Democracy:
“A social order aiming at the greatest available welfare of the whole population and not for a class”.
Literally, the word ‘democracy' originated from the Greek word ‘Demos’ which means the people and 'Gratis' meaning ‘Government’. So it means the government of the people. All the political philosophers have always shown great interest in this idea since the time Aristotle wrote his ‘polities’.
The Democratic form of government is based on the willing consent of the people. General will of the people and not force of any kind is the basis of the state. Democracy is a sort of mechanism through which the general will of the public is expressed. Democracy is the best form of government as it is stable and enduring due to huge public support. The state also recognizes the personality of every individual. The state is not superior to the citizens who compose it. The people in the Democratic state are not like “dumb driven cattle”.
They are always active citizens who take great interest in the affairs of the state.
“Democracy means the government of y people, by the people, for the people”
Democracy may be of two kinds: direct and indirect. The indirect democracy is in vogue these days. It is also called representative democracy or Government through representatives. Like all other systems, it has some merits and some demerits.
The future of Pakistani democracy seems quite bright. During the past fifty-seven years, there have been regular elections to the parliament and state legislatures. This reflects the constant progress and maturity of democracy in the country. With the passage of time, Pakistani voters have become more assertive and as regards their participation in the process of democracy.
“Democracy can not be safe anywhere until it is safe everywhere.”
In the absence of political parties, we can not think of smooth and effective functioning of a democracy. These political parties are the life-blood of our democracy. There are a number of national, religious and regional political parties in Pakistani. These parties always play a very significant role in the election and in the formation of a government. The political parties, in opposition to the government, exercise certain checks in the forms of criticism, protest and boycott, etc. These checks ensure that the government must not degenerate into dictatorship. They criticize the government policies in a Democratic and construction spirit. In this way they preserve and strengthen national integration, unity, liberty and the basic rights of the people.
If you want to understand democracy, spend less time in the library with Plato and more time in the buses with people.
Different political parties may have different ideology, but they all aim at the welfare of the people and the good of the country. Obviously, democracy is not a one-sided game, and it needs two or more players in the form of ruling party, the opposition and the electorate.
“Democracy is a government that is run by all the people and run down by some of them”
There are surely some charges against democracy made by the supporters of dictatorship. Firstly, democracy is the large group of incompetent and ignorant people. It is just like a mob rule. It leads to despotism of majority and helplessness of minority.
“Democratic quality is a monstrous fiction”.
Secondly, it is a corrupt form of government because the majority in power can do anything fair or foul without any check. Thirdly, it involves divided leadership and divided consent of the public. That is why it cannot make speedy decisions during some emergency. Fourthly, it demoralizes the people. Power is misused for the achievement of selfish ends. Corruption and favoritism become common in Society.
Fifths, the supporters of dictatorship believe in the slogan.
“A nation, a party, a leaders”.
They argue that dictators like Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin were the leaders of well organized political parties and were liked and loved by millions of people. They used to believe in the idea.
“Nothing against the state, everything for the state, nothing outside the state”.
Sixths, it is an expensive type of government which costs a lot, which gives pain by the masses in the form of taxes. Leaders of this type of government buy votes and do a lot of advertisement to get the seat, and the debt is paid by the unfortunate public. Sevenths, in this type of government, moral values are ignored. There is no concept of right and wrong. Leaders use fair and foul means to win elections.
But we all know that dictatorship crushes personal liberty. Ballots are usually replaced by the bullets. The glorification of war is the motto of dictatorship. Both the world wars were caused by the dictators.
You must be logged in to post a comment.