Unit 2.1:
What is Democracy?
Handout
Scenario
Democracy alive and well – survey
Are you scared that democracy is on the wane? Take heart. For a new global survey now shows that democracy is alive and well.
The good news is contained in a Gallop International global survey conducted across more than 65 countries – including Kenya – and represents views of more than 1.3 billion people.
It shows that 79 percent of the respondents believe that, in spite of its limitations, democracy remains the best system of government.
Interestingly, the survey shows that, although a majority supports democracy as the best system of government, about 48 percent of the sample were apprehensive of the quality of democracy and stated that elections were not free and fair in their respective countries....
From: The Sunday Standard, 25 September, 2005
Questions:
The Goals of a Democratic Society
The Arms of Government
The Legislature – that makes policies and laws and also supervises the work of the Executive;
The Executive – that carries out the policies and laws passed by the Legislature;
The Judiciary – that interprets and applies the laws passed by the Legislature and deals with any disputes that occur within the state.
Conventions on Human Rights
The following UN conventions on human right have been ratified by Kenya:
Civil Rights upheld in the Constitution of Kenya:
Background Information
Democracy: More than rule of the majority?
The word democracy comes from the Greek demokratia, from demos, ‘the people,’ and kratein, ‘to rule’, and it means simply ‘rule by the people’. Democracy in its broadest sense thus means a way of governing based on people’s consent or the ‘will of the people’. It stands for the welfare of all and for the common good. The basic rules of democracy include recognition of the fact that power belongs to the citizens and the importance of achieving the following goals:
In a democracy, people rule themselves either directly or indirectly through their representatives. One definition of democracy is that provided by Abraham Lincoln, the US President who abolished slavery in America, in his famous Gettysburg Address, delivered at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on November 19, 1863, during the American Civil War: ‘a government of the people, by the people, for the people.’ This implies that in a democracy, citizens share the job of governing the state. Most people understand democracy as a form of government in which policy is decided by the preference of the majority in a decision-making process, usually elections or referenda, open to all or most citizens.
In a democracy, a high degree of political legitimacy is therefore necessary, because the electoral process periodically divides the population into 'winners' and 'losers'. A successful democratic political culture implies that the losing parties and their supporters accept the judgment of the voters, and allow for the peaceful transfer of power – the concept of a ‘loyal opposition’. Democracy needs tolerance and agreement between the citizens, especially where one group is bigger than all the others. In a democracy, such a majority should not ignore the wishes and needs of members of smaller groups or minorities. Minorities include not just ethnic groups but disadvantaged people and persons of disability.
For example, in a group meeting, members may have a divided opinion over whom to elect as a chairperson. It may turn out that the majority want a new person. There may also be a small group who want the incumbent to continue. They cannot, however, be heard because of the boos and jeers from the majority. The majority, in this example, are not tolerant; they are not allowing democracy to work.
Democracy involves providing opportunities for all citizens without discrimination, and sometimes it also means helping some people – those disadvantaged by history, physical disability, or other factors beyond their control such as natural disasters – more than others. Democracy also requires citizens to do certain things or make sure certain things are done. For example, every citizen shares the responsibility for civic awareness, democratic vigilance, and working together for the common good.
Democracy and its freedoms
Freedom is the ability to make choices and go about our daily life without being bothered or hindered by others. Freedom, however, does not mean that we can do anything we like or want. Since we all live in a society with other people, we have to make sure that what we are doing does not harm the freedoms of others. The rights and freedom of other people limit individual freedom; freedom should not be enjoyed at the expense of other people. Most democracies, therefore, have specific limits on specific freedoms, which are justified by saying that they are necessary to guarantee the existence of democracy, or the existence of the freedoms themselves.
The basic freedoms considered fundamental to democracy (and their limits) are:
There are three other useful ways to define democratic freedoms.
Political freedom is the ability to:
Economic freedom is:
Social freedom is:
Equality, justice and human rights
In a democracy, all people are seen as having been born equal and are treated equally before the law. Democracy rejects any form of discrimination among people and provides a framework for justice, fairness and equality. Justice is a set of rules that provide each person and/or groups in society with basic rights. These include:
Kenya has ratified several United Nations conventions on human rights, among them:
The meaning and content of human rights have changed over time. At present it includes three main categories of ‘rights’:
1. Political and civil rights, often referred to as ‘civil rights’ or ‘fundamental rights, freedoms and protections’. The Constitution of Kenya includes the following civil rights:
2. Economic, social and cultural rights, which include:
3. ‘Third generation rights’, relating to group rights, such as:
The concept of the ‘rule of law’ is based on the idea of government by law. This means that no person is above the law; that is, that all citizens are subject to and equal before the law. It means that no person can suffer punishment unless that person has broken the law and is rightly judged through the established judicial process. Leaders, too, must exercise their powers according to laid down law. Anybody who makes a decision must do so within the law.
