Session 7 - Democracy and it's Remedy

As characterized by David Marquand; "democracy is to adults what chocolate is to children, endlessly tempting, harmless in small doses, sickening in excess".
Endlessly tempting because Democracy in theory is; combined decisions in interests of all. It seems benevolent in definition.
Sickening in excess because in reality, it's results are far more astonishing, and rather frightening.
So much complexities have paved their way into it that now definitive democracy has almost become a myth. The problems with democracies prevailing are each presented in paragraphs below.

Unfortunately the minorities are often given representation in decision making on either population bases, or on the proportion of land that they have acquired. This seems unfair -as prevailing in our own beloved country Pakistan- that Punjab eventually is the real decision maker. It manipulates the decisions in its favors and our poor KPK and Imran Khan is left to collect the spare left apart.

The style of democracy is such that after every five years or so, the democratic leaders get elected by the general public. These leaders then represent the masses in parliament. This divides the society into two classes; a class that rules and a class that is ruled. It is believed that the ruling class, once elected, take decisions keeping in mind the public interests. Democracy is believed to provide freedom and rights to the people. But unfortunately in reality freedom exists with public until it elects it's members of parliament. Once these pious intellectuals get elected, they often start putting their own interests before public's interests. As Schumpeter puts it; "Democracy has become the rule of the politicians", and this claim has become an open secret.

Leaders as our Prophet Mohammad (S.A.W) are seldom found in the twenty first century, and therefore we have somewhat become used to the disturbing and improper democracies we live in. It seems as if the politicians lure the public by waving at them the chunk, but in reality these very dutiful and virtuous politicians only throw a very small amount of flesh to them.

Rather than criticizing over democracy, I think the theories regarding democracy will be brought into proper use if organisations like NAB become active in making the ruling class accountable. Besides, the minorities, in fact each sect, must be given equal representation in parliament so as to practice democracy as its definition suggests.