The Crisis of Democratic Order
The below lessons can be drawn for Indian democracy from the declaration of Emergency :
(i) Aithogh the normal democratic functioning resumed within a short span of time, one important lesson of Emergency is that it is extremely difficult to do away with democracy in India.
(ii) Secondly it brought out some ambiguities regarding the Emergency provision in the Constitution that have been rectified since.
(iii) Now ‘internal’ emergency can be proclaimed only on the ground of ‘armed rebellion’ and it is necessary that the advice to the President to proclaim Emergency must be given in writing by the Council of Ministers.
(iv) During Emergency the judiciary could not protect the civil liberties of the people. Emergency made everyone more aware of the value of civil liberties. The courts too have now taken active part in the protection of civil liberties of individual after the Emergency.
(v) The Emergency has also shown that there should be a balance between routine functioning of a democratic government and the continuous political protests by parties and groups.
(vi) It also established the fact that the administration and the police became vulnerable to political pressures.
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• Effects on civil liberties for citizens.
• Impact on relationship between the Executive and Judiciary.
• Functioning of Mass Media.
• Working of the Police and Bureaucracy.
Indian democracy was never so close to a two-party system as it was during the 1977 elections. However, the next few years saw a complete change. Soon after its defeat, the Indian National Congress split into two groups ................ The Janata Party also went through major convulsions ........ David Butler, Ashok Lahiri and Prannoy Roy. –Partha Chatterjee
(a) What made the party system in India look like a two-party system in 1977 ?
(b) Many more than two parties existed in 1977. Why then are the authors describing this period as close to a two-party system ?
(c) What caused splits in Congress and the Janata parties ?
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