Concept in Definition ABC

Democracy is a form of government characterized by making power fall on the population. This approach means that the directions that a social group they are based on the will of the majority. From the etymological point of view, the word democracy is made up of formants from the Greek, which mean "government" and "people".

This form of government differs from totalitarianism (such as fascism or Nazism) and dictatorships

In these cases, the civil society, that is, the citizenship in general and their decisions are absorbed by those who govern. All power is in the hands of the government, without the citizen having any type of right to free expression. The communism It is also a clear example of a government contrary to the postulates of democracy.

The most widespread opinion is that democracy has been created or set in motion by civilization Greek, but there are those who affirm that in the tribal organizations of the past this was already working system; It is also true that the observable democracy among the Greeks was

excluding, to the extent that slaves and women were left aside.

Nowadays, when we talk about democracy, we usually refer to its variant "Representative", in which the people elect their rulers through suffrage and for a period limited time

The idea that, although a democracy is the power of the people, in a democracy is often questioned Representative citizens, apart from their election through voting, do not have too many other roles assigned.

However, there is also another type of democracy, called “direct”, in which each party can participate and where there are no representatives, because the resolutions to follow would be those decided directly by consensus; at present, this type of organization is impossible on a large scale. Another form of democracy is called "participatory", and in this sense, it tries to consider an option halfway between the "representative" and the "direct".

In participatory democracy, as its name indicates, the people are assigned the participation as law enforcement, and in debates around issues of national interest, such as the decriminalization of drugs or the implementation of new legal frameworks regarding the media. Like the "direct", this form of democracy has not yet enjoyed its peak, and if this is not the case, the real intention has a lot to do with it. of the rulers to grant not only a vote but also a “voice” to citizens to exercise their rights to freedom of expression, opinion and thought.

The confusion between democracy and republic is easily perceptible in many people, concepts that differ remarkably

As we have already said, the idea behind a democracy is that authority resides in the people; Instead, a republic refers to a government that is governed by a division of powers. This distinction leads us to conclude that a republic is not necessarily a democracy.

At present, democratic government is the most rational way of dealing with the ideological differences of different groups who aspire to a position of authority. Thus, in a correct democratic culture, the differences are encompassed by common criteria, those that make the people the source from which power springs.

Strongly defended around the globe, democracy as a form of government is the only one suitable in the world. societies of the so-called “international community” that have recognized and proclaimed the so-called Rights Humans. For this reason, democracy and citizen participation is the object of struggle and mobilization of many third sector organizations (the known as “non-governmental organizations” or NGOs), such as Democracy Now, which operate globally, with headquarters in different countries.

Photos 2, 3: iStock - Lalocracio

Issues in Democracy