Political Development of Western Europe - Essay Example

? Running head: Political Development of Western Europe The Concepts of Democratic Minimum and the Costs of Democracy Insert Insert Grade Insert Tutor’s Name 18 March 2012 Introduction Democracy is a form of government in which the people exercise political control, either through their elected representatives or directly. The people have the right to reform the rules in the manner they want because they give the government the right to rule. Democracy is therefore valuable because it provides a level playing field for all and provides a platform for peaceful coexistence. While democracy in a country is determined by the existing social, economic and political circumstances, it is influenced by the history, tradition and culture in that country. Direct democracy is one where the people themselves contribute or vote directly for the issues affecting their lives while representative democracy involves an election process to choose representatives who will make decisions for them on their behalf (Ertman 10). A number of political systems in the world began as a very primitive form of governance before they could attain democracy, which is regarded as a modern political system. Majority of countries especially in the third world are still being run through dictatorships, bureaucracies, colonies and monarchies. This paper will explore the political history of democracy in Europe particularly highlighting the topic of democratic minimum and the costs of attainment of democracy. The European Political System The need for democratic rule in Europe began in the 19th century with the major states of France, Germany, and Britain experiencing different styles and forms of democracy over time because of the different internal political dynamics. These trends were replicated in other countries on the continent. Britain’s political process to a parliamentary democracy was rather fast and could be said to have borne fruits by the 19th century; though still a monarchy as opposed to France whose reform agenda was getting derailed by shifts from autocratic to monarchy systems and back from time to time despite the county’s wonderful experience through the French revolution (Ertman 90). The aim of this revolution was to bring to an end the non-democratic forms of ruling though this was faced with a lot of challenges along the way and took a long time to show some positive results. From the revolution time to the period during the Franco-Prussian war, France had experienced different dictators led by the famous Napoleon and minimal political advancement was made until the emergence of a democracy in the late 19th century (Lecture 2). Germany’s democratization process was even slower in its own unique way because of issues to do with unification of the country in different aspects (Ertman 224). Germany was reunited as a nation in the 19th century coming from disintegration in the period before but even with its unification, its constitution and rule were solely an imagination of the princes and not with the involvement of the people as was the case with other advanced nations like England and the United States. By the end of 19th century, Germany could be said to have achieved a social democracy with dominion of power of the people through labor unions. Britain on the other hand has been on monarchy system of government for the longest time in the 19th century. Some aspects of democratic governance during this period may be inferred from Britain’s government institutional set up where crucial bodies such as the judiciary, local government and parliament were in place though working under the monarchy administration (Ertman 156). Additionally, an electoral system which could be termed as free and fair existed with desirable frequency of election activities though characterized by discriminative participation only allowing the rich and mighty at the expense of the poor and the common people. Even with successive legislation passed and efforts by the civil society forming social movements such as the Chartism both with an intention to promote political participation by the civilians for free and fair elections, Britain’s democratization process did not yield desired results yet particularly because the Britons had special attachment to the monarchy system of ruling which they could not let go (Mann 31). The concept of Democratic Minimum For a country to be regarded as having attained or in the process of achieving political democracy, it must fulfill certain minimum criteria comprising of a combination of items as provided by different theorists of democracy. This criterion is also the metric through which case by case evaluation or benchmarking may be done. Some of the considerations are as follows (Lecture 1): a. The Power of the Constitution and Rule of the Law This involves the people making political control and decisions directly as themselves or through constitutionally elected individuals to represent their interests. Both the leaders and the people who elected them must then live up to the rule of the land which should generally be established through a consultative approach between the government and the people. The product of this is a constitution that has a collective buy-in from the nation. b. Electoral Process The people should be allowed to fully participate in electing their leaders of choice through an electoral process that should not only be fair and free but also conducted frequently. It is critical to note that all citizens who meet the age requirement as adults should be free to vie for political offices and/or vote for their preferable candidates. Stringent laws and rules must be set to guide the process and avoid political deadlocks after elections and promote general acceptance of election results. c. Freedom of Expression and Worship In a democratic society, individuals are entitled to freedom of speech to present and share their views, ideas and thoughts on political or other issues of the nation aimed at promoting public good, provided the statements are not insightful, abusive or ill-intended. The choice of religion and divine being should be free in a democratic society. d. The Power of Information The government or authorities should allow free movement of information and acquisition of the same and promote the growth of the sectors such as the media, information technology etc. Of particular interest here is the need to have a liberalized media sub-sector operating in a free and fair environment. e. Civil Society and Human Civic Rights Laws There should be a favorable and enabling environment