INTERNATIONAL DAY OF DEMOCRACY
By Anton Antonio
September 15, 2015
Today, September 15, 2015, we celebrate the International
Day of Democracy. This tradition started
in 2007 when the United Nations General Assembly resolved to observe the 15th
of September as International Day of Democracy.
This was enacted by the UN to create awareness on democracy as a
governance principle which the UN itself uses.
But what is democracy?
The term “democracy” comes from the Greek word “demokratia” which means
“rule of the people.” Democracy is a
system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a
state through popularly elected representatives. Democracy is an exercise that involves
consultation, participation and inclusion of all legitimate citizens of a
country. It is said that a democratic
exercise makes everyone equal as each and every citizen is vested the right to
only one vote regardless of creed, social status, religion and other societal
compartments. And majority rule
prevails.
“Democracy, or democratic government, is “a system of
government in which all the people of a state or polity… are involved in making
decisions about its affairs, typically by voting to elect representatives to a
parliament or similar assembly,” as defined by the Oxford English
Dictionary. Democracy is further defined
as (a) “government by the people; especially: rule of the majority; and, (b) “a
government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by
them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually
involving periodically held free elections.”
According to political scientist Larry Diamond, it consists of four key
elements: (1) A political system for choosing and replacing the government
through free and fair elections. (2) The active participation of the people, as
citizens, in politics and civic life. (3) Protection of the human rights of all
citizens. And (4) A rule of law, in which the laws and procedures apply to all
citizens.” (Wikipedia)
Out of the four key elements that Larry Diamond mentioned, I
believe in the supreme importance of “free and fair elections”. The exclusive nature of Philippine-style
democracy and elections has so far failed to produce only the best and the
brightest leaders. The elections of 2016
--- Monday, the 9th of May --- is just around the corner. Perhaps, this is something for all of us to
seriously think about today… the International Day of Democracy.
Thoughts to
promote positive action…
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REFERENCE:
Wikipedia. “Democracy”.
Retrieved on September 15, 2015 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy
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