Democracy as a Universal Value

                  This post is a summary of two articles. The first article was published with the title above in 1999 at   https://www.unicef.org/socialpolicy/files/Democracy_as_a_Universal_Value.pdf. The second was published at https://listontap.com/top-10-reasons-democracy-best-country/

                 In the summer of 1997, I was asked what I thought was the most important thing that happened in the 20th century. I found this to be an unusually thought-provoking question, since so many things have happened over the last hundred years. The european empires came to an end. We witnessed two world wars. We saw the rise and fall of fascism and nazism. The rise and fall of communism. We also saw a shift from the economic dominance of the West to a new economic balance more dominated by Japan and East Asia. Nevertheless, among the great variety of developments that have occurred in the 20th century, I did not have any difficult in choosing one as the preeminent development of the period: the rise of democracy. The idea of democracy originated in ancient Greece, more than two millennia ago. Thereafter, democracy as we know took a long time to emerge. Its gradual and ultimately triumphant emergence as a working system of governance was bolstered by many developments, from the signing of the Magna carta in 1215, to the france and American revolutions in the 18th century. It was in the 19th century, however, that the idea of democracy became established as the "normal" form of government to which any nation is entitled. The idea of democracy as a universal commitment is quite new, and it is quintessentially a product of the 20th century. Throughout the 19th century, theorists of democracy found it quite natural to discuss whether one country or another was "fit for democracy." This thinking changed only in the 20th century, with the recognition that the question itself was wrong: A country does not have to be deemed fit for democracy; rather, it has to become fit through democracy. It was also in this century that people finally accepted that "franchise for all adults" must mean all, not just men but also women. How well has demoracy worked? While no one really questions the role of democracy in the U.S. or Britain or France, it is still a matter of dispute for many of the poorer countries. I would argue that democracy has worked well enough. It is claimed that nondemocratic systems are better at bringing about economic development. This belief sometimes goes by the name of "the Lee hypothesis," due to its advocacy by Lee Yew, the former president of Singapore. He is certainly right that some authoritarian states (such as South Korea, Singapore and China) have had faster rates of economic growth. However, this hypothesis is based on sporadic empiricism, drawing on very selective and limited information, rather than on any general statistical testing over the wide-ranging data that are available. In fact, there is not convincing general evidence that the suppression of political and civil rights are beneficial to economic development. We must go beyond the narrow confines of economic growth and scrutinize the broader demands of economic development. In that context, we have to look at the connection between political and civil rights, on the one hand, and the prevention of major economic disasters, on the other. Political and civil rights give people the opportunity to draw attention to general needs and to demand appropriate public action. The response of a government to the acute suffering of its people often depends on the pressure that is put on it. The exercise of political rights can make a real difference to the political incentives that operate on a government. I have discussed the remarkable fact that, in the terrible history of famines in the world, no substantial famine has ever occurred in any democratic country. The same can be said about the world's two contemporary famines, occurring right now in North Korea and Sudan. The merits of democracy and its claim as a universal value can be related to certain distinct virtues that go with its unfettered practice. Indeed, we can distinguish three different ways in which democracy enriches the lives of the citizens. First, political freedom is a crucial part of good lives of individuals as social beings. Political and social participation has intrinsic value for human life and well-being. To be prevented from participation in the political life is a major deprivation. Second, democracy has an important instrumental value in enhancing the hearing that people get in expressing and supporting their claims to political attention (including claims of economic needs). Third, the practice of democracy gives citizens an opportunity to learn from one another, and helps society to form its values and priorities. 

                Democracy is a government bt the people, for the people and of the people. In other words democracy is a system which gives power to each and every citizen to actively participate in the government of the country. The importance of democracy lies in fact, that currently there are 123 democratic nations in a world of 192 countries. Gone are the days when kings and dictators used to curb and torture the citizens. When all the decisions relating to running a nation was made by one person and everyone else had no choice other than obeying him. Here a list of top 10 reasons why every country should adopt democracy, for the best of all.  1) Human rights - are the inherent rights that every person should have just because is a human. Democracy ensures that these basic rights are granted to each citizen. Furthermore, all these rights are protected by the constitution. Anyone who attempts to take away these rights shall be punished by the law.  2) People have the right to express their opinions about any topic out loud, without being censored by the government. Democracy promotes debates and group discussions which are crucial for the exponential growth of a nation. 3) Power to everyone - the word democracy itself means power to the people. In a democracy each citizen have the power to decide who runs the country. Furthermore, democracies protect against all-powerful governments, hence a fair distribution of power ensures participation of everyone in the functioning of the government.  4) Responsible government - The representatives are answerable to their voters. The government is obliged to fulfill their promises, otherwise they can be thrown out of power. Also the opposition plays an important role in keeping the government accountable.  5) Equality - A democracy does not discriminate anyone on the basis of gender, race, etc. It ensures equal political, social and economic rights to everyone.  6) Transparency in decision making - Before passing any law a formal session takes place in the parliament, in which the elected representatives consider the various aspects of the law. the law is passed only when it is consented by a majority. This procedure ensures transparency in decision making and prevents any unjust laws from being passed. 7) It is open for change - Citizens can always look forward to changes in the system if they are not happy with it.  8) Promote debate - Everyone gets a chance to speak up and make their words matter while others lesten to them. They should understand  each other and together contribute to the development of the country.