Question
Q 90. Which one of the following factors constitutes the best safeguard of liberty in a liberal democracy?
a) A committed judiciary liberty
b) Centralization of powers
c) Elected government
d) Separation of powers
Answer: d
Detailed Explanation
• Committed judiciary i.e. a judiciary committed to the policies of the government. Such judiciary will never go against the governments policies. Therefore, will not be able to protect the liberty. So, option (a) is not correct.
• Centralization of power refers to a setup in which the decision making powers are concentrated in a few leaders at the top of the organizational structure. Decisions are made at the top and communicated to lower-level for implementation. This leads to authoritarian tendencies, impacting the liberty. So, option (b) is also not correct.
• Elected government is representative of the people. It is expected to ensure liberty. This is not the best safeguard to ensure liberty.
• Separation of power (executive, legislature and judiciary) checks the abuse of power by other organs. So, this helps in checking the authoritarian tendencies. This is the best safeguard to safeguard liberty. So, option (d) is the correct answer.
