Basic Rights and Freedoms of the People - Essay Example

Number: Introduction The term democracy does not have a static or universally agreed upon definition. It is probably among the most promiscuous words. However, despite the fact that different people define democracy in different ways, they seem to describe a common thing since whatever they define democracy seems to share numerous characteristics and principles. To start with, it is agreed up on that democracy focuses on the freedoms that are only limited by freedoms and rights of other individuals leaving in the same state. Whenever the word democracy is mentioned, freedom and equality are key components that cannot be forfeited. These two principles ensure that people of a given country are treated equally before the law as well as having equal entitlement to access the legislative (Gil 12). This essay will focus on answering the question of whether democracy is valuable or not while providing concise reasons to support the argument. However, the researcher will take a neutral position in this hot debate. Democracy has an extensive past with a classical example of early democracy being the Athens. People in this city would all meet in a market place to pass decisions. In the modern world, various types of democracy are based on different ideologies. They include liberal, guided, consociation, radical as well as socialist democracies (Gil 32). Liberal democracy is termed as the most relevant democracy in today’s world. It ensures that interests of the people are protected and well represented. In this form of democracy state acts as a referee with the political process checking and balancing to ensure that tyranny of the majority does not happen may it be from the presence of larger number of representatives or minorities who have excessive powers. Citizens participate in this type of democracy by means of electoral competition or contestation all people are treated equally (Gil 22). Democracy can be termed as the most superior form of governance even though the statement might be debatable depending on a number of factors such as place of origin, culture, and beliefs among others. First, democracy plays a major role in preventing any form of ruling by vicious and cruel autocrats or dictators. Secondly, countries with this type of governance tend to be more successful that those with non-democratic government. Thirdly, the modern representatives of democracy do not engage in wars or fights amongst themselves since each understands that his or her opponents have a right to disagree with their opinion. Fourthly and the most important benefit of democracy is that it creates a conducive environment for the human development. Human development in this case is evaluated in terms of health, personal income, education among other aspects. Democratic form of governance has several benefits. One of them is the fact that democracy enables people to protect their most basic interests. Citizens in countries that are ruled by democratic governments are guaranteed of preservation and observation of their most fundamental rights, which not even the government can deny them. People are entitled to enjoying their peculiar freedoms without fear or coercion. Democracy revolves around freedoms and rights of the people whereby people live as per the wish of the majority. It is the only leadership that allows people to live under the laws that they created hence giving them an opportunity to take social responsibility for their decisions and choices about issues concerning governance. The aspect of impartiality before the law is also another chief merit of having a democracy. It is a noble idea that all people are treated equally and fairly before the law in this form governance. In effective democratic governance, there exist no discrimination on bases of race, ethnicity, and social class among other divisional lines that are used for segregating people. It is an incredible aspect that every person in the society highly appreciates and feels proud of. It is one of the best advantages of democracy and there is no way the idea can be overlooked whenever discussing values of democratic governance. Peaceful change of governance is also a crucial aspect that cannot be neglected whenever discussing the issue of democracy. Leadership is transferred from one regime to the next one in a peaceful procedure commonly through free and fair elections. Citizens have the mandate of choosing a leader of their choice who rules only for a stipulated period of time commonly referred to as a term. Once the term is over, people are given an opportunity to do elections and elect the leader they feel most appropriate for the job. This democratic exercise (elections) ensures that the party in power is working hard to meet the promises it made to the citizens as stated in its manifesto. The regime in power has to work extra harder in order to please its master, who is in this case refers to the citizens. It is clear that the debate on democracy emphasizes on three key issues. First, democracy focuses on the people in a given society and tries to lay down clear strategies on how political powers can be distributed. Secondly, it concisely explains the system of ruling or power subjection over the people. This defines whether there direct or indirect type of democracy would be the best option. Thirdly, it focuses on the most suitable process or procedures of decision-making (Gil 19). However, democracy may not be the best type of control in some settings. It can