StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Basic Rights and Freedoms of the People - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The paper "Basic Rights and Freedoms of the People" explores the democratic system of governance. Democracy also ensures that basic rights and freedoms of the people are keenly observed and that no one denies the public this crucial privilege. People have full control over their rights…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER96.2% of users find it useful
Basic Rights and Freedoms of the People
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Basic Rights and Freedoms of the People"

Number: Introduction The term democracy does not have a static or universally agreed upon definition. It is probably among the most promiscuous words. However, despite the fact that different people define democracy in different ways, they seem to describe a common thing since whatever they define democracy seems to share numerous characteristics and principles. To start with, it is agreed up on that democracy focuses on the freedoms that are only limited by freedoms and rights of other individuals leaving in the same state. Whenever the word democracy is mentioned, freedom and equality are key components that cannot be forfeited. These two principles ensure that people of a given country are treated equally before the law as well as having equal entitlement to access the legislative (Gil 12). This essay will focus on answering the question of whether democracy is valuable or not while providing concise reasons to support the argument. However, the researcher will take a neutral position in this hot debate. Democracy has an extensive past with a classical example of early democracy being the Athens. People in this city would all meet in a market place to pass decisions. In the modern world, various types of democracy are based on different ideologies. They include liberal, guided, consociation, radical as well as socialist democracies (Gil 32). Liberal democracy is termed as the most relevant democracy in today’s world. It ensures that interests of the people are protected and well represented. In this form of democracy state acts as a referee with the political process checking and balancing to ensure that tyranny of the majority does not happen may it be from the presence of larger number of representatives or minorities who have excessive powers. Citizens participate in this type of democracy by means of electoral competition or contestation all people are treated equally (Gil 22). Democracy can be termed as the most superior form of governance even though the statement might be debatable depending on a number of factors such as place of origin, culture, and beliefs among others. First, democracy plays a major role in preventing any form of ruling by vicious and cruel autocrats or dictators. Secondly, countries with this type of governance tend to be more successful that those with non-democratic government. Thirdly, the modern representatives of democracy do not engage in wars or fights amongst themselves since each understands that his or her opponents have a right to disagree with their opinion. Fourthly and the most important benefit of democracy is that it creates a conducive environment for the human development. Human development in this case is evaluated in terms of health, personal income, education among other aspects. Democratic form of governance has several benefits. One of them is the fact that democracy enables people to protect their most basic interests. Citizens in countries that are ruled by democratic governments are guaranteed of preservation and observation of their most fundamental rights, which not even the government can deny them. People are entitled to enjoying their peculiar freedoms without fear or coercion. Democracy revolves around freedoms and rights of the people whereby people live as per the wish of the majority. It is the only leadership that allows people to live under the laws that they created hence giving them an opportunity to take social responsibility for their decisions and choices about issues concerning governance. The aspect of impartiality before the law is also another chief merit of having a democracy. It is a noble idea that all people are treated equally and fairly before the law in this form governance. In effective democratic governance, there exist no discrimination on bases of race, ethnicity, and social class among other divisional lines that are used for segregating people. It is an incredible aspect that every person in the society highly appreciates and feels proud of. It is one of the best advantages of democracy and there is no way the idea can be overlooked whenever discussing values of democratic governance. Peaceful change of governance is also a crucial aspect that cannot be neglected whenever discussing the issue of democracy. Leadership is transferred from one regime to the next one in a peaceful procedure commonly through free and fair elections. Citizens have the mandate of choosing a leader of their choice who rules only for a stipulated period of time commonly referred to as a term. Once the term is over, people are given an opportunity to do elections and elect the leader they feel most appropriate for the job. This democratic exercise (elections) ensures that the party in power is working hard to meet the promises it made to the citizens as stated in its manifesto. The regime in power has to work extra harder in order to please its master, who is in this case refers to the citizens. It is clear that the debate on democracy emphasizes on three key issues. First, democracy focuses on the people in a given society and tries to lay down clear strategies on how political powers can be distributed. Secondly, it concisely explains the system of ruling or power subjection over the people. This defines whether there direct or indirect type of democracy would be the best option. Thirdly, it focuses on the most suitable process or procedures of decision-making (Gil 19). However, democracy may not be the best type of control in some settings. It can only be said to be a better option compared to other types of leaderships. Some of the challenges that face democracy include inequitable distribution of resources, misappropriation of