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Give prominent suggestions for the end of defects in democracy.

Democracy is the most popular form of government in the world. Today most of the countries in the world are democracies. The word ‘democracy' is derived from two Greek words- demos and kratia meaning public and power respectively. It can be defined as the government that is for the people, of the people and by the people. Thus, democracy is the form of governance in which the public has the ultimate power in decision making.

But the efficient functioning of the system can be seen very rarely. There are many defects associated with the functioning of a democratic government. Some of the defects and their corresponding solutions are:

• The democratic system functions on the presumption that everyone in the society is knowledgeable and aware of their rights and duties. But this is not the situation, especially in poor countries. Thus, people have limited or no particular knowledge about the functioning of the system is bound to make inappropriate decisions and judgements. Thus the knowledge base of the public should be widened. The government with the assistance of NGOs and other interested stakeholders can organise law camps for legal and political awareness. This would empower them to make informed decisions.

• Some sections of the society especially the intellectual class are not the active participants of the democratic process. They are neither involves in the election process nor in voicing their opinions. Their apathy towards the system results in its major failure. They should be brought into the political process as the academic intellectuals who are more aware of the happenings can be a major asset to the functioning of the system. They should be motivated and included in the political framework.

• In any democratic county, the constitution promotes equality of all the citizens irrespective of their language, religion, region, caste and gender. But in reality, the law is bound in the shackles of money and muscle power. Those having both these influences control the working of the political system and the political parties become mere puppets in their hands. Thus, the system is controlled by the richer sections and the poorer sections are oppressed and harassed by them. The poorer and vulnerable sections should be given more representation. The marginalisation of communities should be prevented. The use of mafia and money power for political interests should be curtailed.

• The democratic process is highly expensive and costly where a bulk of time and money is spent on it. In conducting elections, crores of rupees are being spent. This is a huge loss to the poorer countries. Also, a lot of time is wasted on debating and arriving at decisions regarding important issues. The centralised system of governance also increases the time frame of decision making. This makes the whole process costlier both in terms of money and time. The cost of elections should be minimised. The political parties must refrain from conducting expensive electoral campaigns. A ceiling must be fixed for the expenses and it must be adhered to. All sorts of corruption and red-tapism must be ended.

These are the major limitations of the democratic process. Still compared to other forms of governments like dictatorship and autocracy, democracy can be considered as a better form of government as it considers the opinion of the public. Constant improvements in these will help in rectifying the issues in its workings and will make the system more stable and sustainable.