Democracy is a
political
government either carried out by the
people (direct democracy), or the power to govern is granted to
elected representatives (
republicanism).
The term is derived
from the - (dēmokratía) "the power to the people", which
was coined from δῆμος (dêmos) "people" and κράτος
(krátos) "power", in the middle of the fifth-fourth
century BC to denote the political
systems then existing in some Greek city-states, notably
Athens
following a
popular uprising in 508 BC.
Even though there is no specific, universally accepted definition
of 'democracy', there are two principles that any definition of
democracy includes, equality and freedom. These
principles are reflected by all citizens being
equal before the law, and having
equal access to power. A third common principle, though less
measurable, is that all citizens are promised certain legitimized
freedoms and liberties, which are generally protected by a
constitution.
There are several varieties of democracy, some of which provide
better representation and more freedoms for their citizens than
others. However, if any democracy is not carefully legislated to
avoid an uneven distribution of political power with balances, such
as the
separation of powers,
then a branch of the system of rule could accumulate power and
become harmful to the democracy itself.
The "
majority rule" is often described
as a characteristic feature of democracy, but without responsible
government or constitutional protections of individual liberties
from democratic power it is possible for
dissenting individuals to be oppressed by the
"
tyranny of the majority".
An essential process in representative democracies is competitive
elections, that are fair both
substantively and procedurally. Furthermore,
freedom of political expression,
freedom of speech and
freedom of the press are essential so
that citizens are informed and able to vote in their personal
interests.
Popular sovereignty is common
but not a universal motivating subject for establishing a
democracy. In some countries, democracy is based on the
philosophical principle of equal rights. Many people use the term
"democracy" as shorthand for
liberal
democracy, which may include additional elements such as
political pluralism,
equality before the law, the
right to petition elected officials for
redress of grievances,
due process,
civil liberties,
human rights, and elements of
civil society outside the government.
In the United States,
separation of
powers is often cited as a supporting attribute, but in other
countries, such as the United Kingdom, the dominant philosophy is
parliamentary sovereignty
(though in practice
judicial
independence is generally maintained). In other cases,
"democracy" is used to mean
direct
democracy. Though the term "democracy" is typically used in the
context of a political
state, the
principles are also applicable to private
organizations and other groups.
Democracy has its origins in
Ancient
Greece. However other cultures have significantly contributed
to the evolution of democracy such as
Ancient Rome, Europe, and North and South
America. Democracy has been called the "last form of government"
and has spread considerably across the globe.
The Right to vote has been expanded in many
Jurisdictions over time from relatively narrow groups (such as
wealthy men of a particular ethnic group), with New Zealand
the first nation to grant universal suffrage for all its citizens
in 1893. Suffrage still remains a controversial issue with
regard to disputed territories, areas with significant
immigration, and countries that exclude certain
demographic groups.
History of democracy
Ancient origins
The term
democracy first appeared in ancient Greek
political and philosophical thought. The
philosopher Plato
contrasted democracy, the system of "rule by the governed", with
the alternative systems of
monarchy (rule
by one individual),
oligarchy (rule by a
small élite class) and
timocracy.Although
Athenian democracy is today
considered by many to have been a form of direct democracy,
originally it had two distinguishing features: firstly the
allotment (selection by lot) of ordinary citizens to government
offices and courts, and secondarily the assembly of all the
citizens.
All citizens were eligible to speak and vote in the Assembly, which
set the laws of the city-state. However, the Athenian citizenship
was only for males born from a father who was citizen and who had
been doing their "military service" between 18 and 20 years old;
this exclude
women,
slaves, foreigners (μετοίκος / metoikos) and males
under 20 years old. Of the 250,000 inhabitants only some 30,000 on
average were citizens. Of those 30,000 perhaps 5,000 might
regularly attend one or more meetings of the popular Assembly. Most
of the officers and magistrates of Athenian government were
allotted; only the generals (
strategoi)
and a few other officers were elected.
A serious
claim for early democratic institutions comes from the independent
"republics" of India
,
sanghas and ganas, which existed as early as the sixth century
BC and persisted in some areas until the fourth century AD.
The evidence is scattered and no pure historical source exists for
that period. In addition,
Diodorus (a Greek
historian at the time of
Alexander
the Great's excursion of India), without offering any detail,
mentions that independent and democratic states existed in
India.
A possible example of primitive democracy may have been the early
Sumerian city-states.
Vaishali
in what is now Bihar
, India is also one
of the first governments in the world to have elements of what we
would today consider democracy, similar to those found in ancient
Greece. A similar proto-democracy or oligarchy existed
temporarily among the
Medes in the 6th century
BC, but which came to an end after the
Achaemenid Emperor
Darius the Great declared that the best
monarchy was better than the best oligarchy or best
democracy.
Even though the
Roman Republic
contributed significantly into certain aspects of democracy, such
as Laws, it never became a democracy. Only Romans citizens had
elections for choosing representatives and the votes of the wealthy
were given more weight through a system of
Gerrymandering. For that reason, almost all
high officials, including members of the
Senate, came from a few wealthy and noble
families. However, many notable exceptions did occur.
Middle Ages
During the
Middle Ages, there were various systems
involving elections or assemblies, although often only involving a
small amount of the population, such as the election of Uthman in the
Rashidun Caliphate, the election
of Gopala in Bengal
, the
Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth, the Althing in Iceland
, certain
medieval Italian city-states such as
Venice
, the tuatha system in early
medieval Ireland, the Veche in Novgorod and Pskov Republics of medieval Russia, Scandinavian Things, The
States in Tirol and Switzerland
and the autonomous merchant city of Sakai in the 16th century in Japan.
However, participation was often restricted to a minority, and so
may be better classified as
oligarchy.
