What is Liberal Democracy Historical view of the Liberal Democracy Theory - Research Paper Example

? What is Liberal Democracy? Lecturer: What is Liberal Democracy? Introduction Liberal democracy is a form of representative democracy whereby the elected representatives hold power, but they are limited by a constitution, which emphasizes on equality, rights of minorities and protection of individual liberty in a democratic state. 1Liberal democracy is distinguished by fair competitive voting among diverse political groups, a power partition in different administration structures and fair ruling in an open civilization as well as human rights safety in a state. The constitution in a liberal democratic state demands equal rights, guarantee the freedom of speech, religion, equality before the bylaw, due process and other constitutional rights. In most cases, liberal democracy focuses on the America’s political philosophy. It seeks to modify the political, social and economic aspects in order to promote development as well as advance the welfare of citizens in the independent state. Although, a country with liberal democracy can effectively achieve economic development, democratic government always achieves democracy at associated costs. Historical view of the Liberal Democracy Theory The basis of liberal democracy dates back to the Enlightenment era during the earlier 18th century. The facade of equality that contributed to the rise of liberal democratic theory was a result of the capitalism ideologies. This theory was developed in Europe when many of the European states were under monarchies with political authority being held in the hands of aristocracies. The theory was a fundamental device for political equality that maintained economic foundation of a capitalist society and need for transition in the political, social and economic process. The classical theorists from the western region have always considered the political theory of liberalism and believed that democracy would be intrinsically unsteady. This is because of the changing whims and different perception from citizens, and they further thought that democracy was divergent to the human nature. This is because the viewed human being as people with violent, evil; thus they needed strong leaders who could restrain their destructive whims. Additionally, many of the Europeans who held powers believed that God is the one who ordained such powers; thus, the question of the right to rule was comparable to profanity. However, it was until when the Enlightenment intellectuals who believed that human nature could be guided by a reason and required principles to guide them. During this period, several issues arose in the leadership hegemony; thus, the French and American revolutions gave birth to the liberalism ideologies. They also required the government to adopt the doctrines of the Enlightenment thinkers and apply them in the daily practice. It was then when one of the Germany philosophers, Adolf Hitler who was the leaders of Nazi Party, often quoted in the ‘tyranny of the majority’ rose into power and many things changed.2 Therefore, the liberal democracy rose due to democracy waves, which was a result of wars, revolutions, religious issues, great depression that led to economic deterioration and decolonization. All these aspects made many liberals fight for liberal democratic powers. Advantages for a Country with a Democratic Government A country with democratic government is subjected to varied economic, social and political benefits. First, a state with democratic governance can effectively achieve economic development because of good governance. This is because democratic governance is good for economic development since it enables different countries to participate in trading activities and attracts investors to invest within the country. The liberal democratic states have good form of governance whereby individuals have equal rights to exercise their freedom in all aspects such as speech, religion and other concerning areas. Therefore, they can interact freely with others in terms of economic and social matters affecting them. This is vital because it contributes to successful economic performance and other associated benefits. Secondly, democratic government is better and effective because everyone is treated equally before the law regardless of sex, religion, race, class or gender. Everyone in the democratic government is permitted to freedom of communication, worship, work and other aspects. Furthermore, this is where the dignity of human beings are recognized and respected as well as given opportunities to be independent. For instance, the youths benefits from democracy because it is their rights to understand what democracy entails and the associated benefits of being a good citizen. This contributes to a successful and peaceful nation where every citizen can exercise his or her freedom for diverse benefits. Thirdly, democracy government ensures that wealth is distributed evenly across the state. This is effective because it benefits everyone including the minorities; hence contributing to economic development in a state. Furthermore, elected leaders who represent people in various constituencies fight for their people in order to ensure that they receive fair treatment and development funds from the government. This is essential, and it contributes to another advantage of encouraging political parties to compete favorably. Therefore, it enables candidates to work hard in order to enable them maintain their electoral seat in another electoral period. Lastly, a democratic government enables people to have a voice in decision-making process since everyone has the freedom of rights. This is crucial because it enables people to arrive to effective decisions. This is because the democratic government allows everyone to offer his or her opinion