public resources and wastage of resources just to mention a few. Democratic system of governance highly encourages inequitable distribution of resources (Box 35). Majorities tend to take the whole pie of leadership in all sectors simply because they are more. This challenge is one of the major causes of conflict in developing countries particularly African countries whereby some unscrupulous and selfish leaders use public resources in favor of their supporters without caring at all about the minority or the marginalized groups. Because of this, elections become matter of life and death as every side of the political wave tries to get into power at any cost. Because of this, individuals on power tend to misappropriate public fund to reward their loyal followers at the cost of the country. Such cases have been experienced in most of the third world countries with Africa being the main victim. This is what led to the Rwandan genocide of 1994, overthrow of several governments like in Mali, Uganda, and most recently Southern Sudan. However, this problem does not exist in the developed countries like USA, France, Canada, and UK just to mention a few. In addition, democracy is a hefty process that is both expensive and consumes a lot of time. Elections tend to be very expensive especially in the large and highly populated countries like USA. Politicians move around trying to outdo one another with the people in power trying to prove white elephant projects. Because of the high costs incurred during the campaigns, there is a probability of an outbreak of civil war since no party can concede defeat. Such crises have been occasionally been witnessed in some countries resulting to formation of coalition governments. Such government are totally ineffective since there is always a tag of war to prove who is mightier than who in the government (Box 40). Such administrations can only be termed as a marriage of convenience and are only beneficial to a few individuals in the top seats. Such cases have been common in Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Southern Sudan among others. Some scholars argue that democracy is an administration for the rich. Some even go to an extent of calling it a rule of the capitalists. As explained above, the election process is expensive and requires a lot of resources, which allows only the rich to contest. Only the rich can afford to travel nationwide doing extravagant campaigns with some buying votes. Elections in such a case become a risky process whereby only the mighty survives while on the other hand ordinary citizens end up with a plutocracy that does not prioritize the affairs of the poor. Political influence by the rich is very common in in India, USA, and England. In addition, democracy creates a platform for dictatorship by the majority over the minority, which is commonly known as tyranny of number. Majorities are supposed to safeguard minorities’ interests even though this is not the case (Box 55). This system of governance is also accused of emphasizing more on the quantity rather than the quality. This gives incompetent but popular persons an opportunity to get into power. This has been experienced in many countries whereby people with questionable morals and proficiency have been put into power simply they come from the majorities. Their incompetent ruling does a lot of harm to the country’s economic growth with some countries development completely being put in jeopardy. In such situations, election of leaders become a game of numbers whereby a few crooked manipulators gather the highest number of votes to allow them to get the democratic power. They gain power through the back door by engaging in unethical acts like bribing voters, dividing people on tribal basis among others and at times through assassinations. Power and wealth in this system of leadership work hand in hand. In conclusion, democratic system of governance can be said to be a good form of governance despite the few challenges that threatens it. It gives people a chance to elect leaders of their choice as well as participate in the process of making laws that govern them. Democracy also ensures that basic rights and freedoms of the people are keenly observed and that no one denies the public this crucial privilege. This ensures that people have full control over their rights either directly or indirectly. It aims at striking a balance between ruling people and giving them an opportunity to make decisions by themselves. It also creates a conducive environment for human development in all sectors like the health and education sectors just to mention a few. However, this system of leadership has some shortfalls. They include encouragement of inequitable distribution of resources, dictatorship by the majority also called tyranny of number, wastage of resources during campaigns as well as misappropriation of public funds and resources simply because the persons in power are from the majority. Nevertheless, benefits of democracy form of governance highly outweigh its demerits and can therefore, be termed as a valuable form of governance. Works Cited Box, Richard . “Democracy and Public Administration.” Armonk, N.Y: M.E. Sharpe, 2006. Print. Gil, Jaurena. “Diversity, Inclusion and the Values of Democracy: Conference Proceedings : Ljubljana.” 28 - 30 September, 2009. Web. 2014. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(Basic Rights and Freedoms of the People Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1, n.d.)
Basic Rights and Freedoms of the People Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1. https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1630647-basic-rights-and-freedoms-of-the-people
(Basic Rights and Freedoms of the People Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 Words - 1)
Basic Rights and Freedoms of the People Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 Words - 1. https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1630647-basic-rights-and-freedoms-of-the-people.
“Basic Rights and Freedoms of the People Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 Words - 1”. https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1630647-basic-rights-and-freedoms-of-the-people.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Basic Rights and Freedoms of the People

