What is democracy - Essay Example

? What is Democracy? A popular definition of democracy is government of the people, by the people, for the people. Elections are held periodically (usually every 4 or 5 years) that determine ministers who would take part in state’s operations. Every adult (usually above 18 years) has the right to vote and decide on the ministers who would actively represent their country. Even after election, there are checks and balances so that those who hold offices are kept on their toes. If people are not satisfied with the performance of a particular minister or party, they can show their dissent through petitions, marches, blogs, or other peaceful means. There are rooms for diverse opinions and multiple parties exist to represent different ideologies. Some countries under British model of democracy can have any number of parties, like in the parliamentary form of democracy. The number of parties is restricted to three or four in some democracies like US and UK because of administrative reasons, ensuring that democratic tenets are not compromised in the process. It is only natural that under democratic system, which promotes diverse views and opinions, there are multiple parties competing with each other. The head of state is either designated as ‘president’ or ‘prime minister.’ As democracy takes into account majority view while taking collective decisions, the basic concept right from formation of ruling council (parliament) to any minute issue regarding its operation remains the same. A country is divided into a number of regions or provinces. A candidate is selected as winner for a particular region if he or she has secured the maximum number of votes for that region. A candidate either represents a party or can stand independent. If a candidate stands independent, depending upon the constitution of that country, he or she may or may not be allowed to support a political party later on during the elected tenure. Parliament consists of group of ministers who have all won maximum number of votes from their respective regions. Ministers represent different parties, if not independent. The party that has sufficient amount of majority will be the ruling party from which key ministerial post of president or prime minister is determined. The ruling party’s members together determine who their president or prime minister would be. President or prime minister, as the case may be, allocates responsibilities to other ministers in the party, such as defense minister, finance minister, etc. This is the main concept behind any democratic form of government, which is tailored in context of a particular country. When democracy is in pure form, one can expect that there will be no distinction made on account of religion, caste, language, or culture. In democracy, there is a right for everyone to live with whatever small or big aspirations they have. Democracy gives an opportunity to all to progress, without making distinction on personal issues like sexual orientation, believe or disbelieve in reincarnation, etc. The terms democracy and civil society come side by side. While defining civil society, Jane Morse states that civil society comprises “individuals like you and me.” Interesting to note is the statement, ‘democracy depends on civil society’ by Morse. What Morse perhaps wants to highlight through this watchword is overwhelming importance of citizens. Democratic government is there to serve its citizens. Democratically elected government is not an end by itself, but means to an end of serving its citizens. According to America.gov, “Governments alone cannot build strong democracies, thriving economies, or stable societies; it is the people themselves — especially the civil society organizations — that bring people together.” While democratic government is given a mandate by citizens to run state in the best interest of citizens, civil society absorbs citizens in a more direct way. If there is threat on civil society, then it reflects that the problem is perhaps with the true implementation of democratic system. It cannot be realistic that a true democratic government will ignore or suppress civil society while being committed to hold pillars of democracy. There is freedom of press. Anyone can write blogs, express their views on state’s policies, religion, etc. without being intimidated. Involvement of citizens has become more effective with popularization of internet over the last decade or so. This has led to a new wave of citizen journalism which involves civil society in a more primary way. A country where there is restriction on the use of internet to view or express opinions is one parameter through which it can be inferred that the system is yet to adopt democracy (America.gov Archive). The idea of pluralism is inherent with democracy. Democracies acknowledge that no one entity, be it state, political party, or leader has all the answers to the challenges facing the society. As a result, under democracy, people have the right to choose their solutions depending on circumstances and situations. Democracy is the key for any society to progress while respecting rights of each one to grow and prosper. According to President Barack Obama, “Freedom, justice, and peace for the world must begin with basic security and liberty in the lives of individual human beings." Modern democratic countries are successful in generating a very liberal environment where arts, science, and philosophy can be explored by all without preconditions. Some democratic countries like India practice of penalizing citizens who have more than two children. Such restrictions are made keeping in mind economic needs of the day and are applicable to all. As a consequence, there is no partiality (America.gov Archive). According to Hillary Rodham Clinton, “Civil society undergirds both democratic governance and broad-based prosperity.” Historically,democracy has outpaced communism that hindered freedom of speech and expression. For instance, Poland under communist rule witnessed fear and stagnation. When communist regime was toppled down and Poland chose democracy in 1990, there was a dawn of personal freedom for its people. Poland’s per capita GDP rose to nine times in 2011 than it was in 1990. Such progress, according to Clinton, was neither accidental nor inevitable. It was accomplished through a ‘generation’ of effort to ‘improve governance,’ develop the ‘private sector,’ and build up ‘civil society.’ According to Clinton, these three vital components of a free nation – ‘representative government,’ ‘a well-functioning market,’ and ‘civil society’ - operate in the same way as three legs of a stool. Clinton opines, “They lift and support nations as they reach for higher standards of progress and prosperity.” (America.gov Archive) Modern democracies view human rights, democracy, and development as supportive of one another. According to Michael Posner, “Human rights reflect what a person needs in order to live a meaningful and dignified existence.” Human dignity has a political element and an economic element, and these are invariably connected. Historically, communist states have blamed democracies like US for failure to implement economic and social rights. Communists, according to Posner, used the ‘rhetoric’ of ‘’economic, social, and cultural rights’ to divert attention from their ‘human rights abuses.’ Posner says that these communist states claimed that ‘economic rights’ take ‘priority’ over ‘political rights.’ According to Posner, US government has prioritized political rights because governments that are ‘transparent and respect free speech are stable, secure, and sustainable – and do the most for their people.’ (America.gov Archive) Elections by themselves do not make any system democratic. Democracy needs continuous efforts by elected representatives together with active civil society participation. The more even the partnership between elected representatives and various organs of civil society, the more vibrant and healthy the society becomes. For instance, often NGOs (Non Governmental Organizations) are in a position to deliver effective services. Their presence should not be curtailed, even if such NGOs differ in their beliefs from the government. Flexibility to assimilate diverse opinions is what pluralism is all about. Under democracy, the ruling party does not fear its own people. It is recognized that citizens have the right to advocate and agitate. Restriction on such rights denotes fear of authoritarian rulers. According to Clinton, “An attack on civic activism and civil society is an attack on democracy.” Often such threats are quelled on the ground that ruling party is doing so in the best interest of the country. However, truth of the matter is that it is the lust of power that compels such rulers to deny and suppress popular voice (America.gov Archive). Members of civil society can choose to help their fellow brethrens in a number of ways which should not attract restrictions by state. For instance, one humble example can be Omowale Ogunrinde from Nigeria who holds the view that economic empowerment necessitates ending waste. She states that most of us think that government is there to meet our individual requirements, but our hopes are never met. Hence the disparity between the poor and the rich has turned out to be so big, and there is so much waste by those who are privileged. Ogunrinde arranged 15,000 books and distributed them to 18 public schools in her society. Her educational project is to gather old reading materials from households and private schools and hand out them to the students in the municipal schools. Often, these students have never seen some of these books before (America.gov Archive). Successful operation of democracy also requires responsibility from its citizens or civil society: for instance, making distinction between right of freedom to express and expressions that can hurt other citizens’ feelings in the process. For, instance, someone may write against a cult figure of a particular religion. Now, it may appear insulting for those who practice that philosophy. It may be that their right to follow religion with dignity is hindered in the process. There are widespread debates in modern democracies where the line of distinction be made. It is agreeable that while everyone has the right to pursue their own religion, one should not have the right to abuse other people’s religion. Such controversies are perhaps a part and parcel of history of any successful democracy, and civil society should be flexible to adapt their stand in the best interest of the nation. Overall, tenet of plurality tagged with democracy makes it clear that democratic system is prepared to accept conflicts and sort them out amicably while respecting human rights through public debate and negotiations. A successful democracy evolves over time. The system should be flexible to adjust with new situations, without panic. If intention is strong, nothing can stop functioning of a democracy and there is no substitute of democracy. Like basic virtues embraced in individual life such as honesty, truth, hard work are admirable under all circumstances and all age, so is the democratic form of governance when it comes to group behavior. Accommodation of diverse opinions makes democracy the system of choice for any progressive society at any time. References 1. America.gov Archive. U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs. Web. 24 June 2011. . Read More