on certain matters affecting the state. Since the democratic government treats everyone equally in terms of the voting process, there is a higher rate of moral superiority. This moral superiority can also be realized when the democratic government is trading with other countries; thus strengthening the international relations. This builds good and social relations with other countries; hence contributing also to successful economic performance. Disadvantages Although democratic government is advantageous, some disadvantages are experienced from being a democratic government. First, in certain cases especially where the constitution protects the rights of the minorities particularly under direct democracy (where majority vote rules), the minority voice, will not have a chance to be heard. This is because democracy government has some failures such as failure to guarantee social justice. This is because sometime democracy powers are corrupt, and many of the powerful people in the government may take the opportunity to exercise their powers; hence affecting the minority group. The governing bodies may keep the action secret, and they do not bother about the issues affecting the minority because of the slow function and incapacity to cope up or act towards emergence issues. Secondly, there are no such cases of freedom of speech or expression because other forms of democratic government have authoritarian leaders, military or political parties that dictate the state. This issues lenders the constitutional rights flaw because of the failure to achieve its stated objectives. 3McGowan argues that many miscarriages of justice in a democratic state are due to trials by the juries where decisions are made through majority voting. This may hinder the effective decisions and other constitutional rights in the state. Increased corruption issues and poor leadership are among the problems that contribute to failure of the democracy government to achieve their stated objectives. Lastly, democratic government face critical issues in decision making process and in case they come into the conclusion, this takes a long process to implement some polices or make a decision on some issues affecting the state. 4Wolterstorff in his book of understanding democracy reveals the ways contemporary politics in a democratic state is a problem. This is because people drastically disagree or differ on what should be done politically. He further argues that democracy in decision making process concerns the majority process; hence a difficult exercise of arriving into the correct decision thorough the majority voting process. The fact that the democracy government is independently on any opinion from citizens within the democratic state, the only way to establish facts is through an investigation process. Often, people tend to confuse real facts with speculations and intentional bogus allegations. Such allegations are accepted on conviction and allegations made through a greater voting majority are always given credibility. Some countries have difficulties to be democratic because of various reasons or challenges. First, democracy takes place in authoritarian settings that resist change; hence, nations with weak, insufficient security, poor development and skewed economies are unable to become democratic. Inadequate support from democratic developed states and poor governance are other challenges. Transforming also the democracy values into practices is costly in terms of money and consumes time; thus discourages other nations from being democratic. Moreover, democracy is not a cultural thing but a universal right for everyone, but it is based on the will of citizens in a country to exercise their democracy rights. It is the paramount course towards achieving 5freedom and economic advancement. Democracy is more suitable to some countries that other countries especially the developed nations. This is because democracy does not just happen but it a rise with the associated costs. For instance, democratic states in developed nations are far beyond the democratic nations in developing nations. This is because democracy processes especially the implementation of the constitution and other associated regulations are achieved with the associated costs. Democracy has increasingly become an issue with money because it includes spending a lot of money on elections and other significant events. This accounts to what discourages other nations from becoming democratic nations. Conclusion Although, a country with liberal democracy can effectively achieve economic development because of good governance, democratic government always achieves democracy at associated costs. A country with democratic government is subjected to varied economic, social and political benefits. Such country can achieve developmental goals and everyone has a voice in decision-making process. Democratic government is effective because everyone is treated equally before the law regardless of gender, race or religion. However, democratic government faces critical issues in decision-making process, increased corruption and face varied challenges. Even so, some countries have difficulties to be democratic because of weak, insufficient security, poor development and skewed economies; thus unable to achieve democracy. References Flathman, R. E. (2005). Pluralism and liberal democracy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. McGowan, J. (2012). Pragmatist Politics : Making the Case for Liberal Democracy. University of Minnesota Press. Puddington, A., Piano, A., Young, E., Roylance, T., & Freedom House (U.S.). (2011). Freedom in the world 2011: The annual survey of political rights & civil liberties. New York: Freedom House. Wolterstorff, N., & Cuneo, T. (2012). Understanding liberal democracy: Essays in political philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Read More