Democratic Governments Issue - Essay Example

?Democratic Governments: Some Mounting Challenges Democracy in simple terms refers to a form of government according to which all the qualified citizens have an equal role in all decisions and policies that affect their way of living. Democracy is identified as one of the best possible ways to recognize how people in a state perceive a particular subject. According to a popular definition proposed by Webster, democracy is the “government in which the people hold the ruling power either directly or through elected representatives” (as cited in Umpenhour 2005, p.53). In a worldwide Gallup poll conducted in 2005, eight of ten citizens chose democracy as the best system of government in spite of its limitations and demerits (Miliband 2008). However, democracy is currently increasingly criticized for not representing the interests of citizens or not taking into account the social justice and environmental concerns that span national boundaries. Undoubtedly, it is a potential challenge for democratic governments to represent diverse stakeholders and to manage risk in an accountable, inclusive way that is transparent to all. This paper will discuss the relevance of democracy in the present society with particular reference given to this system of government. Although democracy is the most accepted and suggested form of government today, many of its benefits proposed are hypothetical. The democratic progress was increasingly visible a couple of decades ago. The defeat of authoritarian military in Latin America, the failure of communist system around the world, and the fall of the Berlin wall were some of the notable examples of democratic progress (The Explosion of Third World Democracy, n.d.). However, the spread of democracy has slowed down following the dramatic political events by the end of the last century. Democracy appears to be difficult to achieve its stated goals completely despite certain significant success events in the past. Although many countries have undertaken processes like the organization of competitive elections as initial steps toward the execution of democracy, they fail to meet the high expectations of citizens about an improvement in their living standards. Many followers (states) of the democracy have failed to develop this system from within national boundaries by eventually institutionalizing political processes and spreading core values that are intrinsic to the democratic system. The former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan stated that “…democracy is a universal right that does not belong to any country or region, and that participatory governance, based on the will of the people, is the best path to freedom, growth, and development” (World Movement for Democracy). However, it seems that most of the countries cannot transform the universal values of the democracy into the practice of democratic governance mainly because the supply of transformation is lagging behind the people’s high expectations. Creating a social contract with citizens is necessary for governments so as to manage the democracy building process effectively. It is also important to meet the expectations of the people who really provide the governments with the governing legitimacy. Unfortunately, most of the countries have not ensured such a social contract and it is one of the major reasons the democratic system is struggling globally. Though today governments worldwide try to promote public participation in policy making, such efforts fail to meet their goals due to lack of dialogue between people (Smith 2003. As scholars point out, dialogue is an integral element of the participative democracy. Over the centuries after the time of Plato, the dialogic forms of democracy have been losing their significance. Today democratic processes have become individual centered as majority of our representatives are more beholden to corporate giants and fund donors than they are to citizens (Lindeman, n.d.). Similarly, today the media are also playing a noticeable role in ruining the good sides of democracy (Fog 2004). It is clear that most of the media have their particular political interests and hence they report news in favor of their own gains. As a result, people’s problems and concerns that affect their lives often go unreported and this situation assists political gimmicks to remain in power on the strength of illusionary achievements and misleading victories. Today the media have grown to a state they are able to decide who would rule the state. Evidently, this undue influence of the media is not good for either the growth of the democracy or the improvement of people’s living standards. In addition, the inappropriate involvement of corporate giants in a country’s political affairs also raises potential challenges to the sustainability of the democratic system (Wolf 2012). It is observed that today corporate organizations have a strong influence on government authorities and administrative processes and they try to maintain an ‘unfair relationship’ with political parties in order to serve their personal business interests. As Gore points out, the significance of democracy has eroded in the United States due to lack of proper communication, undue influence of the media, and the unfair play of the corporate money politics (Study guide and modules). In addition, the huge size of the population and worse sociocultural environment of the country seems to be some other great challenges to the spread of the democracy (Overpopulation: Environmental and Social problems). To illustrate, although India is the biggest democratic country in the world, the democratic system