Democracy

Defining Democracy

As we look in the world today, we classify countries by their form of government. The main objective for the United States for almost the past six decades is to save and spread democracy and to contain anything else; such as communism. Democracy has been, or is believed to be, the vital key in what every human is in search of...'world peace'. But, nobody has ever experienced this. Democracy is a very loose and flexible term. Democracy is defined as "rule of the people". I believe that there should be different levels of democracy. Democracy needs to consist of the principles of participation, competition, and accountability- while also providing citizens with rights and liberties. Therefore, the measure of democracy has in majority part to do with the participation of the citizens (voter-turnout). Those elections that have been altered or manipulated in anyway, should be on a distinct level of democracy.

There are many different ways in which democracy can be attained in different nation-states. The ideal form of democracy does not exist. Democracy is something that has come about through history and is an on-going responsibility for every community. However, there are a few key characteristics that a democracy must include: election, competition, some degree of free speech, where individual rights are protected, and a free market. These attributes are what make a democracy distinct from any other form of government.

One of the most important characteristics is the ability to select a leader. In my view, the argument that both Dahl and Smith make about which has more priority- participation or competition, is an area that changes with time. For instance, the U.S. is trying to implement a 'rule of the people' in Iraq. What is trying to be done is to have the participation of the citizens of Iraq- which has never been done before since they were under