In the history of mankind, there have been various forms of government. Many of them had their merits, and yet only one type of political government - democracy - turned out to be the most viable and acceptable to most people.
Democracy in translation from Greek means "the rule of the people." The basis of democracy is collective decision-making, with the people being the only source of legitimate power. In a democracy, leaders are determined through direct and fair elections. It is the society that chooses the directions of the country's development to meet common interests.
One of the main distinguishing features of democracy is the principle of individual freedom. In this case, democracy is freedom, limited by the framework of the law. Thanks to the democratic structure of the state, citizens can directly influence the choice of the course of development of the country, voting for certain parties, for leaders expressing their interests.
Democracy originates from Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Since then, a variety of models of a democratic society have been built, with their own advantages and disadvantages. The most successful forms of democracy still exist today.
Is democracy the fairest form of government? The answer to this question is still being sought. For all its merits, democracy also has multiple disadvantages. As Winston Churchill put it, "Democracy is the worst kind of government, apart from all the others that humanity has tried in its history." One of the significant drawbacks of democracy is that people who already have power and (or) substantial material resources very often come to power. It is very difficult for a "man from the street" to break through to the heights of power, if not practically impossible. In the overwhelming majority of cases, people come to power who express the interests not of the people as such, but of political and industrial groups. Even if the leader of a country is directly elected by the people, this does not guarantee that they will pursue a policy most favorable to society. There are many smart people in any country, but the people as a whole are often a crowd. And the interests of the crowd are usually base and primitive. Therefore, in a democracy, people often come to power, expressing the mood of the crowd, who are its idols.
Another big problem of democracy is the manipulation of public opinion. Thanks to modern mass media, it has become possible to quite easily turn public opinion in the right direction. As a result, democracy, conceived as a means of expressing the will of the people, loses its fundamental principle. At the vote, the people obediently express the opinion imposed on them; outwardly, such a choice is quite legitimate. But in reality, there is no question of any free expression of will, people vote for those who are pointed out to them.
Democracy is not perfect, but nothing better has yet been invented. All other modes of political governance have led to even more dire results. Will there ever be a better system? Required. When people themselves change. Without a change for the better in the psychology of people, no positive changes in the forms of government are possible.
