Elements of Democracy - Essay Example

Elements of Democracy A democracy is a system wherein there is a rule of the people. In a democratic nation, there is homogeneity of culture as well as distinctiveness. However, this notion is attributable only to the contemporary perception of democracy. In the past, there was no such conception of collective unity. The ancient political analysts did not conceive of a collective cultural identity of the populace. In those times, people were not regarded as having a common past, traditions and values (DeWiel, 2000, P.11). The modern paradigm of democracy considers the people in a nation, as a single entity with common beliefs and cultures. The ancient theorists as well as the early modern political theorists were of the view that political society was nothing but civil society. The picture today is different, and civil society is deemed to consist of public institutions that are far removed from the state. Democracy is the rule of the people, and under this concept, people are held to be different from the state. As such, the people represent a singular entity, which is at considerable variance from the state (DeWiel, 2000, P.11). In a democracy, there should be trust, goodwill and idealism. These are essential elements in any democratic society. Therefore, the proponents of democracy must recognise the importance of these elements. Political leaders must develop these qualities towards their respective societies. It is also important in a democracy that the individuals must show their willingness to accept these elements and to abide by them. They are also expected to follow the common norms of honesty and reciprocity (Myers, 2002, P. 109, P. 110). Individuals in the nation must abide by these norms. As such, social and political power is based on these requirements. The present day world has become increasingly interdependent. In this environment, nations as well as people must cooperate with each other for common causes, in order to maintain their adaptability and strength (Myers, 2002, P. 109, P. 110). Democracy as a political concept, deals with the collective decision making of a particular group, society or organisation. This collective decision making process establishes the rules and policies of that group. The members of the decision making group should be treated as equals, so that each one of them can control the activities of the decision making body. Democracy is chiefly popular control and political equality, and these are the fundamental principles of democracy (Beetham, 1994, P.28). It is comparatively easier in small sized associations to implement democratic principles, because the members can directly control the process of decision making. They can exercise their equal rights, individually, and vote on issues and policies. Such voting procedures are absent in large and complex associations, where the members vote indirectly. The members of such associations elect representatives on their behalf. In such a situation, popular control assumes the form of control over decision makers. Such members cannot influence the decision making process directly (Beetham, 1994, P.28). The equality of members is seen in the right to stand for public office, the right to be heard and to obtain equal treatment from legislators. The principles of popular control and political equality constitute democratic audit. The democratic countries of the west display these principles in their institutions and practices. These two principles form the standard to evaluate the level of democracy in any state (Beetham, 1994, P.28). The modern democratic governments generally establish the following political institutions for governance. They are as follows: Elected officials They are the elected representatives of the citizens. The constitution bestows certain powers upon these elected officials and one of them is control over the decisions made by the government with regard to policy matters. Therefore, present day large democracies are representative. Free, fair and frequent elections The representatives of the citizens are elected through elections without intimidation. Moreover, elections in democracies are conducted regularly, fairly and without bias. Freedom of expression Modern democratic states provide a right to freedom of expression to their citizens. Under this right, citizens can express themselves freely and without fear. The government would not impose any sort of punishment on the citizens for their frank criticisms. The citizens can criticise government officials and even the government if they fail to meet their expectations. This right of expression is extended to criticism of the socio-economic order and political ideologies. Access to alternate sources of information This is a right provided by democracy to its citizens, which enables them to seek alternate and independent sources of information. They can seek information from other citizens and various sources such as magazines, newspapers and books. Associational autonomy Citizens have a right to form independent associations and organisations to oversee the activities of the government and other government institutions. They also can supervise the activities of the politicians and political parties. Citizens can form political parties and other interest groups for this purpose. Inclusive citizenship Under this concept, all the citizens must be provided with these rights. The only requirement is that such citizens must be residing in that country and subject to the laws of that country. They should be provided with the right to vote in elections; the right to stand for public office in the election; the right to free expression; the right to form independent political party and organisations; the right to access alternative sources of information; and civil liberties (Dahl, 2005). Thus, cooperation has become an important requirement for achieving common goals in this interdependent world. In addition, it is essential for the citizens to possess trust and goodwill, in order to achieve their goals. Social conflict, improper economic development and damage to the environment are common problems. A meaningful solution to these problems entails cooperation; the absence of the latter tends to aggravate the problem, considerably (Myers, 2002, P. 109, P. 110). Democracy was practised by the Greeks, even in ancient times. They had invented this form of rule, as there was no such system of governance, prior to its advent in Greece. Athens was a direct democracy; in which, the citizens directly participated in the decision making process and in the government. There were no elected representatives, and the requirement for such participation was that the individual had to be a citizen or a full member of the state. This criterion differed significantly from merely living in the geographical area or territory of the state. The stipulations for such membership were very stringent in Athens (Harrison, 1995, Pp. 15-22). To be a citizen of Athens, both the parents of an individual had to be citizens. An individual who was not a citizen could live in the state’s territory and lead a normal life. He could participate in business and were often quite rich. For instance, many famous thinkers and philosophers, like Anaxagoras and Aristotle, were prime examples of such persons. Such non citizen residents were termed as metics. There was large number of such metics in Athens in those times, and they had their own states to which they could repair at any time. In addition, women were not granted full citizenship (Harrison, 1995, Pp. 15-22). Another important feature of