DEMOCRACY

According to Cumming and Wise (1997) democracy is a word that comes from two Greek roots, demos, the populace, and Kratia, rule- taken together, “rule by the people.” The denotative meaning of the word democracy itself reveals the fact that, it is the form of government where the right to rule the country is fully bestowed upon the people of the nation. According to Ziomek (2013) democracy has become one of the dominant forms of government in the world today with the total of 123 out of 192 nations which he attributes the spread of it to multinational corporations, international institutions, societies capable of interacting with their governments. In the light of above line, Bhutan adopted the full system of democracy in 2008 despite earlier existence of democratization process since 1953, the system of government which was instituted not through people’s want but instituted as a mere gift from the golden throne. Sithey (2013) rightly quoted “Bhutan defies standard models of democratization. It was not achieved through the bloodshed unlike in many countries. It came as a gift from the monarchy, which had ruled the country for a century.”So, it is a boon for Bhutanese that the visionary Fourth monarch has envisaged the advantages of instituting democracy, as evident from the commendable development pace within the early years of its institution. Therefore, democracy despite having certain pitfalls serve as the good form of government for it serves the interest and rights of the people, ensures public’s participation in decision making, upholds principle of equality, serve as an incentives towards economic and infrastructure development and adds to the total harmonization of government and the people.

Democracy is the form of government that solely and committedly caters to the interest of the people.The parliamentarians are voted by the people and they should remain accountable and responsible to the public; politicians should serve for the interest of the people. According to Beetham (1998), the democratic governments receive their authorization from the citizens and it is to the citizens they remain accountable and responsive, both directly and through mediating organs of parliament and public opinion. Furthermore, he added that citizen is both starting point and the focus of the democratic process. Democratic form of government provides the right to freedom of expression and thought which is the most important. Coincidentally,Datta (1954, p.12) writes “Of the fundamental rights of the individual, the right to freedom of thought and expression is amongst the most essential. This right is important in an ultimate as well as in an instrumental sense.” Besides that the public interest over transparency is well executed through independent media, the right of free association for economic, right to free movement within and between the countries and right to political partiesare all exercised through democracy. Therefore it is said that economic, political and rights to freedom of expressions are better served under this system. In contrary, others are of the view that since the political parties are the basis of democracy, there exist the chances where political party members will overlook the overall interest of the state in favors of their party.

It is the system of government which ensures the people’s participation in decision making at grass root level. Democracy thus enlivens the public to participate in democratic process and encourage them to express their thought through extravagant encouragement as enshrined in the constitution of every democratic nation. According to international peacebuilding advisory team (2015) there are numerous advantages of people’s participation in democratic process which includes; better development results (example improved health, water, sanitation, education…), strengthens practices of participation where people learn civic skills, form the relationships and networks and organizations and coalitions needed to make their voices heard, people become more aware of their right to participate, becomes more knowledgeable about legal and institutional references and become more confident about their ability to participate. Besides that people’s participation contributes in strengthening and creating a responsive and accountable government which in turn gives a firework progression at delivering services, protecting and safeguarding the rights. Moreover it leads to development of inclusive and cohesive societies which brings voices and issues into the public arena. Whereas others are of the opinion that democracy despite providing the right to participate in decision making is more or less the same as in any other form of government as their decision is useless if it doesn’t meet the consensus in national assembly, for which the legislation is not passed.

Democracy is a better form of government which plays pivotal role in upholding the principle of equality. People of different race, religion and caste are enfranchised the same. In connection, Christiano (n.d) have rightly put “Democracy implies commitments to equality, such as equality in voting power as well as equalityof opportunity to participate in discussion.”The people of the higher position and low can both vote for the leader of their choice. In addition, people of any race can compete for the post of president and prime minister. Under democracy all can enjoy the equal social, political and economic rights and government cannot discriminate among citizens on the basis of caste, religion, sex, or property. Furthermore, under democracy people can enjoy equality in well-being: which usually involve thought to involve happiness,health, knowledge, friendship, pleasure, self-respect and the respect of others, as well as the sense of belonging and community with others and a variety of other things that people desire for their own.Next in line is the equality of resources that people avail under democracy, which according to Christiano (n.d) said that equality of resources involves the equal distribution of money, power and opportunities. On the other hand critics are of the view that the endowment of equality under democracy shares a complete disparity against law of nature where different people are born with different ability.

Evidently, democracy helps in rapid economic growth and infrastructure development. One of the advantages of democracy as the limited and responsible form of government serves as impetus to economic and infrastructure development. Economic and infrastructure development is one that constitutes human interests and this is well fulfilled under democracy. The freedom of expression which democracy offer to the people have proved to be an advantage to voice out and fight, if the development progresses are not undertaken as promised in their manifestoes. Whereas, others are of the view that democracy in some nations have weakened the economic status rather than boosting. On this fact, Sithey (2013) writes, “Bhutan’s sale of USD 200M from its international reserves in December 2011 is considered by many as a turning point in Bhutan’s contemporary history, marking the onset of the closest Bhutan has come to experiencing an economic crisis- if not already into one”, which so happened first in the history of Bhutan after institution of democracy. This however is invalid in most of the developed country and even to the country itself where economy is regaining under democratic form of government.

There is the existence of total harmonization between the government and the people, which is the basis for peaceful and organized nation. Democracy is the system where parliamentarians and the people take part in legislating and executing laws and orders. There exists a harmonic society where politicians work for the interest of the people and people in turn contributes in decision making and policy formulation. Thus enhances the peace and order in the country. In contrary, some believes that, because of the majority rule democracy never satisfies certain section of the community. But this is not true, as can be substantiated by what Zaynes(2001, p.76) said “Citizens of new democracies are more politically sophisticated and less partisan than their historical counterparts, and the international environments provides them with innumerable alternative models of successful collective action.”

In conclusion, democracy is the system of government which caters to the interest of the people and ensures public participation in decision making. In addition it upholds the principle of equality, serve as an incentives towards economic and infrastructure development and helps in harmonization of government and people. Thus, democracy despite having certain demerits can serve as a good form of government in the light of above reasons. It is the system of government that has all the features an ideal government should have. Till date, democracy has won the heart of many nations for democracy as said by Narang (1985) said that democracy had taken “operational voyage”, and it will remain the same in times of posterity too.