Topic: ‘Why Democracy Matters’

A democracy, according to Abraham Lincoln, is a government of the people, by the people and for the people. The word "democracy" comes from the Greek word "demos" which means “people" and kratia, which means rule (http://educationportal.ontla.on.ca/en/ ). A democracy is a system where the people have a little of control over the government in some specific important processes like voting in elections and decision making. In a democracy, the majority rule and minority rights . Although there are positive sides of the United Kingdom’s democracy, there are negative sides which cause the reliability of democracy in the United Kingdom to be questionable. “Over half of the world’s countries employ some type of democracy” (Clark, 2001-2016). Democracy is a very popular system of government; In a democratic government, everyone is under the “rule of law”, people have the power to devise laws and decide how they want to be ruled. Different political scientists have come to a conclusion that without the four basic principles; Free elections,Political participation, Civil liberties and a Functioning government, a country cannot be called a democracy (http://classroom.synonym.com/). There are two main types of democracy, the direct democracy and the indirect or representative democracy. In this essay, I am going to critically analyse the democracy in the United Kingdom, stating the strengths and the weaknesses of the democratic system in the United

The word ‘democracy’ originates from the Greek words demos (meaning people) and kratos (meaning power) therefore demokratia means “the power of the people.” Democracy is a form of government where people choose leaders through elections and social construct that are based on the equality of everyone within the state. It is a form of government were majority and public opinions combine to choose leaders with respect to the social structure of a particular society, taking into consideration the social laws, rules, traditions, norms, values, and culture. However, democracy is not always witnessed in such a positive light. Plato and Aristotle tow of the most influential figures in Greek philosophy. Plato and Aristotle were both philosophers from Greece who criticized democracy as a poor form of government. Plato’s thoughts on democracy were that it causes the corruption of people through public opinion and creates rulers who do not actually knowhow to rule but only know how to influence the “beast” which is the Demos, the public. Aristotle’s views about democracy hold that democratic office will cause corruption in the people, if the people choose to redistribute the wealth of the rich they will end up destroying the state and since the people have no knowledge about governance when they elect rulers they desire.

“In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme” - Aristotle. This quote lays out the main idea behind Democracy. The idea that the people deserve equality and freedom. Equality in race, colour and religion, and freedom of speech, and will, unless it is against the will of the majority of the people. Democracy endeavors to achieve a balance in freedom of an individual, whilst not violating the majority's will. Democracy was developed in Ancient Greece. The word itself comes from the greek term ‘demokratia’ (‘demos - the people’ and ‘kratos - rule’. Democracy was first used in the Greek state, Athens. Athens used a direct form of Democracy, as people knew each other. Nowadays, there are an abundant amount of countries that are ruled under democracy, such as New Zealand, Switzerland, Ireland, and Austria.

Democracy, while imperfect, is the system of ruling prevalent in vast tracks of the world. Despite this, democracy is not a uniform system with every country practicing its democracy in slightly unique ways.

The authors also argue that the greatness of the government driven by democracy is the right to

Aside from stability and loyalty which democracy brought into our society, we have seen inequality that generates conflicts. These conflicts can be seen in class, race and gender.

In Chapter 1 Perrin analyzes the history of democracy and focuses on the fact that democracy has been developed in different places and at different times therefore it has been interpreted many different ways throughout history. He uses examples of the years 1988 to 1990 and how in simply two years democracy had dramatically changed. In chapters 2 and 3 he draws his focus more on representation. In Chapter 2 Perrin addresses that in order to understand democracy people need to be publicly involved in it. Although Perrin discusses the importance of participating in voting and being informed he also makes it clear that democratic participation goes beyond just voting. Chapter 3 continues on a similar concept but centers on the electoral system and legislative representation and how they shape the public. Perrin states that, “Citizens don’t (usually) just naturally deliberate. Rather they do so when forums and opportunities exist to shape and nurture deliberation” (Perrin, 82). The electoral systems are structures that citizens use to trust to manage the aggregation of public opinion across differences of time and

In the most basic sense, democracy can be defined as a system dominated by elections. Handelman states that democracy can be defined as, “... a political system that holds fair, contested elections on a regular basis, with universal adult suffrage.” (Handelman, p. 30). Additionally, Handleman offers up another, more thorough, definition of democracy that fully explains the intricacies of the ideology. Handelman expresses,

Democracy is an interesting form of government that is evolving. The word democracy comes from the Greek word “demos.” The word demos mean people. Democracy is a form of government that puts the power within the hands of its people. The government works to protect people, but also expects something in return. The People vote to choose who represents them, but they also have to In a democracy, the people have certain rights as well as responsibilities; these can be found in documents such as John Locke’s Second Treatise on Government, The Spirit of Laws, and The Social Contract.

Executive Summary: In 2001, the Bonn agreement laid out the framework for a democracy in Afghanistan, however, the transition to democracy has been met with many challenges. The establishment of a bicameral legislature, popularly elected president, and the restoration of civil liberties showed hope for democratization, but the institutions established in the country fail to provide the stability needed for Afghanistan to successfully transition to a democratic regime (Zain 84; Reynolds 104,105). New electoral systems are essential to providing stability and legitimacy to democracy in Afghanistan and balancing ethnic interests in a nation marked by strong ethnic cleavages.

‘Democracy’ is a word from the Greek language meaning ‘rule of the people.’ ‘Representation,’ a Latin word, entails a delegated action on the part of some on behalf of someone else. With these two aspects, representative democracy has four major features; a) Sovereignty of the people expressed in the electoral appointment of the representatives, b) Representation as a few mandate relation; c) Electoral mechanisms to ensure some measure of responsiveness to the people by representatives who speak and act in their name; and d) The universal franchise, which grounds representation on an important element of political equality.

Democracy is a unique type of government, and the purpose of this essay is to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses that a democratic government provides. I will detail that many components of this type of society are both strengths and weakness as each component has beneficial aspects as well as unavoidable pitfalls.

one essential conviction, expressed in the word democracy itself: that power should be in the hands of the people. Although democracy today has been slightly inefficient in this idea, with the wealthy, elite class challenging this right, “it nevertheless claims for itself a fundamental validity that no other kind of society shares….” To completely understand the structure of democracy, one must return to the roots of the practice itself, and examine the origins in ancient Greece, the expansion in the Roman Empire, and how these practices combined make what we recognize as today’s democratic government.

Theoretically, democracy is a stable form of government where power is in the hands of the people. In a democracy, people have the liberty to elect officials that best represent their interests, and political institutions exist as a result: Benjamin Constant argues in The Liberty of the Ancients Compared with that of the Moderns that “true modern liberty is

Churchill’s claim that “democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried” is deliberately provocative and intended to challenge the reader’s simplistic ideal that democracy is without faults. There are an estimated 114 democracies in the world today (Wong, Oct 3rd lecture). A figure that has increased rapidly in the last century not necessarily because democracy is the best form of government, but primarily for reason that in practice, under stable social, economic and political conditions, it has the least limitations in comparison to other forms of government. Be it the transparency of a democratic government or the prevalence of majority rule, all subdivisions of democracy benefit and hinder its