What Is Democracy? To Be a Responsible Citizen in a Democracy, What Does It Mean?

What Is Democracy role of Responsible Citizen

Democracy is a vote-based system where the citizen has the power to vote and choose to administer authority. A responsible citizen in any democracy wishes to keep in order all the administration and lawfulness of the country. They are entitled to practice every one of the central freedoms and obligations, like making a choice, making good on government burdens, and shielding the country from corruption.

What is a democracy?

Democracy is basically a form of government, which is based on the collective views and actions of the people. With a democracy, power is vested in the people. Democracy is not limited to choosing leaders from the same family or class. According to Democracy.org, there are five types of democracy – limited government, tyranny, oligarchy, meritocracy, and monarchy. These types of government are distinguished by their policy approaches, rules of the election, the appointment of their leaders, and accountability to the people.

Democracy is not the same as a liberal democracy. Democracy is an alternative political system in which the power of government is shared and distributed among the various parties. It is basically based on the notion of majority rules.

What is to be a responsible citizen in a democracy?

Being a responsible citizen is not always easy, especially when political players and law enforcement agencies are involved. Despite the many challenges, there are responsibilities that every citizen has to be engaged in if they really want democracy to succeed.

Responsible citizenship begins from the family

The home ground of a citizen is where his or her beliefs are formed and integrated. If the parents don’t set a good example, the student might become a bad citizen and go for radicalism.

Furthermore, the citizens of a democracy should learn from the successes and failures of the past. So looking for reasons why the society has been poor can be a good indication of where the country should focus its attention to growing.

How can we become responsible citizens?

It is important to be sure that democracy is a form of government, rather than a mob rule system of law. Democracies usually support law and order and uphold people’s fundamental human rights. If someone won’t follow the law, they should prepare to face the consequences. The Philippines is a country that is still in transition from an authoritarian to a democratic system.

According to the Philippine National Police statistics, the country has been a democracy for 54 years. The people of the country are only beginning to learn the rules and regulations in political behavior. The new generation of the Philippines is still learning to conduct political dialogues and coexist together under one society.

Challenges and opportunities in a democracy

In a democracy, the democratic values of freedom, equality, fraternity, and mutual tolerance are at stake if such values are not upheld and advanced by citizens. Once one starts practicing the fundamental principles of democracy, one can realize that an irresponsible citizen is worse than a dictator. Therefore, responsible citizens have to take a stand and be courageous in expressing their opinions in the public sphere. A citizen who doesn’t respect the people and the political system commits a crime. People should understand that democracy is not only a political system but also a civil society where freedom and equality is the primary political principle. Unfortunately, this principle is not practiced in many countries today.

Conclusion

The world has become increasingly smaller, technological innovations, ease of communication and global travel make it harder to measure the concepts of citizenship and equality. We cannot keep them in one simple box. It is like a diamond, in its rough state, a diamond becomes clear only if it is polished. Modern democracy has its own problems and restraints but despite those its potentials are limitless. It allows the people to self-determine and elect those who work in their interest. This is the true essence to be a responsible citizen in a democracy. The advantages of democracy over other forms of government outweigh the disadvantages and it will always lead to greater progress. So, as individuals, we should keep the principles of democracy in mind, make our voice heard, and respect our fellow human beings.