Question

Debate on democracy is the best form of government. Against the motion.

Answer 1

Answer:

A basic and widely accepted definition of democracy is: “the rule of the people, by the people, and for the people”. The word democracy comes from the Greek word demokratia meaning "rule" (kratos) by the "people" (demos). The core principle of democracy is, therefore, self-rule, but what does that mean in practice? For the Greeks, democracy meant not only the election of rulers by the ruled, but that there was no separation between the two; the ruled became those who govern. Decisions were made as a collective by all adult citizens in an environment of political equality and open discussion. Athenian direct democracy was in many ways unique because the polis consisted of only roughly 40,000 members.

Modern democratic government functions on a much larger scale, with millions of members, operate as representative democracies. This means that the democratic principle of self-government is transposed to the elected government. A representative (elected politicians) stands for another person, group or entity (electors, districts and parties). Elections have become a central part of democracies. Are you among those who think that democracy has been reduced to a set of ballots and elections at the expense of a deeper debate and discussion? Are we missing some in our modern democracies some of the core values inherent in direct forms of democracy?

Liberal democracies entail the rule of the majority, however the respect and protection of the rights of the minorities is intrinsic part of the modern notion of democracy. Some countries which hold democratic elections are plagued by systematic abuses of social rights or discrimination of minority groups or women are known as illiberal democracies. Whether illiberal democracies are actually democratic is a matter for debate. Likewise the division of powers, executive, legislative and judiciary, is an expected feature in a democracy. Thus there are checks and balances between the president, members of the Congress and Senates, and Supreme Court justices.