What is democracy? Around this definition revolves all modern politics and international relations. Numerous opposition forces regularly blame each other for lack of democracy. World states having
other management principles become outcasts. The apogee of all this triumph of democracy at the end of the 20th century was the concept of the famous American philosopher and political scientist Francis Fukuyama about the end of time. According to this influential thinker of our time, after the breakdown of the advanced states of the socialist camp and the departure of China from orthodox Maoist positions, it became clear that liberal values (namely, they are usually identified with democracy) are the highest point in the development of human civilization. Democracy in modern Russia, which replaced the old command and administrative system, is, according to the political scientist, the best evidence of this. No monarchist or fascist regimes were able to offer a viable alternative to it, much less attempts by eastern religious leaders to establish Islamic domination.
What is democracy. The origins
The birth of this phenomenon is attributed to the political structure of Greek city-policies, whose government bodies were elected by secret ballot.
among the citizens of such a city. Authorities (for example, the Areopagus, Bule, Archon Councils, and others) were often elected for a limited term from recognized legally capable members of the community. There was an interesting procedure in ancient Greece, designed to prevent usurpation of power. When one of the wealthy citizens or simply high-ranking officials became too powerful and threatened the democratic principles of government, the so-called ostracism - "crocking" procedure was carried out, when such a potential tyrant could be expelled from the city for ten years by secret ballot using shards. With the decline of ancient Greek civilization, many of its achievements were taken up by the Latins, who created a powerful Roman state. They developed the concept of democracy. It was there that citizenship close to the modern concept was born, and also, during the period of the republic, the separation of branches of power. And, of course, selectivity.
What is democracy. New time
With the fall of Rome and the assertion of barbarian peoples throughout Europe, many achievements, including those of a political nature, were lost for millennia. The cult of the power of the oldest military and their governor among the barbarians was replaced by the hereditary privileges of the royal dynasties and noble families, which were descendants of the same military elite. Once again, mankind remembered what democracy is, only with the Renaissance and thinkers of the new era: Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, Russo and many others. One of the key moments in the formation of the modern world order was the Great French Revolution of 1789, when the king, who was previously untouchable in any country, was expelled for the first time, and the people
proclaimed himself the supreme bearer of power. Of course, no one healed happily right after that. Progress still had to deal with reaction around the world, but the next centuries, the nineteenth and twentieth, became the time of the constant assertion of human and civil rights and freedoms.
Democracy: Pros and Cons
The principle of the rule of law and the inviolability of the human person has been firmly established in modern political and social thought. However, in addition to colossal achievements, democracy still has many critics who rightly pay attention to a number of its shortcomings. The main disadvantage of such a device follows from the dignity. The universal right to choose power, of course, is in theory a guarantee that people can choose their own path of development. However, it should be recognized that not the entire population of the country is equal in their education and simply awareness of political trends in general, the economic situation in the country, international relations and so on. In such a situation, this may mean the wrong choice by a significant number of citizens.
