Democracies Do Not Go to War with One Another - Essay Example

Running head: democracies do not go to war with one another 27th February Introduction Democracy is a way or a method of solving things or problems in non violence manner and this means that democratic peace must be considered in any situation in politics. Hence, the fact that democracies do not go to war with each other. This means that democracy is the best strategy to ensure security and build a durable peace so as to support democracy thus making better transaction either from one country to another in a diplomatic manner. Countries that do support democracy as the rule of law have the notion of democratic peace and this means that the countries enjoy a permanent peace. This paper tries to clarify that democracies do not go to war with one another. In the recent past, the numbers of countries that supported democracy were very few. This meant that international relations among countries were not good but currently there are more than 120 countries established that are democratic. The political situations have changed and many countries do not support dictatorial leadership and hence the nature of democracies changing dramatically so as to obtain democratic peace in the countries. Lincoln Abraham stated that democratic countries must involve the citizen in the rule of law and thus defining democracy as “the government of the people, by the people, for the people”1. This means that any country that can be called democratic government, the citizens must be part and parcel to exercise their democratic rights. This means that if a country is democratic, there would be no war among the citizens or they would not engage to war with other countries but they should settle the issue in a diplomatic way. This implies that today every citizen or an adult has the right to vote and well stated that any government is created by free and fair election, meaning that the rule of law must be considered as well as separation of powers2. The protection of freedom of speech is another key necessity to all democratic countries, religion and property to all the citizens so that the citizens can enjoy their rights freely. To be certain that democratic states do not go to war with others, then the countries must consider the following. War There have been no wars between democracies since 20th century and if they were, it was only one in millions meaning that the probability of war between countries was low. Though there have been critics opponents criticizing democratic peace that has the proposition that democracies do not fight with one another, this is because of the American Civil War. This is one of the histories where people were brutalized killed and others evacuated and both sides were democracies and they fought for their rights and identities. This led to the war being called the “war between states” since it was among the United States citizens. But due to signing of memorandums within the states and human rights rules, the conditions of democracies at that time is very different from democracies of today since war among the states is highly condemned and the rule of law applies appropriately3. Sharing of gun battle does not solve problem but there is a way to solve problems in amicable manner hence encouraging democracy for all and the rule of law. For example, during the World War 1, Germany was not fully democratic during the Anglo American war. This is the reason why all countries that were involved in war should consider perpetual peace and negotiations. Regular election for the most powerful government positions To ensure that democracies do not go to war with one another, the citizens must democratically elect the government so as to protect the sovereignty of their country. This means that if the citizens will elect powerful individuals in the government, it will ensure that authoritarian or dictatorship will not be in the country and thus no engagement to war. This means that elected leaders will have to face oppositions from others so that democracy will be observed and the rule of law being considered. This implies that democracies will never go to war with each other since one leader will not remain as leader for the rest of one time but within a certain duration others will emerge and will make international relations with others countries. The international relations are the key progress to any country since it will promote co existence with other countries that do support democracies thus no war with each other with different head of government. For example, in the case of Germany where Hitler used dictatorship to rule and no democracy lead to massive killings and torture to the civilians meaning that if the people were allowed to elect their president such torture and destruction of the country would not be experienced. Competitive political parties To enhance democracies that cannot engage to war with one another, competitive political parties must be considered as an essential component of democracy. This means that election should be held and political parties be allowed to mobilize citizens behind particular and unique visions of the society as well as convincing people that they can perform in the legislature. This implies that competitive political parties in many countries do offer the citizens meaningful choice in the governance and politically participate in simply means any country that will exercise democracy and allow competitive political parties will never engage to war with one another. In dictatorial government no political parties are allowed since they are the vehicles that the citizens use to express their interest and needs and what they have for the society so as to be democratic. Any country that does not allow formation of political parties, then there is likelihood that democracy in that state and likely war and torture to the citizens and hence democracies do not go to war with one another. Secret balloting In a free and fair election, secret balloting is enhanced to make sure that the principle of accuracy is practiced. This means that all the voters concerning a particular candidate are correctly recorded in the tally making sure that democracy is followed clearly and the choice of people is heard. Any states that practice secret balloting usually enhance free and credible elections thus giving the citizens a leader of their choice and who has been elected democratically4. Secret balloting is confidential and this ensures that voters can keep their recorded vote a secret from the general public, confidentiality is also upheld thus bringing legitimacy if the auditors are not corrupt. This reduces the pressure that could emanate from public voting and still chaos is reduced thus ensuring that democracies do not go to war with one another. Civil liberties and political rights (human rights) All the countries that are democratic believes that democracy and human rights are universal and they should be promoted in the world thus making sure that conflict and war are prevented as much as possible . Terrorism is highly emphasized by the human rights organizations since the governments must be able to protect the citizens from any kind of attack. In case of attacks, towards their citizens, then they can ask for assistance from the United Nations. Since democracy is a gradual process and thus each and every country and the society is free and can develop the model of the country the way they want it to be though the models are supposed to be consistent with universal human right principles. Human right encourages all the states to encourage political dialogue to make sure that democracy is integrated, democratic values like transparency, accountability, representation among others and lastly any financial assistance for example fund to promote fair and free election. This means that if civil liberty is considered democracy will never be in war with each other. Universal franchise If a state is upholding the rule of law, all adult citizens should be allowed to vote depending on the race and gender. For example, in some countries women were not allowed to vote and this meant that their rights were not exercised fully. Voting gives one the choice to choose a leader who can promote democracy in all the area of interest, this means that even the minor and non citizens can be given that opportunity to choose one who can represent them5. Voting thus lead to democracies that will not lead to war with others. Conclusion Democracy leads to people realizing the value that makes them human being and non one would like to see genocide and mass murder of the people. This means that all those negative effects that are associated with poor leadership will be eliminated by democracy, fears, horrors and many others would end6. Prosperity and freedom to move and speech among others would be produced in democratic country thus democracies do not go to war with one another. References Doyle, M. (1919). Liberal Legacies, and Foreign Affairs’ in: Debating the Democratic Peace. London: The MIT Press. Farber, H. (1987). Debating the Democratic rules. London: The MIT Press. Owen, J. (2000). How Liberalism Produces Democratic stability. New York: New York Press. Russett, B. (1993). Grasping the Democratic Peace: Principles for a Post-Clod War World. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Sorensen, G. (1989). Democracy and Democratization: Processes and Prospects in a Changing World. Westminster: West view Press. Young, N. (2000). Peace Movement in History in: Approaches to Peace. New York: Oxford University Press. Read More