For example: If the law of a state provides for freedom of assembly, then the government is bound by this rule. It cannot prevent a public meeting simply because it dislikes or disagrees with the views of those responsible for calling that meeting. Similarly, if the law of the state provides that a court order is necessary to ban or disallow a public meeting, then the government must follow that rule. Government officers must first obtain a court order before preventing a meeting from taking place.
Furthermore, the law should apply to all people equally without any discrimination on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, political affiliation, colour, disability, social status and other physical or social characteristics.
Economic justice is the equal sharing, distribution and allocation of socio-economic wealth among all citizens. Economic justice means that citizens can get rich legally for the good of the individual and/or for the common good. It requires the state to be fair when allocating public resources for development. Economic justice includes the right to:
Gender equity means the just or fair distribution of opportunities, resources and responsibilities between boys and girls, men and women, within a society. It prevents any form of discrimination on the basis of sex.
Types of democracy
There are various ways in which different societies and governments seek to achieve democracy as an ideal. In some cases, people are involved directly in making decisions about public affairs. In other cases, people choose representatives to act on their behalf.
In direct democracy, the people themselves directly express their will on public issues. It is easy to use direct democracy in organisations and associations whose membership is quite small. In ancient Athens, where the word democracy was coined, citizens made decisions directly, rather than voting for representatives, as in a republic. It is difficult to practise direct democracy in large and complex organisations where the number of people is large and spread over a large area.
Direct democracy can also be described as participatory democracy as it involves all citizens in making decisions on public matters. Each person is given the opportunity to take part in making public decisions directly. People do not need to delegate that right to another person – or a representative – who represents their choices.
The best example of participatory democracy is where citizens vote in a referendum. A referendum is a direct vote by all the citizens to decide on a political matter of national importance. For instance, a referendum can be used to decide whether to adopt or reject a new constitution, as happened in Kenya in November 2005.
Participatory democracy is, however, inconvenient, expensive and difficult to arrange. This is because it requires everybody to take part directly in exercising his or her choice whenever a major decision is needed. Most states have populations that are too large to allow direct democracy.
In indirect democracy, people elect their representatives periodically to govern on their behalf and to specifically express people’s feelings on public issues. The state in this form of democracy is not directly governed by the people themselves but by their representatives. This form of democracy is practised in the modern nation-states because they are large in area and in population. Their structures and problems are also complex and varied. It is difficult to involve everybody in such a situation.
As a form of indirect democracy, representative democracy requires individuals to elect other persons to exercise power and make decisions on their behalf. A person exercises his or her power through a representative.
This is the most common type of democracy. It is practised even in private associations. Most organisations have committees, boards or councils to manage their work. These management bodies exercise power and make decisions on behalf of members of the organisations. Examples are women’s, youth, religious, cultural and welfare groups; co-operative societies, trade unions and educational institutions. Even business organisations have such bodies, usually called boards of directors.
In all these cases, people are elected to certain positions on a committee, board or council. Their duty is to run the organisation or institution the way members would like it to be run. They therefore represent the members.
In the context of the state, citizens elect Members of Parliament and councillors to run the central and local governments respectively. By doing so, citizens pass their powers and rights over to elected officials to make decisions for them.
These various ways of practising democracy are interrelated. In most cases, they operate under the legal limitations of the constitution. Constitutional democracy thus refers to a democratic government based on a constitution.
The major forms of democracy adopted by different governments in the world today are:
Liberal democracy stresses liberty, freedom of the individual and social pluralism, as most important to the success of the democracy. Binding rules and policies are made by representatives who are accountable to the people. In this regard, free, fair, regular and competitive elections are very important. Virtually all adult men and women have the right to vote and stand for elective office. Citizens may express themselves without the danger of punishment on political matters, including criticism of government officials and the government itself.
As a system, liberal democracy focuses on the protection of individual rights and freedoms, a free market and promotion of political, social and economic diversity. In this kind of democracy, the state is expected to provide as much room as possible for the development of the individual. State interference in individual lives is kept as limited as possible. The state’s responsibility in this form of democracy is focused on creating an ‘enabling environment’ for both the state and non-state role-players. Liberal democracy also reduces the welfare role of the state by transferring responsibilities to the citizens and non-state actors. This is the ‘Western-style’ democracy being promoted across the world today by the US and its allies.
