Democracy Guide: An Overview
Democracy is a sociopolitical system in which power is distributed across society. Democracy is fundamentally about power, specifically who holds power within a society. In order to know how democratic a society is, we need to know how power is distributed. If power is distributed across all members of society, rather than concentrated in a single person or unelected group of people, then it is (more or less) democratic.
Democracy is a sociopolitical system in which power is distributed across society. Democracy is fundamentally about power, specifically who holds power within a society. In order to know how democratic a society is, we need to know how power is distributed. If power is distributed across all members of society, rather than concentrated in a single person or unelected group of people, then it is (more or less) democratic.
To simply label a society as a democracy is too vague because democracy exists along a continuum. There are "full democracies" as well as "flawed democracies," hybrid regimes that combine elements of democracy and authoritarianism, and full authoritarianism.
According the the Democracy Index, societies can be ranked based on the answers to questions in five categories: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of government, political participation, and political culture. They investigate such topics as whether national elections are free and fair, the security of voters, the influence of foreign powers on government, and the capability of the civil servants to implement policies.
The answers are scored and societies are placed in one of the following categories:
Full democracies are nations where civil liberties and fundamental political freedoms are not only respected but also reinforced by a political culture conducive to the thriving of democratic principles. These nations have a valid system of governmental checks and balances, an independent judiciary whose decisions are enforced, governments that function adequately, and diverse and independent media. These nations have only limited problems in democratic functioning.
Flawed democracies are nations where elections are fair and free and basic civil liberties are honored but may have issues (e.g. media freedom infringement and minor suppression of political opposition and critics). These nations have significant faults in other democratic aspects, including underdeveloped political culture, low levels of participation in politics, and issues in the functioning of governance.
Hybrid regimes are nations with regular electoral frauds, preventing them from being fair and free democracies. These nations commonly have governments that apply pressure on political opposition, non-independent judiciaries, widespread corruption, harassment and pressure placed on the media, anaemic rule of law, and more pronounced faults than flawed democracies in the realms of underdeveloped political culture, low levels of participation in politics, and issues in the functioning of governance.
Authoritarian regimes are nations where political pluralism is nonexistent or severely limited. These nations are often absolute monarchies or dictatorships, may have some conventional institutions of democracy but with meagre significance, infringements and abuses of civil liberties are commonplace, elections (if they take place) are not fair or free (including sham elections), the media is often state-owned or controlled by groups associated with the ruling regime, the judiciary is not independent, and censorship and suppression of governmental criticism are commonplace.
So, a more accurate representation of these four categories would look something like this:
According the the Democracy Index, societies can be ranked based on the answers to questions in five categories: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of government, political participation, and political culture. They investigate such topics as whether national elections are free and fair, the security of voters, the influence of foreign powers on government, and the capability of the civil servants to implement policies.
The answers are scored and societies are placed in one of the following categories:
Full democracies are nations where civil liberties and fundamental political freedoms are not only respected but also reinforced by a political culture conducive to the thriving of democratic principles. These nations have a valid system of governmental checks and balances, an independent judiciary whose decisions are enforced, governments that function adequately, and diverse and independent media. These nations have only limited problems in democratic functioning.
Flawed democracies are nations where elections are fair and free and basic civil liberties are honored but may have issues (e.g. media freedom infringement and minor suppression of political opposition and critics). These nations have significant faults in other democratic aspects, including underdeveloped political culture, low levels of participation in politics, and issues in the functioning of governance.
Hybrid regimes are nations with regular electoral frauds, preventing them from being fair and free democracies. These nations commonly have governments that apply pressure on political opposition, non-independent judiciaries, widespread corruption, harassment and pressure placed on the media, anaemic rule of law, and more pronounced faults than flawed democracies in the realms of underdeveloped political culture, low levels of participation in politics, and issues in the functioning of governance.
Authoritarian regimes are nations where political pluralism is nonexistent or severely limited. These nations are often absolute monarchies or dictatorships, may have some conventional institutions of democracy but with meagre significance, infringements and abuses of civil liberties are commonplace, elections (if they take place) are not fair or free (including sham elections), the media is often state-owned or controlled by groups associated with the ruling regime, the judiciary is not independent, and censorship and suppression of governmental criticism are commonplace.
So, a more accurate representation of these four categories would look something like this:
Democracy isn't an all or nothing affair, it is a matter of degrees. Explore this website to learn more about democracy in the U.S., how democracy works with various economic systems, as well as steps that can be taken to deepen our democracy.
Democracy Guide
www.democracyguide.org
Democracy Guide
www.democracyguide.org