Concept of Democracy

The word ‘democracy» is a term that comes from Greek and is made up of two other words: demos= People and kratein= to govern, to rule. “Democracy” can then be literally translated by the following terms: Government of the People or Government of the Majority.

Democracy, as a State form, is to be distinguished from monarchy, aristocracy and dictatorship. You may have already heard about the most common definition of democracy: ‘the government of the people, by the people and for the people’ (Abraham Lincoln)?

To put it another way, we can say that a government comes from the people; it is exercised by the people, and for the purpose of the people’s own interests. This description is only a very broad one, to start with, but the pages that follow will explain to you in a more concise way the different facets of democracy. Therefore, democracy means power to the people. This simply means that people rule themselves either directly or indirectly through their elected representatives.

DEMOCRATIC PLURALISM IN A DEMOCRACY

Pluralism is considered and applied as a form of social order and policy. In the field of politics, pluralism implies that a large number of interest groupings and associations that get together freely are reciprocally in a situation of competition to win influence on social and political life. These groupings can be political, economic, religious, ethnic or of any other nature.

A plural society is characterized by respect, acceptance and recognition of all points of view; no matter how different or diverging they can be; and their dissemination, as well as their enforcement should not be faced with any obstacle. Pluralism is based on controversial discussions whose results are often built on compromises that eventually satisfy all the involved groups, or at the very least, are acceptable.

In pluralism, either dialogues, points of view exchanges or discussions, as well as ideas and opinions that are debated there have a constructive feature within the framework of social processes of expression of ideas and political will of citizens, even if they are either contrary to or opposed to the regime in place or even closer to the opposition.

You may have already noticed that, even in a plural society, some interest groupings are more influential and stronger than others, and that in reality, the competition principle does not apply in the simple, fluid and easy way we have just described it. But it is exactly for this reason that the State has the important role of detecting possible flaws in the competition system, and finding out the necessary palliative measures.

There is, for example, the possibility to provide additional aid to the weakest interest associations, to make them more competitive. These state regulation measures are necessary to maintain pluralism in action. In pluralist societies, in parallel to these interest associations that solicit socio-political or economic influence; there are groupings that directly covet posts: those are the political parties.

Like many other citizens, you must already have raved at political parties, because they have, for example, promised to take some measures, and they have not done anything about it afterwards. In spite of these criticisms that one can direct to political parties regarding the results of their work, it is necessary to recognize that they constitute nevertheless a necessary and indispensable element to any democracy. People can exercise their sovereignty through these political parties; it is really thanks to them that they can react in an effective way.

Democracy and Decision-making

The alternative would be to elect a representative, as a population, and to take on all the tasks that are the duties of political leaders. But this is just not possible, given their large number and the complexity of the themes. Instead of that, it is necessary to have groupings and political parties, to put people forward as candidates for different government offices, to discuss solutions to problems that come up and to represent the interests of their voters. In this way, they constitute, on the one hand, spokesmen/-women for the ideals and political objectives of the population.

On the other hand, these political parties take part in a decisive way in the construction of population political will, as they know how to grasp the positions of this population in order to articulate and shape them in the midst of the discussions. It is not enough to consider the parties as mere messengers that convey information on the people to the leaders.

They must also be considered as active groupings that contribute to the construction of the political will because they take as well the role of mediators for instance, when there is a conflict between the point of view of the people and that of the parliament, or between the government’s opinion and that of the president. In general, it is the people who share the same ideals and the same points of view who get together to create a political party and to integrate their program proposal in the policy. In a plural society, the creation of political parties is free, which means that everybody has the right to create a party.

In general rule, political parties have also a core program that reflects its values and its long-term objectives, as well as an electoral program, which is rather a short-term oriented one Because political parties within pluralist societies must face important tasks, it is important that they be organized in a transparent and democratic way.

This implies, on the one hand, that each citizen can freely and openly integrate a political party; and on the other hand, it must be stipulated that each member has the right and the possibility to participate in the definition of the party line, at the election of the leader of the party and the appointment of candidates to political and state functions.

In addition to their role in the articulation of the population‘s interests, and the building up of its political will, it is also the political parties that put in place the required personnel to the government offices. As they link the people to their representatives or the representatives of the people to the leaders, parties are as indispensable in the political scenery of a plural society as the interest groups and associations described earlier.

Democracy unfortunately is not considered as a permanent building, like a stable and well-constructed house that will stay unchanged beyond the centuries. Democracy is rather a process that must be maintained and consolidated permanently. It is not just a type of State, with simple procedures and simple mechanisms. It is not enough then to have three separate State powers, to have citizens ready to run for the legislative elections, that a head of State or a mayor be elected every four or five years and that there are several political parties, etc.