Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passage only.
The subject of democracy has become severely muddled because of the way the rhetoric surrounding it has been used in recent years, there, increasingly, an oddly confused dichotomy between those echo want to ‘impose’ democracy on countries in the non- western world(in these countries’ ‘own interest’, of course) and those who are opposed to such ‘own ways’). But the entire language of ‘imposition’, used by both sides, is extraordinarily inappropriate since it makes the implicit assumption that democracy belongs exclusively to the west, taking it be a quintessentially ‘Western’ idea which has originated and flourished only in the West.
But the theses and the pessimism it generates about the possibility of democratic practice in the world would be extremely hard to justify. There were several experiments in local democracy in the world, we have to take an understanding the roots of democracy in the world. We have to take an interest in the history of people participation and public reasoning in different parts of the world. We have to look beyond thinking of democracy only in terms of European and American evolution. We would fail to understand the pervasive demands for participatory living, on which Aristotle spoke with far-reaching insight, if we take democracy to be a kind of a specialized cultural product of the West. It cannot, of course, be doubted that the institutional structure of the contemporary practice of democracy is largely the product of European and American experience over the last few centuries. This is extremely important to recognize since these developments in institutional formats were immensely innovative and ultimately effective. There can be little doubt that there is a major ‘Western’ achievement here.
Which of the following is closest to the view of democracy as mentioned in the above passage?
The passage presents a nuanced understanding of democracy. It argues against the perception that democracy is an exclusively Western concept, emphasizing that its roots in participatory living and public reasoning are evident across various cultures and historical periods globally. However, the passage also acknowledges that the institutional structures characteristic of contemporary democratic practice, such as electoral systems and constitutional frameworks, are largely a product of European and American historical development over recent centuries. Therefore, option (c) accurately reflects this dual perspective by stating that while democracy is not essentially a Western idea, the institutional framework of current democratic practices represents a significant Western contribution.
Option (a) is an incomplete representation of the passage's view. While the passage discusses the muddle created by portraying democracy as a Western concept, it primarily critiques the 'imposition' rhetoric and the implicit assumption that democracy originated and flourished only in the West, thereby overlooking its universal historical roots and the pervasive demands for participatory living globally.
Option (b) misinterprets the passage. The passage critiques the language of 'imposition' but does not advocate for considering democracy in the backdrop of the 'own ways' of non-Western societies as a separate justification. Instead, it calls for an understanding of the global historical roots of democracy and people's participation, moving beyond a purely Western evolutionary perspective. The phrase 'own ways' in the passage refers to the perspective of those opposing the 'imposition' of democracy, not a framework endorsed by the author.
Option (d) is incorrect because option (c) accurately summarizes the central argument and nuanced perspective presented in the passage.