democracy in the contemporarary world

• there are 193 sovereign states today but in 1950, there were only 82
• by 1962 the number of democracies had gone up yo 36 in Africa and Asia
• most of Asia and Africa before the first world war (1914-18) was under the colonial rule until 1950
• the right of every adult to cast one vote in the elections irrespective of their caste, class, creed, religion, sex etc. is called as universal adult franchise
• the democratic process began in Europe with the glorious revolution in England (1688), the American Declaration of Independence (1776) and the French Revolution (1789), all of which aimed to establish democracy by overthrowing the monarchy rule.
• old democracy - direct participation, limited franchise, small scale, less formal structure.
• modern democracy - representative system, inclusive voting rights, larger scale, structured legal framework
• the rights to vote were only given to people who owned property. women and blacks were not allowed to vote.
• Switzerland gave women rights to vote in 1971.
• women in England organised a "suffrage movement" to claim their rights, which were given after WW1 (1918).
• in India, women were giving rights in 1950.
• till the second half of the 20th century, the blacks were not allowed to vote in the US
• the strong feature of the old democracy is that the democracy remained democratic throughout and never changed its form of government. for example: US, France, Canada, etc.
• in the 20th century, democracy expanded significantly, with many countries in Asia and Africa establishing elected governments. however, global democracy has not been achieved, as seen through the functioning of three key international institutions that promote global democracy.
• the United Nations is an international organisation founded in 1945 after WW2 to promote peace, security, and cooperation among countries. Its key bodies include the General Assembly and Security Council.
• the general council is a key body of the world trade organisation (WTO), overseeing daily operations and implementing decisions made by the ministerial conference. it meets regularly to address trade issues and reduce disputes (193 countries)
• the security council is a UN body responsible for maintaining international peace and security..it had 15 members, including 5 permanent members with veto power. the 10 others are elected for a two year term.
• the 5 permanent members of the security council are : the USA, UK, France, Russia and China.

  each has veto power.
• the ability to defeat something even if it has made it on to the agenda of an institution is called a veto power
• International Monetary Fund which lends money to any country in the world.
• the IMF has 189 members, with eh 'G-8' which have maximum power. they are : Japan, Russia, Germany, Italy, France, UK, USA, Canada
• A developmental organisation which provides funds for social and economic government and long term economic growth.
• the glorious revolution took place in 1688
• the IMF has 189 member states