State, Democracy and Human Rights - Term Paper Example

State, Democracy and Human Rights The Westphalian model has not only revolutionalized the concept of state, in fact it has also modernized the entire debate on democracy (Goodhart 2008). On one hand where state is the most supreme entity, entitled to the rights on the citizens of the state, on the other hand, citizens accepting the supremacy of the state also have a role to play in order to constitute the democratic ideals (Rotberg 2002). In this context, it may be derived that a fundamental democratic society solely relies on the citizens to attain legitimacy especially in the globally dominant framework favoring the essence of democracy. The citizens can engage themselves in politics, by virtue of the democratic rights bestowed upon them, via a variety of ways. The first condition for democracy, also being the most significant role any individual citizen can play being an actor in a democratic state, is to comply by all standards of ‘citizenship’, which characterizes a full membership as the member of the state, and also as a member of the community. More often than not, theorists also constitute citizenship as the role of individuals in advocacy and institutionalization of human rights. Since democracy directly implies the will of the people being governed, thus ‘Elections’ can turn out to be the most reliable junction through which the citizens can play their part. This implies that the citizens, directly or indirectly, choose their representatives who would then be a legitimate source to follow the mandate of the citizens (Newton and Jan 2010). Civil society can also dominate the democratic spectrum by channelizing public opinion, nationally as well as on a transnational level, by mobilizing and advocating for causes which would then pressurize the governments and thus, empowering themselves to be a part of the decision making process (Goodhart 2008). Moreover, citizens can also be empowered and get involved in the decision making process in the democratic age by setting up transparent institutions to their advantage. The nature of these institutions may differ, depending on the needs and situations the citizens may find themselves in. The institutions are characterized by the vision and the mission statement, along with the actors involved in decision making process which then determines the relationship of the citizen`s involvement and the extent of their influence of decision making (Beeson and Bisley 2012). UN and the ICJ are the examples of such institutions which do have a strong direct or indirect effect on the states, as these institutions advocate for the extension and implementation of human rights fundamental to the democratic ideals of the nation state system. Thus conclusively, a democratic state enables the individuals to affect the decision-making process by a variety of ways, and the recent trends in modernization are further fueling up the citizens to play a crucial role in the democratic process. Social media, for that matter, has proved to be a very powerful tool in this era which has farfetched impacts on the governments. Social media institutions may be the way forward in further development of democracy, especially for states like the U.S, Wiki Leaks being just one such instance. State Capacity Bates (2008) sketched out the 20th century scenarios via his work, where he pointed out the effect of the decisions of the authorities along with the reaction of the citizens on the state capacity, after which he concludes that these factors led to the falling apart of the sub-Saharan African states. The common alternative sources to security, pointed out by the author, seem to be political instability and chaos in order to influence their demands at the hands of the citizens. Since the African states pointed out for study in the paper were resource rich states characterized by predation, thus the citizens also felt insecure with reference to their properties and economic securities, alongside, various communal rifts also became a part of the chaos, as the power politics dominated the era, which immensely contributed to the failure of these states. The leaders, also, acting quite ruthlessly responded to the insecurities by taking advantage of the situation and thus, using power to oppress the citizens and take over all the resources in the state. Single part rule or authoritarianism was yet another response on part of the leaders as identified by Bates (2008). Moreover, since these authoritarian regimes already had no legitimacy whatsoever, as the citizens had no say in decision making, thus, the leaders invented such economic policies so as to benefit only the elite class. This period was thus characterized by monopoly and oppression on hands of the leaders, and further contribution in the expansion of political disorder and chaos. Moreover, expansion and predation became a natural trend of the era, which further paved way to civil wars, over which only tool the leaders had was oppression, which further led to deterioration of conditions. These events effected the state capacity immensely, i.e. poor decision making at the hands of the authoritarian leaders and the negative response of the citizens of the state led to chaos and political disorder. This affected the state capacity on various levels, i.e. for instance, the economy of the state was badly hurt which further paved way for predation and the ultimate reaction was the complete collapsing of the state. Also, the institutions have become too influenced by military since the ongoing civil wars, predation and expansions led to a strong role of the militia in the process. Thus, state collapse and failure became the fate of the African states, in the aftermath of the security issues. However, Bates (2008) implies that had the response to security been any different on part of the citizens or the leaders, situation might not have been the same. Changes to World Politics The case study given for the study demonstrated a complex case, given the history of the conflict which happens to date back to the colonial era along with the internal and the foreign actors playing a crucial role in the conflict. In an effort to identify the actors involved in the conflict, the main parties i.e. the leaders of Tulip and Rose are the main actors given the current status of both the states, whereby Tulip is trying to demilitarize Rose, and mass immigration from Rose to Tulip is taking place. Alongside, the leader of the former colonial power Spike is yet another actor leading the conflict, as the instability in Rose owing much to the expansion of the conflict is due to the military coup which has taken over Rose. However, the civil liberations movements are being led by the freedom fighters of Tulip and Rose, thus the leaders of the liberation movements are also important actors in the issue. Also, the foreign powers can also be deemed as yet another actor involved in the issue, as they have a role to play in identifying and advocating against the various human rights violations taking place, just as they did earlier while decolonizing Tulip and Rose. A lot of human rights are being violated in the case both directly as well as indirectly. The first and the foremost violation is the right to the citizens of Rose to govern their state since the de-facto government of the council of generals has taken over. Also, though the indigenous populations should have the right to install their own governments, but Spike and Sprout have taken away their rights by taking over the regimes. Moreover, the study also identifies activities like drug trafficking and sex slavery going on in the nearby jungles, which is yet another violation of human rights. Moreover, the journalists trying to gather coverage have also been trapped and jailed inside the states, thus their rights to freedom are also being compromised. Furthermore, the eradication of the jungles and mass massacres being prominent characteristics of the region are yet again massive human rights violations going on in Tulip and Rose. Clearly, the situation poses a huge threat to the international security, as this instance will give a direct signal to all the ethnic communities, either marginalized or being in majority, to utilize mass murder as a tool to expand their powers. If this trend begins to spread, political instability and chaos will mark the era, which will then become very difficult to control for the foreign powers (Horowitz 2004). Thus, the foreign community must intervene in Tulip and Rose, and pass bills and laws ratified by the international community against Spike and Sprout to roll back their armies, or else their legitimacy would be questioned on international forums. Also, a truce must be made on an immediate basis to control the issue, and if needed, the peace making troops must immediately be installed to stop any kind of violations going on. Or else, further deterioration will make the scenario even worse, and in such a case, it will become a threat international peace and alienation in especially the nearby regions. Bibliography Bates, Robert (2008) When Things Fell Apart. State-Failure in Late-Century Africa. Cambridge.  Beeson, Mark and Bisley, Nick (2010) Issues in 21st Century Politics, Palgrave Macmillian  Goodhart, Michael (2008) “Human Rights and Global Democracy” Ethics and International Affairs, vol 22, no 4: 395-420.  HOROWITZ, S. A., & SCHNABEL, A. (2004). Human rights and societies in transition causes, consequences, responses. New York, United Nations University Press. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10074976. Newton, Kenneth & Jan van Deth (2010) Foundations of Comparative Politics. Cambridge, 2nd ed.  Rotberg, Robert (2002) ”The New Nature of Nation-State Failure” The Washington Quarterly. Tillgänglig via: http://www.twq.com/02summer/rotberg.pdf Read More