Democracy All over the World - Assignment Example

PART French Pros Democracy in France was addressed with a set of conceptual rights and “indiscriminate individualism”. The Rights of Man andof the Citizen are obtained from natural rights which include both individual and collective rights. (French Constitution, n.d.) The constitution incorporates the principles of liberty and equality. The constitution guarantees basic rights and freedoms such that it assures protection, collective awareness, and technical advancement. Despite all changes the freedom of expression tenet of the 1789 preamble have not decayed with time. The French parliamentary structure is based upon “majoritarian discipline without which no country is governable in the long term” (Carcassonne, 2002, p. 5) Cons The effectiveness of the democracy is dampened by the loopholes in the reliability of national life in France. At the initialization, French was radical, riotous, and rebellious towards national stability and “good faith”. The spontaneous direction of the development of French democracy was hindered by foreign interference and interstate tussles. The nation is subject to notions of well being which are note related. This has resulted in a disorder across the nation. For instance, the control of the people in general is not regular and often fear and doubts are prevalent. The “shadow of Terror and the Commune hangs over every serious crisis in French politics” (Colly, 1993, p.241). The fundamentalists believe that people’s rights were not maintained and claim the punishment of betrayers. An anti-national democracy is prevailing and this entails educated people seeking security and hence rebelling. (Colly, 1993, p.241) Spain Pros: Civilian dominance prevails over military and the police prevails and the military and won the hearts of the citizens after the democratic regime. After the eventual process of demilitarization police enjoys public esteem. Spain’s foreign policy doped diplomatic relations with many nations – “universalizing its diplomatic relations”. (U.S. Department of Spain, 2010). The nation established “security relations with the West” (U.S. Department of Spain, 2010). Spain identifies with Latin America and focuses on the notion of Hispanidad. It represents an ideal transformation from authoritarian to democratic framework. Cons Continuous risk to stability of the state Basque conflict worsened in last 25 years. Violence and challenge to civil and political rights have resulted. (Diamond and Morlino, 2005, p.85) The state witnesses violation of the rule of law. It fails to control the mafia groups resulting from shortcomings in judicial system. Though the judiciary is independent, corruption prevails. Basque nationalists never proposed union of the state with Spain but opened the possibility of self-governance. Public confidence in justice is low and equality of access to the court is hindered. Russia Pros: Despite imperfections Russia falls under the category of democracy and the western scholars think the nation high in terms of democratization. Multiparty democracy with more than 700 registered parties exist Regular election processes elect officials Citizens can express views fearlessly The court has performed “reasonably well” (Fish, 2005, p.25). Cons: The democracy is marked by “falsification, coercion and the arbitrary disqualification of candidates in election” (Fish, 2005, p.67) Control over politics lie in the hands of a few officials and not necessarily with the electorate. Therefore these are manipulated The existing regime is more like an oligarchy where “minority of population influenced by the government, while majority was entirely disenfranchised”. (Fish, 2005, p. 29) Individuals were denied access to the protocols. Assessment of electoral frauds is not possible, as the government does not allow independent and individual investigations. USA Pros Majority rule persists in USA and allows a fair number of people from the Afro American community to represent in the decision making processes. Fairness in voting processes exists Democratic programs are undergoing an evolutionary process and flaws are reducing in number. The nation provides worthwhile know-how to the other nations across the world. The country’s democracy has been used as a model by nations and Latin America and others. The democracy stands for self-governance – everyone is protected and individual happiness in encouraged. (Carothers, 1999) Cons In a racially divided society majority rule does not work well and functions like “majority tyranny”, as per some experts. (Trend, 1996, p. 54) It maintains foreign relations with abroad for economic and political benefits and is therefore not consistent in demonstrating democracy aboard. The funds devoted to programs for propagating democracy are smaller than other allocations The nation’s capacity to render solutions to other nations’ democracy is being questioned. (Carothers, 1999, p. 333) The main problem is “it favors well organized and the poor are least likely to be members of interest groups” (Janda, Berry and Goldman, 2008, p. 49) Nigeria Pros: Democratic desires of people despite all odds have not faded Democracy has drove away military spirit The people openly criticize the acts of the government They curbed the attempts of the current president to extend his reign The people are intelligent and aware and can distinguish the genuine candidates from imposters. Cons