380 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
unlimited monarchy there is no such thing as parliament. People’s wishes count for nothing. The King or the autocrat is the sole master of the situation. He claims to represent the will of the people and governs the people according to what might be called his own will.
We have another sysem in vogue which is called today the dictatorship of the proletariat. The difference between the two from our point of view is very minor. Autocracy has taken upon itself the obligation to serve what are called the masses but fundamentally this kind of dictatorship does not materially differ from absolute monarchy because in neither of them the people play any part. Parliamentary Democracy is a midway between the two. It is very delicate institution. Its characteristics ought to be noted very carefully, in order that no violence has been described by a variety of political philosophers in a variety of different ways. Parliamentary Democracy has been described as Government by law. At one time this characteristic of Parliamentary Democracy that it was Government by law was undoubtedly very significant, very real. When monarchy was abolished in Europe and Parliamentary Democracy came into being and became operative, the generation which saw this change from absolute monarchy to Parliamentary Democracy could well understand that the description of the Parliamentary Democracy as Government by law was indeed very real and very significant. Because before it, the rule was personal rule. The ruler depended upon his wishes in the first place. Secondly, he always placed himself above the law. The law was for the people and not for himself. The rule of law which we now enjoy is a well established principle. We have so become used to it that we do not regard it as a matter of great virtue. But the significant fact that remains even now is that, when we make the law, we place even the makers of law below that law.
Some one has also said that Parliamentary Democracy is a democracy by majority. It is true that in our legislation there is a rule that all questions shall be decided by a majority. But I could ask to be very careful about that principle. It is one of the most dangerous principle that we have got. The majority rule has