Read the given extract/source/passage carefully and answer the question that follows:

Democracies are based on political equality. All individuals have equal weight in electing representatives. Parallel to the process of bringing individuals into the political arena on an equal footing, we find growing economic inequalities. A small number of ultra-rich enjoy a highly disproportionate share of wealth and incomes. Not only that, their share in the total income of the country has been increasing. Those at the bottom of society have very little to depend upon. Their incomes have been declining. Sometimes they find it difficult to meet their basic needs in life, such as food, clothing, housing, education and health. In actual life, democracies do not appear to be very successful in reducing economic inequalities. At the same time, this system allows a variety of interests and opinions to enjoy political representation. ‘The poor constitute a large proportion of our voters and no party will like to lose their votes. Yet democratically elected governments do not appear to be as keen to address the question of poverty as you would expect them to. ‘The situation is much worse in some other countries. In Bangladesh, more than half of its population lives in poverty. People in several poor countries are now dependent on the rich countries even for food supplies

In actual life, democracies do not appear to be very successful in reducing [[1]].