The Newly Defined Democracy: Delimiting Democracy on Participation
Introduction
It is apparent that almost every nation around the globe is presently practicing a democratic form of government. Even if it is so, acquiring that form of government wasn’t easy to create. Thus, it has subjected into series of disapprovals and numerous criticisms before it has been formally utilized by these countries.
This paper will primarily focus on three aspects of democratization; the historical development of democracy, participation, and democratization. The aim of this paper is to provide arguments which can be used to have a further knowledge regarding democracy.
What is Democracy?
Before starting to explain what the deeper essence of democracy is, let me first give its simplest definition. Democracy comes from the Greek words demos and kratein, which means, roughly, rule of the people (McLean. 2002). It is a form of government for a nation state where in every citizen has a voice in creating policies for the state.
As the well-known political philosopher Aristotle reiterated and simplified in one of his famous works, Politics, democracy is the rule of the many (Aristotle. 1252a). Thus, it is simply a rule where the people participate in the activities of the state. By just analyzing each definition, it is clear that democracy is for the people and just by ignoring this idea delineates the exact understanding of the term.
These activities can be aiming for something that could benefit both the
government and the people. Freedom, justice and taking part in decision-making are factors that make the public adhere to democracy. Different kinds of democracy exists today, and the most common is the Minimalist Democracy, which Joseph Schumpeter explained as democracies that has an ability to attain free and regular elections. Even if several democracies of today have been facing economic and political stability, its people still hold on to it. For many years now democracy has been facing criticisms, some are harsh while others still observing it.
A Quick Peek at Democracy’s Historical Progress
In order to further understand democracy, it is an imperative to have knowledge about its root and where it has started. It’s revolution can show us the differences of the democracies way back the Athenian to the modern period of democracy. We cannot detach the classical and modern democracy from each other since both concepts, though they come from different periods, is intertwined with each other.
Therefore, we cannot gain the proper understanding of democracy and we wouldn’t be able to weigh the classical from modern democracy. Moreover, we wouldn’t achieve enough knowledge on how democracy has evolved.
Democracy originated in the Athens where Athenian or classical democracy began at around fifth century BC. It was after the bloody Peloponnesian war ceased. The Athenians aging 20 and above regularly attends assemblies with other officials to discuss topics concerning politics and the military (Held 1996). However it doesn’t mean that every citizen is permitted to directly participate in the so-called assemblies.
Political equality certainly did not extend to the women, immigrants, merchants and slaves (Wollin, 1993). This was one of the unacceptable acts that were being done during the Athenian period. Although the Athenians are up to a democratic state, there are still obvious exclusions in certain instances. This was the problem during the Athenian period, although they are advocating a democratic form of state, they are tended to become overly idealistic in, reinforcing democracy.
Take for example in the well- known philosopher Plato’s Republic; He campaigned for a specialized form of government (Plato 390 BC). Where the producers, merchants and women are not allowed to intervene in state activities for Plato believes that these interventions from the lower class of individuals would only cause a political disorder that is unhealthy for a nation state (ibid. 390 BC)
The development of democracy has strengthened more during rise the time of
the famous thinkers/ theorists Thomas Hobbes and John Locke who created the idea of
state of nature. The latter explains why states and societies have developed and progressed and then later on the development of democracy in Athens is the first attempt on creating a rule-based and participatory way of governing.
Until then, the development of democracy in Athens is the first attempt of creating a more reasonable, rule-based and participatory way of governance; this has formed a central source of inspiration for modern political thought, with its political ideals- equality among citizens, liberty, respect for the law and justice. Athenian democracy was marked by a general commitment to the principle of civic virtue, which is dedication to the republican city-state and the subordination of private life to public affairs and the common good (Held, 1996: 17).
The rise of the power of the church occurred during the medieval period. This was also the period when Catholicism arises. The public’s attention was diverted in to religion and the biblical doctrines rather than focusing with the matters regarding politics which are more important for the state. As a result, ideas and beliefs were mixed.
After the creation of Athenian democracy, the rise of city-republics during the middle Ages eventually gave way to a new kind democracy which is the Republicanism. Republicanism is also called protective democracy as it seeks to protect the interests of the citizens. It also came out as a response to the tyranny of the majority that Athenian democracy is susceptible to.
The creation of a democratic state is to protect the individual rights and interest of the people inside the state. Marx’s ideologies also contributed to enlighten the people regarding the threat on communism. This was the part where class struggles occurred where the gap between the proletariats and the bourgeoisie have also arisen.
This can be supposed as a period of differences between the people. Furthermore, It is in this period where equality was established in its full sense. Marx recognized the huge role portrayed by women in the labor force. It is through this that he believed that women and laborers should be given political rights. (Held, 1996).
Participation/ Participatory Politics
This part of the article will answer the question, whether democracy’s development is exemplified by the concept of participation. Participation is certainly a key element in democracy. For a democracy to become complete one of the important factors is the participation of its people, without it democracy is static. Since democracy stands for the rule of the people, the only way it could work is by its participation. The latter is significant since we cannot detach it with democracy (Held 1996 p. 145). It is where the dynamic public administrates themselves directly.
Participatory democratic theory represents in many ways a summation and synthesis of many earlier variants of democratic theory. At its base, it involves a combination of the representative structures of liberal democracy, and direct democracy. It is somewhat of a return to the concept of civic virtue, and many arguments of developmental thought, as Benjamin Barber argues that ‘politics in the participatory mode’ is superior to any other form, due to the way it develops citizenship and people (Barber 1984 p. 151). This is to be done through proximate self-legislation, while retaining national structures of representation.
