The United States of America is one of the world’s best-known democracies. It is strange to mention that prior to the invasion by the U.S. government, Sadam Hussein, the former Iraqi dictator was claiming to have a democracy in Iraq too. Surprisingly, while the U.S. and Europeans credit Israel for its successful implementation of democracy in the region, many Arab countries do not recognize Israel as a democratic state. It seems that democracy in these examples is a very general term that can encompass many different models of government – sometimes totally different and incomparable such as the U.S. and Saddam’s Iraq. However, there should be a legitimate and cohesive definition of the term. What do we mean by a “democratic world?” What is the meaning of democracy that is used in our politicians’ speeches abundantly? I, as a journalist who has specifically followed news and events related to this term, perceive democracy as an equivalent to the definition of liberal democracy. Bounded by the rule of law and moderated by the constitution, democracy is a form of government where elected representatives of people govern the political system, protect the rights of citizens and restrain the majority from repressing the minority.
In ancient Greece, demokratia, the original word for democracy, means popular government. Democracy originates from the combination of two Hellenic words: “demos” and “kratos”. For Athenians in about 2600 years ago, “demos” meant the people and “kratos” meant the rule and authority. Democracy in English derives from the middle French word, dēmocrattica. The etymology of the word demonstrates that democracy, from the very beginning, has been used to explain the relationship between the people and the government. Original Hellenic word incorporates the government authority and the people, which is explained by many historians and political philosophers as a representation of a government consisted and ruled by the society for the society.
Historically, there are at least three principal forms of democracy: direct, representative and constitutional. Direct democracy largely describes a political system in which the citizens vote on all major governmental decisions. In a representative democracy, the people select representatives to a governing body that is responsible for all affairs of the government. Constitutional democracy, on the other hand, is indeed a form of representative democracy that is bounded to a set of practices and statutes that specifies how laws must be made and how the makers are to be chosen. Since referring to the public vote on all governmental decisions in today’s populous societies is nearly impossible, direct democracies are practically extinct at the present time. With significant population growth, governing a society without stipulated laws is also impracticable; therefore, representative form of democracy is virtually extinct. However, constitutional democracy, an advanced form of representative democracy, is more common today.
A constitutional democracy that incorporates civil rights and liberties is called a liberal democracy. The constitution of the U.S. is an example of a liberal democracy. This roughly 250 year old charter, is based on liberal values; a set of practices and statutes that will guarantee the rule of law, separation of powers and protection of liberties and minority rights. Liberties in a liberal constitution should include the freedom of speech, press and assembly. Minority rights mean that the wishes of a majority are not to override all the political and civil rights of the minority. A liberal democracy is indeed an essential improvement from the constitutional democracy. It has added a human dimension to a political system that is largely praised among the people.
In the era of human rights declaration the liberal democracy is the only acceptable form of democracy. Having passed two world wars in 20th century and encompassing many lessons learned from the past centuries, the civilized world inherited a set of values, which is widely acclaimed and recognized by many human societies. The rights of selection of government, expression of opinion, practice of religion, formation of an assembly and ownership of a property are among the most basic human rights. The declaration of human rights specifically and in details describes such rights. It seems that, as of the present, liberal democracy is the only exercised political system that can encompass these rights; mainly because, by holding elections it gives the citizens the right to select the government and by incorporating liberal values it includes other aspects of human rights declaration.
It is essential to remind that referring to people’s vote in a democracy is necessary but not sufficient. It is impossible to recognize a democracy without elections. In a democracy the first thing comes to mind is the vote of people, either for a referendum or an election. However, the voting itself is not enough. Elections or referendums must be held in a fair and free process. In an election, there should be at least two candidates. Candidates must be allowed to freely express their opinions and agenda. The minorities should have the right to participate in the political process. In a referendum, people should have the opportunity to debate the issues in public. Any political system that fails to provide such an environment has indeed failed to hold the elections. Cast votes in such a system are worthless and do not necessarily shows the will of the people.
Civil rights and liberties are important parts of a democracy. Iraq during the Saddam era, for example, had a constitution. Saddam also was holding both parliamentary and presidential elections, but other countries considered Iraq to be a totalitarian state, because, Saddam’s constitution did not grant liberty to its citizens. People were prosecuted under the Iraqi constitution for expressing their opinions. Egypt is another example. The country is governed by a constitutional democracy which allows elections and defines how the laws to be made and who are the law makers, however, the country lacks freedom of speech. People are not permitted to freely practice politics or participate in elections. Both Iraq and Egypt are not recognized as democratic states. Both of the countries do not have liberal democracies either. Since, civil rights and liberties are not fully observed in both countries. If a political system of a country does not conform to standards of a liberal democratic system it can not be considered a democracy.
Neither every country that only holds elections nor every government that only grants liberties to its citizens is democratic. Democracy is a mixture of the two elements. Democracy, in the 21st century, is indeed a form of government in which representatives of people, elected in fair and free elections, exercise decision-making. Their power should be subject to the rule of law and moderated by a constitution. The constitution should protect the rights and freedoms of citizens and constraint the government to the extent that the will of majority can not be exercised against the rights of minorities.
References:
1: The Oxford English Dictionary, Second ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991, page 442
2: G. Bingham Powell, Liberal Democracies, Second ed. New York: Routledge, 2004, page 205
Comments (536)
alireza jan. congrads for your english weblog. i like it a lot. wow! i like the way you write in english...exactly how these academics like it...precise and to the point. i find it very interesting that you have two completely different styles of writing in english and farsi. i personally have always been challenged by having to switch not only languages, but only the mindset that matches various languages. sorry if this comment does not make sense. i have not slept much lately. the news of the past couple of days in tehran are just heartbreaking...all those women...all of my friends...do you remember the same kind of drama happened in tehran last year when i was still in buenos aires...in any case, nice work and good luck with everything! it seems like you are taking over the world :)
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