Benefits & Demands of Democracy

Democracy provides numerous benefits to its citizens, but it also makes demands on those citizens, demands that may often be forgotten in a system such as ours because these demands are hidden in some sense; that is, they are inherent in our definition of democracy but are not enforced in a free society. this means that many people enjoy the benefits of a democracy without fulfilling the demands placed upon them, leaving that to others. The complementary nature of the relationship between the citizenry and their government is embodied in the idea of the social contract as discussed by Locke and Rousseau, among others, and this complementary relationship begins with the decision to form a society and to cede certain powers to the government in return for protection or the ability to accomplish more as a group.

When we talk about the conception of self-government and of power the power of the people, we often forget first that there is a need for the people to limit their power over themselves. A democracy is a form of government in which the power of the people infuses government when the people cede some of their power as individuals to the good of the group on an ongoing basis. The fact that this is on an ongoing basis is important, for the people make their needs and desires known by voting and other means and so continue to exercise power over the government they have created. To this degree, the people are required to act to renew their government on an ongoing

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ut that includes morality as a "sacred" right. Morality derives from legislation, says Rousseau, and by this he means a morality related to his belief in a civil religion rather than one that is mediated by the church. The state derives its power from the general good of the people who make up that state, and through the legislation of the state the good of the people is translated into moral power. In truth, this requires a moral populace, an enlightened legislator, and a ruler who lives up to the requirements of the social contract. The primary concept of democratic government that prevails today follows from these theorists and holds that government is not something imposed by the gods as was once believed but is rather an agreement under which the people rule themselves or agree to be ruled as a way of gaining protection from the vagaries of human nature. This has been one of the major shifts in thinking over the centuries, away from the idea that the sovereign is invested by God or the gods or some other external and superior force and that he or she is ruler by divine right, and to a system that derives from the people. With thinkers like Locke, Rousseau, and Hobbes, it became more and more common to see the power of

Category: Government - B