Democracy is touted as the Holy Grail of political systems for all countries. Once that ultimate goal is reached, there is nothing much to aspire for, but enjoy life in its entirety; electing the best to govern, seat & unseat governments, at will! Unfortunately, many countries continue to struggle with democracy, but what keeps them going is only the lasting horrors of systems suffered earlier, be it communism or totalitarianism! People continue to grapple with it to make it work; despite obvious anarchy in many countries, the system endures.
Developed countries have working systems & their leaders know their limits; thus far & no more! But for nascent democracies, no-holds-barred exuberance makes the system close to anarchy. To get to power, people are used as pawns, giving them false hopes of easy life, and they easily fall for them. The reality is, of course, different, but the drama is repeated ad nauseam; the common man is left to choose the lesser of the evils at any point of time.
Democracy slows down the decision-making process & development is thus hindered. It is okay for countries already developed, but what about those who are poor & any delay in key decision making due to endless politicking, sets the country further backward. China is racing ahead under one party, with decisions made behind closed doors, but the results of progress are astonishing. What use is a democratic system where the supposed freedom of choice means only the privileged few gain? That is sadly the state of affairs in most democracies where the people are just used as tools.
Education plays a great part as also fair distribution of wealth for democracies to flourish & benefit the common man. There should be basic rule of law; what use if the process is short-changed with the proverbial few above law, as happens in nascent democracies? It is ironical that the Chinese government has to show results for the party to survive while poor democratic countries are left with non-functioning systems; with little choice for alternatives!
Democracy makes no sense to a man in the street, without a roof over his head, with no real hope of securing even a square meal a day, running from pillar to post for bare existence. The political leaders ignore them except during election times! In effect, the whole system is abused in many countries with vested interests holding sway. Despite holding out as democracies, hierarchical succession is the norm, with nepotism holding sway. They are sham democracies with the country’s & common man’s interests subservient to those of the few.
Democracy has sadly failed to deliver in most countries but the process continues for the time-being, mainly because of the horrors still remembered of previous tyrannies; but that is no excuse to suffer under democracies with no signs of deliverance! People should fight for rule of law to be enforced & accountability; ultimately, they should educate themselves than be used as pawns, divided on the basis of any permutation & combination. They have to fine-tune the system & make it work, taking each country’s history & culture, into account; they are, of course, no excuse to sacrifice all hope for a better future under the best of political systems, democracy! The world will benefit as the nascent democracies are taking baby-steps; the developed countries should extend a hand of guidance, without interfering, of course. Let genuine & functioning democracies flourish everywhere!