Most regions in medieval Europe were ruled by clergy or feudal
lords.
A little
closer to modern democracy were the Cossack republics of Ukraine in
the 16th-17th centuries: Cossack Hetmanate
and Zaporizhian
Sich. The highest post - the
Hetman - was elected by the
representatives from the country's districts. Because these states
were very militarised, the right to participate in Hetman's
elections was largely restricted to those who served in the Cossack
Army and over time was curtailed effectively limiting these rights
to higher army ranks.
The
Parliament of England had
its roots in the restrictions on the power of kings written into
Magna Carta, explicitly protected
certain rights of the King's subjects, whether free or fettered —
and implicitly supported what became English writ of
habeas corpus, safeguarding individual freedom
against unlawful imprisonment with right to appeal. First elected
parliament was
De Montfort's
Parliament in England in 1265.
However
only a small minority actually had a voice; Parliament was elected
by only a few percent of the population (less than 3% in 1780.),
and power to call parliament was at the pleasure of the monarch
(usually when he or she needed funds) and the system had
problematic features such as rotten
boroughs, of which measures were taken against notably Reform Act 1832 that introduced wide-ranging
changes to the electoral system of the United Kingdom
, increasing the size of electorate by
50–80%. After
Glorious
Revolution 1688,
English Bill
of Rights 1689 was enacted, which codified certain rights and
increased the influence of Parliament. The franchise was slowly
increased and Parliament gradually gained more power until monarch
became largely a figurehead.
Democracy was also seen to a certain extent in
bands and
tribes such as
the
Iroquois Confederacy.
However, in the Iroquois Confederacy only the males of certain
clans could be leaders and some clans were excluded. Only the
oldest females from the same clans could choose and remove the
leaders. This excluded most of the population. An interesting
detail is that there should be consensus among the leaders, not
majority support decided by
voting, when
making decisions.
Band societies, such as the
Bushmen, which usually number 20-50 people in the
band often do not have leaders and make decisions based on
consensus among the majority. In
Melanesia, farming village communities have
traditionally been egalitarian and lacking in a rigid,
authoritarian hierarchy. Although a
"Big man" or "Big woman" could gain
influence, that influence was conditional on a continued
demonstration of leadership skills, and on the willingness of the
community. Every person was expected to share in communal duties,
and entitled to participate in communal decisions. However, strong
social pressure encouraged conformity and discouraged
individualism.
18th and 19th centuries
Although not described as a democracy by the
founding fathers, the United States
founders shared a determination to root the American experiment in
the principle of natural freedom and equality.
The
United States
Constitution, adopted in 1788, provided for an elected
government and protected civil rights and liberties for some.
In the colonial period before 1776, and for some time after, only
adult white male property owners could vote; enslaved Africans,
free black people and women were not extended the franchise. On the
American frontier, democracy became
a way of life, with widespread social, economic and political
equality. However, slavery was a social and economic institution,
particularly in eleven states in the American South, that a variety
of organizations were established advocating the movement of black
people from the United States to locations where they would enjoy
greater freedom and equality.
During the 1820s and 1830s the
American Colonization Society
(A.C.S.) was the primary vehicle for proposals to return black
Americans to freedom in Africa.
It had broad support nationwide among white
people, including prominent leaders such as Henry Clay and James
Monroe, who saw this as preferable to emancipation in America, and in 1821 the A.C.S.
established colony of Liberia
, assisting
thousands of former African-American slaves and free black people
to move there from the United States.
By the 1840s almost all property restrictions were ended and nearly
all white adult male citizens could vote; and turnout averaged
60–80% in frequent elections for local, state and national
officials. The system gradually evolved, from
Jeffersonian Democracy to
Jacksonian Democracy and beyond. In the
1860 Census the slave population in the United States had grown to
four million., and in
Reconstruction after
the Civil War (late 1860s) the newly freed
slaves became citizens with (in the case of
men) a nominal right to vote, and full enfranchisement of citizens
was not secured until after the
African-American
Civil Rights Movement which campaigned for freedom of
oppression from
white Americans,
gained passage by the United States Congress of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965.
In 1789,
Revolutionary France
adopted the
Declaration
of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and, although
short-lived, the
National
Convention was elected by all males in
1792.
Universal male
suffrage was definitely established in France
in March
1848 in the wake of the French Revolution of
1848.
The
Australian colonies became democratic during the mid 19th century,
with South
Australia
being the
first government in the world to introduce women's suffrage in
1861. (It was argued that as women would vote the same as
their husbands, this essentially gave married men two votes, which
was not unreasonable.)
New Zealand granted suffrage to (native) Maori men in 1867, white men in 1879, and women in
1893, thus becoming the first major nation to achieve universal suffrage. However, women
were not eligible to stand for parliament until 1919.
Liberal democracies were few and often short-lived before the late
nineteenth century, and various nations and territories have also
claimed to be the first with
universal suffrage.
20th century
[[Image:Democracy claims.svg|right|350px|thumb|Since World War II,
democracy has gained widespread acceptance. This map displays the
official self identification made by world governments with regard
to democracy, as of March 2008. It shows the
de jure status of democracy in the world.
]]
India is the
largest current democracy in the world.
20th century transitions to liberal democracy have come in
successive "waves of democracy," variously resulting from wars,
revolutions,
decolonization,
religious and economic circumstances.
World War I and the dissolution of the
Ottoman and
Austro-Hungarian empires resulted in the
creation of new nation-states from Europe, most of them at least
nominally democratic.
In the 1920s democracy flourished, but the
Great Depression brought disenchantment,
and most of the countries of Europe, Latin America, and Asia turned
to strong-man rule or dictatorships.
