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The development of democracy has been rampant since the start of the concept
in the Ancient Greek civilization. The start of so called democracy could be traced back
to the ancient Greek city-state of Chios, but it can be said that the development of the
concept of democracy was observed in the city-state of Athens (Held, 2006). Democracy
in Athens during this period is called by some as where democracys foundations are said
to have been laid (Held, 2006). The very structure of Athenian society during the ancient
Greek civilization has been described by the likes of Plato, Aristotle as a government by
the many (Aristotle, 1981). The examples of this would range from people gathering at
the Ekklesia to discuss matters of state and society. It is also in Athens where the
concepts of equality among citizens, liberty, respect for the law, and justice (Held, 2006)
that are very much attributed to democracy were observed. These concepts would also
form the very foundation of modern democratic political thought, but this will be discussed
later on. It was also discussed by Held (2006), that the legacy of Ancient Greek
democracy was the thinkers, the likes of Thucydides, Plato and Aristotle that influenced
majority of the modern democratic political thought. Their works contain majority of the
foundations of Democratic theory (Held, 2006). Again the concepts of equality, liberty,
respect for law and justice form the basis of their works through their experiences during
this period. What can be said about Athenian democracy is that it was very committed to
the concept of civic virtue. In other words, this meant that each citizen of the city-state
democracy would not be considered democracy because of the limits it had laid. In order
for one to be part of Athenian democracy it was discussed that he must be a citizen.
Notice that the term he was used. Not he or she, but just He. This is one of the problems
of Athenian democracy that made this form of democracy exclusive to its own era only.
This problem of exclusivity that belonged to citizens of Athens who were the only ones
permitted to join the assemblies is a contradiction of the concept of democracy that was
people, for the people. (Sartori, 1987). This statement on democracy contradicts that of
male citizens of Athens alone (Held, 2006). Going back to the characterization of Lincoln
of democracy as government of the people, by the people and of the people, this is not a
clear definition of democracy itself. For the fact that democracy itself cannot be defined
(Mill, 1873). In actuality there are numerous attempts to define democracy, in the
discussion of Giovanni Satoris The Theory of Democracy Revisited, it was said that
Democracy is the power of the people over the people (Sartori, 1987). Here another
concept of democracy is introduced. A concept of self-rule among the people. This also
entails that democracy is the rule of autocrats. Another concept of democracy is that
political system for choosing and replacing governments through free and fair elections.
2. Active participation of the people. 3. Protection of the human rights of all citizens. 4. A
rule of law that applies to all citizens (Diamond, 2004). Thus the discussion of elections
and people deciding who they want to represent themselves in the matters of the state.
democracy as a political method. A method wherein people are granted the power to
decide on issues of legislative, political and administrative decisions from the people
through elections (O'Donnell, 1999). This new definition brings about another problem of
for democracy to work, thus breathing new problems of democracy. With the numerous
democracy is not properly defined, the world is in danger of getting something the world
With the issue of democracy having no clear definition of what it really is, leading
to many types and forms of democracy being developed. Some of this being Political
Democracy if discussed as a political concept. But there are numerous instances where
democracy has moved away from the political realm and introduced in the nonpolitical
(Sartori, 1987). With the introduction of these types of democracy in other types or fields
of life. The development of new types does not stop here. According to Barry Holden, he
has organized Democracy into five more types, this being Radical Democratic Theory,
New Radical Democratic Theory, Pluralist Democratic Theory, Elitist Democratic Theory
With the problems of democracy building up, this then would present more
obstacles in the practice of democracy itself. The fact that one cannot completely practice
a concept without clearly defining it is the problem of democracy itself (Sartori, 1987). The
practice of democracy in itself is an issue because of the problems stated in the problems
stated before. There have already been a lot of examples of the practices of democracy
over the years since it had started. During the period of Ancient Greece, Athenian
democracy was a prime example of the practice of democracy. The participation of the
people during assemblies is one of the most striking and straight forward example. But
the problem here is that Athenian democracy was only exclusive to male citizens of
Athens (Held, 2006). But nevertheless, the practice of direct democracy is observable in
Athens. Evidence to this is the assemblies that citizens of Athens are expected to gather
at least forty times a year to discuss matters of the state (Held, 2006).
manifestation of direct democracy is attributed to the action man without the use of
representatives or tools for representation (Sartori, 1987). The introduction of the very
concept of direct democracy has been associated with the dissatisfaction from the
dissatisfaction has led to many people to favor that they be part of the decision making
process of the state themselves. An example of this would be the referenda done by the
members of society. This would appear that for people who have a distaste for the
The problem is that the representatives that are elected are prone to putting their own
self-interests before that of their constituents (Bowler, Donovan, & Karp, 2007).
