PYQ Vault · Paper 1 · Democracy

Representative democracy….means the people as body must be able to control the general direction of government policy (J.S.MILL) Comment

How the answer moves

The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.

Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes

Route 1 Mill separates controlling the direction from running the government representative democracy as the device for popular control of direction

Route 2 a whole people cannot govern directly so they must command the direction representation secures that command

Body flow

Mill / Considerations ideal form for a modern state large society cannot decide directly suffrage + elected representatives set broad direction, skilled hands execute two tests of good government (virtue + intelligence; using people’s capacities) control cannot stop at the ballot local participation as “schools of political capacity” expertise still needed popular control of direction + expert conduct of detail elections + accountability keep that control real

Counter-view

Schumpeter: only a contest for votes, no real control of policy Rousseau: sovereignty cannot be represented, surrender forfeits command Pateman & Barber: representation thins involvement, accountability fades between elections

Conclusion routes

Route 1 Mill’s line is a test, not just a description representation is democratic only while the people steer the direction

Route 2 control captured by a powerful few representation survives in form, lost in substance

Model answer

Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.

Handwritten model answer — UPSC PSIR 2020, Democracy