Democracy Essay

Muhammad Rifky Wicaksono

There are various types of governmental system which exist at the status quo,
however one this is most advocated and implemented in nations around the world is
undoubtedly democracy. Etymologically, the word democracy originates from two
ancient Greek words; demos meaning people and kratos meaning power. Hence, the
term democracy literally means people power.

But what does people power actually mean? People power in the governance mean
that the power holders and rulers of a nation are not unilaterally decided by a certain
party interested only in fulfilling their personal agendas; it means that the people are
the ones who have the rights to decide not only who will be their leaders, but they
also play a significant role in shaping the public policies and regulations of the state.
The people, in this context, refer to the citizens who are part of the society within a
given territory.

For any systems to run, it must first have a foundation on which it could refer to as a
guide. In the case of democracy, this foundation comes in the form of the five basic
philosophical principles;

1. Citizen participation;
This principle is the cornerstone of every democracy and the differentiating
factor between democracy and other government systems.
The very essence of democracy lies within the freedom granted for the citizens to
participate and contribute directly to the government. Citizen participation comes
in many forms, which includes voting in elections, standing for election, paying
taxes, etc.

2. Equality
This principle guarantees that every person in society will be treated and
valued equally, and also receive equal opportunities without being segregated
based on their sex, race, religion or sexual orientation. All individuals are equal
before the state, and thus should be given equal rights and protection by the
government. Democracy thrives to ensure this.
 3. Political Tolerance
One of the consequences which arise from the freedom of expression and
freedom of speech is that there will always be a plethora conflicting ideas and
points of view in a certain issue. Therefore, the role of democracy in this case is
to cater towards the needs of the majority while still protecting the rights of the
minority. In a society composed of hundreds of different cultural, racial and
religious background, people need to be able to tolerate and listen to each other’s
political view points, and still act critically in order for democracy to last.

4. Accountability
In a system of governance where the power holders are appointed by the
society, elected officials must be accountable to the people. They are responsible
for their actions, and their actions should reflect the needs of the society, and not
his own personal agenda.

5. Transparency
Before the government could be held accountable, its society must first be
aware of what is happening in their country. Thus, it is the government’s
responsibility to ensure that the society, which includes the media, are granted
access to information concerning decisions that were made, by whom and why.

There are several different types of democracy which exist, however it is important to
note the difference between democracy in a Republic state and a Monarch.
Democracy in a republic state is the most common type of democracy, which are
currently implemented in countries such as the United States of America, Ireland,
France, and also Indonesia. Democracy in a republic basically entails elections to
choose a president who acts as both the head of state and head of the government,
and that there are elected representative in the parliament.

In democratic monarchies, or constitutional monarchies, the power vested in the

head of state is usually held by a monarch, and the heads of government are elected
by the people, either directly or indirectly through the parliament, depending on the
constitution. This differs considerably from absolute monarchy, where the monarch
holds the absolute position of both the head of state and head of government. Also,
constitutional democracies have a democratically elected parliament. This means
that the constitutional monarchy is considered as a legitimate democratic government