Before I shall begin arguing my position concerning Democracy I have to find out the meaning of this term,to give some definitions which can easily lead us to the main features of this phenomenon. This incipit is like a background, has the same function as a building foundation.
According to various sources I chose the most appropriate meanings of Democracy, which is supposed to be, firstly of all, a form of government in which all eligible citizens participate equally in the development and building of laws.It contains social,economical and cultural conditions that permit the free and equal practice of political self-determination. Its name comes from the Greek term δημοκρατία (dēmokratía) which means “rule of the people”, therefore, in a democracy the final decision must be taken of those who were elected by the people. So, a democracy must be based on a free and fair election where those currently in power have a fair chance of losing in a democracy, each mature citizen must have one vote and each vote must have one value. If making an overview of what democracy is,I can distinguish a few key elements:
1.A political system for choosing and replacing the government through free and fair elections- people decide who will represent them in parliament, and who will head the government at their national and local levels.They realize this task by choosing between competing parties in free and fair elections.People are independent, they are the supreme form of political authority and they are free to complain about their elected leaders and to observe how they rule the entire country.All parties and candidates have the right to campaign freely, to show their goals to the voters both directly and through mass media.This is why it...
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...overnment is that such mistakes cannot be hidden for long periods and there is scope for correction.There exist a place for public discutions on these issues and, room of correction. The rulers have to change their decisions if it is requested by the majority’s opinion,if not- the rulers should be changed.
In conclusion,I can add that Democracy cannot get us everything and is not the solution of all the problems,but it is clearly better than any other form of government.I sincerely believe that democracy promotion has a basic place in the world for the next tens of years. But it’s not an automatic place. It is a place that we have to gain through the seriousness of our targets and the excellence of our efforts and hard-work.It depends on us, those who are concerned with the state of democracy to employ and earn that place in the years which are ready to come.
Democracy may be the best foundation on which to build a society, but to glorify it
Before that can be established, I think a definition of democracy should be stated so that it may be called upon later in this essay. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, democracy is stated as "the principle of social equality and respect for the individual within a community" .
democracy was first introduced in ancient Greece in the 5th Century BC to denote the political system then existing in Greek cities-states notably Athens. In the U.S. Democracy was first introduced in the constitution in 1788. Democracy did not originate with the founding of the United States. The term "democracy" comes from the Greek words "demos" meaning the people and "kratia" meaning power of authority. so of course democracy is a form of government that gives power to the people. But how, when and to which people? the answer to those questions changes through history.
Democracy is the structure of government still used today in many countries.The definition of democracy is a system of government where people who rule directly are freely elected representatives.In addition, democracy comes from the Greek word demokratia. Demo meaning people and kratia meaning power of rule. For instance, here is an example, Great Britain has a democratic government since elected officials and laws are voted on by the people and also the representatives they elect. Therefore Athens exemplifies a democratic government. “Athenians would meet and vote on a simple question …. is anyone becoming a threat to democracy? If a simple majority voted yes,then they dispersed and reassembled two months later,
In making this argument this essay seeks to five things. Firstly, to define democracy within the contemporary context offering the key characteristics of a modern re...
One of the contemporary definitions of democracy today is as follows: “Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives; Rule by the majority” (“Democracy” Def.1,4). Democracy, as a form of government, was a radical idea when it manifested; many governments in the early history of the world were totalitarian or tyrannical in nature, due to overarching beliefs that the strong ruled over the weak.
More importantly, what is a democracy exactly? Some would define it as a form of government where the people rule, others as where the poor rule, and I would say it is where everyone contributes in how the government is ran but do not control the final decisions made. In Aristotle 's "Democracy and Oligarchy", he discusses the different kinds of democracies that exist and how equality plays a huge role in defining it. Without equality, or even limiting it, it can change a democracy into an oligarchy. He goes into detail about each kind there is and further analyzes how regardless of having similar elements, they are each unique in their own way.