only be said to be a better option compared to other types of leaderships. Some of the challenges that face democracy include inequitable distribution of resources, misappropriation of public resources and wastage of resources just to mention a few. Democratic system of governance highly encourages inequitable distribution of resources (Box 35). Majorities tend to take the whole pie of leadership in all sectors simply because they are more. This challenge is one of the major causes of conflict in developing countries particularly African countries whereby some unscrupulous and selfish leaders use public resources in favor of their supporters without caring at all about the minority or the marginalized groups. Because of this, elections become matter of life and death as every side of the political wave tries to get into power at any cost. Because of this, individuals on power tend to misappropriate public fund to reward their loyal followers at the cost of the country. Such cases have been experienced in most of the third world countries with Africa being the main victim. This is what led to the Rwandan genocide of 1994, overthrow of several governments like in Mali, Uganda, and most recently Southern Sudan. However, this problem does not exist in the developed countries like USA, France, Canada, and UK just to mention a few. In addition, democracy is a hefty process that is both expensive and consumes a lot of time. Elections tend to be very expensive especially in the large and highly populated countries like USA. Politicians move around trying to outdo one another with the people in power trying to prove white elephant projects. Because of the high costs incurred during the campaigns, there is a probability of an outbreak of civil war since no party can concede defeat. Such crises have been occasionally been witnessed in some countries resulting to formation of coalition governments. Such government are totally ineffective since there is always a tag of war to prove who is mightier than who in the government (Box 40). Such administrations can only be termed as a marriage of convenience and are only beneficial to a few individuals in the top seats. Such cases have been common in Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Southern Sudan among others. Some scholars argue that democracy is an administration for the rich. Some even go to an extent of calling it a rule of the capitalists. As explained above, the election process is expensive and requires a lot of resources, which allows only the rich to contest. Only the rich can afford to travel nationwide doing extravagant campaigns with some buying votes. Elections in such a case become a risky process whereby only the mighty survives while on the other hand ordinary citizens end up with a plutocracy that does not prioritize the affairs of the poor. Political influence by the rich is very common in in India, USA, and England. In addition, democracy creates a platform for dictatorship by the majority over the minority, which is commonly known as tyranny of number. Majorities are supposed to safeguard minorities’ interests even though this is not the case (Box 55). This system of governance is also accused of emphasizing more on the quantity rather than the quality. This gives incompetent but popular persons an opportunity to get into power. This has been experienced in many countries whereby people with questionable morals and proficiency have been put into power simply they come from the majorities. Their incompetent ruling does a lot of harm to the country’s economic growth with some countries development completely being put in jeopardy. In such situations, election of leaders become a game of numbers whereby a few crooked manipulators gather the highest number of votes to allow them to get the democratic power. They gain power through the back door by engaging in unethical acts like bribing voters, dividing people on tribal basis among others and at times through assassinations. Power and wealth in this system of leadership work hand in hand. In conclusion, democratic system of governance can be said to be a good form of governance despite the few challenges that threatens it. It gives people a chance to elect leaders of their choice as well as participate in the process of making laws that govern them. Democracy also ensures that basic rights and freedoms of the people are keenly observed and that no one denies the public this crucial privilege. This ensures that people have full control over their rights either directly or indirectly. It aims at striking a balance between ruling people and giving them an opportunity to make decisions by themselves. It also creates a conducive environment for human development in all sectors like the health and education sectors just to mention a few. However, this system of leadership has some shortfalls. They include encouragement of inequitable distribution of resources, dictatorship by the majority also called tyranny of number, wastage of resources during campaigns as well as misappropriation of public funds and resources simply because the persons in power are from the majority. Nevertheless, benefits of democracy form of governance highly outweigh its demerits and can therefore, be termed as a valuable form of governance. Works Cited Box, Richard . “Democracy and Public Administration.” Armonk, N.Y: M.E. Sharpe, 2006. Print. Gil, Jaurena. “Diversity, Inclusion and the Values of Democracy: Conference Proceedings : Ljubljana.” 28 - 30 September, 2009. Web. 2014. Read More