What is the form of government in which the members of a group or community participate collectively in taking major decisions ?
(1) Participatory Democracy
(2) Panchayati Raj System
(3) Dictatorship
(4) Oligarchy
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Participatory Democracy
Option (1) Participatory Democracy — Correct. Participatory democracy is a system of democracy in which the members of a group or community participate collectively in the taking of major decisions. It asks for more than casting a vote every five years.
Option (2) Panchayati Raj System — Incorrect. Panchayati Raj, literally ‘governance by five individuals’, is the system of local self-government in villages, given constitutional status by the 73rd Amendment in 1992. It is an example of grassroot democracy, a means of bringing people into decisions; the form of government the question defines is participatory democracy itself.
Option (3) Dictatorship — Incorrect. In a dictatorship one ruler holds all power and the people take no part in decisions.
Option (4) Oligarchy — Incorrect. An oligarchy is rule by a small group of people, so most members of the community have no share in decisions.
Note 1: The chapter ‘The Story of Indian Democracy’ of the pre-rationalised NCERT, the textbook of 2022, has been renamed ‘The Constitution and Social Change’ in the NCERT book (2025-26). Its opening lines on direct, representative and participatory democracy, which define participatory democracy, have been deleted from the NCERT book (2025-26), though the chapter and its section on Panchayati Raj are still there.
Note 2: The concepts in Option (3), ‘Dictatorship’, and Option (4), ‘Oligarchy’, are not in NCERT (2025-26); explained here for the benefit of the students.
NCERT (2025-26): “Ideals of Panchayati Raj … Panchayati Raj translates literally to ‘Governance by five individuals’. The idea is to ensure at the village or grass root level a functioning and vibrant democracy. While the idea of grassroot democracy is not an alien import to our country, in a society where there are sharp inequalities, democratic participation is hindered on grounds of gender, caste and class.…” NCERT (Pre-rationalised): “…There has increasingly been a feeling that democracy ought to involve people more regularly and should not just mean casting a vote every five years. Both the concepts of participatory democracy and decentralised governance have thus become popular. Participatory democracy is a system of democracy in which the members of a group or community participate collectively in the taking of major decisions. This chapter will discuss the panchayati raj system as an example of a major initiative towards decentralised and grassroot democracy.…” |