The Development Of Democracy In The World

Source - FreePik

”Democracy must be built through open societies that share information. When there is information, there is enlightenment. When there is debate, there are solutions. When there is no sharing of power, no rule of law, no accountability, there is abuse, corruption, subjugation and indignation.”

Quoted by Atifete Jahjaga, the above extract perfectly explains the concept of a  democracy in a nutshell. 

The idea of democracy has existed in the tradition of western political thought , from ancient times  itself. The term ‘democracy’ was first used in the 5th century BC by the Greek Historian , Herodotus, which literally meant ‘rule by the people’. 

We can define Democracy in 2 ways:

1. Narrow Sense

It is a form of government which gives an opportunity to people to participate in the governance of their nation. 

In democracy the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected representatives under a free electoral system. 

According to Amartya Sen” Democracy has instrumental value , Educative value as well as intrinsic value”.

2. Broader Sense

In a broader sense, democracy includes a way of life, a  value system and a type of society. 

It is believed that without a democratic society , democratic politics is nothing but a myth. In any society people are bound to have a difference of opinions and interests. These differences particularly shape a country like India which has such social diversity. Different groups may not be able to live together for such a  long time hadn't such a democratic set up been in place.

 Democracy provides the only peaceful solution to this problem, in democracy no one is a permanent winner and no one is a permanent looser.

Growth and expansion of democracy 

In the present times, it has become a herculean task to track down the expansion of democracy but thanks to Samuel P. Huntington, we have been able to achieve a clearer idea about the democracy and how it has been growing throughout the world, particularly in 3 distinct waves. 

The First Wave

The first wave of democracy was felt in the developed countries of US and Britain. At the peak of this democratic movement, the world saw 29 countries jump onto the bandwagon. But, we also saw a period when some of the newly formed democratic countries miserably failed and took to authoritarian and totalitarian form of government. 

The Second Wave

The second wave has commenced with the termination of the second world war. Countries like India also embraced the new found concept. But countries other than India failed to emerge as successful democracies and weren't able to sustain themselves in the longer run.

The Third Wave

With the collapse of communism, democracy gained roots universally barring a few exceptions like China, North Korea and Cuba. A major exception still remains, The Arab Countries. 

The forth wave could have been the Transformation of the Arab Countries, but unfortunately, the geo political interest of the USA converted the Arab Spring into the Arab Summer. 

However the early democratic system of a modern westernized world was at best an imperfect expression of the idea of democracy as they were not based on universal franchise. 

As we all are aware that democracy is all about the equal participation of the every class and section of the society thus the early democratic system was not exactly democratic in nature but only partially democratic. 

Female franchise has been operative in united state since 1919; in Britain since 1928; in France 1945 and in Switzerland all women got their Right to vote as late as 1971. 

Written By - Shivam Jha 

Edited By - Tushna Choksey