Equality of Citizens of a Liberal Democratic State - Essay Example

Equality of Citizens of a Liberal Democratic In the modern world, liberal democracy has found widespread supportdue to its supposed guarantee of constitutional liberties and rights. Among the essential components of liberal democracy is equality of every citizens within which territorial authority is exercised. In this system, the constitution protects minority groups through various institutions that have been mandated under the law. Consequently, every individual within a state that strictly follows the principles of liberal democracy should feel equal in relation to others especially in terms of taking advantage of the resources within the state. This essay explores how liberal democratic states ensure equality of all its citizens and to what extend the citizens are protected from social, political and economic mechanisms that create disparity amongst different individuals and groups within a sovereign state. An important aspect that determines the extent of equality in a liberal democratic state is how the citizens take advantage of available political resources. Equality in the political platform can only be exercised when every citizen has the necessary awareness through education about the state’s political system. For the necessary political awareness level to be achieved, all citizens must have access to the available means of communication that will allow them receive and share vital information about how they should exercise their democratic rights (Corbin, 1920; Post, 2006; Heywood, 2004). Citizens who lack basic information do not have the capacity to make informed choices especially in the electoral processes and are therefore influenced to make uninformed decisions through coercion. Post (2006) notes that the First Amendment offers protection for all Americans to engage in a communicative process that results in public agreement reached without coercion and through means that guarantee the perception that, everyone is free and equal. This can only be achieved through a communicative process that generates public opinion that balances between individual and collective self-determination (Heywood, 2004). Having in place effective mechanisms that support communication within public discourse does not necessarily affect decision-making processes. In most cases, these mechanisms only empower citizens to take part in public opinion to such extent that they presume public opinion respond to their opinions. However, equality in the participation in public discourse does not have the same effect as equality in voting which is based on equality of citizen’s influence on ultimate decisions. The difference between equality in voting and participation in public discourse is that the later concerns convincing others to accept ones perspective. Further, the state can counter these public opinions by controlling mechanisms used by citizens to engage with the views of others. Such interferences are not allowed in a liberal democratic state as it effective public discourse is dependent on citizens being able to discern between good and bad ideas (Corbin, 1920). Having a political environment that allows for a vibrant public debates does not necessarily translate to equality in a liberal democratic state. Consequently, liberal democratic principles demand that all citizens must have the chance to organize willingly in a group that they deem suitable to protect their interests within a sovereign state. States that ban the media from making available necessary information, prohibits formation of political parties and associations, bar demonstrations by the public as well as preventing individuals from making public their opinions does not have any ground to claim exercising equality (Jackman, 1974). This is because people will be forced to make up their mind in isolation, which hampers their chance to form an informed choice about joining either majority or minority group in the decision making process (Corbin, 1920). Citizens having equal rights and opportunity to join or form a political party of their choice are an important aspect of liberal democratic states. It is through such parties that citizens exercise their legislative rights. Given the importance of representative democracy in liberal democratic states, all citizens must have equal rights to elect party officials who will represent their views as legitimate holders of legislative of executive offices. The importance of having vibrant political parties lies in the powers and authority exercised by those elected in the various capacities. Every citizen that has qualified according to the electoral laws of a state must have the chance to participate in the appointment and nomination of party officials who will vie in different representative capacities from the local authorities to the highest political office in the state. When parties do not engage in democratic nomination of candidates to contest for various posts, the citizens are denied their chances of electing preferred officials as the rightful candidate is locked out of the elections by being denied a chance for nomination within the party (Bale, 2005; Jackman, 1974; Heywood, 2004). Further, every citizen must participate in party politics in order to contribute in the development of party policies that will inform how the state will be governed after elections are held (Salzman, 2005). Equality in liberal democratic states does not begin and end at the national level, but starts from individual voter in the most remote area of a state. By giving every citizen the chance to elect party officials, they prepare for future governments. Almost all European states with the exception of France and Cyprus have the prime minister as the person running the government and therefore the state. Among the conditions for such persons to run for highest office in state is to be a leading figure in a political party gains the necessary numerical advantage in parliament to form a government (Bale, 2005). Consequently, equality among citizens should have its foundation in the party politics to ensure officials represent their interests. Therefore, the citizens to an extent should feel equality in a liberal democratic state that they are able to exercise all citizenship rights that pertain to pre-election, election and post-election processes. Through vibrant electoral processes, citizens are the established government is in the public interest. The importance of having equality in exercising the power to elect representatives can be perceived in terms of a political market where politicians entrepreneurs who seek government power while each voter is a consumer who has to select a party with a manifesto that reflect their preferences (Behrouzi, 2006, Maley, 2011). For majority