Main Uddin :
Greek philosopher Aristotle called democracy an unjust rule, yet democracy is till today the most popular form of government in the world. One of the reasons behind this is the strong belief in the minds of the common people that democracy will establish their rights. The belief is, democracy will ensure equality in society and establish fundamental rights. The question remains as to how much the politicians in power have been able to reciprocate their faith in democracy around the world. Rather, democracy is being used indiscriminately for power. Instead of good governance, unjust irregularities and corruption are being established everywhere. People’s democratic rights are being deprived.
There remain allegations of fraud and fraudulent voting in the exercise of the right to vote in elections in many major democratic countries. Another allegation along with this is changing the results of the vote. But in a democratic system of governance, such allegations are not desirable at all. In 508 BC, Athens was governed by two subjects. At first, those who participated directly in state affairs were considered citizens and were required to participate in the war. On the other hand, women, children and foreigners were not considered citizens. Politics in Athens was largely city-centric. As a result, the democracy of that time was a direct democracy. On the other hand, in 600 BC, delegates were elected at monthly rallies in Athens by giving numbers or shouting in support. After the demise of Greek civilization, when a large nationalist state emerged from the city-state and the population of the state increased, the participation of all citizens in state affairs became difficult and representative democracy began since then which gained popularity worldwide.
In a representative democracy, elected representatives govern the country with gaining support of the people. In a democracy, ordinary people have great confidence and trust in the people’s representatives because they believe that the representatives elected by their votes will work for their welfare. But at present the common man has no confidence in the political representatives.
In fact, the reason for this is that democracy is under threat all over the world today. An analysis of the election activities and post-election results of different countries of the world in the last few decades shows that there are allegations of irregularities and fraud in every election. While Bangladesh and South Asian countries have high levels of election irregularities and political violence, the developed world is of no exception. One of the reasons for this is the excessive power of political parties. They want to overcome the electoral dilemma at any cost for the sake of democracy. There are frequent allegations of riots, irregularities and fraud in the application of votes in elections. There is no opportunity to blame anyone alone for this. This is mainly due to the lack of healthy political culture of the political parties.
If the political parties had trust and tolerance towards each other, the foundations of democratic institutions would have been stronger. At present, there is no pure democracy anywhere in the world. Elections are questionable today even in countries that are world famous for democracy. The recent election of the United States, considered an ideological state for global democracy, has also been the subject of widespread criticism. The extremist behavior of Trump supporters centering on the US election calls into question US democracy. They attacked the US Capital building, the birthplace of US democracy for the first time in the history of US politics. It was an unprecedented event. This condition exists all over the world. The recent elections in India have also sparked widespread discussion and criticism. On the other hand, the electoral system of Bangladesh is always in question.
In fact, if we take a closer look, it can be seen that politicians around the world are now practicing Control Democracy under the guise of representative democracy in order to come to power and that is what is being established. In most countries, there is a shift in power between one or two political parties. Other parties cannot be popular. As a result, there is not much of a shift in power. How acceptable and fair the election is in real terms is not considered a very important issue.
The principal basis of democracy is election. If an election is not participatory and acceptable, then that election will never bring good to democracy. However, the positive side of the electoral system in most countries of the world is that every election held worldwide is quite participatory and politicians also have a liberal attitude towards advancing democracy. All that is needed now is to make the elections acceptable and not to question the electoral process. Only then will democracy move forward towards its goal and equality will be established in all parts of the society.
(Mr. Main Uddin is Lecturer in Political Science and former Head of the Department, Principal Kazi Faruky College).
Greek philosopher Aristotle called democracy an unjust rule, yet democracy is till today the most popular form of government in the world. One of the reasons behind this is the strong belief in the minds of the common people that democracy will establish their rights. The belief is, democracy will ensure equality in society and establish fundamental rights. The question remains as to how much the politicians in power have been able to reciprocate their faith in democracy around the world. Rather, democracy is being used indiscriminately for power. Instead of good governance, unjust irregularities and corruption are being established everywhere. People’s democratic rights are being deprived.
There remain allegations of fraud and fraudulent voting in the exercise of the right to vote in elections in many major democratic countries. Another allegation along with this is changing the results of the vote. But in a democratic system of governance, such allegations are not desirable at all. In 508 BC, Athens was governed by two subjects. At first, those who participated directly in state affairs were considered citizens and were required to participate in the war. On the other hand, women, children and foreigners were not considered citizens. Politics in Athens was largely city-centric. As a result, the democracy of that time was a direct democracy. On the other hand, in 600 BC, delegates were elected at monthly rallies in Athens by giving numbers or shouting in support. After the demise of Greek civilization, when a large nationalist state emerged from the city-state and the population of the state increased, the participation of all citizens in state affairs became difficult and representative democracy began since then which gained popularity worldwide.
In a representative democracy, elected representatives govern the country with gaining support of the people. In a democracy, ordinary people have great confidence and trust in the people’s representatives because they believe that the representatives elected by their votes will work for their welfare. But at present the common man has no confidence in the political representatives.
In fact, the reason for this is that democracy is under threat all over the world today. An analysis of the election activities and post-election results of different countries of the world in the last few decades shows that there are allegations of irregularities and fraud in every election. While Bangladesh and South Asian countries have high levels of election irregularities and political violence, the developed world is of no exception. One of the reasons for this is the excessive power of political parties. They want to overcome the electoral dilemma at any cost for the sake of democracy. There are frequent allegations of riots, irregularities and fraud in the application of votes in elections. There is no opportunity to blame anyone alone for this. This is mainly due to the lack of healthy political culture of the political parties.
If the political parties had trust and tolerance towards each other, the foundations of democratic institutions would have been stronger. At present, there is no pure democracy anywhere in the world. Elections are questionable today even in countries that are world famous for democracy. The recent election of the United States, considered an ideological state for global democracy, has also been the subject of widespread criticism. The extremist behavior of Trump supporters centering on the US election calls into question US democracy. They attacked the US Capital building, the birthplace of US democracy for the first time in the history of US politics. It was an unprecedented event. This condition exists all over the world. The recent elections in India have also sparked widespread discussion and criticism. On the other hand, the electoral system of Bangladesh is always in question.
In fact, if we take a closer look, it can be seen that politicians around the world are now practicing Control Democracy under the guise of representative democracy in order to come to power and that is what is being established. In most countries, there is a shift in power between one or two political parties. Other parties cannot be popular. As a result, there is not much of a shift in power. How acceptable and fair the election is in real terms is not considered a very important issue.
The principal basis of democracy is election. If an election is not participatory and acceptable, then that election will never bring good to democracy. However, the positive side of the electoral system in most countries of the world is that every election held worldwide is quite participatory and politicians also have a liberal attitude towards advancing democracy. All that is needed now is to make the elections acceptable and not to question the electoral process. Only then will democracy move forward towards its goal and equality will be established in all parts of the society.
(Mr. Main Uddin is Lecturer in Political Science and former Head of the Department, Principal Kazi Faruky College).
