DEMORACY

Democracy by definition means the government by people and is a system of government with four key elements. We can trace back Democracy all the way back to ancient Greece and from then it has been developed quite much.
Democracy is seen as a Greek invention created by some of the ancient Greek cities, mostly Athens. They didn’t including women, children, slaves and foreigners. The rest of the population would gather together to discuss and take decisions on the policies of the state. The meetings would be long, frequent and intensive.

One of the important things about democracy was the principle of tax. By the time this principle came into force, it was only the tax payers who were members of the wealthy middle class or upper class.
These members of the society demanded representation in return for their money and used this to control the expenditures of the government. If the government wished to spend money on something the representatives felt was unnecessary, then they would refuse to vote in the laws required to spend this money.
The increasing costs of warfare, administration and infrastructure made the kings of the late middle ages depended on the money of the wealthiest class, and that happened to be the middle class.
These Kings got forced to arrange meetings where the representatives of the cities and the middle class could or could not agree to finance certain government projects. If they agreed, they did so because their interests would be served by the project.

These meetings were gradually institutionalized into what we now call parliaments. Parliaments therefore existed before modern day democracy by starting as an instrument for budgetary control and gradually developing into more ruling type.

Now, democracy is a important political form of government carried out either directly by the people (direct democracy) or by means of elected representatives of the people (representative democracy).

1. A political system for choosing and replacing the government through free and fair elections.
Democracy gives the right to people to chose their leaders and hold them accountable for their politics and their conduct in office.
The citizens decide who that is going to represent them in the parliament, and who will head the government at the national and local levels. This happens through fair and free elections.
The elections have to occur at regular intervals, just as its prescribed in the countries law. For the elections to be free and fair, they have to be administrated by a neutral fair and professional body that treats all political parties and candidates equally. The voters on another hand, must have the chance to vote in secret, free of intimidation and violence. While the voters do this, the observers must be able to observe the voting and the vote counting to ensure that the process is free of corruption, intimidation and fraud. In case of any corruption and fraud, there needs to be a commission that is independent and can resolve any dispute about the election results. 

In a democracy, people are sovereign - the highest form of political authority. The power flows from the people and on to the leaders of the government who holds the power temporarily.
The most important thing in democracy is that people can criticize their elected leaders and representatives, and observe how they conduct the work in the parliament. All parties and candidates must have the right to campaign freely to present their proposals to the voters both directly and through the mass media.
Any country can hold an election, but for an election to be free and fair, it requires a lot of organization, preparation and training of political parties, electoral offices and civil society organizations who monitor the process. This is why it takes a lot of time to organize a good and democratic election.

2. The active participation of the people, as citizens, in politics and civil life.
The citizens have an obligation to become informed about public issues, to watch carefully how their political leaders and representatives use their powers and to express their own opinions and interests. Therefore voting in elections is an important civil duty after listening carefully to the views of the different parties and candidates and then make his or her debating public issues, attending community meetings and even protesting.
A vital form of participation comes through active membership in independent, non-governmental organizations, is what we call civil society. These organizations represent a variety of interests and beliefs, every person from different society and class.

This requires efforts by civil society organizations to educate women about their democratic rights and responsibilities, improve their political skills, represent their common interests and involve them in political life.

Participation in democracy and civil groups should be voluntary and no one should be forced to join an organization against their will.
Political parties are vital organizations in a democracy, and democracy is stronger when citizens become active members of political parties.
Democracy depends on the citizens participation in all these ways but participation must be free, peaceful, respectful to the law and tolerant of the different views of other groups and individuals.

3. Protection of the human rights of all citizens.
Every citizen of the state have certain basic rights that no one including the state can take away from them and the rights are guaranteed under international law. Everyone has the right of freedom of speech and freedom of expression. No can tell you what to think and what to believe.
There must be freedom of religion and everyone is free to choose their own religion and to worship and practice their religion as they want.

Every individual of the state has the right to practice their own culture along with members of their group, even if they are in minority.

Since there is freedom of pluralism in the mass media, everyone is free to choose between different sources of news and opinion to read in the newspapers, to listen to radio stations and watch television.

Everyone has the right to associate with other people and to form and join organizations of their own choice.

Everyone is free to move around in the country and leave the country if they wish this.
However, everyone has an obligation to exercise these rights peacefully and with respect for the law and for the rights for others.

4. A rule of law, in which the laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens.
Democracy is a system of rules by law, not by individuals.
No one is above the law, and this includes the king of the country and an elected President.
In a democracy, the rule of law will protect the rights of the citizens, maintain order and limit the power of the government. This means that all citizens are equal under the law and no one should discriminate against on the basis of their race, origin, religion, gender or ethnic group.

If you are detained by the police, you have the absolute right to know the charges against you and be presumed innocent until proven guilty in the court of law.
Anyone that has been charged with a crime has the right to a fair, speedy and public trial by an impartial court.
Torture and cruel inhumane treatments are absolutely forbidden.
The rule of law places limits on the power of the government and no government officials can violate these limits.
Government officials cannot use their power to enrich themselves. Independent courts and commissions should punish corruption no matter who is the guilty one.

 

It is important that all citizens of the state must reject violence and follow the countries laws.
Every citizen should respect the other part and their dignity as human beings, even if they disagree with them. 

 

Varieties of Democracy
Democracy has taken a number of forms, both theoretical and practical.

Representative democracy involves the selection of government officials by the people being represented. If the head of State is also democratically elected then it is called a democratic republic. It involves a election of the candidate with a majority or a plurality if the votes.

Parliamentary democracy is a representative democracy where government is appointed by parliamentary representatives as opposed to a presidential rule wherein the President is both head of state an the head of government and elected by the voters.

Liberal democracy is a representative democracy in which the ability of the elected representatives to exercise decision