of the citizens in a liberal democratic state to make an informed decision, there is a need to have in place an open and competitive voter system. Having equal rights to vote will guarantee that all citizens participate in an election whose result hands the running of a government to the party that has philosophy, values and policies that are supported by the largest group of voters (Heywood, 2004). In liberal democratic states, there exists a vibrant market economy where citizens compete with each other to gain advantage over each other. Establishing economic equality is an ideal that no human society has been able to achieve due to a combination of factors such as taste and preference, motives for ownership of commodities as well as people having different talents and abilities to attract and own commodities (Alexander and Schwarzschild, 1987). Inequality among human beings is an acceptable fact that even theorists in the enlightenment era such as Jean Jacques Rousseau acknowledged. Rousseau through Discourse upon Inequality admitted that social equality, which represented ownership of property, was a reality. Although Rousseau thought that inequalities should not exist, he noted achieving absolute equality was impossible due to the inequality of nature (Corbin, 1920). Such difference makes it very hard to ensure equality of citizens even with effective welfare organizations. Consequently, a welfare state will only try to limit the economic gap between citizens by ensuring natural resources are fairly distributed among the citizens. Given this reality in a liberal democratic states, there should be a mechanism to ensure that economic inequalities are not so severe that a large section of the citizens are denied a chance to exercise their political voice and power. Using an example of a corporate community in Sardinia, Salzman (2005) notes that amassing a lot of economical wealth in the community is among factors that might destabilize their unity. Salzman (2005) claims that sacrificing individual freedom as a necessary move that would ensure economic equality in the collective group; therefore, economic equality and individual freedom are at odds. In a study that explored the relationship between economic development and social inequality, Jackman (1974) report a positive correlation between increased economic fortunes of a state and income equality, social insurance program experience as well as the Social welfare index. An important aspect in a liberal democratic state is how minorities are represented within present legislative frameworks such as parliament, provincial or local legislatures in order to enjoy all the resources within the state. Ideally, minorities should have a representation that is promotional to their numbers at all levels of the state’s political, social and economic levels. Post (2006) notes that it is not always necessary for equality and democratic principles to be at odds as strong egalitarian principles have the ability to strengthen democracy. Democratic principles require the minority to identify with the state even when they do not support certain decisions made by the majority. However, even as free participation in public opinion motivates minority citizens to identify with the state, more is still required from a liberal democratic state to make it all-inclusive (Heywood, 2004). For the minority to identify fully with the state there should be mechanisms to ensure they are not subordinated marginalized, stigmatized or destitute. When they are not treated as the rest of the population, these minority citizens are alienated from the rest, which further threatens the future stability of a state. To maintain democratic legitimacy, the authority should have in place measures to remedy alienating conditions of inequality (Post, 2006). There is still another aspect of the relationship between minority and majority groups within a state, which tackles the aspect of a political system where a small elite group rules the masses. This situation is better analysed by the elite theories of society who view states that are ruled through representative authorities as having power that is exercised by a small minority (Heywood, 2004). The ruling elite who are the minority group in this case must exercise power in a manner that is seen as benefiting the rest of the population who have put them in positions of authority. Consequently, a liberal democratic state must reconcile the interests of these two groups in order to avoid civil disobedience that might result in a revolution by the masses (Salzman, 2005). The exercise of power in an equal manner by government agencies and institutions is an important component of a liberal democratic state. All the citizens in a state must access essential government services regardless of their social class, gender, beliefs, religious, party affiliations as well as regional or ethnic background. Consequently, the rule of law must apply uniformly to every citizen regardless of social, political or economic status (Jayaram, 2005). In liberal democratic states, the rule of law sets a formal legal framework for politicians, citizens as well as institutions to govern and be governed (Bale, 2008). An important feature that ensures equality of all citizens within this system is the separation of power between the judiciary, legislature and the executive. Separation of power among these organs of the government ensures that the rights of all citizens are protected from exploitation by any of the arms of government since they act as watchdogs for excessive use of power. In conclusion, from the foregoing analysis of how citizens should exercise their equality in a liberal democratic state, achieving absolute equality in some aspects such the economy is not possible. In such cases, the function of a government is to ensure inequality between those who have more and those who have less material resources is kept at a minimum. However, all the citizens in a liberal state have other areas to exercise their rights fully whether they are from a minority or majority group. Engagement in public discourse as well as having the freedom to organize themselves in a political party are some of the avenues through which citizens can achieve greater equality within a liberal democratic state. Consequently, the government through various organs that include the judiciary, executive and legislature should encourage the exercises of rule of law to ensure that every citizen is protected regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, region, party and beliefs. References Alexander, L., & Schwarzschild, M. (1987). Liberalism, neutrality, and equality of welfare vs. equality of resources. Philosophy & public affairs, 16(1), 85-110. Bale, T. (2008). 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