Essential Concepts and Principles of Democracy Like the six (blind) men of Indostan who went to see an elephant,

the global understanding of the concept of democracy and for that matter its description differ from one democratic government to another each defining and describing it according to how they see it. The above notwithstanding and regardless of where democracy is practiced, it has some unarguably common characteristics that make it possible for us to be able to determine whether a type of governance is democracy or not. For this reason, the rest of this paper will be devoted to identifying and discussing four fundamental and related concepts and principles of democracy. I will distinguish between these four essential concepts or principles of democracy by showing which ones are fundamental and which ones are related, in my opinion, and finally draw my conclusion about democratic concepts and principles as they relate to democratic governance. First, popular sovereignty. According to Rhodes (2009), democracy originated from the Greek city-state of Athens and is the idea of a government responsible to the governed. This implies that in a democracy the people rule because the government of a democracy derives its power and authority from the people. Since a democratic government will be deriving its power from its people, among others, free and fair elections along with free speech must be fundamental elements of a democratic government these are some basic ways the electorate will be able to verify and critique the information they need or receive in order to make informed choices about who should represent them. Even though Post (2005), does not consider popular

Isaac Osei-Akoto Week 2 Application Assignment

sovereignty a fundamental concept of democracy, I do. I think Post (2005) missed the point when he equated control to dictate. Popular sovereignty is therefore a fundamental concept of democracy not in the sense that the people dictate to the government but rather to the contrary, that the government is determined by the people and is answerable to the people.

Next, equality. Post (2005) observes that Democracy requires that persons be treated equally This observation touches on the nerve of individual rights. In a democracy, it is expected that every individual will be respected and valued as autonomous. This means that democracy respects the individual enough as not to invade their privacy on the basis of any assumption that they are second class citizens. Some of the areas where the citizens will have to be treated equally, according to Post (2005) include voting and access to public discourse. Political freedom, freedom of the press, freedom of self expression and freedom of association would also considered important ways expressing equality among citizens and be I would consider this concept or principle as a fundamental concept of democracy because a point of democracy is to promote human worth without subjugating one citizen to the other. In the words of Studniberg voter equality in a democracy allows for the most stable, cohesive, and robust platform permitting individual citizens to pursue their own conceptions of the good

In Concepts and Principles of Democratic Governance and Accountability, a project supported by the European Union, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (2011) identify majority rule as an important concept or principle of democracy. In a democracy, decisions are
Isaac Osei-Akoto Week 2 Application Assignment 2

made based on what the majority of the people agree on, while respecting the views of the minority. This means that to decide on elected officials, the one who gets more votes from the voters gets elected, even though they may not have won one hundred percent of the votes casted. In this case, the voters who did not get their nominee into public office represent the minority and are expected by the norms of democracy to accept the choice of the majority while the majority is required by the same norms to respect the decision of the minority to have voted for a nominee that did not win the election. Thus in a democracy, through discourse and voting, one person may win an election while the other does not, both the majority and the minority are required to show mutual respect toward each other because as stated earlier, each one is entitled to their opinions and none should be intimidated for holding their own opinion.

Finally, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (2011) identifies the Rule of law as another pillar of democracy. According to this projects finding, in a democracy where the law rules, everyone is held to be equal be equal before the Law. In other words, without preferential treatment, all citizens obey the law or face the same consequences for breaking it. As well, all citizens are equally protected by the law.

Whereas others for example Post (2005) have been able to differentiate between absolutely essential concepts and principles and those that are worthwhile but not essential to democracy, I must admit that I have difficulties in making this distinction. A closer look at some of Posts (2005) arguments that lead him to this conclusion and the complex nature of the concept of democracy are my reasons for my inability to make
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such a distinction at this time. Rather, my position is that given the complicated and highly idealistic nature of the theory of democracy, each one of the identified principles and concepts are necessary in order for democracy to be true. The lack of ability by any nation to attain this, therefore speak to the conclusion that democracy is a lofty ideal that is not attainable. At best, any group of people who are interested in attaining democracy will only always be pursuing it.

References: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (2011) Concepts and Principles of Democratic Governance and Accountability. Retrieved on March 11, 2012 from http://www.kas.de/wf/doc/kas_29779-1522-2-30.pdf?111219190844 Rhodes, P. J. (2009). Ancient Athens: democracy and empire. European Review Of History, 16(2), 201-215. Doi:10.1080/13507480902767602 Studniberg, B. M. (2009). REPRESENTING PEOPLE AND NOT INTERESTS: A RAWLSIAN CONCEPTUALIZATION OF THE RIGHT TO VOTE. Review Of Constitutional Studies, 14(1), 53-104. The Blind Men and the Elephant. Retrieved on March 10, 2012 from http://www.noogenesis.com/pineapple/blind_men_elephant.html

Isaac Osei-Akoto Week 2 Application Assignment