History and Political Science - Essay Example

History and Political Science By definition, a democracy is a government by the people, meant to rule a nation. The key aspect of democracy is that people should be allowed to have their own opinions about matters that have an effect on their lives. This right can be exercised directly by every individual or through a representative of the people, voted by the people to represent their rights. The earliest form of democracy was formed in ancient Greece in the city of Athens where the common man was allowed to vote and had a say in the assemblies. Gradually, this primitive form of democracy evolved through the middle and dark ages and is in the form which we find in today’s world. Most countries in the world today have established representative democracies where they elect an individual or group of individuals to represent their rights. Reason generally refers to a human being’s capacity to utilize the strengths of logic and deduction to make judgments in relation to information and knowledge on a subject or matter of significance. Etymologically, the Greek word “logos” means reason. It is also one of the guiding principles of philosophy. A fundamental attribute of reason is clarity and it is so because vague judgments or instincts are not considered reason, reason has to sound, precise and logical. The ideas of democracy and reason are relatively intertwined such that neither one can possibly function properly without the other. Both democracy and reason are based on the foundations of freedom of thought and speech which allows every individual to exercise their right to thinking freely without restriction and then presenting these thoughts in the form of reasonable discussion formed by logic and objective understanding of any matter of importance. “..no system of government can or should be imposed upon one nation by any other.” (Obama, Barack, 2009). If a nation or a country is not liberated in the sense that there is alien oppression or control, it goes without saying that even the minds and perception consisting of reason are clogged as well. In a true democracy, the mob which comprises of the majority, formulates all the rules, ethics, morals and regulations on the basis of reason and logical rationale. Reason is a human’s tool of understanding and judgment. It is the method of identifying entities through one's senses. We use our minds to identify what we have observed by gathering more perceptual information until we can understand what we see. Reason is the element of a human that allows it to understand how exactly to gather information, and which information to gather. This gathering of information leads to a process whereby we utilize the power of reason to mix up and combine the information in a more organized and efficient way; this organized form of information is converted into knowledge. The new found knowledge is processed with body of knowledge that a human already has, in order to gain a better understanding of it. This cycle results in the form of well reasoned judgments and opinions. The idea of democracy suggests that if the common man that makes up the majority of a nation is empowered and allowed to make up the government that controls the nation, usually through a representative party or group, then that common man must also have the powers of reason and logic to form the wisest of judgments and opinions so as to allow for the best and most practical set of rules, regulation, laws, morals and ethics to form. The inclusion of reason in laying the foundations of democratic ideas is essential so that there is minimal conflict. It is impossible for democracy and reason to survive on their own; they are like lungs and a human, neither one is useful without the presence of the other. In the same way, if democracy chose to survive alone it would not be able be able to do so because the principles and the ideas of democracy lay their emphasis on the objectivity of reason. Reason can also not in itself survive, in order for reason to be useful, it will need a medium to exist and democracy is it’s medium. “But I do have an unyielding belief that all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed..” (Obama, Barack, 2009). In a way, we can say that reason and democracy help one another. In order for reason to prevail, democracy that rids a nation of any form of alien oppression that might suppress the thoughts of a nation’s people, needs to be in complete control of the country’s societal, economical and cultural structure. Only if democracy is present, will reason and logic be able to do their jobs in helping organize information to attain a piece of knowledge, eventually leading up to the construction of a huge plaza of knowledge that will be found inside of every individual of that nation, this abundance of knowledge and reason will then successfully create the proper nature of a nation that thrives on proper democracy. “…governments that protect these rights are ultimately more stable, successful and secure. Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away.” (Obama, Barack, 2009). We have come to understand that the true nature of democracy cannot stand tall without the real freedom of reason and judgment, thus, believing in the existence of democracy without the presence of belief in the existence of reason is impossible. If a democracy is attempted to be formed in a lack of reason, or if reason and judgment is formed in lack a of democracy, then it would not be called a democracy, it would be called a dictatorship since there will be no freedom of thought nor will there be freedom of speech. It will not be called reason, rather it would be termed instinctive value judgments based on ‘hazy’ facts and figures without any logical or practical rationale to back them up. Read More