democracy was equality before the law. In Athens, people had the right to equal freedom to speech. This right was known as isegoria. Herodotus documented this new kind of governance in his History, wherein he stated that the Athenians became stronger and demonstrated the grandeur of equality. Equality was indicated by the word isegoria. It had a broad meaning and referred to freedom as equality (Harrison, 1995, Pp. 15-22). The modern understanding of freedom equals that of the Greeks. Herodotus also stated that the ancient Athenians had served like labourers working for their master, and were disinclined to exert themselves. However, with the advent of democracy, they obtained freedom, which actuated them to work very hard. According to Pericles, liberty has a profound influence on public politics and daily life. By the 4th century, liberty was equated with the principal objective of the proponents of democracy (Harrison, 1995, Pp. 15-22). Every Athenian was permitted to participate in the assembly, and the only requirement was full citizenship. The Council was called the Boule, which prepared the issues to be taken up by the Assembly. The Boule was smaller than the Assembly was, and met on a larger number of occasions than the latter. The Assembly was the representative body of the Athenians and consisted of five hundred members who were selected by the citizens (Harrison, 1995, Pp. 15-22). These members were selected on a rotational basis; and fifty members were selected from each of the ten tribes, every year. Athenian democracy was stable throughout the fourth century; subsequently the foreign invasions destroyed it. Moreover, the Athenian democracy had proved that a government based on the principles of direct democracy was possible and could operate successfully (Harrison, 1995, Pp. 15-22). The democracy of the Greeks survived for just a short period in history. The successors to their thoughts and traditions were the Romans. Initially, they displayed a keen interest in adopting the tenets of Greek democracy. However, over a period of time Roman democracy, transformed into an amalgam of monarchy, democracy and aristocracy. The objective of the Roman democracy was the collective welfare of society and the state. However, this noble purpose was impeded due to exigencies of a rapidly expanding empire. The rights of individuals were breached during that expansion. The concepts of monarchy and aristocracy reigned. Despite these setbacks, the Roman Empire established peace and order throughout Europe (Historical Origins of Democracy). After a few centuries of enormous pomp and glory, the Roman Empire declined. This brought about a number of invasions by hostile barbarian forces. Europe was subjected to a number of these attacks, and local populations were forced to degenerate into feudal systems. The feudal warlords and their mounted soldiers provided protection to the masses, and demanded loyalty and serfdom from these vulnerable populations, in exchange (Historical Origins of Democracy). Many people were rendered vassals, due to fierce pressure exerted by the warlords and their soldiers. Individual freedom was deprived by these armed miscreants, and the hapless populace was forced to barter its freedom, in order to procure protection. The people had to submit themselves to these tyrannical authorities; and the monarchs imposed arbitrary rules on the people. The states were controlled and governed by feudal lords and the church (Historical Origins of Democracy). The Pope and the monarch ruthlessly exploited the common man; and deprived citizens of their fundamental rights. The feudal lords imposed rigid governance on the people and regulated economic activities within the state. The core principles of democracy are economic, religious and civil liberty to all the people in the state. These principles were replaced with religious and political absolutism. This situation prevailed in Europe, until the end of the 15th century (Historical Origins of Democracy)Political theory has been guilty of relegating the relationship between democracy and time to the background. The time for which institutions remain meaningful and the cyclical nature of democracy have not been accorded the importance that they merit by political theory. As such, democratic harmony and the time, bound nature of political institutions has always been confusing (Rosanvallon, 2006, P. 204). Technical constraints usually surround politics and political theorists have contended that the protracted term of a representative would enhance the distance between citizens and their representatives. On the other hand, if this term were of a short duration, then the efficiency of governance of the state would be diminished considerably. Therefore, time is an essential determinant in politics and democracy (Rosanvallon, 2006, P. 204). Apparently, political power in democracies is vested with the elected representatives of the people. However, it is a moot point as to the extent to which democratic functions are directly performed by such elected representatives (Mill, 1862, Pp 99-100). . The philosophy and ideology of democracy had been exploited and abused throughout history. The views of modern politicians, in respect of democracy, are similar to those held by the Athenians of yore. As such, international relations are apparently beyond the purview of common democratic mores. Moreover, it would be naive to assume that a democratic state would behave democratically in the international arena, especially when it has the power to behave as it pleases. All international conventions revolve around power and power sharing. There are other practical problems that affect democracy. It is normal to expect all round approval from the international community, for a state that attempts to usher in democratic reform. It is also natural to expect that there will be no hindrance to such measures. However, such assumption is unjustified (Rihani, 2002, Pp. 165-167). Democracy was initially practiced by the Greeks. They had adopted the system of direct democracy. In that process, the citizens were direct participants in the decision making process of the government. Equality before the law was an essential characteristic of Greek democracy. This system of governance was short lived. It was followed by the Roman system of democracy, which later transformed into a mixture of aristocracy, democracy and monarchy. The chief purpose of this system was to ensure the collective welfare of society and the state. Throughout history, the ideology of democracy had been exploited to suit parochial and selfish interests. Modern democratic governments consist of political institutions, like elected officials, elections, freedom of expression and inclusive citizenship. Trust, goodwill and idealism are disappearing in modern democracies. List of References Beetham, D. (1994, P.28). Defining and Measuring Democracy. SAGE. Dahl, R. A. (2005). Political Science Quarterly , Pp 188-189; Vol 120, Number 2. DeWiel, B. (2000, P.11). Democracy. Vancouver, Canada: UBC Press. Harrison, R. (1995, Pp. 15-22). Democracy. Routledge. Historical Origins of Democracy. (n.d.). Retrieved January 5, 2009, from http://www.icpd.org/democracy/index.htm Mill, J. S. (1862, Pp 99-100). Considerations on Representative Government. Harper & brothers. Myers, S. (2002, P. 109, P. 110). Democracy Reader. New York, USA: International Debate Education Association. Rihani, S. (2002, Pp. 165-167). Complex Systems Theory and Development Practice. Zed Books. Rosanvallon, P. (2006, P. 204). Democracy Past and Future. New York, USA: Columbia University Press. Read More