Revolution: As a method of enhancing social conditions can be replaced by

democracy

Revolution is an essential change in society. Many things can cause its occurring, such as
state becoming dysfunctional or conflict between social classes. A goal of every revolution is to
dethrone the existing system and to set a new social order. Although both revolution and
democracy aspire to positive changes, democracy is generally considered the most desirable type
of political system because of its peacefulness and approval of equality, while revolution is often
controversial.
It has been established which patterns of socio-political situations most often cause
revolution. Those are the national government which does not agree with public participation or
impact in politics and the government which has been weakened by some kind of crisis. The
crisis may be material as well as ideological, when the government tries to impose an ideology
that is not accepted by most of the citizens. These things create resistance, fear and uncertain
vision of future. Social elite does not have a significant role in revolutions because it either
supports the government or tries to repair the existing condition through reforms. Initiators of
revolutions are generally the people who are affected by unfavourable situation the most and that
are workers, peasants and young people, especially the ones who attend universities because they
physically bring radical youth together. All of them aspire to improve social conditions and boost
economy. Revolutions frequently bring prompt regime change which leads to short-run
economic change, but the long-term consequences often unclear. Also, those changes can be both
positive and negative. For example, Russian revolution in 1917 caused the end of the Tsarist
autocracy and withdrawal from war, enabled free education throughout the country and
improved working conditions by creating eight-hour working day, but it also caused appearing of
communism and took freedom away from people which was reason why many people died
because of political reasons. French revolution in 1789 triggered the abolishment of feudalism,
established civil equality among men which permitted more than half of the adult male
population to vote, nationalized the lands of the Roman Catholic Church and allowed some farm
workers to buy land, but it caused many deaths as well as Russian revolution.
“It envisaged a purely secular government rather than the previous system in which the
Roman Catholic Church and the state were intertwined. Although the French Revolution
 eventually, after an extended period of turmoil, degenerated into the Terror and then the
dictatorship of Napoleon, its initial ideals were democratic...”
(https://www.enotes.com)
Revolutions might contribute to the promotion of liberty to some point, but they merely generate
a new ruling class, stronger armed forces and more involvement in war.
On the other hand, democracy is considered as one of the most efficient government
systems at all times. It has appeared at very early stages of humankind’s development of life in a
society and it has sustained until today. Many of the most advanced and successful countries in
the world function under the democratic system, but it does not mean that democracy is without
any downsides. It prevents occurring of the things people would disagree with, such as monopoly
power of authority. It also promotes progressive and liberal ideas, like non-violent changes in
politics and equality.
“...democracy is based on the rule of equality, which means that all people are equal as
far as the law is concerned. Every person has the right to experience and enjoy equal
political, social and economic rights, and the state is not allowed to discriminate him on
the standard of sex, class, religion and property.”
(https://greengarageblog.org)
Also, the ruling authorities have more respect towards the citizens because they owe their
success in elections to the people who chose them; it brings a feeling of obligation and makes
them more socially responsible. There is a very little chance for revolution to happen since all of
the political decisions are based upon the will of the whole community. If political
representatives do not get enough public support, they will not be chosen in next elections; there
is no need for violent deconstruction of former political order. However, given the fact that it
takes very long time to make and implement decisions and the high possibility of irresponsible
and incompetent leaders ruling the country, democratic governments have a chance to misuse
time and public funds. A majority of people in politics do not hold those positions for the sake of
contribution to the well-being of the community; rather, their main goal is to be in power.
Therefore, the elections might involve immoral practices to attract voters, such as giving false
promises, unfoundedly distorting reputation of political opponents and corruption. It is also very
likely that citizens will not choose politicians correctly. Not everyone is aware of the social and
political circumstances in the country. There is no difference between the votes cast by the
educated and informed individuals and those who are not; they count the same because majority
wins. In some cases people even refuse to give their vote, so it is not unusual that incompetent
individuals are chosen to rule the country. Another disadvantage of democracy is that equality is
valid only for the rich, while the poor are marginalised. All things considered, although
democratic system is based on general public agreement, many people can still be unsatisfied
with social conditions. It can result in revolt which can even develop into a revolution if the
government ignores people’s requests.
Many times in history revolution preceded democratisation. Revolutions occur when the
country finds itself in difficult situations, for example, a few years of drought that result in
hunger, bad management with resources, autocracy or other types of tyranny. However, not all
riots turn out to be successful. There have been many cases when people who disagreed with
government end up in jails or exiles because the overall political and economic situation was not
developed enough to endure thorough changes.
“The ‘revolutionary shocks’, e.g., revolutions in other countries, exposure to local riots,
or drought-induced protest, may push a country over a threshold and induce rulers to
implement democratic reforms, but only if the underlying fundamentals of the economy
are ‘close’ to the threshold to begin with.”
(https://voxeu.org)
Democratisation is a multiform process and it is almost impossible to determine whether it
appeared because of the threat of revolution or there were root reasons that caused it. The threat
of revolution is difficult to quantify and it is also not known whether the treat causes
democratisation or they both occur because of something else. Despite the fact that the cause-
effect relationship between those two things is not yet discovered, revolution can be prevented
by the correct political system where no one would be harmed or marginalised. Democracy is
currently the closest to the optimal form of government although it still has many flaws and
much room to be reformed.
Democracy is evidently better solution than revolution because its consequences are not
so violent and it does not require deaths of political opponents. Although both of them have
positive and negative sides, they cannot be replaced by each other since those are two different
concepts of changing situation in a country. Revolution would be a better option in some
extreme conditions, like dictatorship or extreme injustice and poverty, although it can result in
another dictatorship; while democracy is more effective when a society is stable. None of them
is without fault because there will always be groups of people who require changes.
Marija Novoselec, 4.d