THE ADVANTAGES OF A DEMOCRACY FOR CITIZENS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The main advantages of democracy lie in safeguarding the integrity and human rights of the individual. Democracy protects its citizens from regimes with a single leader, thus preventing autocracy.

Democracy is the most widely established form of government today and is often taken as a measure of how well a nation functions.

Of Greek origin, it comes from the words demo-kratos, “power in the common man”, and it is born from an ancient system of government of classical Greece where any citizen could participate in decision-making.

Today, the word democracy is synonymous with equity and justice. It is usually thought of as a simple electoral process where people elect through votes; However, democracy is based on the idea that the common man has control over the direction his community is going to take.

In the 21st century, the democratic process is different from that of that old Greece and its city-states.

In today's democratic societies, representatives with capacity and experience are elected so that they are the ones who look after the needs of their constituents.

Similarly, the political and economic processes of a democratic country are managed with transparency and are left at the disposal of its citizens.

Currently, at least 68 nations try to follow the democratic form of government, there are also 51 authoritarian regimes and 40 nations that are positioned between these two opposites.

Few nations have succeeded in fully implementing democracy, but those that do have in return the benefit of living under the most historically stable form of government.

Why is democracy important?

Democracy in ancient Greece was born as a measure to counteract the abuse of power that was exercised when a person or a small group made decisions for others.

Now, in addition to democracy, there are other forms of government, but they all have this characteristic in common: power is centered on an authoritarian leader or a small group that does not seek the common good.

The old democracy was not perfect and would hardly succeed by today's standards, for of all citizens, only Athenian men of a certain age could participate; women, young people, foreigners and slaves were left aside and without a voice.

Today, a crucial part of democracy is the just inclusion of all citizens. For these and other measures to be implemented, a path had to be opened based on ideas, actions and struggles.

The influence of Jean-Jacques Rousseau

In it, the executive, legislative, and judicial powers were separated into independent instances; Furthermore, citizens had the right to demand a change of government if basic needs were not met by those who were in power.

Thanks to this, the new essential elements of democracy were basic civil rights for all; freedom of belief, where religion was no longer imposed by the rulers and, above all, the separation of church and state, which would end with religious imposition in all civic, moral and social aspects of citizenship.

The strength of the democratic system

In modern society, democracy has prevailed over other forms of government even in spite of the circumstances.

Throughout the 20th century, wars for different ideologies and political-economic models ended, for example, with the oligarchy (the government of a small group), the monarchy (the government of a king) and the aristocracy (the government of a nobleman) that reigned in Europe, thanks to the defeat of the central powers in the First World War.

In World War II, with the defeat of Germany and Italy, the democratic countries overthrew fascism, the new authoritarian model; the last great regime to fall was communism in the early 1990s with the breakup of the Soviet Union.

After all this, democratic nations prevailed due to their stability and the individual guarantees they provide to their citizens.

Benefits of democracy for citizens

The main benefits of democracy lie in safeguarding the integrity and human rights of the individual. Democracy protects its citizens from regimes with a single leader, thus preventing autocracy.

Instead, democratic society works together and those who represent its needs are chosen fairly.

Democratic nations maintain a better quality of life due to their openness and economic management. In them, human development –measured in education, health, housing and income– is higher, and the indices of trust and approval towards institutions are higher thanks to the policies implemented to make them work for the benefit of citizens.

A very important benefit for today's society is respect for individual guarantees and personal freedoms.

Although taken for granted, these freedoms are not guaranteed in authoritarian regimes, either because they do not have the means to provide this right, or because these freedoms go against the belief or morality of the rulers.

Democratic nations in the 21st century

Currently, only 19 countries develop in a complete democracy, where freedom of belief and expression, human rights and the political measures necessary to see for the common good are respected.

57 countries are in search of this level, because their democracy has flaws; either due to lack of means or internal corruption problems.

Terrorism, immigration, and the unequal distribution of assets are some of the problems facing democracy in the 21st century. In the past, problems like these were faced and democracy prevailed thanks to a long tradition of thought and freedom.

It is expected that throughout this new century some nations will change their democratic index. After years established as a complete democracy, the US dropped its index to imperfect democracy with its recent presidential election; in turn, Uruguay consolidated itself, after years of dictatorship, in a complete democracy thanks to the guarantees of its new government.

Over the decades, democracy has resurfaced even in times of political, economic or social crisis, which is why it remains the preferred model to safeguard individual rights.

References

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