Sunday, August 31, 2008

Is Democracy the best policy?? by Angela

We live in a country which practises democracy. We know how we are involved in the democratic process through the electoral system. It is always said that democracy is the ideal way to run a country. How true is that?? I will state down just a few pros and cons of the democratic system.

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__Pros__


1.People are represented

-Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy. The "Yang di-Pertuan Agong" as king and head of state has the obligation to act in accordance with government advice.

-Malaysia's bicameral parliament consists of the Senate (Dewan Negara) and the House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat).

-The people will vote for the candidate whom they think is the best. Therefore, the candidate who wins in the elections will represent the voices of the ‘rakyat’.



2.Power is not accumulated (Separation of Power)

-In keeping with the concept of Parliamentary Democracy which
forms the basis of the government administration in Malaysia,
the Federal Constitution underlines the separation of governing
powers among the Executive, Judicial and Legislative Authorities.
The separation of power occurs both at the Federal and State level.

-The separation of power is used to ensure that ‘checks and balances’

do happen in the government.


There is a saying :
Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely



3.The MPs are also bound by the law

-In the olden days, kings are not bound by their own law. They can do anything as they wish without the need to abide the law.

-But, thanks to democracy, even rulers now has to follow the law!

-Now that all men are bound to the law, there is equality.


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__Cons__



1.Too slow in decision making
-Malaysia has about 222 seats in the parliament.
The question is :-
Would it be easy to have a majority to agree on an issue especially when Malaysia is a multi-racial country? We have different beliefs and interests. How can there be a consensus?



2. Electorate may not know whom they are choosing

-As an example, i will share about Adolf Hitler. He led the National Socialist German Workers Party or more commonly known as the Nazi Party.


-Here’s something which Hitler said :- “Nature is cruel; therefore we are also entitled to be cruel. When I send the flower of German youth into the steel hail of the next war without feeling the slightest regret over the precious German blood that is being spilled, should I not also have the right to eliminate millions of an inferior race that multiplies like vermin?”
Source: Adolf Hitler, quoted in Hitler, by Joachim Fest, Vintage Books Edition, 1974, p. 679-680.

-Is cruelty right? Should cruelty be practised by men? by people who are chosen to protect the citizen's rights?



-This is an example of the effects which may happen when the electorate does not know whom they are choosing.



3. Democracy or any other systems cannot work without morality


-The real problem does not lie in the system but the problem arises when there is no morality.

-For an example, if a king is corrupt, the country will be corrupted. If the MPs in a democratic country is corrupt, the country will also be corrupted.

-So, what makes democracy the best system if there is no morality?

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Today, democracy and technology are closely linked. The very fact that you can read this has already proven my point that technology allows us to know democracy through the Internet. Without technology, we might not be able to find out about the current political situation in our country as quick as we do now.

We can watch the ‘Annual Budget’ being reported by our Prime Minister live on television. Can we do that if we do not have access to television?

Without technology, the democracy system might not be able to run efficiently. This is because we depend so much on technology to ease our participation in this country’s democratic system.

Is democracy the best system which can be used to run a country???Think about it.

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