Protection Individual's Freedom From the Excessive Power of Government - Essay Example

To What Extent Does Democracy Protect the Freedom of the Individual from the Excessive Power of Government? INTRODUCTION The concept of democracy is fundamentally described as a strong mechanism, which can be directly exercised by the people through electing their preferred agents. It is indeed a strong set of principles and ideas, which tends to protect the freedom of individuals belonging to any particular society (U.S. Department of State, “Democracy in Brief”). With regards to brief understanding of academic history, terms democracy and freedom were often interchangeably used. However, these two terms have distinctive approaches in the context of their respective practices and procedures associated with a particular society, state or a nation as well. Although democracy demonstrates a clear and wide concept concerning individual freedom and liberty, it also entails a set of distinctive processes and practices that have been shaped by a long and convoluted political history (O’Donnell, “Democracy, Law and Comparative Politics”). THESIS STATEMENT Emphasising diverse concepts and ideas of democracy as represented in different literatures, the essay critically demonstrates the extent of democracy in protecting individual freedom from the excessive power of government. In this regard, the discussion part of the essay tends to bring an in-depth understanding about the primary purposes and functions of democracy and how it involves flaws in protecting individual freedom. DEMONSTRATING PURPOSES AND FUNCTIONS OF DEMOCRACY IN PROTECTING INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM According to various observations, democracy is further defined as a set of specific government institutions possessing a well-structured group of values, practices and attitudes that may include dissimilar sorts of expressions amidst the societies and the cultures prevailing across the world (Birch 111-119). With regards to demonstrate the purposes and functions of democracy, the term democracy may entail number of strong values along with principles and practices. The quality of democracy basically incorporates three major sorts of elements including freedom, control and equality. The primary elements associated with the quality of democracy seek to form an effective balance between the interdependent values of freedom and equality with an effective set of control mechanisms mutual With the aim of attaining adequate guarantee regarding the fundamental principles of individual freedom, their primarily exist nine major democratic functions that fulfil values and practices of each element influencing quality of democracy (Democracybarometer, “Concept and Functions of Democracy”). The following pictorial representation provides a brief understanding about the concept and varied functions of democracy. Fig.1: Concept Tree of Democracy Source: (Democracybarometer, “Concept and Functions of Democracy”) Roles and Functions of Democracy in Protecting Individual Freedom. According to an in-depth understanding of the studies conducted by different scholars, it was found that individual freedom is universally accepted as a foundational human right approach (Mukherjee & Ramaswamy 172-180). The right of individual freedom refers to the absence of various aspects associated with heteronomy and ensures to protect any individual or group from any type of infringement made by the community, state or national government (Democracybarometer, “Concept and Functions of Democracy”). The democratic functions protecting the individual freedom from excessive governmental power comprise three major elements including individual liberties, rule of law and public sphere. These have been discussed hereunder. Individual Liberty The guarantee associated with individual liberties can be regarded as one of the most essential prerequisites of a strong democracy, which tends to secure the inviolability of the individuals concerning their private domain. The guarantee of individual liberties in a strong democratic system requires the incorporation of two major components such as right to physical integrity and right to free conduct of life (Held 96-115). The extent of democracy in the governing process must determine to guarantee the right to physical integrity as a form of constitutional provisions (Goodwin 287-313). Specially mentioning, the governments must also need to include strong set of provisional arrangements towards preventing practices that lead to torture to any person or group while protecting freedom of individuals. In addition, the constitutional provisions in the context of physical integrity also bind the government to ratify conventions while guaranteeing individual freedom within the nation. The elimination of transgressions by the governmental departments or agencies such as exclusion of political terror and torture should also be duly considered to guarantee the protection of individual liberty. The mutual acceptance of individual rights regarding physical integrity through lowering homicide rates or any type of riot is also regarded as an essential governmental practice ensuring individual liberty (Miller 37-73). Correspondingly, ‘right to free conduct’ of life is also viewed to be a major constituent for the governments to protect individual liberties. In this similar context, constitutional provisions by protecting religious freedom and guaranteeing freedom of movement are the major aspects that aid in protecting individual liberties. Similarly, ensuring effective property rights to the individuals along with personal security and private property should also be taken into concern by the governments in the context of protecting individual liberties within a state or a nation (Buhlmann, “The Beauty and the Beast? A Tale of Democratic Crises and Globalization”). Rule of Law Rule of law primarily defines or ensures to protect individuals’ independence, their primacy and most vitally absolute warrant of life through the incorporation of varied legal code. In this regard, the rule of law concerning the protection of individual freedom often entails the prevalence of individual rights along with procedural and formal judicial mechanism for each individual or group (Waldron, “Is the rule of law an essential contested concept (in Florida)?”). In this regard, the rule of law in the governing system must be established through two major components such as ‘equality before the law’ and ‘quality of the legal system.’ In the context of rule of law, the term ‘equality before law’ within the individual freedom includes three major functions such as development of constitutional provisions for impartial courts, effective independence and impartiality regarding the judiciary along with the legal systems. In order to guarantee ‘equity before law’, the governments need to focus on developing the court systems along with the absence of inefficiency in the judicial functions. In this similar context, the guarantee of maintaining efficient quality of the legal system is also duly considered to be an essential element while seeking to protect individual freedom (Crick 39-54). In this regard, the establishment of provisions regarding judicial professionalism along with ensuring confidence about the justice system and law enforcement practices are few of the major constituents in terms of maintaining quality of the legal system. Therefore, quality of the legal system is also a major consideration for the governments in the rule of law while protecting individual freedom within a particular state or nation (Dahl 21-35). Public Sphere Public sphere is one of the key elements of individual freedom, which involves moral norms and communication or participation rights of the individuals. Public sphere in the context of individual freedom generally defines two major constituents such as freedom to opinion and freedom to associate (Held 96-115). In the context of freedom of opinion, the governmental policies must ensure to develop constitutional provisions regarding freedom of speech for each individual. Moreover, the constituent of freedom of speech also requires the governments to maintain adequate neutrality and ideological balance regarding the press or media system (Goodwin 287-313). On the other hand, the freedom to associate in the public sphere also necessitates the governments to develop strong provisions that can provide equal opportunity to the individuals concerning their association. The degree of association must look after the public interests and ensure that their membership in both administrative and professional organisations sustain for a longer time period (Wolf 62-93). DETERMINATION OF THE EXTENT REGARDING THE PROTECTION OF INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM FROM EXCESSIVE GOVERNMENTAL POWER Based on the above analysis and discussion concerning the purposes as well as the functions of democracy, it can be affirmed that individual freedom provides a critical understanding regarding the role of government within a particular state or nation. The protection of individual freedom has long been witnessed to be a major issue across the different geographical nations. In various cases, the issue associated with individual freedom create major global concern due to excessive control mechanism or extensive use of power by the governmental systems. Although the excessive use of power tends to facilitate adequate control, it also raises number of critical issues associated with the individual freedom (Wolf 62-93). With reference to the aforesaid discussion, the notion of individual freedom can be guaranteed by the governments by ensuring the protection of individual liberties and appropriate execution of rule of law along with public sphere associated with each individual within a state or a nation. The constituents associated with individual freedom also ensure the governments to gain effective control more willingly than driving excessive power in response to any issue. In this regard, the governmental system must ensure to meet the constituents and guarantee addressing the elements associated with individual freedom while seeking to establish a strong democracy within the nation or a state (Goodwin 287-313). CONCLUSION Based on an in-depth understanding regarding the major constituents associated with individual freedom, various strong practices of democracy can be identified upon. The term individual freedom is one of the major principles of democracy, which ensures to provide a major support for the individuals to protect their equalities and fundamental rights at large. The power of governments in this regard has a major influence while guaranteeing individual freedom within a state or a nation. In this similar context, the guarantee of meeting constituents and elements associated with individual freedom can provide a major support to the government for practicing a better democracy, resulting in protecting individuals’ freedom by a certain level. Works Cited Birch, Anthony H. Concepts and Theories of Modern Democracy. Oxon: Routledge, 2007. Print. Buhlmann, Marc. “The Beauty and the Beast? A Tale of Democratic Crises and Globalization.” National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Challenges to Democracy in the 21st Century. Web. 13 June 2014. Crick, Bernard. In Defence of Politics. London: A&C Black, 2013. Print. Dahl, Robet Alan. Democracy and its Critics. New Haven Conn.: Yale University Press. “Concept and Functions of Democracy.” Democracybarometer, 2014. Web. 13 June 2014. < http://www.democracybarometer.org/concept_en.html#Ken> Goodwin, Barbara. Using Political Ideas. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons, 2007. Print. Held, David. Models of Democracy 3rd Edition. Cambridge: Stanford University Press, 2006. Print. Mukherjee, Subrata and Sushila Ramaswamy. Democracy in Theory and Practice. India: Macmillan India Ltd., 2005. Print. Miller, David. Political Philosophy – A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: OUP, 2003. Print. O’Donnell, Guillermo A. “Democracy, Law and Comparative Politics.” Studies in Comparative International Development 36.1 (2001): 7-36. Print. “Democracy in Brief.” U.S. Department of State, 2012. Web. 13 June 2014. Waldron, Jeremy. “Is The Rule Of Law An Essential Contested Concept (In Florida)?” Law and Philosophy 21 (2002): 150. Print. Wolf, Jonathan. An Introduction to Political Philosophy. 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