Fascism and dictatorships flourished in Nazi Germany, Italy
, Spain
and Portugal
, as well as nondemocratic regimes in the Baltics, the Balkans,
Brazil
, Cuba
, China
, and
Japan
, among others.
World War II brought a definitive
reversal of this trend in western Europe. The successful
democratization of the
American,
British, and French sectors of occupied Germany (disputed),
Austria, Italy, and the
occupied
Japan served as a model for the later theory of
regime change.
However,
most of Eastern Europe, including the
Soviet
sector of Germany
was forced into the non-democratic Soviet bloc. The war was followed by
decolonization, and again most of the
new independent states had nominally democratic constitutions.
India emerged as
the world's largest democracy and continues to be so.
In the decades following World War II, most western democratic
nations had
mixed economies and
developed a
welfare state, reflecting
a general consensus among their electorates and political parties.
In the 1950s and 1960s, economic growth was high in both the
western and
Communist countries; it later
declined in the state-controlled economies. By 1960, the vast
majority of country-states were nominally democracies, although the
majority of the world's populations lived in nations that
experienced sham elections, and other forms of subterfuge
(particularly in Communist nations and the former colonies.)
A subsequent wave of
democratization
brought substantial gains toward true liberal democracy for many
nations.
Spain,
Portugal (1974),
and several of the military dictatorships in South America returned
to civilian rule in the late 1970s and early 1980s (
Argentina in 1983,
Bolivia,
Uruguay in 1984,
Brazil in 1985, and
Chile in the early
1990s). This was followed by nations in
East and
South Asia by
the mid- to late 1980s.
Economic malaise in the 1980s, along with resentment of communist
oppression, contributed to the
collapse of the Soviet
Union, the associated end of the
Cold
War, and the democratization and
liberalization of the former
Eastern bloc countries. The most successful of
the new democracies were those geographically and culturally
closest to western Europe, and they are now members or candidate
members of the
European Union .
The liberal trend spread to some nations in Africa in the 1990s,
most prominently in South Africa.
Some recent examples of attempts of
liberalization include the Indonesian Revolution of 1998,
the Bulldozer Revolution in
Yugoslavia
, the Rose Revolution
in Georgia
, the Orange
Revolution in Ukraine
, the Cedar
Revolution in Lebanon
, and the Tulip
Revolution in Kyrgyzstan
.
Currently, there are 123 countries that are democratic, and the
trend is increasing (up from 40 in 1972). As such, it has been
speculated that this trend may continue in the future to the point
where liberal democratic nation-states become the universal
standard form of human
society. This
prediction forms the core of
Francis
Fukayama's "
End
of History" controversial theory. These theories are criticized
by those who fear an evolution of liberal democracies to
post-democracy, and other who points out the
high number of
illiberal
democracies.
Forms
Democracy has taken a number of forms, both in theory and practice.
The following kinds are not exclusive of one another: many specify
details of aspects that are independent of one another and can
co-exist in a single system.
Representative
Representative democracy
involves the selection of government officials by the people being
represented. If the head of state is also democratically elected is
also called a democratic republic. The most common mechanisms
involve election of the candidate with a majority or a plurality of
the votes.
Representatives may be elected or become diplomatic representatives
by a particular district (or
constituency), or represent the entire
electorate proportionally
proportional systems, with some
using a combination of the two. Some representative democracies
also incorporate elements of direct democracy, such as
referendums. A characteristic of representative
democracy is that while the representatives are elected by the
people to act in their interest, they retain the freedom to
exercise their own judgment as how best to do so.
Parliamentary
Parliamentary democracy is
where government is appointed by parliamentary representatives as
opposed to a 'presidential rule' wherein the President is both head
of state and the head of government and is elected by the voters.
Under a parliamentary democracy, government is exercised by
delegation to an executive ministry and subject to ongoing review,
checks and balances by the legislative parliament elected by the
people.
Liberal
A
Liberal democracy is a
representative democracy in which the ability of the elected
representatives to exercise decision-making power is subject to the
rule of law, and usually moderated by a
constitution that emphasizes the protection of the rights and
freedoms of individuals, and which places constraints on the
leaders and on the extent to which the will of the majority can be
exercised against the rights of minorities (see civil
liberties).
Constitutional
- :See: Constitutional
democracy
Direct
Direct democracy is a political
system where the citizens participate in the decision-making
personally, contrary to relying on intermediaries or
representatives.The supporters of direct democracy argue that
democracy is more than merely a procedural issue. A direct
democracy gives the voting population the power to:
- Change constitutional laws,
- Put forth initiatives, referenda and suggestions for laws,
- Give binding orders to elective officials, such as revoking
them before the end of their elected term, or initiating a lawsuit
for breaking a campaign promise.
Of the three measures mentioned, most operate in developed
democracies today. This is part of a gradual shift towards direct
democracies.
Examples of this include the extensive use
of referenda in California
with more than 20 million voters, and (i.e.,
voting). in Switzerland, where five million voters decide on national
referenda and initiatives two to four
times a year; direct democratic instruments are also well
established at the cantonal and communal level. Vermont
towns have been known for their yearly town
meetings, held every March to decide on local issues. No
direct democracy is in existence outside the framework of a
different overarching form of government. Most direct democracies
to date have been weak forms, relatively small communities, usually
city-states. The world is yet to see a
large, fundamental, working example of direct democracy as of yet,
with most examples being small and weak forms.
- :See: List of
direct democracy parties
Participatory
A
Parpolity or Participatory Polity is a
theoretical form of democracy that is ruled by a
Nested Council structure. The guiding philosophy
is that people should have decision making power in proportion to
how much they are affected by the decision. Local councils of 25-50
people are completely autonomous on issues that affect only them,
and these councils send delegates to higher level councils who are
again autonomous regarding issues that affect only the population
affected by that council.
