Is it important to live in Democracy?

The problem of democracy and its role in social and political life is one of the central issues in political
science, which since antiquity had viewed democracy as an organic sign of the civilization of society.
Democracy is a form of state-political structure of society, based on the recognition of people as the
source and carrier of power, on the desire to ensure justice, equality and the welfare of all people
inhabiting a certain state.
Democracy arose with the advent of the state. For the first time this concept is mentioned in the
writings of philosophers of ancient Greece. In the classification of states proposed by Aristotle, it meant
"rule of all", unlike aristocracy ("rule of the elect"), and monarchy ("rule of one").
The Parthenon has become a symbol of democracy, so that’s why today many leaders of democracies
like to take photo there.
There were many famous philosophers, and one of such was Socrates, who hated democracy.
In Book Six of The Republic,  Socrates falling into conversation with a character called Adeimantus and
trying to get him to see the flaws of democracy by comparing a society to a ship. If you were heading out
on a journey by sea, asks Socrates, who would you ideally want deciding who was in charge of the
vessel? Just anyone or people educated in the rules and demands of seafaring? The latter of course, says
Adeimantus, so why then, responds Socrates, do we keep thinking that any old person should be fit to
judge who should be a ruler of a country?

Each historical type of state, each socio-economic structure has its own form of democracy. In slave
democracy (Athens, Republican Rome) slaves were removed from the system of civil relations. Only free
citizens enjoyed the right to elect government officials, participate in popular assemblies, own property,
etc. The roman democracy is an example of how most democracies end during times of difficulty when
one person (i.e. the ruler or the president) is allowed to suspend democracy and rule by whim instead of
by law.
Under feudalism, elements of democracy began to emerge in the form of representative institutions
that limited the absolute power of monarchs (parliament in England, General States in France, State
Duma in Russia, Military Council in Zaporizhska Sich). Great progress in the development of democracy
began the approval of capitalism and the victory of the bourgeois revolutions in England, France and
other countries.

The establishment of democracy requires a high political education and culture of the population, and it
is in the process of democratization that such culture is formed. Democracy cannot fully establish itself
at once. For this, it is necessary to carry out a complex of measures in various spheres of public life,
change the existing socio-political structures, form a democratic type of political culture.
Democracy is a phenomenon that is constantly evolving. And understanding the concept of
"democracy", its organic features makes it possible to assess the direction of development of a
particular political system, its conformity with democratic ideals and values.

The concept of "democracy" is used not only to characterize the historical types of state-political
system, but also to define the political process with appropriate methods and procedures that ensure
the participation of the people in government and all public affairs.
Politics distinguish direct and representative democracy.
Direct democracy is the order in which decisions are made on the basis of direct and concrete
identification of the will and opinion of all citizens.
One form of direct democracy is elections based on universal suffrage. By voluntarily participating in
them, citizens in a democratic society have the opportunity to directly influence the formation of
government bodies at various levels.
The expression of direct democracy is a referendum, which is carried out with the aim of adopting a law
or other decisions based on the will of the people on topical issues of public policy and social and
political life in general.
A form of direct democracy is the nationwide discussion of draft laws that are effectively used in many
countries. However, the procedure for such discussions may also have a propaganda nature, since many
of the comments and suggestions of citizens are mainly taken into account at the level of clarifications,
individual amendments, without touching upon the concept of draft laws.

Representative democracy is the procedure for reviewing and resolving state and public issues by
plenipotentiaries (elected or appointed).
It is the institutions of representative democracy that play the primary role in the decision-making
process.
Тhe parliaments plays important role in the system of this democracy, whose composition is formed
through general elections and to which citizens delegate their powers to exercise the functions of the
highest legislative power. In addition to the parliamentary form as the great heritage of civilization,
bearers of representative democracy, there are other elected bodies of power.
In addition to the parliamentary form as the great heritage of civilization, bearers of representative
democracy, there are other elected bodies of power.
In modern democratic societies, the formation of state policy at all levels occurs mainly in representative
institutions and institutions where professional politicians and managers work. Political scientists even
distinguish professional democracy. This is due to the inherent problems of modern civilization, the
solution of which is often impossible by means of direct democracy. A reliable tool for developing
optimal solutions based on identifying the will of the people is a combination of various forms of direct
and representative democracy.

Democracy is important as it protects the interests and demands of minority groups, and all of these
groups have access to the political system. In democracy minorities are free from discrimination and
their views are as important as majority views.

People in democratic countries believe that it is the best form of governance, and that everything else is
totalitarian hell. Democracy does offer some benefits such as peaceful transfer of power, and prevents
civil wars and violent revolutions between the various tribes of a people. But such benefits are bought:

-by having wasteful 24-hour propagandistic manipulation of citizens especially during elections, and by
having excessive bureaucratic inertia

-by having wasteful spending from the public treasury that benefits people who would have been the
ruling elite had there been no democracy.

Democracy can provide for changes in government without violence. In a democracy, power is
transferred from one party to another by means of elections. The choice of the citizens of a nation
determines its ruling authority. The government runs on people's support. Thus, democracy allows for a
stable form of government. So , in my opinion, it’s better to try to live in democracy than to live in chaos.

List of literature and resources:

1. Wikipedia – Democracy
2. Opinionfront.com – Advantages and Disadvantages of Democracy
3. TED – Why Democracy is important?
4. The School of life – Why Socrates hated democracy?