DEMOCRACY - ITS ESSENCE AND DESIRABILITY

The pervasiveness of democracy

In modern times, it is almost impossible to discuss politics without mentioning the word "democracy".  It is taken for granted that for a modern society to be well-governed and fully accountable to its electorate, a democratic system is the desirable ideal.

In the early part of the 20th Century, its pre-modern enemies of centralized monarchy, hereditary aristocracy and oligarchy were banished as legitimate forms of government.  The two great World Wars turned us away from the grips of fascism and Nazism.  The collapse of the Berlin Wall marked the end of Euro-communism which was soon followed by the implosion of Soviet communism.  Military dictatorships around the world have largely failed except for stubborn isolated pockets in Latin America and South-East and East Asia.  Even the Chinese behemoth cannot escape having its totalitarian system tainted by the seductions of the free market, a constant companion of democracy.

What is democracy?

From its Athenian beginnings, where 'demokratia' clearly meant 'rule by the people', the modern use of the word had been pretty much muddied by claims of ownership from all quarters.  Democracy as a label has gained so much prestige that almost every regime, including the most undemocratic and extreme dictators, claims to be democratic!  As its concept had been interpreted in different ways in different places and by different people at different times, there is a danger that democracy has become a word without a precise meaning.

So, it'll be useful now to establish clear criteria for what constitutes democracy.  Robert A Dahl, the Sterling Professor of Political Science at Yale University defined that for a political system to be called democratic, it must provide opportunities for:

1. Effective participation for all.
2. Equality in voting.
3. The people to gain enlightened political understanding.
4. The people to exercise final control over the political agenda.
5. Inclusion of all adults

Why is a democratic system better than non-democratic ones?

According to Dahl, it has the following advantages:

1. Democracy helps to prevent government by cruel and vicious autocrats.
2. Democracy guarantees its citizens a number of fundamental rights that non-democratic systems do not, and cannot, grant.
3. Democracy insures its citizens a broader range of personal freedom than any feasible alternative to it.
4. Democracy helps people to protect their own fundamental interests.
5. Only a democratic government can provide a maximum opportunity for persons to exercise freedom of self-determination, that is, to live under laws of their own choosing.
6. Only a democratic government can provide a maximum opportunity for exercising moral responsibility.
7. Democracy fosters human development more fully than any feasible alternative.
8. Only a democratic government can foster a relatively high degree of political equality.
9. Modern representative democracies do not fight wars with one another.
10. Countries with democratic governments tend to be more prosperous than countries with non-democratic governments.

Any drawbacks?

Democracy, if unmodified and unrestrained, has a danger of quickly degenerating into a tyranny of the majority.  There must be provisions to safeguard the interests of the minority.

It must be realized that democracy is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for good government.  It must incorporate the ideas of the rule of law and of human rights to allow its citizens to live as free and happy human beings.