“True essence of
democracy lies in the participation of the people and development of autonomy
and free human will of individual. Marx and Gandhi did not believe in the
representative democracy and urged people to establish a state which could be
made subject to their will” said Dr. Rajendra Vora, Professor of Politics in
University of Pune while speaking in the one day workshop on ‘Theory of
Democracy’ organized by Department of political science on 15th
October 2005. Dr. Vora laid emphasis on development of democratic theory
drawing on rich insights given by Gandhi and Marx.
In the
second lecture, Dr. Suhas Palashikar, Professor and Head of Politics,
University of Pune presented a comparative study of development and growth of
democracy in different South Asian Countries. His observations were based on
the results of International Research project which he is jointly conducting
on ‘Democracy in South Asia’. He pointed out that in some states majoritarian
view point was dominant but the people in all these states support the
positive intervention of the state in economic
matters. Presentation was
followed by lively discussion Dr. Ashok Chousalkar, HOD of Political Science
introduced guests and proposed vote of thanks.