A council court of randomly chosen citizens serves as a check on
the tyranny of the majority, and rules on which body gets to vote
on which issue. Delegates can vote differently than their sending
council might wish, but are mandated to communicate the wishes of
their sending council. Delegates are recallable at any time.
Referenda are possible at any time via votes of the majority of
lower level councils, however, not everything is a referendum as
this is most likely a waste of time. A parpolity is meant to work
in tandem with a
participatory
economy See: Parpolity
Socialist
Socialist thought has several different
views on democracy.
Social
democracy,
democratic
socialism, and the
dictatorship of the
proletariat (usually exercised through
Soviet democracy) are some examples. Many
democratic socialists and social democrats believe in a form of
participatory democracy and
workplace democracy combined
with a
representative
democracy.
Within
Marxist orthodoxy
there is a hostility to what is commonly called "liberal
democracy", which they simply refer to as parliamentary democracy
because of its often centralized nature. Because of their desire to
eliminate the political elitism they see in capitalism,
Marxists,
Leninists and
Trotskyists believe in
direct democracy implemented though a
system of
communes (which are
sometimes called
soviets). This
system ultimately manifests itself as council democracy and begins
with workplace democracy. (See
Democracy in Marxism)
Anarchist
Anarchists are split in this domain, depending on whether they
believe that a majority-rule is tyrannic or not.The only form of
democracy considered acceptable to many
anarchists is
direct
democracy.
Pierre-Joseph
Proudhon argued that the only acceptable form of direct
democracy is one in which it is recognized that majority decisions
are not binding on the minority, even when unanimous. However,
anarcho-communist Murray Bookchin criticized
individualist anarchists for
opposing democracy, and says "majority rule" is consistent with
anarchism.
Some anarcho-communists oppose the majoritarian nature of direct
democracy, feeling that it can impede individual liberty and opt in
favour of a non-majoritarian form of
consensus democracy, similar to
Proudhon's position on direct democracy.
Henry David Thoreau, who did not
self-identify as an anarchist but argued for "a better government"
and is cited as an inspiration by some anarchists, argued that
people should not be in the position of ruling others or being
ruled when there is no consent.
Iroquois
Iroquois society had a form of
participatory democracy and representative democracy. Iroquois
government and law was discussed by Benjamin Franklin and Thomas
Jefferson. Though some others disagree, some scholars regard it to
have influenced the formation of American representative
democracy.
Sortition
Sometimes called "democracy without elections",
sortition is the process of choosing decision
makers via a random process. The intention is that those chosen
will be representative of the opinions and interests of the people
at large, and be more fair and impartial than an elected official.
The technique was in widespread use in
Athenian Democracy and is still used in
modern
jury selection.
Consensus
Consensus democracy requires
varying degrees of consensus rather than just a mere democratic
majority. It typically attempts to protect minority rights from
domination by majority rule.
Supranational
Qualified majority voting
(QMV) is designed by the
Treaty of
Rome to be the principal method of reaching decisions in the
European Council of
Ministers. This system allocates votes to member states in part
according to their population, but heavily weighted in favour of
the smaller states. This might be seen as a form of representative
democracy, but representatives to the Council might be appointed
rather than directly elected.
Some might consider the "individuals" being democratically
represented to be states rather than people, as with many other
international
organizations.
European Parliament
members are democratically directly elected on the
basis of universal suffrage, may be seen as an example of a
supranational democratic
institution.
Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan democracy, also
known as
Global democracy or
World Federalism is a political
system in which democracy is implemented on a global scale, either
directly or through representatives. The supporters of cosmopolitan
democracy argue that it is fundamentally different than any form of
national or regional democracy, because in a Cosmopolitan
Democracy, decisions are made by people influenced by them, while
in Regional and National Democracies, decisions often influence
people outside the constituency, which by-definition can not
vote.
In a globalised world, argue the supporters of Cosmopolitan
Democracy, any attempt to solve global problems would either be
undemocratic or have to implement cosmopolitan democracy. The
challenge of cosmopolitan democracy is to apply some of the values
and norms of democracy, including the rule of law, the non-violent
resulutions of conflicts, and the equality among citizens, also
beyond the state. This requires to reform
international organizations,
first of all the
United Nations, and
to create new institutions, such as a
World Parliament, which could increase the
degree of public control and accountability on international
politics.
Cosmopolitan Democracy was promoted, among others, by physicist
Albert Einstein , writer Kurt Vonnegut, columnist George Monbiot,
and professors
David Held and
Daniele Archibugi.
Non-governmental
Aside from the public sphere, similar democratic principles and
mechanisms of voting and representation have been used to govern
other kinds of communities and organizations.
Theory
Voting is an important part of the
formal democratic process.
Aristotle
Aristotle contrasted rule by the many
(democracy/
polity), with rule by the few
(
oligarchy/
aristocracy), and with rule by a single person
(
tyranny or today
autocracy/
monarchy). He
also thought that there was a good and a bad variant of each system
(he considered democracy to be the degenerate counterpart to
polity).
For Aristotle the underlying principle of democracy is freedom,
since only in a democracy the citizens can have a share in freedom.
In essence, he argues that this is what every democracy should make
its aim. There are two main aspects of freedom: being ruled and
ruling in turn, since everyone is equal according to number, not
merit, and to be able to live as one pleases.
Conceptions
Among political theorists, there are many contending conceptions of
democracy.
