Democracy As A Form Of Government

Jean-Jacques Rousseau defines democracy as a government in which “the sovereign entrust the government to the entire people…so that there are more

“Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains. Those who think themselves the masters of others are indeed greater slaves than they” (Rousseau, pg. 49). With Rousseau’s beginning statements he establishes an unjust link between government and the people it governs revealing that the natural rights of the people have been either taken or modified to fit the agendas of men who are slaves to the power they mandate. These “chains” that

Democracy is, according to the online Cambridge dictionary, ‘a system of government based on the belief in freedom and equality between people, in which power is either held by elected representatives or directly by the people themselves’. It is the policy that most western countries strive to achieve. It is now the pinnacle of government, that to achieve a wholly democratic nation is something worth celebrating. It is displayed as a universal good but it’s not everything that it has become known to be. I should clarify that I still think that I prefer it to nearly all other forms of government but nevertheless I still think that it is not what we have been led to believe it is. In this essay I will be outlining the key problems that could

Democracy is often defined as a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state through elected representatives, yet its deeper meaning goes far beyond its definition. It is a deceivingly broad term used to describe an imperfect system run by imperfect people where it is often hard to discern what is right and what is wrong. The intricacies of democracy are what make it a system that is both magnificent and vexing, which is evident in the French Revolution, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, and the country of Venezuela. More specifically, democracy is so difficult because its participants have the freedom to practice extremism, the privilege to hold on to their principles regardless of negative impacts, and the right to assembly, a gateway to mob behaviour.

Democracy is the “Rule by the People through free and fair elections and other forms of participation” (Collier, 2012). There are several fundamental principles that have been determined to have a democratic government in place. These values were composed by various philosophers around the globe as mutual core components of equal opportunity government (Collier, 2012) . In my opinion, they are all needed to have a real democracy in place. However, after briefly researching each of the principles, I have selected three primary values that I believe to be essential. I have also chosen two that I find to be necessary but a little less imperative.

In a direct democracy, the general public determines the laws and policies through which the people will be governed. Each citizen has one vote they can cast either in favor or against the law. Under a representative democracy, people elect representatives who are tasked with creating laws and policies. The elected representatives vote on the issue in lieu of the public. The elected representatives are supposed to reflect the will of the majority of the people.

The general understanding of democracy is that it is a state of leadership where citizens of a country participate equally either directly or by representative individuals in the establishment of laws, which run the society. However, like many other forms of leadership, democracy has its cons and may not give the citizens the necessary freedoms that they think they have. Different philosophers have different insights on democracy in terms of concepts such as liberty, which they embraced. This paper will look at Benjamin Barber and Joseph Schumpeter’s idea of democracy contrasting their definition in terms of citizenship, obligation, rights and duties of each individual in the society declaring whose idea of democracy creates a compelling vision (Terchek & Conte, 2001).

The Greek philosopher Plato once said, ”Democracy is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequal alike”(Quote,1). In 507 B.C., an Athenian leader named Cleisthenes instituted a new structure of political reforms known as democracy. Democracy is a system of government in which the people rule. The classical world made many important contributions to modern society. The most important contribution is Democracy. This form of government is a paramount contribution because it is still practiced today and offers citizens a fair and equal system of leadership.

Chamber (2009) defines democracy as a method of group decisions making characterized by a kind of equality among the participants at an essential state of the collective decision-making (p.2). Democracy is a form of government and a provision for citizens to participate in the decision-making process for laws and policies. Kraft & Furlong (2012) stated that within democracies, citizens might speak out of policy development and government actions (p.21). Throughout history, there have been many theorists that have had differing ideas and an immense

Athens was a model of democratic government because for every little decision to big decision, the majority of people would decide, because it was relatively small.

Democracy first appeared in Ancient Greek civilisations, before being wiped out entirely and not returning to western civilisations only until approximately a hundred years ago. One definition given for democracy is a political system that allows the constituents and citizens of a country the right to fairly vote and contribute to the decision of which individuals are ruling and are the governing power. Not only that but also provides citizens protection from the state1. Another definition is given by Abraham Lincoln, in which democracy is viewed as being a "government of the people, for the people, by the people”2.

In 1787, when the Constitution was being written, the people of the United States decided they wanted a democratic form of government. A democracy is “a form of government in which the people rule themselves either directly or through freely elected representatives” (American Government & Politics, pg. 5). Furthermore, a democracy is broken down into two more forms: a direct democracy and a representative democracy (also can be considered a republic). A direct democracy is a form of government, originally founded in ancient Greece, in which the people directly pass laws and make other key decisions. A representative democracy is a form of government in which the people choose their leaders through free elections in which candidates

Democracy related to our lives by looking for the right thing to do, for every one of us have equality and freedom of speech, we could have multiple ideas it might change the ideology of the country, we also could related the democracy by looking at the facts. The facts are Free Elections, Political Participation, Civil Liberties, and Functioning Government. The democracy is one of the most common types of the government in the modern world. Which give us clear idea of who defied the democracy even in different countries. Moreover free elections could related to democracy by having free election that anyone could share his experience with the others and create an idea to fix any problem. Also this could direct a message to the citizen to know what the elections doing. Political participation, to each one who is adults and have some awareness of the social issues or votes. By participation we could have more diversity and through that diversity we could develop our economy and our awareness of different cultures. Civil Liberties, the essential of democracy and also important for the UN legally guarantees to all of the people. Civil liberties will include freedom of speech, because individuals allowed to communicate for their own different view in a debates from each others. Functioning Government, to establish a law that individual could respect and also to limited the power

Democracy is a difficult concept to define, with almost every nation state in the world self-defining themselves as such, when in fact not all are. The complexity of the definition of democracy poses challenges when one is trying to analyse the causes and effects that democracy can have. Democracy occurs by degree, not in absolutes, further complicating analysis. The traditional definition of democracy prior to the revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries, was one of direct democracy, where every citizen participated actively and collectively to decide on every policy that affected them, rather than through a representative as is the norm today (Panagos 2008). In the modern form, political

The Greeks, Athenians in particular, influenced Dalhs’ work. The author asserts that most states claim to know what the practice of democracy is. However, the author insists that the term democracy has brought about confusion across the different cultures. Dahl gives the view of what democracy entails. Dahl in simple terms says that a democracy means the rule by people. Dahl clearly says more about the literal definition of the term democracy by giving specification of the requirements for democratic decision-making (Pp.108-114). According to Dahl, a democratic process must ensure that there is effective participation in the voting process among all citizens and specifically adults who are bound to the collective decision making of the society. Democratic state should provide all citizens with the opportunity to understand the civic issues of the country and let them have control over issues