for the civil society and human rights bodies to freely operate checked by the authorities for order and adherence to set rules and guidelines. This is important for the nation to raise grievances, ideas and develop a sense of ownership and patriotism. f. Groups and Alliances Pro or Anti-Government A country that allows free formation of political parties, associations, alliances without due interference from government but with certain guidelines laid down and observed may be said to be practicing democratic principles. To advance democratic practices, such a country will need to promote political equality where every citizen has equal voting opportunities, provide governance options for citizens to decide on as opposed to a dictatorial set up, allow term elections where the electorate has a chance to renew or change political office bearers including the power of recalling non-performing politicians through by-elections (Lecture 1). The government should also encourage an all-inclusive approach to decision making with views and wishes of the people incorporated in what is called majority rule. Democratization must put everyone on the land to respect and observe the same law without discrimination, favoritism or special treatment and should promote the freedom of individuals by observing and respecting fundamental human rights and being in line with the provisions of the constitution. The Cost of Democratization For democratic rule to take root and flourish in a country, massive financial and non-financial resources are required. On the onset, changeover of political system from absolutism to one that embraces democracy is in itself an expensive affair in terms of political institutional set up and in form of loses or mismatches of interests by various groups. Costs here may be viewed as social threats in terms of changes in regimes and loss of control of property and wealth as democracy advocates for redistribution and equality. And when the process of democratization begins, many costs mainly will relate to managing political parties in terms of running day to day activities, conducting campaigns, employment of the workforce and accomplishing many other money intensive activities. In advancing democracy further, political parties even form huge alliances and/or coalitions by merging ideological thinking to consolidate support from the voters, which is a very expensive affair. Political financing that is aimed at promoting democracy should be well regulated to minimize instances of personal profiting by politicians and misuse of public funds at the expense of political advancement (Lecture 1). The fact that parties and politicians may purport to represent the wishes of the electorate and thus win elections then without close monitoring choose to channel this representation to further their personal preferences is itself not just a sign of mistrust but also a lack of political responsibility at the expense of the people. This is synonymous to breach of the principal-agent relationship where politicians as agents betray the voters who are the principals. In managing institutions and as part of the voters, civic groups and lobbies often incur costs associated with monitoring the fulfillment of the political promises and commitment to principle-agency agreements by politicians when voted in. Political parties sometimes incur costs related to failure to recognize that ideologies and policies they stood for in the past have been overtaken by events and need to be changed almost immediately to maintain relevance to the ever changing and strategic voting population (Lecture 1). Running democracies ordinarily involves setting up certain limits to tenure of political service to provide a mechanism and opportunity for the electorate to conduct performance appraisal on those they have elected. Limits are also set in other different aspects of political management as part of regulations to promote the rights of everyone. Elections become even more expensive when rules such as those of absolute majority and proportionate representation have to be followed. In the former scenario, if contestants do not achieve at least 51% of the vote, the process must be repeated while in the latter case, if the set percentage threshold by region is not met, then the electoral process is conducted afresh. These interests come with a cost perspective either way. Balancing the interests of the majority and minority in managing a democracy involves minimizing extremes to come to a compromise in which case either side should be prepared to lose. Lack of firm political policies in managing democracies is usually disastrous in terms of cost escalation and usually may lead to governance deadlocks or stalemates which might take a long time to resolve. Conclusion Democracy has been described variously but it basically means the form of political system that is guided by the power of the people. Although Europe was and still is one of the civilized regions of the world in the 19th century, the process of democratization in virtually all countries was complex and challenging and took different dimensions depending on country’s historical orientation politically, economically, and socially. During the period, Britain’s governance system was nearer that of a democracy compared to some other select countries like France and Germany. Countries that encourage democratization must embrace the power of the electorate to influence political and governance decisions through majority rule and guided by the constitution and rule of the law, with eligible citizens given the opportunity to elect their representatives and run for public offices. There should be freedom of expression and worship, promotion of right for access to information, and opportunity to frequently change governments fairly and equitably through periodic elections. Even more, the rule of law as guided by the constitution must be observed and respected to avert inequalities and promote fair treatment for all. The promotion of individual freedom and dignity through human rights is fundamental in any democratic society where laws are set in line with the constitution to ensure that the rights of citizens are observed and respected. Democratic countries usually set up governance institutions to support and oversee effective adherence to these democratic principles. Works Cited Ertman, Thomas. Birth of the Leviathan: Building States and Regimes in Medieval and Early Modern Europe. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Print Lecture 1 Lecture 2 Mann, Michael. Fascist. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Print Read More