- Aggregative democracy uses democratic processes to
solicit citizens’ preferences and then aggregate them together to
determine what social policies society should adopt. Therefore,
proponents of this view hold that democratic participation should
primarily focus on voting, where the policy
with the most votes gets implemented. There are different variants
of this:
- Under minimalism, democracy is a system of government
in which citizens give teams of political leaders the right to rule
in periodic elections. According to this minimalist conception,
citizens cannot and should not “rule” because, for example, on most
issues, most of the time, they have no clear views or their views
are not well-founded. Joseph
Schumpeter articulated this view most famously in his book
Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy. Contemporary
proponents of minimalism include William H. Riker, Adam
Przeworski, Richard Posner.
- Direct democracy, on the other
hand, holds that citizens should participate directly, not through
their representatives, in making laws and policies. Proponents of
direct democracy offer varied reasons to support this view.
Political activity can be valuable in itself, it socializes and
educates citizens, and popular participation can check powerful
elites. Most importantly, citizens do not really rule themselves
unless they directly decide laws and policies.
- Governments will tend to produce laws and policies that are
close to the views of the median voter with half to his left and
the other half to his right. This is not actually a desirable
outcome as it represents the action of self-interested and somewhat
unaccountable political elites competing for votes. Downs suggests
that ideological political parties are necessary to act as a
mediating broker between individual and governments. Anthony Downs laid out this view in his 1957
book An Economic Theory of Democracy.
- Robert A. Dahl argues that the fundamental democratic
principle is that, when it comes to binding collective decisions,
each person in a political community is entitled to have his/her
interests be given equal consideration (not necessarily that all
people are equally satisfied by the collective decision). He uses
the term polyarchy to refer to societies
in which there exists a certain set of institutions and procedures
which are perceived as leading to such democracy. First and
foremost among these institutions is the regular occurrence of free
and open elections which are used to
select representatives who then manage all or most of the public
policy of the society. However, these polyarchic procedures may not
create a full democracy if, for example, poverty prevents political
participation. Some see a problem with the wealthy having more
influence and therefore argue for reforms like campaign finance reform. Some may
see it as a problem that the majority of the voters decide policy,
as opposed to majority rule of the entire population. This can be
used as an argument for making political participation mandatory,
like compulsory voting or for making it more
patient (non-compulsory) by simply refusing power to the government
until the full majority feels inclined to speak their minds.
- Deliberative
democracy is based on the notion that democracy is
government by discussion. Deliberative democrats contend that laws
and policies should be based upon reasons that all citizens can
accept. The political arena should be one in which leaders and
citizens make arguments, listen, and change their minds.
- Radical democracy is
based on the idea that there are hierarchical and oppressive power
relations that exist in society. Democracy's role is to make
visible and challenge those relations by allowing for difference,
dissent and antagonisms in decision making processes.
Republic
In contemporary usage, the term
democracy refers to a
government chosen by the people, whether it is direct or
representative. The term
republic
has many different meanings, but today often refers to a
representative democracy with an elected
head of state, such as a
president, serving for a limited term, in contrast
to states with a hereditary
monarch as a
head of state, even if these states also are representative
democracies with an elected or appointed
head of government such as a
prime minister.
The
Founding
Fathers of the United States rarely praised and often
criticized democracy, which in their time tended to specifically
mean
direct democracy;
James Madison argued, especially in
The Federalist No. 10, that what distinguished a
democracy from a
republic was that the former
became weaker as it got larger and suffered more violently from the
effects of faction, whereas a republic could get stronger as it got
larger and combats faction by its very structure.
What was critical to American values,
John
Adams insisted, was that the government be "bound by fixed
laws, which the people have a voice in making, and a right to
defend." As Benjamin Franklin was exiting after writing the U.S.
constitution, a woman asked him
Sir, what have you given
us?. He replied
A republic ma'am, if you can keep
it
Constitutional monarchs and upper chambers
Initially after the American and French revolutions the question
was open whether a democracy, in order to restrain unchecked
majority rule, should have an elitist
upper chamber, the members perhaps appointed
meritorious experts or having lifetime tenures, or should have a
constitutional monarch with
limited but real powers. Some countries (as Britain, the
Netherlands, Belgium, Scandinavian countries, Thailand, Japan and
Bhutan) turned powerful monarchs into constitutional monarchs with
limited or, often gradually, merely symbolic roles.
Often the monarchy was abolished along with the aristocratic system
(as in France, China, Russia, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy,
Greece and Egypt). Many nations had elite upper houses of
legislatures which often had lifetime tenure, but eventually these
lost power (as in Britain) or else became elective and remained
powerful (as in the United States).
Facts
In practice it may not pay the incumbents to conduct fair elections
in countries that have no history of democracy. A study showed that
incumbents who rig elections stay in office 2.5 times as long as
those who permit fair elections. Above $2,700 per capita,
democracies have been found to be less prone to violence, but below
that threshold, more violence. The same study shows that election
misconduct tends to fall in countries with low per capita incomes,
small populations, rich in natural resources, and a lack of
institutional checks and balances. Sub-Saharan countries, as well
as Afghanistan, all tend to fall into that category.
Governments that have frequent elections averaged over the
political cycle have significantly better economic policies than
those who don't. This does not apply to governments with fraudulent
elections, however.
Opposition to democracy
Democracy in modern times has almost always faced opposition from
the existing government. The implementation of a democratic
government within a
non-democratic
state is typically brought about by
democratic revolution.
Monarchy had traditionally been opposed to
democracy, and to this day remains opposed to
its abolition, although often
political
compromise has been reached in
the form of
shared
government.
Currently, opposition to democracy exists in
communist states, absolute
monarchies, and
Islamic governments, which appear to have
various reasons for opposing the implementation of democracy or
democratic reforms.
Criticism of democracy
Economists since
Milton Friedman
have strongly criticized the efficiency of democracy. They base
this on their premise of the irrational voter. Their argument is
that voters are highly uninformed about many political issues,
especially relating to economics, and have a strong bias about the
few issues on which they are fairly knowledgeable.
