Saturday, February 14, 2015

Session 6 - Western Polyarchy

Western polyarchy is considered to be similar to liberal democracy. While liberal democracy can be defined as a rule of public representatives which guarantees civil liberties and individual rights. This polyarchy system seems to be prevalent in most of the countries in lines with capitalism. While communism focuses on the betterment and equality of whole society, western polyarchy stresses on the individual rights and individual needs and is of the concept that if individual is satisfied than the whole society is satisfied ultimately, but this is a utopian concept as there are no hard and fast rules of individual's satisfaction.

Governments deal with situation of individual satisfaction in a relative manner. Some needs are basic such as protection of life, property and availability of conditions which support one's survival. In the context of these basic needs, polyarchy governments deal easily by making policies but when it comes to other subjects which caters the "wants" of individuals, then relativity comes in.

As this system promotes individualism thus any one can participate in politics and  can bring a change in any policy if he wants to, but by following a due procedure. So the ideologies of one can influence others. The presence of unicameral or bicameral assemblies provide features of a political process, unifying individual thoughts and assuring the working power in different institutions of state.

Western polyarchy mainly works on Utilitarian principle, in the sense that as it is capitalist in nature, it promotes the economic and ethnic culture, although some people get harm from this and socialist perspective caters to those remaining people. But still, western polyarchy gives an institutionalized mechanism of governance.

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