Electoral fraud in 2007 called for electoral reforms “Lack of legitimacy” among the current government exists There is disrespect towards rule of the law and court decisions. “Quest for transparency and accountability in public governance” is the trend among civilians. (Okafor, 2008, p. 52) Citizens have been suffering a set back in terms of taking decisions which influence their lives directly The society is segregated between the rich and the poor where the leaders safeguard interests of the foreign nations by sacrificing public interests. PART 2 From the case studies of the nations, I have reached the inference that the US democracy is the best and most effective despite its shortcomings. None of the other nations have extended democratic aids as extensively as US has done towards other nations. The model is being followed by many other nations especially less developed nations like India. Despite its democratic structure US has been able to maintain a strong and effective military, which draws a large part of federal funds and voluntary participation of people. For instance, the government make sit mandatory for public schools to allow the military people to visit and interact with the children, talking about the way the system works. People might take this as a means to influence young minds and draw them towards military activities there can be nothing wrong in marketing something noble in an attractive package as long as no force is applied. The state operates by giving free choices to the people and allowing them to decide for themselves while the government designs programs for spreading awareness regarding different issues concerning the larger interest of the nation. The state leaves everything to free market mechanism while it tries to pull the strings for the greater interest of the nation. From its time of independence America unlike France and Spain did not resort to authoritarian rule during its political history. It was a democratic framework from the beginning and hence the time following the independence gave enough scope for USA to nurture and cultivate this democracy instead of creating more confusion among masses. Commercialization and globalization have created some problems with regard to employment of US people yet the inflow of immigrants has not considerably reduced. It is still a dreamland for many. The best part is the level of influence it has been able to exert on the rest of the world through its institutions like World Bank and IMF. Despite being blamed for economic and social motives relations with United States means a lot for many nations. The country has the courage of moving towards a free market mechanism and give the people right to self-governance in the true sense. The election of Obama after Bush’s stern regime shows that the people are aware of their rights and are able to take decision for themselves. Even accepting that the nation has profit motives we cannot deny the fact that through the democratic aids for instance the United States has undertaken an extensive program to provide support to Africa for propagation of democracy in the nation. This nation is the main concern for the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. (USAID, n.d.) Despite several criticisms the principles of self-governance set by the Founding Fathers has still been effective where not many nations have the ability to handle this provision. These principles have stood the test of time. (Thomas Jefferson on Politics & Government, 1999) This has been nurtured though a long process of training and practice right from the formulation of the constitution after the independence of US. In contrast to US countries like Russia and Nigeria are still not complete democracies since people’s rights are suppressed while France still has a lot to improve and is marked by clashes of opinions. Spain also does fairly well and could come as second to US in this case study but cannot meet the self-governance and democratic aid policies of US. References 1. Carothers, T. (1999). Aiding Democracy Abroad. Carnegie Endowment 2. Janda, K. Berry, J.M. and J. Goldman, (2008). The Challenge of Democracy, Cengage Learning 3. Fish, M.S. (2005), Democracy Derailed in Russia, Cambridge University Press 4. French Constitution (n.d.), Maps of World, available at: http://www.mapsofworld.com/france/politics/french-constitution.html (accessed on November 3, 2010) 5. Carcassonne, G. (2002). “The Principles of the French Constitution”, French Embassy in the UK, Available at: http://www.unc.edu/depts/europe/francophone/principles_en.pdf (accessed on November 3, 2010) 6. Colly, H.C. (1993). The Promise of American Life, Transaction Publishers. 7. Diamond, L.J. & L. Morlino. (2005), Assessing the quality of Democracy. JHU Press 8. U.S. Department of State, (2010) “Background Note: Spain”, available at: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2878.htm (accessed on November 3, 2010) 9. Okafor, V. O. (2008), Nigerias stumbling democracy and its implications for Africas democratic movement, ABC-CLIO. 10. Trend, D. (1996). Radical Democracy, London: Routledge. 11. USAID (n.d.). Sub-Saharan Africa, available at: http://www.usaid.gov/locations/sub-saharan_africa/ (accessed on November 3, 2010) 12. Thomas Jefferson on Politics & Government, (1999), Self Government, available at: http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeff0600.htm (accessed on November 3, 2010) Read More