Mob rule
Plato's
The Republic presents a critical
view of democracy through the narration of
Socrates: "Democracy, which is a charming form of
government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of
equality to equals and unequaled alike." In his work, Plato lists 5
forms of government from best to worst. Assuming that
the
Republic was intended to be a serious critique of the
political thought in Athens, Plato argues that only
Kallipolis, an aristocracy lead by the unwilling
philosopher-kings (the wisest men) is a
just
form of government.
Moral decay
Traditional
Asian cultures, in
particular that of
Confucian and
Islamic thought, believe that democracy
results in the people's distrust and disrespect of governments or
religious sanctity. The distrust and disrespect pervades to all
parts of society whenever and wherever there is
seniority and juniority, for example between a
parent and a
child, a
teacher and a
student.
Political instability
More recently, democracy is criticised for not offering enough
political stability. As governments are frequently elected on and
off there tends to be frequent changes in the policies of
democratic countries both domestically and internationally. Even if
a political party maintains power, vociferous, headline grabbing
protests and harsh criticism from the mass media are often enough
to force sudden, unexpected political change. Frequent policy
changes with regard to business and immigration are likely to deter
investment and so hinder economic growth. For this reason, many
people have put forward the idea that democracy is undesirable for
a developing country in which economic growth and the reduction of
poverty are top priority.
Short-termism
Democracy is also criticised for frequent elections due to the
instability of coalition governments.
Coalitions are
frequently formed after the elections in many countries
(for example India) and the
basis of alliance is predominantly to enable a viable majority, not
an ideological concurrence.
This opportunist alliance not only has the handicap of having to
cater to too many ideologically opposing factions, but it is
usually short lived since any perceived or actual imbalance in the
treatment of coalition partners, or changes to leadership in the
coalition partners themselves, can very easily result in the
coalition partner withdrawing its support from the
government.
Slow governmental response
Democratic institutions work on consensus to decide an issue, which
usually takes longer than a unilateral decision.
Vote Buying
This is a simple form of appealing to the short term interests of
the voters. This tactic has been known to be heavily used in north
and north-east region of Thailand.
Another form is commonly called
Pork
barrel where local areas or political sectors are given special
benefits but whose costs are spread among all taxpayers.
Illiberal democracy
Mere elections are just one aspect of the democratic process. If
one examines the central tenets of democracy, i.e., equality and
freedom, these are frequently absent in ostensibly democratic
countries such as Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Moreover, in many countries, democratic participation is less than
50% at times, which makes them democracies only in name. The
Election of individual(s) instead of ideas is the primary disrupter
of democracy.
Volatility/unsustainability
The new establishment of democratic institutions in countries where
the associated practices have as yet been uncommon or deemed
culturally unacceptable, can result in institutions, that are not
sustainable in the long term. One circumstance supporting this
outcome may be when it is part of the common perception among the
populace that the institutions were established as a direct result
of foreign pressure.
Popular Rule as a Facade
The 20th Century Italian thinkers Pareto and Mosca (independently)
argued that democracy was illusory, and served only to mask the
reality of elite rule. Indeed, they argued that elite oligarchy is
the unbendable law of human nature, due largely to the apathy and
division of the masses (as opposed to the drive, initiative and
unity of the elites), and that democratic institutions would do no
more than shift the exercise of power from oppression to
manipulation.
See also
"Model Government Charters: A City, County, Regional, State, and
Federal Handbook," published by McFarland and Co., Inc., Jefferson,
NC, USA; and London, UK, edited by Roger L. Kemp, Ph.D.
The
United Nations has declared
Sept. 15 as
the
International Day of
Democracy.
References
- Demokratia, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, "A
Greek-English Lexicon", at Perseus
- Democracy is people who rule the government directly. BBC History of democracy
- Liberty and justice for some at Economist.com
- Aristotle, Politics.1317b
- For example, in a representative democracy every vote has equal
weight and no restrictions must apply to anyone wanted to become a
representative.
- R. Alan Dahl, I. Shapiro, J. A. Cheibub, The Democracy
Sourcebook, MIT Press 2003, ISBN 0262541475, Google Books link
- M. Hénaff, T. B. Strong, Public Space and Democracy,
University of Minnesota Press, ISBN 0816633878
- G. F. Gaus, C. Kukathas, Handbook of Political Theory,
SAGE, 2004, p. 143-145, ISBN 0761967877, Google Books link
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2006, p. 26, ISBN 069112017X, Google Books link
- A. Barak, The Judge in a Democracy, Princeton
University Press, 2006, p. 40, ISBN 069112017X, Google Books link
- T. R. Williamson, Problems in American Democracy,
Kessinger Publishing, 2004, p. 36, ISBN 1419143166, Google Books link
- U. K. Preuss, "Perspectives of Democracy and the Rule of Law."
Journal of Law and Society, 18:3 (1991). pp. 353-364
- Substantively fairness means equality among all citizens in all
respects i.e. equality in chances, in starting point etc.
