Answer in detail:

What are the challenges to democracy? explain.

Democracy is considered as the best form of government. In such a system the representatives are elected by the people. Thus they represent the will of the people. The government works for the welfare of all and does not discriminate among its citizens. However, despite all this, democracy faces a number of challenges:

• Illiteracy: education is the key to a successful democracy. In India, especially the poor are the most vulnerable and illiterate section of society. It gives impetus to further problems such as unemployment, child labor, and poverty.

• Poverty: it is one of the biggest challenges to democracy. It leads to huge disparities between the rich and the poor. The government has to spend a major portion of its resources in lifting up the people from poverty. Thus, they are a huge burden to the developing economy.

• Gender discrimination: Gender equality is a crucial feature of democratic societies. Lack of women participation and gender discrimination undermines the basic principle of equality which is a crucial component of democracy.

• Regionalism: the diversity of languages, cultures, communities, ethnicities etc encourages the regional identity. Regionalism seeks to advance the causes of the region. In the history of democratic India, regionalism has been a potent threat to democracy. There are demands within regions for separate statehood. For instance, the demand of Khalistan by Sikhs in Punjab. It can hinder the integrity and sovereignty of the nation.

• Corruption: it is the most glaring problem faced by many democratic countries. The democratic leader ten to be corrupt which makes the system inefficient. The resources are not efficiently utilized by the government. This leads to dissatisfaction among people.

• Casteism, Communalism, and Religious fundamentalism: They are the most serious and vulnerable challenges to democracy. It can weaken the democratic values of a nation. The leaders play identity politics to collect votes from a particular community. Representatives are elected on the basis of caste or religion work for the welfare of people belonging to their caste and religion. Thus it creates a deep division in society.

• The criminalization of politics: A lot of candidates who contest elections and win have a criminal background. Thus, the credibility of the democratic system gets threatened.

• Political violence: in order to achieve political goals, the state makes use of violence. It either targets a particular community or does not act when violence erupts. This causes a law and order problem.