Politics, Ethics and Social Responsibility of Business

Democracy

Prof. K.V. Bhanu Murthy

Chapter 7

“Democracy does not guarantee equality of conditions - it only guarantees equality of

opportunity.”

Irving Kristol

LEARNING OUTCOMES

This chapter is about Democracy. By the end of this chapter you would be in position to gain in respect of

the following things:

• You would know about the need for good governance.

• You would be informed about the evolution of democracy and the forms of governance.

• You shall know about types of democracy.

• An evaluation of the democratic process would then be possible.

• It should be possible to evaluate the relative merits of representative and direct democracy.

• It would be possible to examine democracy at the organizational level.

• Through the notion of democracy you would be in a position derive a broad concept of corporate

responsibility.

7.1 INTRODUCTION

The debate over the domain of politics and ethics leads us to believe that the political system that we desire

is democracy. A democratic system leads to the establishment of a ‘good society’, having all the preferred

notions of liberty, equality, justice, rights and recognition.

7.2 WHY GOOD GOVERNANCE?

We have seen that there is shift away from the dominance of the state and towards the establishment

of the economic power of the corporation. There is a need to take cognisance of this change. We need to

understand implications of this change for ‘good governance’, sustenance of a ‘good society’ and its ethical

implications. If we fail to do so, the aspirations of the people to establish and sustain a ‘good society’ would

be compromised, which may be leading to chaos and anarchy.

Moreover, good governance is necessary for two more reasons:

1. It is necessary for the system of authority.

2. It is necessary to maintain sovereignty or independence.