- Procedural fairness means that the rules of the elections are
clear and set in advance
- A. Barak,The Judge in a Democracy, Princeton
University Press, 2006, p. 27, ISBN 069112017X, Google Books link
- H. Kelsen, Ethics, Vol. 66, No. 1, Part 2: Foundations
of Democracy (Oct., 1955), pp. 1-101
- John Dunn, Democracy: the unfinished journey 508 BC - 1993
AD, Oxford University Press, 1994, ISBN 0198279345
- Kurt A. Raaflaub, Josiah Ober, Robert W. Wallace, Origin of
Democracy in Ancient Greece, University of California Press,
2007, ISBN 0520245628, Google Books link
- "The Global Trend" chart on Freedom in the World 2007: Freedom Stagnation Amid
Pushback Against Democracy published by Freedom House
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Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Aristotle Book 6
- Grinin L. E. Democracy and Early State. Social Evolution &
History 3(2), September 2004 (pp. 93-149) Democracy and early State
- Dio. 2.39
- Jacobsen, T. (July 1943), "Primitive Democracy in Ancient
Mesopotamia", Journal of Near Eastern
Studies 2(3): 159-72
- ANCIENT ROME FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES DOWN TO 476
A.D
- The National Archives | Exhibitions & Learning
online | Citizenship | Struggle for democracy
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online | Citizenship | Rise of Parliament
- Activity Four
- "Melanesia Historical and Geographical: the Solomon
Islands and the New Hebrides", Southern Cross n°1,
London: 1950
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Oxonian Review of Books, 2005, vol 4 issue 2
- Ray Allen Billington, America's Frontier Heritage
(1974) 117-158. ISBN 0826303102
- Introduction - Social Aspects of the Civil War
- The French Revolution II
- AGE OF DICTATORS: TOTALITARIANISM IN THE INTER-WAR
PERIOD
- Did the United States Create Democracy in Germany?:
The Independent Review: The Independent Institute
- BBC NEWS | World | South Asia | Country profiles |
Country profile: India
- freedomhouse.org: Tables and Charts
- Keen, Benjamin, A History of Latin America. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin, 1980.
- Kuykendall, Ralph, Hawaii: A History. New York: Prentice Hall,
1948.
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The Interest of America in Sea Power. New York: Harper & Bros.,
1897.
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Scribners' Sons, 1967.
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in Quarterdeck and Fo'c'sle. Chicago: Rand McNally & Company,
1963
- Hegemony Or Survival, Noam Chomsky Black Rose Books ISBN
0-8050-7400-7
- Deterring Democracy, Noam Chomsky Black Rose Books ISBN
0374523495
- Class Warfare, Noam Chomsky Black Rose Books ISBN
1-5675-1092-2
- Article on direct democracy by Imraan Buccus
- Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. General Idea of the Revolution
See also commentary by Graham, Robert. The General Idea of Proudhon's
Revolution
- Bookchin, Murray. Communalism: The Democratic Dimensions of
Social Anarchism. Anarchism, Marxism and the Future of the Left:
Interviews and Essays, 1993-1998, AK Press 1999, p. 155
- Bookchin, Murray. Social Anarchism or Lifestyle Anarchism: An
Unbridgeable Chasm
- Graeber, David and Grubacic, Andrej. Anarchism, Or The
Revolutionary Movement Of The Twenty-first Century
- Thoreau, H. D. On the
Duty of Civil Disobedience
- Iroquois Contributions to Modern Democracy and
Communism. Bagley, Carol L.; Ruckman, Jo Ann. American Indian
Culture and Research Journal, v7 n2 p53-72 1983
- Native American Societies and the Evolution of Democracy in
America, 1600-1800 Bruce E. Johansen Ethnohistory, Vol. 37,
No. 3 (Summer, 1990), pp. 279-290
- Political Theory and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
By Duncan Ivison, Paul Patton, Will Sanders. Page 237
- Article on Cosmopolitan democracy by Daniele
Archibugi
- letter by Einstein - "TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
THE UNITED NATIONS"
- Daniele Archibugi & David Held, eds., Cosmopolitan
Democracy. An Agenda for a New World Order, Polity Press,
Cambridge, 1995; David Held, Democracy and the Global
Order, Polity Press, Cambridge, 1995, Daniele Archibugi,
The Global Commonwealth of Citizens. Toward Cosmopolitan
Democracy, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2008
- Aristotle, The Politics
- [http://www.iep.utm.edu/a/aristotl.htm Aristotle (384-322 BC):
General Introduction Internet Encyclopedia of
Philosophy
- Joseph Schumpeter, (1950). Capitalism,
Socialism, and Democracy. Harper Perennial. ISBN
0-06-133008-6.
- Anthony
Downs, (1957). An Economic Theory of Democracy.
Harpercollins College. ISBN 0-06-041750-1.
- Dahl,
Robert, (1989). Democracy and its Critics. New Haven:
Yale University Press. ISBN 0300049382
- democracy - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online
Dictionary
- republic - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online
Dictionary
- Novanglus, no. 7, 6 Mar. 1775
- Republican Government: Introduction
- Plato, the Republic of Plato (London: J.M Dent &
Sons LTD.; New York: E.P. Dutton & Co. Inc.), 558-C.
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7671283.stm
- Femia, Joseph V. "Against the Masses", Oxford 2001
- GENERAL ASSEMBLY DECLARES 15 SEPTEMBER INTERNATIONAL DAY
OF DEMOCRACY; ALSO ELECTS 18 MEMBERS TO ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
COUNCIL
Further reading
- Appleby, Joyce. (1992). Liberalism and Republicanism in the
Historical Imagination. Harvard University Press.
- Archibugi, Daniele, The Global Commonwealth of Citizens. Toward Cosmopolitan Democracy, Princeton
University Press ISBN 978-0691134901
- Becker, Peter, Heideking, Juergen, & Henretta, James A.
(2002). Republicanism and Liberalism in America and the German
States, 1750-1850. Cambridge University Press. ISBN
978-0521800662
- Benhabib, Seyla. (1996). Democracy and Difference:
Contesting the Boundaries of the Political. Princeton
University Press. ISBN 978-0691044781
- Blattberg, Charles. (2000).
From Pluralist to Patriotic Politics: Putting Practice
First, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0198296881.
