Democracy Reflection

What is democracy? While it is obvious that it is not a government where a dictator goes unchallenged as he does as he pleases on his throne of skulls, it also isn’t a government where the most powerful group dictates the law. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a democracy is “a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.” Obviously, this holds many benefits as even the poorest can still influence the law and even destroy bad laws. However, there are some flaws with the system that make it difficult to run efficiently, at least without giving someone the cold shoulder.

            The first flaw is that, technically, majority rules means that you can ignore a minority. Even worse, that minority can be silenced and denied rights if the system is corrupted. This was the case with the apartheid in southern Africa. Since black people were denied rights, technically the majority was in favor of the apartheid. Although people could rally and do public protest, the government could just arrest them, and since criminals don’t get a say, their voices don’t matter. However, that can be fixed, or at least, can be dealt with.

            Mandela was sent to prison for trying to bring equality. Prisons, as Mandela puts it, “robs each man of his dignity,” yet despite that, he kept fighting for equality and resisted demoralization. Even in prison, he organized strikes, although they didn’t amount to much.  He did come up with a way to be more influential. He, and other political inmates, began befriending the wardens. This worked. The wardens, while not the friendliest of allies, had more power than any inmate and was still connected to the outside world. In doing so, Mandela not only made his imprisonment more tolerable, but helped expand his cause of true democracy.

            In places where democracy doesn’t exist, a major flaw with democracy is that it’s difficult to implement. This is because, as in the case of Pakistan, the form of government that does exist is being upheld by foreign countries with political interests. Due to constant interference, including Islamic extremists, Pakistan never quite had democracy as it is constant political turmoil.  As such, it is usually under military dictatorship, with a leader who doesn’t want the power to be out of his hand. However, people like Benazir still strive for change as the Pakistan constitution allows for democracy as well as the Islamic faith. The only reason most people think Islam is anti-democracy is, as Benazir points out, because extremists creates chaos and then blames democracy for not fitting with the Islamic faith. However, when one takes time to educate themselves, as well educate the masses, they can gain power to overcome false notions and work for change.

            Regardless of how perfect the society is, regardless of how equitable it is, any democratic system will fail if the citizens don’t engage themselves. Anytime something seems unfair or anytime any an issue comes up, the citizens must act and demand change for the good. The longer they wait, the worse it gets, and in the words of Martin Luther King, “justice too long delayed is justice denied.” The sole purpose for democracy is so the citizens don’t wait for the ruler to act on an issue. No matter the issue, for democracy to work, one must act.