Here is some information about six countries. Based on this information, how would you classify each of these countries? Write ‘democratic’, ‘undemocratic’ or ‘not sure’ against each of these.

Country A: People who do not accept the country’s official religion do not have a right to vote

Country B: The same party has been winning elections for the last twenty years

Country C: Ruling party has lost in the last elections

Country D: The parliament cannot pass a law about the army without the consent of the Chief of Army

Country E: The parliament cannot pass a law reducing the powers of the judiciary

Country F: All the major economic decisions about the country are taken by officials of the central bank which the ministers cannot change.

In the context of assessing democracy which among the following is odd one out?

Democracies need to ensure:

A. free and fair elections B. dignity of the individual

C. majority rule D. equal treatment before the law

Studies on political and social inequalities in democracy show that

A. democracy and development go together.

B. inequalities exist in democracies.

C. inequalities do not exist under a dictatorship.

D. dictatorship is better than democracy

Each of these statements contains a democratic and an undemocratic element.

Write out the two separately for each statement.

A. A minister said that some laws have to be passed by the parliament in order to conform to the regulations decided by the World Trade Organisation

B. The Election Commission ordered re-polling in a constituency where large scale rigging was reported

C. Women’s representation in the parliament has never reached 10 percent. This led women’ organizations to demand one-third seats for women.

Write a response to the following arguments against democracy:

A. The army is the most disciplined and corruption-free organization in the country.

Therefore the army should rule the country.

B. Rule of the majority means the rule of ignorant people. What we need is the rule of the wise, even if they are in small numbers.

C. If we want religious leaders to guide us in spiritual matters, why not invite them to guide us in politics as well. The country should be ruled by religious leaders.