Social Science (087) — CBSE Class 10 board question

Democracy produces an accountable, responsive, and legitimate government in the following ways:

Accountable Government:

• In a democracy, rulers are elected by the people and must answer for their actions. Citizens can question decisions through elections, RTI, and public debates.
• Example: Nannu used the Right to Information Act to hold officials accountable, and his work was done within a week.

Responsive Government:

• A democratic government is responsive as it must fulfil the needs and demands of citizens. People have the right to participate in decision-making and to expect their needs to be addressed.

Legitimate Government:

• Democracy is a legitimate form of government because it is chosen by the people through free and fair elections. People have faith in it even when dissatisfied, as it provides a method to resolve conflicts and correct mistakes peacefully.

Thus, democracy creates conditions for accountable, responsive, and legitimate governance.

Source: Chapter 5 — Outcomes of Democracy

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• Accountable = government answerable to citizens; use Nannu's RTI example — examiners love it.
• Responsive = government acts on people's needs.
• Legitimate = people accept and trust it because they chose it.
• Each of the three terms must be addressed separately with a brief supporting point — that is how marks are allocated for this question.
• Avoid writing a long essay; crisp labelled points score full marks in CBSE.