Democracy: Boost or Hindrance in National Development?
Democracy, literally the word means ‘rule of the people’. It is one of the oldest form of governance (nearly 2500 years old!!). Athens was the place where democracy was first practiced(508 BCE). Apart from Athens it was also practiced in Roman Republic. Unlike today the Democracy back then was in the form of Direct Democracy. In Direct Democracy people directly participated in law making without formally electing their representatives. In earlier days most of the kingdoms and empires were not Democratic they were mostly in a form of Monarchy, Oligarchy or Theocracy. There are many historical accounts which show that in lot of countries and kingdoms people wanted to establish Democracy and for that they were prepared to take any step, these accounts indicate that how much people were wanting to participate in the administration of their own country. Now the world we live in majority of the countries are under Democratic rule and a few other countries are under Dictatorship, Theocracy, Monarchy etc.
Democracy is one of the most accepted form of governance across the globe. A country is built by its people, and as humans, we naturally want to have a say in the decisions that shape our nation. Since these decisions are important, participating as voters gives us a strong sense of involvement and significance in the process, perhaps this is the reason that most of the countries all across the globe are under the rule of its own people. Without a doubt Democracy does offer a lot of benefits. First and foremost it gives the citizens of a country the right to decide the person who will be leading their nation, this ensures that the decisions made by the government are in alignment with the needs of the people. Secondly, Constitutions and legal frameworks in democratic systems often guarantee fundamental rights such as freedom of speech, assembly, and religion. These protections enable citizens to express their opinions, form associations, and practice their beliefs without fear of persecution. Democracy also ensures that their is a system of Checks and Balance, here the separation of power between Executive, Legislature and Judiciary creates a system of power control and mutual oversight. Along with this Democracy also offers transparency in which Free Media and Opposition plays a major role.
While democracy has many strengths, like a coin, it also has another side which needs to be addressed. Whenever an individual goes to voting booth to cast their vote they are making an extremely important decision and anyone above a certain age has this right. This raises an important question: should everyone have this right? Just as medical decisions about a patient are entrusted to a qualified doctor rather than anyone at random, the choice of a nation’s leader should also be made carefully and only after informed consideration and proper research. As Socrates (Greek Philosopher) said that voting in an election is a skill not a random intuition and like a skill it should be taught systematically to people. Many people end up making decisions based on the opinions of those around them, relying on unreliable sources of information and often failing to conduct independent research. As a result, there is a significant risk that they may make ill-informed choices.
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Apart from this Democracies like any other form of governance is susceptible to corruption. Money and Power, a lot of the times gives a huge unfair advantage to certain political parties and because of which the citizen of a nation are not able to make the best decision. In many cases it has been noticed that the voters have been directly bribed to vote for a certain political parties. The moment money comes into picture things start changing quite a bit, with money one can control the media, the people and certain branches of the government who are supposed to look after the well being of the Democracy. Apart from this, hooliganism and vandalism also comes into the picture where fear is used to bank the votes. Demagoguery, which is basically the practice of appealing to emotions, fears, or prejudices of people rather than using rational arguments, this is also one of the biggest threats to a healthy Democracy. Demagoguery frequently leads to social unrest, riots, and violence.
In my opinion Democracy is one of the best forms governance, the people of the nation should have a say and some control over how the country should lead. But just like any other governance it does have some flaws which should be acknowledged. We as the voters should understand that the Right to Vote which our Constitution gives us is much more than a right, it is a monumental responsibility which we as the citizens have and hence we should think thoroughly before picking a side.