Social democracy promotes the well-being and social security of the individual citizen by minimising inequalities of wealth and privilege. It stresses the need both for a welfare state and social reforms in order to ensure that everyone has access to basic services and social security without discrimination on any basis. Social democracy is founded on the understanding that social inequalities reduce people’s capacity to participate fully in public affairs. Secondly, it recognises that some needs in society are unlikely to be met for all people because of the imperfect nature of the free market.
One principle of social democracy is that the state has the responsibility to address inequality in society by carrying out social reforms. As a system, social democracy focuses on ensuring a minimum quality of life for all people and safeguarding the dignity of human beings. All people have social rights, such as the right to work and the right to welfare services. The welfare state provides social security to all people.
Controlling the exercise of political power
The state has legitimate power to control and influence actions within its borders. The principal organs (called arms of the government) through which the government exercises its powers are:
The principle of separation of powers sets limits on the work of the Judiciary, the Legislature and the Executive. It provides the checks and balances that prevent misuse of power by any of the three arms of government. The principle of separation of powers requires that:
For example, if a widow makes a complaint that a certain chief has abused his executive power by allocating the land of her late husband to a friend of his, and it is the same chief who judges her complaint, then the principle of separation of powers between the executive and judicial functions of the government has not been applied.
Checks and balances are mechanisms to make sure that no part of the government has too much power, or goes beyond its functions, and that each arm of the government can check the misuse of power by the other arms of the government. Examples of the checks and balances contained in the Constitution of Kenya are:
Who sets the democratic agenda? How can it be influenced?
A democracy represents the ‘will of the people’ but, as we have seen, in modern states it does so through systems of representation of many different types. Nor do the people always speak with one voice; with many competing interests at stake, the actual formulation of laws and policies and the whole nature of a democracy depend as much on the exercise of influence by various interest groups and backroom deals and compromises as on direct approval by voting through elections and referenda. Left to themselves to set the agenda, governments speak of ‘the public good’ but tend to listen to the money-interest groups who support its operations through tax revenues or aid or political donations to the coffers of the ruling political party or, of course, through straightforward bribery – not unknown in Kenya. Thus we have seen that, after the end of the Cold War, indebted governments all over the developing world, unable to play the West off against the Soviet bloc, yielded in varying degrees to pressure from their debtors/donors in the West to liberalise their markets and retreat from direct involvement in economic activity, as well as cut down on social welfare spending – in other words, to embrace liberal-democratic practices. The social-democratic aspirations contained in their post-independence constitutions and policies became less and less influential. But while the first trend was fully or partially supported by many local interest groups, especially business and employers’ lobbies, the social-democratic cause was kept alive by civil society groups, the media and various social movements.
The interest groups that set, or at least influence, the democratic agenda are political parties, various interest groups, social movements, civil society and the media, whose role in the political process we will discuss in Unit 2
Notes to Facilitators
Objectives
Sequence
1. The Scenario:
To begin the conversation about the meaning and nature of democracy you could ask the questions listed in the handout:
Summarise and keep a note of the key points that emerge from the discussion.
2. More than the rule of the majority?
On this first theme of the Background Information, you could brainstorm with the group on the goals of a democratic society. Then compare the participants’ response with the list given in the handout:
Present the example about the group meeting where there is a divided opinion about the selection of a chairperson. What do the participants think about the way the minority are treated?
3. Democracy and its freedoms
Again, run a brainstorm on the basic freedoms. And compare the response with:
Offer the other way of defining democratic freedoms:
4. Equality, justice and human rights
Highlight for the group of the four basic rights indicated in the Background Information:
The Rights theme will be treated in more depth in Module 5, but at this stage you might ask the participants to consider the extent to which these basic rights are upheld in Kenya after reminding them that Kenya has ratified the following UN conventions, as ;listed in the handout:
Finally, in this section, ask the participants about their understanding of the concept ‘rule of law’ – and compare their response with what is said in the Background text.
5. Types of democracy
This is not such an easily discussed subject, so perhaps the best approach would be for you to give a brief presentation, based on the text, about:
6. Controlling the exercise of political power
Note the three ‘principal organs of government’:
Explain their roles and functions and then lead a discussion on the rationale for the ‘separation of powers’.
7. Who sets the democratic agenda?
This is a topic that is taken up in later units, but if there is time, it might be useful to explore the participants views as to which interest groups have major influences on government – business, civil society and the media.