Is democracy the best form of govt?

THE current political turmoil had me thinking about the ability of democratic governments to act effectively, primarily being effective guardians of their people and economy. Increasingly, it seems that people across the globe are sceptical of democratic governments to act effectively.

Democracy is a strong and emotive concept. It has sparked debate and discussions since its first inception in ancient Greece, right through to its modern conception of “western liberal democracy”.

Today, it has become the predominant form of government around the world, and indeed, countries go to war to defend the values and principles that it enshrines.

Like every government system, democracy has positive and negative effects on society.

Within many countries, a representative democratic government puts an unneeded strain on the economy for funding where money could be used elsewhere.

In the end, a democracy doesn’t seek out what is best for all citizens but simply does what the majority wants. For a democratic government to work there are many changes that will need to be made for it to be the best form of government.

First of all, in a democratic government, the majority has the power to overthrow a minority. Throughout history there have been many examples of such occurrences.

For instance, in Germany in 1933, Hitler and his National Socialist Party were voted in by the majority. From here, Hitler then incorporated his power into the Nazi dictatorship with his strong sense of racism and plans for world domination.

During this time, Hitler authored Mein Kampf. The book was an autobiography and an exposition of his ideology about racial purity.

Secondly, in some countries, a democratic government seems to be increasingly about money.

Throughout the past 10 years, the United States is an obvious example where millions are spent on elections with big events and advertising campaigns. This is not what democracy is about and it discourages countries from moving along the path towards democracy.

In the United States, democracy plays a role of being a hypocrite itself as it undermines the very idea of democracy.

Democracy isn’t when money is involved to the extent that it is in the US. Therefore, when mass amounts of money is involved, it becomes elitist and corporatist because only the elite and rich businessmen can afford to fund the campaigns for Congress let alone for the presidency.

In many minds, the millions of dollars used to advertise elections are a clear waste of money seeing as there are many other ways to run a country, such as autocracies that avoid this immense expense by avoiding elections.

Thirdly, in many points in history and today, countries have been led by representative democracies.

In a representative democracy, an elected leader is chosen to run the country with the best interest of all citizens. With the world not being perfect, it’s simply impossible for an elected leader to take into consideration every idea from every citizen.

Therefore, the government doesn’t seek out what is best for all citizens but simply does what the majority wants.

V for Vendetta, a graphic novel written by Alan Moore, sends this strong message to its readers. It warns them of how apathy and idleness can allow a government to strip rights and freedoms from under a person’s nose.

For a democratic government to work successfully its leaders have to listen to the majority while taking into account the feelings and lives of the minority. Every citizen would be involved in government and would take a strong interest in the way government works. There would be elected citizens who would be monitored to make sure that no one part of government has more power then another.

From here, all citizens would be heard and they would have full satisfaction in the way the government was being run.

For example, the comparison between the US democratic government and the Cuban Communist government shows many differences.

In Cuba, a communist government has free education and healthcare which provides the citizens with a proper education which over time, helps provide money.

With Cuba not being one of the wealthiest countries in the world, it’s hard to believe that it’s sixth out of 108 countries for the lowest rate of poverty.

In conclusion, a democratic government has negative aspects and can be a defective way to run a country.

Democracy always leaves a potential danger of a poor elected leader such as Hitler to cause danger to society, unneeded economic strain by poor funding, and poor involvement of all citizens on ideas on how to run a country successfully.

Throughout history and in our future, a democracy will never be permanent due to the fact every democratic system has its flaws and doesn’t cover the demands of all citizens leaving them in a sense of poor security.

Comments: letters@thesundaily.com