Democracy

Democracy
Democracy is commonly defined as ‘‘Government of the people by the people and for the people”. The term is wide and may, in fact, be applied to any scheme of government in which the people are allowed to take part, in some form or other, not as a matter of grace but as a matter of right. Whatever may be the method of ensuring popular participation? Some kind of mandatory arrangement by which people can take part in the highest legislative and policy-framing bodies constitutes the essence of democracy.
Generally speaking, two broad-based essentials are necessary for the working of democracy. Firstly, a constitution, preferably written, must exist to regulate the legislative and executive functions of the government. Secondly, election to the law-making body or system. Other conditions, essential but not indispensable, are a well-organized party system, freedom of expression and fair degree of literacy among the masses.
Born out of the ruins of autocracy, with the message of equality and liberty, democracy was hailed all over the world as the guardian of popular rights and interests and enjoy a prosperous career till the beginning of the second quarter of the 20th century when it faced its first challenge from fascism in Italy and Nazism in Germany going by the name national socialism, both of which were, in essence, refined types of dictatorship, their apparent advantages over democracy and their initial achievements in the economic sphere shakened popular faith in popular government. The fate and future of democracy kept hanging in the balance until at last the Second World War ended in the defeat of the Axis powers, thus stamping out from the face of the earth the last vestiges of dictatorship. But the horizon of democracy is still cloudy, as a new rival has appeared after the Second World War. It is Marxian socialism, headed by soviet Russia, one of the mightiest powers of the world to day.
The primary reason of democracy facing repeated challenge lies rotted in the very system itself. It has certain inherent weaknesses that weaken popular faith in it whenever they find any other system free from them. The challenge from dictatorship arose because democracy is weak in decision and slow in action while the former was able to provide strong government, quick decision and prompt execution. Its new rival, Marxism possesses all the good traits of dictatorship and combines something more, namely, economic security which democracy theoretically stands for. Marxism, being based on a strictly socialistic economy, provides for the satisfaction of the basic needs of every citizen by way of giving employment to all, while democracy, having to bear the crushing burden of capitalism, is associated with large-scale unemployed of the people and the means of existence. The only superiority that democracies yet possess over Marxism is the perfect freedom of expression, which under the latter is drastically curtailed. But this alone cannot fortify democracy beyond the approach of danger.
Truly speaking, democracy has not yet failed utterly but may in future share the fate of tits predecessors, if it not recast to suit the needs of time. Since the birth of organized society, man has been changing government after government in quest of the security of his first right-the right to life. This holds the key to the ultimate success or failure of democracy as well. If democracy can not solve satisfactorily his pressing problems of bread and butter, it is only natural that he will substitute it by any other system promising the same, to-day or two says later. In that event, no good will result from holding before him the high ideals of democracy, its spiritual height, its moral basis or its recognition of human value.
So democracy is good things for the new generation. It is important media to change government and preserve human rights.