The modern age is supposed to become the epoch of tolerance and democracy. Majority of states in the world should choose a democratic form of government to guarantee the involvement of citizens of a state in the political process and preserve their rights. With this in mind, this form of government is intensively promoted and recommended for all countries in the world. There are certain models which have already been applied to the structure of the majority of states of the Western world, and they are usually taken as very efficient. That is why these counters comprise special organizations which watch observation of the main norms of democracy in the whole world.
Moreover, there is one more reason for promoting the development of democracy in the world. This kind of government is always considered to be the most peaceful if to compare with other forms. There are several reasons for this statement. First of all, there is a democratic peace theory, which states that countries with this form of government do not have military conflicts with each other (Placek para 1). Moreover, it is more difficult for them to enter the war as. Theoretically, it is for people to decide whether to do it or not. That is why it is widely believed that democracy leads to a more secure world by avoiding military conflicts and trying to solve problems only with negotiations and persuading.
However, I can’t entirely agree with this very statement. To my mind, democracy has proved that it is helpless when it faces some real challenges. There are several reasons for this statement, which we are going to analyze. First of all, it is necessary to give a clear definition of this term. Democracy is considered to be the form of government which means that people, who live in a state, have the whole power (“Defining Democracy” para. 1). However, it is an only theoretical definition which has nothing in common with the real state of affairs. In a coherent society, people do not have real power, which is usually concentrated in the hands of the President or Parliament. With this in mind, it should be said that people have very few remedies to change something in the political system of their country.
Nevertheless, democratic peace theory is still a very popular concept nowadays, which is often taken as the first step of establishing peace worldwide. According to this theory, democracies are more peaceful in their international relations (Reiter para. 1). Serving as a good example for the rest of countries, democracies are supposed to promote peace and democratic form of government worldwide. However, it isn’t easy to agree with this statement.
Being the world’s brightest representatives of democratic states, The USA and members of the European Union, though, took part in many military conflicts all over the world (Rummel para. 7). There are different reasons for these conflicts, and they are still very disputable. However, the fact remains. The world’s most appreciated democracies are constantly involved in some military conflicts. That is why it becomes obvious that democracy does not lead to promoting peace.
However, there is one more reason to support the idea that democracy is not efficient in establishing peace. This form of government is not able to cope with some ethnic conflicts and protests. The accident in Pakistan or Libya can serve as good evidence for this statement. The confrontation between India and Pakistan in Kashmir was not solved with the help of negotiations (Hashim para 4) or some other democratic methods. An armed conflict became the result of ethnic protests. A similar situation happened in Libya. All remedies of democrats were useless, and the country plunged into the quagmire of civil war which led to thousands of deaths.
Additionally, Afghanistan and Iraq can serve as the bright examples of the failure to inculcate democracy (“Inculcation of Democratic Values” para. 2). Being not traditional on these lands, democratic form of government could not guarantee the security of citizens of these states (Thompson para. 6) and promote the social and economic development of countries (Malikyar para. 4). As a result, new conflicts started (“Did the wars bring democracy to Afghanistan and Iraq?” para. 4).
Moreover, one more fact should be mentioned. Every democratic form of government is linked to capitalism. It is impossible to build it resting on another economic system. Moreover, most states, which are considered good examples of democracy, have strong and developed economies. With this in mind, one should say that it is impossible to build democracy in a state with a weak economy.
Besides, there are also some mechanisms in democratic countries whose main aim is to shape public opinion and guaranty support of people. In his book Manufacturing Consent,, Noam Chomsky supports this statement and underlines media dependence on the government (“Key points in ‘Manufacturing Consent’” para.3). He says that it is one of the most powerful remedies of every official of a democratic state which helps to create a good image of a country.
Works Cited
Defining Democracy. n.d.. Web.
“Did the wars bring democracy to Afghanistan and Iraq?”. Costsofwar. n.d.. Web.
Hashim, Asad. “Timeline: India-Pakistan relations“. Aljazeera. 2014. Web.
Inculcation of Democratic Values. n.d.. Web.
Key points in “Manufacturing Consent”. n.d.. Web.
Malikyar, Helena. “Is this the death of democracy in Afghanistan?“. Aljazeera. 2014. Web.
Placek, Kevin. “The Democratic Peace Theory“. E-International Relations. 2012. Web.
Reiter, Dan. Democratic Peace Theory. n.d. Web.
Rummel, Rudoplh. The Democratic Peace: a New Idea? n.d. Web.
Thompson, Loren. “War Without End: Why Iraq Can Never Be A Stable Democracy” Forbes. 2014. Web.