Characteristics of a Democracy

A very dry essay pushed upon us in the guise of 'coursework'. For your information, I didn't bother passing it up. 400 words, no conclusion.

One of the main traits of the word "democracy" is that it is an ideology. That is to say, it is abstract; it is hard to define or set in stone. The greek word which democracy comes from can be literally translated as, "rule of the people". It is impossible to completely execute a pure democracy, but governments throughout planet Earth have come close to emulating democracy's key traits.

Before we look at the characteristics of a democracy we must note the general form of democratic governments. Firstly we must note that the most common interpretation of democracy is one that uses representatives, elected by the people; and those voted into power will then be involved in decision making and seek to best represent their electorate.

The cornerstone characteristic of democracy is the rule of the majority. The government must always seek to satisfy the needs of their people and protect their interests; listening to the people's woes and requests with due consideration. This can be accomplished in many ways, one example would be the upholding of the petrol subsidy in Malaysia to reduce inflation and cost of living. The democratic government must also uphold law and order in the country to protect its people's best interests.
 

We can examine the Malaysian political system as one that shows the characteristic of the rule of the majority. The Constitution of Malaysia requires a general election to be held at least once every five years. This is to give voters the opportunity to elect the 222 members of the Malaysian Parliament, 

While democracy means rule of the majority, the rule of the majority does not necessarily mean a democracy. An important part of the democratic rule of the majority is that the majority must not oppress the minority. Extensions to the law must be made to guarantee basic rights of minorities and treat them fairly. It is important for the government The rights of many types of minorities - race, religion, and language must be taken care of; in turn they will reciprocate with trust in the government. This will allow them to fully participate in the country's democratic institutions.

Another trait of the democratic system is pluralism. In a democracy, government is only a single thread in the social fabric of many kinds of public and private institutions, legal forums, political parties and associations.