The Four Freedoms

In pursuit of democracy, a nation should strive as much as possible to tolerate and respect the people's choice that allows them to worship freely.... The right to speech and expression is related to other rights and it is always limited when in conflict with other rights.... (John Winthrop, 2009), the government should allow people to choose religion freely so that long run societal interest to prevail.... This freedom allows people to worship God in their own way and style....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Fundamental Rights Are a Set of Legal Guidelines

his promotes people's awareness on their rights and freedoms.... Strong religious backgrounds facilitate the creation of sound morals that enable members of a society to live harmoniously and uphold other people's rights and freedoms (Raskin & Spero 190).... Religion fosters morals that are attributed to the recognition of individual rights and freedoms, and the creation of laws to protect them.... Strong religious backgrounds facilitate the creation of sound morals that enable members of a society to live harmoniously and uphold other people's rights and freedoms (Raskin & Spero 190)....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms: Article 3 of the ECHR

There was therefore a need to promote and preserve the democratic regimes in the region and to secure the rights and interests of the people.... In essence the ECHR gives practical formality to certain rights and freedoms set forth by the UDHR and at the same time also gives a list of guaranteed rights that are non derogable.... hellip; Human rights and Fundamental Freedoms: Article 3 of the ECHR.... The World Conference in Vienna held in 1993, resolved that states have a duty to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms, this should be done regardless of the citizens political, economic and cultural systems....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

Analysis of 8 to 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights

There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.... But this can encompass a multitude of people.... There might be cases of people being judged in a bad light on the basis of their ideological and political leanings, without them actually being actual threats to the state....
6 Pages (1500 words) Research Paper

HUman Rights(United Nations Declaration of Human Rightss 1948)

Article 2 of the Declaration states that:Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.... The under developed nations of Africa are guilty of genocide, and every conceivable violation of basic rights, other nations specially in the Indian subcontinent are guilty of caste, religious and gender discriminations that although prohibited by law, are in actuality the byword....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Academic Freedom and Duty

In as much as there is freedom of speech and academic freedom, religion, and such sensitive issues could result to complications that limit other people's right,s (Krell, 2010, P 261, L 14).... This essay “Academic Freedom and Duty” gives the definition of academic freedoms and academic duties.... There will be examples of the freedoms and duties with their relation to conducting research.... hellip; The author states that academic freedom refers to the rights given to scholars to teach concepts without facing oppressions at workplaces that relate to what the scholar said....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

World Issues of Human Rights

here is the freedom of thought, belief and religion; however, public authorities in some situations may impede with the right so as to protect: public order, public safety, the rights and freedoms of other people, and health or morals.... This right is restricted in order to: prevent crime or disorder, protect national security or public safety, protect the rights and reputations of other people, protect health or morals, maintain the authority and impartiality of the judiciary, or prevent the disclosure of information received in confidence....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Human Liberty and Freedom of Speech

In a bid to protect the rights and freedoms of people in the society especially the political freedoms the first amendment ensures that the people are protected to give their views and inclinations within the society.... Prejudicial arguments are present in a pluralist society since there are some distinctions that are derived by the people towards specific groups and societies.... The protection by the constitution means that the people, therefore, need to adhere to the set conditions and properties that are protected in the constitution....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us