- Birch, Anthony H. (1993). The Concepts and Theories of
Modern Democracy. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415414630
- Castiglione, Dario. (2005). " Republicanism and its Legacy." European
Journal of Political Theory. pp 453–65.
- Copp, David, Jean Hampton, & John E. Roemer. (1993).
The Idea of Democracy. Cambridge University Press. ISBN
978-0521432542
- Caputo, Nicholas. (2005). America's Bible of Democracy:
Returning to the Constitution. SterlingHouse Publisher, Inc.
ISBN 978-1585010929
- Dahl, Robert A. (1991). Democracy and its Critics.
Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300049381
- Dahl, Robert A. (2000). On Democracy. Yale University
Press. ISBN 978-0300084559
- Dahl, Robert A. Ian Shapiro & Jose Antonio Cheibub. (2003).
The Democracy Sourcebook. MIT Press. ISBN
978-0262541473
- Dahl, Robert A. (1963). A Preface to Democratic
Theory. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0226134260
- Davenport, Christian. (2007). State Repression and the
Domestic Democratic Peace. Cambridge University Press. ISBN
978-0521864909
- Diamond, Larry & Marc Plattner. (1996). The Global
Resurgence of Democracy. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN
978-0801853043
- Diamond, Larry & Richard Gunther. (2001). Political
Parties and Democracy. JHU Press. ISBN 978-0801868634
- Diamond, Larry & Leonardo Morlino. (2005). Assessing
the Quality of Democracy. JHU Press. ISBN 978-0801882876
- Diamond, Larry, Marc F. Plattner & Philip J. Costopoulos.
(2005). World Religions and Democracy. JHU Press. ISBN
978-0801880803
- Diamond, Larry, Marc F. Plattner & Daniel Brumberg. (2003).
Islam and Democracy in the Middle East. JHU Press. ISBN
978-0801878473
- Elster, Jon. (1998). Deliberative Democracy. Cambridge
University Press. ISBN 978-0521596961
- Fotopoulos, Takis. (2006). "
Liberal and Socialist “Democracies” versus
Inclusive Democracy", The International Journal Of
Inclusive Democracy. 2(2)
- Fotopoulos, Takis. (1992).
"Direct and Economic Democracy in Ancient Athens
and its Significance Today", Democracy & Nature,
1(1)
- Gabardi, Wayne. (2001). Contemporary Models of Democracy.
Polity.
- Griswold, Daniel. (2007). Trade,
Democracy and Peace: The Virtuous Cycle
- Halperin, M. H., Siegle, J. T. & Weinstein, M. M. (2005).
The Democracy Advantage: How Democracies Promote Prosperity and
Peace. Routledge. ISBN 978-0415950527
- Hansen, Mogens Herma.
(1991). The Athenian Democracy in the Age of Demosthenes.
Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 978-0631180173
- Held, David. (2006). Models of Democracy. Stanford
University Press. ISBN 978-0804754729
- Inglehart, Ronald. (1997). Modernization and
Postmodernization. Cultural, Economic, and Political
Change in 43 Societies. Princeton University Press. ISBN
978-0691011806
- Khan, L. Ali. (2003). A Theory of Universal Democracy:
Beyond the End of History. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. ISBN
978-9041120038
- Köchler, Hans. (1987). The
Crisis of Representative Democracy. Peter Lang. ISBN
978-3820488432
- Lijphart, Arend. (1999). Patterns of Democracy: Government
Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries. Yale University
Press. ISBN 978-0300078930
- Lipset, Seymour Martin. (1959). "Some Social Requisites of
Democracy: Economic Development and Political Legitimacy."
American Political Science Review, 53(1):
69-105.
- Macpherson, C. B. (1977). The Life and Times of Liberal
Democracy. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0192891068
- Morgan, Edmund. (1989). Inventing the People: The Rise of
Popular Sovereignty in England and America. Norton. ISBN
978-0393306231
- Plattner, Marc F. & Aleksander Smolar. (2000).
Globalization, Power, and Democracy. JHU Press. ISBN
978-0801865688
- Plattner, Marc F. & João Carlos Espada. (2000). The
Democratic Invention. John Hopkins University Press. ISBN
978-0801864193
- Putnam, Robert. (2001). Making Democracy Work. Princeton
University Press. ISBN 978-5551091035
- Raaflaub, Kurt A., Ober, Josiah & Wallace, Robert W.
(2007). Origins of democracy in ancient Greece. University
of California Press. ISBN 978-0520245624
- Riker, William H.. (1962).
The Theory of
Political Coalitions. Yale University Press.
- Sen, Amartya K. (1999). "Democracy as a Universal Value."
Journal of Democracy 10(3): 3-17.
- Tannsjo, Torbjorn. (2008). Global Democracy: The Case for a
World Government. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN
978-0748634996. Argues that not only is world government necessary
if we want to deal successfully with global problems it is also,
pace Kant and Rawls, desirable in its own right.
- Weingast, Barry. (1997). "The Political Foundations of the Rule
of Law and Democracy." American Political Science Review,
91(2): 245-263.
- Weatherford, Jack. (1990). Indian Givers: How the Indians
Transformed the World. New York: Fawcett Columbine. ISBN
978-0449904961
- Whitehead, Laurence. (2002). Emerging Market Democracies:
East Asia and Latin America. JHU Press. ISBN
978-0801872198
- Willard, Charles Arthur. (1996). Liberalism and the Problem
of Knowledge: A New Rhetoric for Modern Democracy. University
of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0226898452
- Wood, E. M. (1995). Democracy Against Capitalism: Renewing
historical materialism. Cambridge University Press. ISBN
978-0521476829
- Wood, Gordon S. (1991). The Radicalism of the American
Revolution. Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0679736882 examines
democratic dimensions of republicanism
External links
- Critique