is underperforming in the country due to its huge population size and increased corruption. Majority of the Indian states cannot provide sufficient security to their citizens as a result of the increased population density and the weakness of the legal system. Since there is a democratic government in power, Indians enjoy more freedom and hence the rate of strikes and absenteeism is very high in the country. Admittedly, this worse situation notably impedes the growth of the Indian economy. Experts identify that democratic system fails to produce good results in countries with poor nation building processes and poorly developed economies. For instance, the democratic system is very weak in South Africa, which is a poorly developed country. Although the participation of women in the political regime has been improving, women still represent a minority of the power positions even in most democratic countries like India. It is identified that often people elect their representatives on the basis of political interests rather than the candidate’s skills and abilities. Similarly, the ruling political parties try to serve the interests of their members/supporters only. Consequently, the democratic form of government often fails to represent the interests of diverse stakeholders. According to the view of liberals and neo liberals, western democracy is capable of enhancing democracy. However, they have different opinions concerning the organization of the democracy. Many of them hold the view that voting in elections only does not ensure people’s active engagement in the civil society. They opine that the voting system must be used not only for elections but also to collect opinions on different issues about governance. Such a practice can possibly promote greater level of democracy and governance. In large democracies, diverse subgroups and specific interest groups may be alienated and it is a major threat to the scope of the democracy. Referring to the arguments of a number of famous thinkers like Aristotle, representation seems to be one of the greatest challenges to the democracy if people are not able to comprehend the consequences of their decisions. When people make thoughtless decisions, this situation may bring unskilled and corrupt individuals to key power positions which in turn may negatively affect the overall development of the society. In order to address this problem and to develop more sustainable futures, a cultural shift is inevitable but it is not possible so quickly. Therefore, eliminating the representation challenges will not be possible in the near future. Current approaches to democracy are not capable of fostering global stewardship. Considering the systematic nature of governance in a highly globalized world, lack of open communication becomes a great challenge that makes democracy non-transparent to all. Dean Jaensch stated on a lecture at Mitcham Council that good local and community governance can be achieved through encouraging relationships between elected members of the government, corporate sector, and the general public (given file). However, general public are often kept away from this trio bond and this situation in turn minimizes the benefits of the democratic system. Similarly, some inadequate and inappropriate international approaches negatively affect democratic development as they try to serve the interests of whole countries across the globe. It is identified that countries struggling with high violence rate give primary focus to stability and reconstruction but not to democratic values. Furthermore, core values of democracy are deteriorating globally due to rise of selfish politicians and improper execution of democratic practices. From the above discussion, it is clear that today democracy fails to meet the interests of diverse stakeholder and to manage different risks efficiently. As a result, the democratic system is not transparent to all, and this situation questions the relevance of this form of government in the current world. Countries having huge size of population often fail to provide their citizens with the real benefits of democracy. In addition, high rate of violence and corruption and unfair political plays raise potential challenges to democratic development. In sum, today the actual benefits of democratic system are not passed on to its ultimate beneficiaries – the general public. References The Explosion of Third World Democracy. [online document] available at [accessed 4 June 2013]. Fog, A. (2004) “The supposed and the real role of mass media in modern democracy”. [online document] available at [accessed 4 June 2013]. Lindeman, K. (n.d.) “ It's No Secret: Congress is More Beholden to Corporate Interests Than to Voters. Policymic. [online] available at [accessed 4 June 2013]. Miliband, D. (2008) ‘Aung San Suu Kyi Lecture: ‘The Democratic Imperative’. [online] available at [accessed 4 June 2013]. Overpopulation: Environmental and Social problems. [online] available at [accessed 4 June 2013]. Smith, B. L. (2003) Public Policy and Public Participation Engaging Citizens and Community in the Development of Public Policy. Population and Public Health Branch Atlantic Regional Office Health Canada. [online] available at [accessed 4 June 2013]. Umpenhour, C. M. (2005) Freedom, a Fading Illusion. BookMakers Ink. World Movement for Democracy. (2008) “Current Challenges to Democracy. A Statement of the Steering Committee of the World Movement for Democracy”. [online] available at [accessed 4 June 2013]. Wolf, V. (2012) An idea to stop corporations from interfering with our democracy. Examiner. [online] available at [accessed 4 June 2013]. Study guide and modules. Read More