Democracy: a government by the people, in which citizens rule either directly or through elected representatives - the latter description more relevant to today’s societies. Quite evidently, democracy is not perfect; like any other political system, it is subject to a plethora of flaws. For instance, it is no secret that voters tend to make illogical decisions – not out of sheer malice, but as a result of being wrongly informed. Politicians also make erroneous choices, whether they do so because they are dishonest or simply out of touch with the true will of their constituents. Further, anyone who has studied the government of a parliamentary democracy knows gerrymandering can have a powerful say in determining elections. Despite these and other flaws however, democracy still seems to work.
There have been enormous efforts to spread democracy as a political system throughout the world by the developed democratic countries and the international development organizations including the World Bank. By the late 1990s the United States alone spent over a half billion dollars to promote democratic expansion throughout the world (Diamond, 2003). These were done considering that the democratic system leads towards development. As a result in the late 20th century we saw a huge political transformation towards democracy. During the last few decades a huge number of countries adopted democracy as their political system. However, it retain a big question how far democracy is successful in bringing development of a country? At this stage, some people also criticizes the effort of democratization arguing that it is done without considering the context of a country, sometimes democracy is not ideal for all countries and it is an effort to extinct diversity of political system. In studying the literature regarding the debate, we found a paradoxical relationship between democracy and development. Some argue that democracy has failed to ensure expected outcomes in terms of development. While others confronted that democracy has a considerable impact on development. Another group of people argue that form of political system actually does not have any impact on development process. On the verge of these debates, some development institutions and academics throw light on why democracy is not working properly, and what measure should be taken to make it more successful in bringing effective development of developing countries. Consequently, this writing is an effort of revisiting the different views about impact of democra...
Democracy is more beneficial for people than any other form of government. What Weaknesses are Inherent within the Democratic Government System? Ask yourself why democracy is so rare upon
Firstly, K. Isbester mentions that democracy has a different meaning for everyone, as some can define democracy as a good aspect for development, on the contrary other believe that it is nothing more than voting after several years. Although, Latin America see democratic g...
A memorable expression said by President Abraham Lincoln reads, “Democracy is government of the people, by the people, and for the people”. Democracy, is a derived from the Greek term "demos" which means people. It is a successful, system of government that vests power to the public or majority. Adopted by the United States in 1776, a democratic government has six basic characteristics: (i) established/elected sovereignty (where power and civic responsibility are exercised either directly by the public or their freely agreed elected representative(s)), (ii) majority rule(vs minority), (iii) (protects one’s own and reside with) human rights, (iv) regular free and fair elections to citizens (upon a certain age), (v) responsibility of
The government ensures that the citizens are living in a peaceful country, with security, better service delivery and it also a good thing allowing people to participate in decision making through voting. The political parties play a role in providing these resources to the people like; clean water, repair roads, remove garbage, etc. When we come to voting between different parties that under the government we vote for how they deliver services to the society. The election time where every party goes to an electoral campaign to present the candidate that they nominated to stand for them in the political office and make promises to the people into how they can change the world and how they can deliver services much better than the party that is already in charge. They normally d...
The foundation of the modern political system was laid in the times when the world was strangled in slavery. In those moments, enlightened minds in Greek came up with the new system that was there to remain for the next thousands of years. This system, now known as democracy, is a form of government in which supreme power is vested to the people themselves. People have the right to elect their leaders directly or indirectly through a scheme of representation usually involving periodically held free elections. A new democratic government is usually established after every 4-5 years, and it is trusted with the responsibility to cater to the needs of all the people irrespective of the fact that they voted for them or not. Although the minorities may not be very pleased with the idea of democracy, however, a democratic government is certainly the best because it establishes social equality among people, reduces the conflicts in the state to a minimum, gives the chance to vote repeatedly, and creates patriotism.
Democracy refers to a system of governance in which the supreme powers are vested in the hands of people and is exercised by them indirectly or directly through a system of representation which involves periodic free and fair elections (http://www.zesn.org.zw/publications/publication_280.pdf). Most importantly, the rule of is needed to ensure that governors are held accountable through elections that are free and fair (Rose, R 2009)