Many people ask, "What is democracy?" What exactly is the concept of democracy, anyway? Why do people care so much about this word? If you are interested in learning more about democracy and how it can help you understand world politics, the good news is that there are many excellent introductory courses on this topic.
Ancient Greece is often cited as a model for democracy. In the early 5th century BCE, Athens was home to numerous groups of city-state citizens who elected representatives to sit on the polis (the Greek term for city-state). This system was adopted after the Persian Empire took over the Greek world. After the demise of the 7th century, BCE Greek democracy was absorbed into the classical liberal arts and sciences. The term "democracy" was first used in modern Western society in the 18th century by the French philosopher Malebranche.
Because Greek democracy was modeled after the Ancient Greeks, modern Western political systems and societies have adopted many of the characteristics of democracy. A “democracy "can be described as a political system in which the governed have the right to formulate, enforce, and control policy through a system of voting and consultation. A " democracy "can also be defined as a form of government where the citizens have the ability t deliberate together, decide upon, and implement laws, making an informed decision as to what the laws should be, and have a larger say in how society functions than does a traditional form of government. A “democracy "can also be defined as a form of government where the citizens enjoy equal rights and equal standing in society.
There are several basic features of a democratic polity. First, citizens enjoy the freedom of speech and religion; they can criticize their government and leaders, and have free political rights. Next, citizens have a right to participate in elections and enjoy the franchise of being a member of a deliberative body. Finally, individuals are allowed strong and safe protection of their fundamental freedoms such as freedom of speech and religion, freedom of the press, and peaceful assembly.
Many Westerners who have traveled to transitional democracies in the world's most developing countries have commented that such societies do not appear to have democracy in the traditional sense. Indeed, the same types of democracy that we see elsewhere in the world are not found in most of the current hybrid societies. Instead, the rule of law is weak, there is little or no political opposition, and freedom of speech and religion are rarely if ever, guaranteed.
Freedom of the press and assembly are also freedoms that are limited and not guaranteed. Moreover, human rights abuses are not rare in these societies and the victims of such abuses can expect to be tormented for years without any accountability. In some cases, the abuses are so severe that the governments in the region may turn the victims over to the torturers for even worse treatment.
The West has tended to present democracy in its most universal meaning, the term democracy. However, when we refer to a hybrid political system with some major differences, it is clear that we are talking about something different. To clarify, let us use an inclusive term to describe those nations in the world that have elected governments but whose political systems are not considered democratic.
Such nations include Afghanistan, Albania, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, and many others. In addition, these nations also include entities that are considered to be "repressive" by western standards such as China, Myanmar, Vietnam, Iran, and Cuba.
When we talk of democracy, we typically envision a system where the government governs through an elected political party and the people vote on whether or not they want to govern through that government. However, a closer examination of the workings of these hybrid political systems shows that they are much more complex than that.
For example, the elected institutions cannot control the popular will because they do not have the support of the people. Instead, the power structure is established through a hybrid of force and legitimate popular rule. Furthermore, when there are multiple rulers, the legitimacy of each one is called into question and the freedom of choice for citizens is severely limited.
The reason why there are two forms of democracy is that they are not necessarily equal. Democracy may mean little more than the right to vote, while a republic is more apt to mean a form of indirect rule through a ruling elite. It is for this reason that we prefer to use terms such as an aristocratic rule or republic rule rather than democracy and monarchy.
We may, in future articles, explore the implications of the republic and aristocratic rule in regards to the current political systems in countries around the world. For now, however, we will stick to describing these systems as a hybrid rather than direct democracy. Indeed, we hope that our examination of the political systems of the world will stimulate you to explore these concepts further on your own.