the people themselves elect their representatives (Mill, 1873). In this form of participation,
people put trust on their choice of elected officials to act on the matters of the state on
their behalf. This form of democracy puts emphasis that the people elected to the position
of representative must first clearly put their own interests aside in order for them to do
another definition of democracy comes into play as discussed by Philippe Schimitter and
Terry Lynn Karl. For them, Democracy, Modern Political Democracy is a system of
governance in which rulers are held accountable for their actions in the public realm by
citizens (O'Donnell, 1999). The fact that this definition exists means that democracy goes
far beyond just the concept of people. Here the concept of accountability is introduced
and that it becomes part and parcel with the practice of democracy, because of whatever
consensus people decide they must be able to live with that decision, as it was decided
by all. And usually reversing such decisions will require more effort than decision making
of democracy and how to go about and practice it. But in most civilizations to date,
institutions of democratic ideals are focused on developing their very own societies. This
through elections. (O'Donnell, 1999). This definition is crucial for the development of
democracy and its practice because this definition presupposes that democratic
institutions must be able to cater to the needs of the polity it belongs to. And the
democratic institution that is most crucial here is the electoral system and party system
of that democratic nation or state. These two are very crucial in the development of
democracy itself because elections and party systems are important in the process of
choosing ones candidate for an election or choosing which political party to join because
of the ideals a specific political party would hold. Putting into context these two concepts,
both will fall under the category of Political Competition. Political Competition can be
summarized into two concepts, a contested elections and how many seats political parties
are to obtain from the resulting elections (Wright, 2008). In Joseph Wrights discussion of
Political Competition, he espouses that political completion is crucial for any democracy
if the elections that are to be held in a certain nation are unrestricted, it may lead to the
stability of democracy in that state especially if this state is a new democracy (Wright,
2008). It also in the arena of elections where one can say the democracy can be best
manifested. In the elections, the will of the people is the most observe and that it also
here where each person is able to exercise equal opportunity to vote. One can also
definition of Democracy that can be applied to the concept of political competition through
elections is that of Samuel Huntingtons wherein he discusses that the most powerful
collective decision makers are selected through fair, honest and periodic elections
Basically outlining the importance of elections as a whole. The importance of tis elections
is that each person who participates in any elections of nation has an equal chance to
vote for their respective choice of candidate and or political party. This would then ensure
that democracy or the practice of democracy is clearly present through elections. The
congruence or the link of party politics here is that more often than not, people who
participate in elections are people who vote for the candidate or political party that have
Whenever one talks about Democracy, two concepts are always included, these
are political and economic development. Political development in the strictest is the
democracy, which are civil society, presence of a competitive electoral system and
equality among members of society. The development of institutions that cater to these
three aspects are clear indicators of democracy itself. Now for Economic development to
happen, only one issue must be addressed in any democratic state. This would be the
presence of inequality within society. And the only for this issue to be addressed is
through the improvement of the institutions that prevent the abuses of inequalities in
society. Inequalities within any society is always a factor that hinders any development.
through giving every adult and equal vote (Rueschemeyer, 2004). He also discusses the
the economic disparity is such a big factor in any given elections. It was also discussed
here that when it comes to economic issues, people are most likely to focus on matters
of employment or in laymans terms putting food on the table every night (Rueschemeyer,
growth, the GDPs GNPs of nations (Przeworski, 2004). This makes for another important
point of economic development. It can be said that economic development can only be
achieved with political stability. And in order to achieve political stability the elections that
are to be held in a nation must of a fair, honest and competitive nature. Ensuring that this
kind of elections, this can lead to political stability (Wright, 2008). Once political stability
is then achieved in the nation, then economic development or any development for that
All in all, the development of democracy hinges on the the practice of it. Since
democracy cannot be clearly defined, or there is no clear cut definition of what democracy
really is. One can say that since democracy is the fusion of many ideas and concepts and
that is what makes democracy work in the first place. It is a given that democracy not
perfect, and that one can say that it is a miracle that democracy even works. But it isnt a
miracle at all. This all hinges on the development of the different democratic institutions.
As such, when these institutions are improved for the better and that the continued
practice of democracy will breathe more definitions and new techniques on how to
properly practice democracy. With the possible emergence of more new definitions and
methods of practicing democracy, this would then be the answer to issue at hand, of does
one go about putting democracy into practice. This would the put into light that the practice