This article is brought buy Benson Mmari, blogger of Prince Bewisa.
MEANING OF DEMOCRACY
Democracy is the type of government where by supreme of Power is belongs to people.
It’s the government of people for people by the people.
It’s the Government of People: This means that all the people should be able to have their say in one way or another in everything that affects their lives.
For the people: This means that all the activities, decisions, and authorities done by the government should mainly be for the demand of all citizens belonging to such country.
By the people: It means that, the government is governed through representatives (members of legislative bodies) and those representatives are democratically elected by individuals. All citizens have the right to elect the leader or being elected.
In additional, any governmental system is fine if the people subjected to this system are happy with it.
GOVERNMENT
This is a group of people that governs a community or unit. It sets and administers public policy and exercises executive, political and sovereign power through customs, institutions, and laws within a state.
A government can be classified into many types--democracy, republic, monarchy, aristocracy, and dictatorship, etc.
Who forms and makes up Government?
Any government is formed according to the type of such government. The formation of one type of government differs from one another. For example, the following are one of few forms of government and how are they ruled, formed and made up.
In democratic government, the government is formed and made up by the peoples, where any citizen has the right elect leaders or representatives, the freedom to say when sees that there is incorrect governance of the power and it affects their lives, etc.
In Dictatorship government, a single individual gains power through force and everyone has to follow his policies. He’s the big bully. The citizens have little to no voice in such a system. Oftentimes the advisors who control the equipment kit are his close friends. Examples of dictators are Adolf Hitler in Germany, Fidel Castro of Cuba, Idd Amini of Uganda, etc.
In Monarchy government, there is one head of state. In this system a king or queen rules the country for as long as they are alive. The crown is inherited, usually by the first born of the family.
In theocracy government, this is applied in the countries where any religious institution holds power over the king, the form of government is called a theocracy. Several Islamic nations fall into this category.
What happens here is like when saying (for example), “Everyone must eat cucumber sandwiches for lunch every day” and everyone should obey the rule.
In republic government (such as the USA), this is a democratic model – people are elected to government office by voters. It is however, headed by a single individual whose office is also elected by the people – the President.
THE CHACTERISTICS OF DEMOCRACY
Most democratic governments operate through representative democracy, which means that democracy has the following characteristics.
§ The representatives are elected to be the voice of the people in the government. This does not mean that every action occurs falls under the representative heading. Some of the actions taken by representatives are considered direct democracy.
§ Majority rule and minority right. When decisions are made based on the majority of the populations wishes, this could easily lead to the oppression of those who did not agree or vote alone with the majority. Minority rights keep this from happening by taking into account an individual's rights and needs along with the majority rule.
§ The Principle of Protection.A true democracy upholds the basic human rights of its citizens as outlined in its laws, agreements or constitution. These rights include freedom of religion, freedom of speech, equal protection under the law, the right to a fair trial and a right to privacy without unwarranted intrusion by the government. In America, citizens also have other rights, such as the right to an education, the right to assemble and the right to publish their opinions in print. American citizens are also protected from discrimination based on their sex, race, religion or a disability.
§ Limiting the Lawmakers.In order to ensure that a democracy's central government does not have a concentration of power in one area, powers are separated and shared among different branches and agencies. These different sectors of government have a process by which they can check and balance one another. Government officials holding posts in the different branches of government are subject to term limits. Elections are held on a regular basis and citizens have the opportunity to elect new people to government posts. Citizens are guaranteed that these elections will be fair and everyone who is eligible to vote will have that opportunity.
