After the end of Cold War, we see a the reign of democracy in many countries. Democracy, according to Sernau (2006) is a social contract between the government, where the government can be considered to be under the scrutiny of its people and where it is the people’s voice that is being heard. This system is becoming more and more popular as it is a more preferable option as compared to socialism and communism after the cold war era. Despite the success of this political model in many western countries, many nations are still trying to adjust their political systems to it. In the process, much obstacles are faced.
Democracy allowed the participation of all the people within a nation. However, not all democratic countries put democracy into complete practice. In Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe is elected repeatedly since 1988. He strived to achieve a one-party domination within a nation which called itself a republic. Sadly, there is no one powerful enough to oppose him even though its demographics and inflation rate of 11 million percent are the most daunting in the world. The denial of electoral win of opposition and oppression of opposition leaders such as Morgan Tsvangirai through violence shows democracy is not truly put to practice.Elections are conducted as rituals and the results are not recognized by the government. The voice of the people is actually unheard. To Zimbabawe people, the word democracy has little more than face value, actual process of integrating the nation into a democratic republic is hindered and stagnated by Robert Mugube who should hand over the legacy to suitable and capable successors.
Democracy entails fair competition between political candidates. When corruption sets in, election results do no reflect the true intentions of the people and the candidate elected may not be able to cater to the interests of the people. In India, pictures of government MPs offering wads of cashes to anyone who would vote for them in an attempt to pull polls for their respective political parties. According to Kuldip Nayar, a political analyst and former High Commissioner to Britain, votes can be obtained by unofficial way other than through appropriate voting procedures. Hence, we can say that not all of the votes speaks of the people’s voices. The votes were manipulated by some of the politicians to prolong their stay in the office so as to increase the duration for them to increase their personal gains. This corruptive practice runs counter to the actual aim of having elections and a democratic party system. Corruption ultimately prevent the people’s voices from being heard and their interests catered to.
Lastly, though it is tempting to void for democracy due to its attractive ideas of free speech, mass political participation and representation of various interest, not all countries are prepared for this political model. Masses must of informed and educated of their rights before they take great measures to rally for any particular causes. In a vastly diverse cultural country such as Indonesia, democracy has given rise to regular social unrest which greatly hurt to the country’s economy. East Timour rallied for independence while radical Muslims run counter with moderate ones. Each ethnic and religious groups want their interests to be respected and represented. Their vigorous spirit is especially so after decades of oppression by Suharto. Although more voices of the people can be heard, but the diversity floodgate which is released by democracy results in a lack of unity within the country. Steps should be taken to inform the public of the possible consequence of their actions so as to remind them of the responsibilities which they would shoulder as a result of their actions.
