed alongwith Iraq and Pakistan. Authoritarian regimes: Countries like Jordan, Egypt, Rwanda, Kuwait, China, Afghanistan, Iran, the UAE, Cuba and Saudi Arabia are in this category. Overall democracy trends show that there has been a stagnation in the growth of democracy in the world in the past few years. According to The Economist, the democratic ideal has suffered due to the tarnished image of American democracy and also the fact that America supports certain authoritarian regimes while trying to impose democracy on others.

Democratic trends in the developed west are not healthy

Italy is doing well (became a full democracy from a flawed one) but many western countries had lower scores as compared to the previous few years. This is said to be because of the rise of extreme political parties and anti-immigrant forces and also because of a curb on civil liberties due to terrorism. There has also been a significant decline in political participation in the UK. In fact the UK has the lowest score on political participation in the developed West and this includes voting turnout, membership of political parties, willingness to engage in and attitudes to political activity. If this goes on I think the definition of democracy itself will have to change! Where India is concerned we have our problems. Weak state institutions, insurgencies, terrorism, illiteracy, poverty. but the great thing we have the democracy gene and can hope one day to be a full democracy. The good news is that no dictator will be able to get such a huge geographical and diverse area such as India under his/her thumb. No invader has managed it in Indias history.

Conclusion
There is no denying the fact that democracy is still the most successful form of government in the world today. There is, however, a need for us to educate masses and also have a revise our constitution. The distortions that have risen in recent years must be corrected, if we really want out nation to succeed in democracy.