What democracy is by Ioana Rduu

What democracy is?

Abraham Lincoln said, "Democracy is government of the people, by the people, and for the people." Everyday we hear at the radio, on TV, on streets the word democracy. It is the most sed terms of the political vocab lary. Everybody has written abo t democracy b t none of the te!ts already written were accepted and adopted worldwide by the politicians. "o, people tend to have different opinions abo t democracy and they define it differently. Democracy has many principles li#e$ it is an niversally recogni%ed ideal based on common val es shared by people all over the world no matter the c lt ral, political, social or economic differences, democracy is applied according to the c lt ral partic larities and it promotes e& ality between all the people, democracy also promotes a climate favorable for the international peace and it is the only political system that has the capacity for self' correction. The main principles of the democracy are the primacy of the law and the e!ercise of h man rights. As a concl sion, I can say that democracy e& als the instit tionali%ation of freedom and e& ality and that people who live in a democratic society m st be the g ardians of their own freedom and rights, even tho gh there are many organi%ations that try to protect the h man rights, in the end people are the only ones who can really protect themselves. Democracy promotes the participation of citi%en in ma#ing p blic decisions by ma(ority r le. )owever, in a democratic system minority rights are also respected and ta#en into consideration. In other words, the people are citi%ens of the democratic state, not its s b(ects. *e can say that it is and e!change between the state and the citi%ens$ the state protects the rights of its citi%ens and in ret rn citi%ens give the state their loyalty and s pport.

What democracy is by Ioana Rduu

In +,,- in the ..". Declarations of Independence, Thomas /efferson said "*e hold these tr ths to be self'evident, that all men are created e& al, that they are endowed by their 0reator with certain inalienable rights 1freedom of speech and e!pression, freedom of religion and conscience and the right to e& al protection before the law2, that among these are life, liberty and the p rs it of happiness. To sec re these rights, governments are instit ted among men, deriving their ( st powers from the consent of the governed." All these rights are f ndamental b t they are not absol te, if they are sed to incite to violence or for other harm and these bad actions are proved, they are s ally defined and controlled thro gh co rts. I believe that the most important things that democracy promotes are the rights from above. 3ow we will spea# abo t every right we believe it is important for the citi%ens.

The freedom of speech and expression 4reedom of speech and e!pression is one of the most important rights that democracy promotes. Anyway, this right has also a negative part, which is so called "negative right", beca se we cannot se it in any sit ation and banned by the law of the state. All the citi%ens have the right to be informed and all the p blic administration has to ass re transparency in all the p blic information. Democracy promotes ncensored ideas and opinions and anyone has the right to e!press their ideas even if they are different and contrary to the ideas of the government. If people want to be free to govern themselves they have to be also free to e!press their opinions openly and in p blic. The most #nown thing in which citi%en se the freedom of speech and e!pression are the protests. *hen people do not agree with a certain thing and

What democracy is by Ioana Rduu

believe that the law is not right, they form big gro ps and start protesting, most of the protest ta#ing part in the capital, in front of the government. In 5omania we have seen many protests in the last years beca se economy has not been the best and the govern started c tting off the salaries. This was not a good thing for the citi%ens beca se their wor# was the same, so they started protesting to be s re that the law will be changed. "ometimes, the protests have res lts, b t most of the times they do not have.

Freedom of religion Another right promoted by the democracy is the freedom of religion. If we ta#e o r state as an e!ample, we can see that here we meet people that have all #inds of religion, from orthodo!y to 0atholicism, 6 slim people or 6ormons and .In democracy the state does not discriminate between these religions and they treat them e& al. 7eople have the freedom to follow their conscience and choose their religion. The citi%ens of the state have the right to worship anything or not to worship at all. In 5omania, it has been a problem with freedom of religion beca se here most of the pop lation is orthodo!. In orthodo! c lt res, we worship 8od and pray to icons with o r saints. *e tend to have these icons in all the places, incl ding o r homes, companies, hospitals or schools. 7eople whom have a different religion did not li#e this thing beca se they go to the same schools with s and they did not agree to have an icon in every class beca se that was not their 8od. This matter is still disc ssed in the government b t no decisions have been ta#en yet.

What democracy is by Ioana Rduu

Equality Democracy is the safeg ard of e& ality. Democratic e& ality g arantees citi%ens e& al basic liberties li#e fair e& ality of opport nity which re& ires that we not only ( dge people for (obs and offices by reference to their relevant talents and s#ills b t we establish instit tional meas res to correct the ways in which class, race and gender might interfere with the normal development of their talents and s#ills. I refer to this when I spea# abo t e& ality beca se in 5omania things are not as they are written in the law. *e meet discrimination wherever we go, even if we go in hospitals, wor#places or school. 7eople tend to re(ect things that are different from them. )owever, we can see an improvement of this beca se yo ng people promote e& ality and do not discriminate so m ch. If we were to choose from all the political systems, we can see that democracy is the best of them beca se its law is based on the citi%ens9 needs and their wishes. 3evertheless, democracy is both a promise and a challenge. A promise that people are free h man beings and they can serve themselves in a way that will serve their personal aspiration and opinions and a challenge beca se its s ccess depends and rests on the sho lders of the people and nobody else.

Ioana Rduu