Defining Democracy: Theoretical and Practical Debates

Defining Democracy: Theoretical and Practical Debates

Democracy is a concept that is differently defined and perceived by authors in the recent time. There is no specific definition of democracy and each author has defined it in their own way. Democracy is a kind of political regime based on collective decision-making with equal participation of the participants regarding the outcome of the process or its essential steps. This method is applicable to all public structures. Cording to some authors, the majority of the power in democracy is held by the state whereas others argue that people living in the state hold the majority power. In this paper, the determination of “democracy” is narrowed down through practical and theoretical debates in order to understand its features. In order to find answer to the question that what is democracy, the opinions of different authors are incorporated. According to Philippe C. Schmitter and Terry Lynn Karl democracy is the word that is perceived by people as something of their right and they struggle for better way of life and freedom. Their main argument is to define the meaning of democracy and its concepts determined as a distinctive system for managing relations between rulers and the ruled, its procedures and two operative principles which makes democracy work. They say that democracy doesn't consist of a single set of institutions (Schmitter et al., 1991).

James Hyland and Diamond Morlino have tried to define the meaning of democracy in theoretical terms. Hyland do not agree with dictionary definition of democracy (Hyland, 1995). According to him “the people” refers to a group who decide the actions of the government. However, ruling involves making decisions and choosing between available options. He further stresses the importance of the group of people and their decisions under a democratic government (Diamond & Morlino, 2005).

He argues that ruling by large group of people is almost impossible because authority possessed by everybody to take decisions cannot make consensus. There should be a single authority that could take decisions based upon the consensus of the people. He has also explained constructed definition, core elements and underlying values of the democratic traditions. The research of Diamond with Morlino focuses on the Quality of Democracy. They have described the particular dimensions of democracy in their own way such as freedom, the rule of law, vertical accountability, responsiveness and equality. They have also compared ...