What is Democracy?
What is Democracy?
The word democracy has its roots in the Greek words for “rule” and “people”. Thus, simply, it means a form of government of the people, by the people. However, it would be naïve to assume that it is that simple. Democracy itself is an abstract theory - an idea. Whenever it has been implemented in a society, the end result usually ends up being very different from the desired outcome.
In the literal sense, a true democracy can never exist. This is because in any given population, there are too many decisions to be made and too many logistical issues to deal with to allow everyone in the population to have an input. The more people that there are involved in the decision making process, the less likely a group will have an effective and efficient government.
Therefore, the type of democracy that has yielded the best results is not a direct democracy, it is a representative democracy. This is a system of government in which the people elect other people to represent them and their interests. These elected officials in turn make decisions on their behalf.
So why would there even need to be a government in a population that rules itself? Isn’t the population already making decisions for themselves? One can glean some insight into this question by reading the following quote by James Madison: “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”
Many of the people who founded the system of government in the United States realized that human nature is inherently selfish, and people will pursue their own interests – sometimes even at the expense of others. A government can provide protections against these individuals or groups. One way in which a democracy can do this is by guaranteeing certain rights. By ensuring basic freedoms of the press, religion, association, and speech, the government could prevent any oppression.
Another method of self-protection that democracies use is the reliance on the rule of law. This means that the elected representatives (who are held accountable by the people) write laws to protect the populace, and those laws are clear and fair. This prevents any abuses of power because it does not allow elected officials to wield unchecked and arbitrary power over the people. If at any time in a democracy a constituency becomes dissatisfied with their representative, they can get rid of them. Another vital process of a democracy is a system of free, fair, and competitive elections.
Finally, a democratic government can provide public goods; these are things like national defense, environmental protection, and public education. These things would aid in strengthening the country or populace, but wouldn’t necessarily be provided by wise and benevolent members of society.
As one can see, democracy is just another human social construct to control and manipulate the actions of the members of a society. Like all governments, it is a system that uses violence and the threat of violence to control its people. However, unlike other systems of government, democracy allows for the people who are being controlled to have a say in the process and affect the outcome.
The word democracy has its roots in the Greek words for “rule” and “people”. Thus, simply, it means a form of government of the people, by the people. However, it would be naïve to assume that it is that simple. Democracy itself is an abstract theory - an idea. Whenever it has been implemented in a society, the end result usually ends up being very different from the desired outcome.
In the literal sense, a true democracy can never exist. This is because in any given population, there are too many decisions to be made and too many logistical issues to deal with to allow everyone in the population to have an input. The more people that there are involved in the decision making process, the less likely a group will have an effective and efficient government.
Therefore, the type of democracy that has yielded the best results is not a direct democracy, it is a representative democracy. This is a system of government in which the people elect other people to represent them and their interests. These elected officials in turn make decisions on their behalf.
So why would there even need to be a government in a population that rules itself? Isn’t the population already making decisions for themselves? One can glean some insight into this question by reading the following quote by James Madison: “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”
Many of the people who founded the system of government in the United States realized that human nature is inherently selfish, and people will pursue their own interests – sometimes even at the expense of others. A government can provide protections against these individuals or groups. One way in which a democracy can do this is by guaranteeing certain rights. By ensuring basic freedoms of the press, religion, association, and speech, the government could prevent any oppression.
Another method of self-protection that democracies use is the reliance on the rule of law. This means that the elected representatives (who are held accountable by the people) write laws to protect the populace, and those laws are clear and fair. This prevents any abuses of power because it does not allow elected officials to wield unchecked and arbitrary power over the people. If at any time in a democracy a constituency becomes dissatisfied with their representative, they can get rid of them. Another vital process of a democracy is a system of free, fair, and competitive elections.
Finally, a democratic government can provide public goods; these are things like national defense, environmental protection, and public education. These things would aid in strengthening the country or populace, but wouldn’t necessarily be provided by wise and benevolent members of society.
As one can see, democracy is just another human social construct to control and manipulate the actions of the members of a society. Like all governments, it is a system that uses violence and the threat of violence to control its people. However, unlike other systems of government, democracy allows for the people who are being controlled to have a say in the process and affect the outcome.
posted by Unknown | 3:43 PM
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