Democracy requires the active participation of citizens. Ideally, the media should
keep citizens engaged in the business of governance by informing, educating and
mobilising the public.Necessary opportunity needs to be provided to the citizens to shine and showcase their contribution
Thanks Shafig Ibrahim Al-Haddad.
The 2014 UN Public Service Forum comes at a time when governments are taking stock of progress, obstacles and challenges faced and consolidating their efforts to achieve efficient and equitable service delivery for better living standards of their citizens. This year’s theme is “Innovating Governance for Sustainable Development and Well-being of the People.”
http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/news/administration/unpsa2014.html
Indeed, the very definition of the word is public power which requires the participation of all able citizens to elect representatives to be in the governing body of a society. The term democracy is an English modified version of a Greek word concatenated from two Greek words " people " and "power" . If all citizens are not participating in electing members of the governing body of their society, then their political system is no more democratic but a political system of the elites or aristocracy. In most cases it is difficult to make all citizens participate in the political affairs of their society for the mere reason that they are less informed and do not know the impact they can bring in the political culture of governance. It is when they participate actively that they bring their issues and concerns to the for front and seek political solutions.
Success of democracy is certainly not possible without participation of citizens. Although in a representative democracy the elected representatives are supposed to listen to the citizens and air their views on the floor of parliament, in reality this does not happen always. Elected representatives, some times, tend to forget their electoral responsibilities and are driven by extraneous considerations. This is very unfortunate situation in democracy., as democracy is by the people, of the people and for the people. I am really happy that present prime minister of India Honorable Shri Narendra Modi has just launched a government web site to personally communicate with ordinary citizens of India, in order to listen to their views on different aspects of governance. Communication, involvement, inclusiveness and empowerment of citizens will only lead to democracy.
When Kenneth Arrow was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1972, one of the contributions the awards committee cited was his miraculous “impossibility” theorem. Decades from now, Arrow’s theorem, originally drawn in his doctoral dissertation, will be viewed as the 20th-century idea that best anticipated the 21st century.
http://www.american.com/archive/2007/may-june-magazine-contents/does-economic-success-require-democracy/
"Democracy" by definition means "rule by the people." The form that rule takes may differ depending upon the structure of the government, either via indirect rule ("representative" democracy) where people select individuals to present their views and voices in a governmental structure, or direct rule where all decisions require the input of the entire populace (e.g., "town meetings").
Regardless of form, the basic objective is to ensure that the citizenry of the nation dictate the decisions and the actions of the government. Therefore, a nation where citizens do not actively participate (at the least, vote in organized elections) cannot be considered a "democracy."
The question of whether a "democracy" can truly exist in a country which denies participation by a significant portion of its populace is one that often leads to major conflicts and even civil war, particularly when such policies have resulted in social and ethnic upheaval and/or conflict.
The Chinese Communist Party has broken the democratic world’s monopoly on economic progress. Larry Summers, of Harvard University, observes that when America was growing fastest, it doubled living standards roughly every 30 years. China has been doubling living standards roughly every decade for the past 30 years. The Chinese elite argue that their model—tight control by the Communist Party, coupled with a relentless effort to recruit talented people into its upper ranks—is more efficient than democracy and less susceptible to gridlock. The political leadership changes every decade or so, and there is a constant supply of fresh talent as party cadres are promoted based on their ability to hit targets.
http://www.economist.com/news/essays/21596796-democracy-was-most-successful-political-idea-20th-century-why-has-it-run-trouble-and-what-can-be-do
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