Participatory variant which rests on the theory of strong democracy-the way that
Human beings with variable but acquiescent natures and with competing but overlapping interests can arrange to live together communally not only to their mutual advantage but also to the advantage of their mutuality (Barber, 1984 p. 118). A proper agreement on every matter thus adds up to the fundamental nature of political participation.
Moreover, consolidating democracy isn’t a ‘walk in the beach’ activity. Thus it requires strong and efficient configuration of activity, process self- legislation, creation and transformation (Held 1996 P. 151). One of the chief factors in participatory democracy is the public’s capability of reforming a system of governing where the public can work together to achieve their desired flow in the structure of government.
For a democracy to be labeled as a strong democracy, its manner of participation should always become present. Participation is self-government by citizens rather than representative government in behalf of the citizens. Its people should become engaged in active participations within the government. Further, one should also become aware of the plans and policies of the state so as to have a full understanding of the matter. Additionally, although in democracy, there is what the democratic theorists call Competitive elitism, where the essence of democracy have been limited only to the elites. It is only the elite class of society that fully participates in the political process. This shows an extreme detachment of politics from society in general. This is a minimalist conception of democracy. It shows in this type of democracy that there is a
limit in participating in state activities.
Even if participation is vital in the successful growth of a democracy there are still factors like equality and freedom that could help in strengthening it. Equality is one of the most significant key aspects of democracy. It is something that is hard to grasp. In politics, participation seems to be open to all, yet there are informal barriers to participation, especially in running for public office. Equality springs from democracy. It is democracy’s ingredient for its accomplishments and flawlessness.
Another factor to achieve a better democracy is the reinforcement of freedom. What is democracy without freedom? As we all know, democracy is interlocked with freedom. Naturally, if you are in a democratic state, it is inevitable that every individual possesses freedom which he/ she can use in participating in government activities.
The participation of the people in decision- making is another way of every individual’s contribution for the betterment of democracy. However, if we will try to view the cultural aspect of every country, only some practices the western type of democracy. Some of these traditional countries reject the notion of a democracy.
Perhaps, they believe that their way of practicing democracy or other form of government for that matter, could contribute to the glory and achievements of their country. However, it is still the public’s choice if they want to pursue something that could alter their struggling democracy.
Democratization and Development
The scope of this sub topic is to argue that democracy does not hinder a nation’s
development. Although there are instances in some countries like the Philippines, ever
since the Philippines have democratized during the 1980’s, economic and political fluctuations have occurred. People Power demonstrations arise.
It is not the democracy that should be blamed for the downfall of a government. The fault should be charged to those who are within the administration who’s incapable of making a way to consolidate a democracy and also the individuals who are apathetic enough to pay no heed to the limped democracy. This manner should transform into a better habit like giving double concern to the government.
Democracy and development have different concepts. One should not equate the two, since development has a broad scope; we cannot measure the progress of a country with its economy, since the political economist Morton Kaplan reiterated in one of his works that economic growth is not the only basis for development (Kaplan).
Therefore it doesn’t mean that the rise of a state’s GDP signifies its development but there are also other factors that contribute to the development of a nation. It could be social development and political development. Let us not limit our notion that economy is the only measurement of democratic development.Of course, the people should also act and cooperate with the government so as to acquire a harmonized social, economic and political feature of the state.
Conclusion
Democracy has gone through mishmash, some democracies prosper while others don’t and still on the process of reforming their failed democracies. Series of transformations and evolutions have also taken place. Furthermore, number of adjustment and reconfiguration has been applied in order to deal with the demands and needs of the current society. The third wave of democratization epitomizes the effectiveness of democracy, and illustrates that democracy is the regime that man is searching for. Democracy can be considered universal in some respects, yet its universality ends when the specific characteristics of societies begin. Furthermore, it is a progression and needs a specific amount of time to continually progress. And of course, the factors of a successful democracy like the ones I’ve mentioned earlier in this article (participation, freedom, and equality).
The Philippines is in dire need of help and restructuring. Military coups and mass demonstrations have become a habit for the Filipinos. This is one of the reasons why the Philippine democracy is disgruntled as of today. it is normal that factions in the government arise.
To answer the last question whether the road taken by countries that democratized recently was ill-advised and that they could have considered staying under an authoritarian system first and achieve development before opting to democratize (Tayao Syllabus 2006-2007). It is because progressive countries like the United States of America and those nations in European Union only help countries that have already democratize due to promising stability and benefits (Huntington 1991)
It is apparent the democracy and development work with each other. It is the only system that is humane enough to bring and give the people what they long for and desire, which is liberty. Democracy is present as long as a nation is facing a decline in economy and politics. Democracy and the people will continue to find a remedy to the ailing state of a specific country. The simplest way of achieving a successful democracy is to cooperating and giving way for people to participate in state affairs. However it is also imperative to put into consideration that the developments of democracy did not flourished in a specific or individual state, rather it evolved upon looking at comparisons
of different experiences of different civilizations
References
Aristotle. Politics 1252a
Barber, Benjamin., Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age 1984.
Kaplan, Morton. Was Democracy Just a Moment. 1997.
McLean, Ian. Oxford Concise Dictionary of Politics 2002. Oxford
Held, David. Models of Democracy, 2nd Edition 1996.
Huntington, Sammuel. Third Wave of Democratization.1991.
Tayao, Edmund. Syllabus 2006-2007.
Wolin, Sheldon. “Democracy: Electoral and Athenian.” In Political Science and Politics,
1993.
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