Democracy and Socialism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Democracy and Socialism - Essay Example Since then, there have been turbulent times in a quest to achieve democracy with dictators and military coup leaders claiming to support it. However, in Athens, it followed a set of rules on who was legible to participate in politics, vote and the size of the society where democracy could be practiced. With this, the Athenians agreed that the people required population to be small so as to allow citizens access to debate attendances and vote on issues affecting them (History World, n.d). Over time, democracy has evolved with various societies that have implemented it. For example, with the Romans, representation in a legislative assembly came up so that selected few leaders could represent an entire population and their interests (History World, n.d). In addition, the Romans came up with the oral system of voting where citizens gave their answer of a specified question to a clerk who then recorded it. Moreover, with all the changes it has had to it, democracy has its positive and neg ative aspects that affect any society that embraces it. For example, the use of majority rule forces the minority who lost to be dictated upon by those who won (Cincotta, n.d). Therefore, it leads to the oppression of minority populations in a bid to enact the will of a majority. In addition, democratic rule puts its basis on a knowledgeable and educated citizen who is literate. This, in itself, is discriminative to the illiterate as they lose independence due to reliance on the learned to make decisions and implement policies that may not be known to them (Cincotta, n.d). As a result, democracy can be used for selfish gain, especially in the use of representatives. However, it is not all gloom for democracy as it bears positive aspects to it, as well. Democracy in exercising majority rule guarantees the protection of minority rights against violation in all aspects (Cincotta, n.d). This is because the rights of dissenters are not dependent on the goodwill of the majority who accent . Moreover, in democracy, the government only plays a minor role in the social organization that leads to pluralism (Cincotta, n.d). As a result, most social and private organizations and institutions remain free from the interference of the government. Socialism Socialism refers to a social system that advocates for liberty, equality and fraternity in its implementation (Cockshott & Cottrell, 2012). It traces its origins to a wide variety of influences that include its manifestation as a philosophy and the ideas of various scholars. Therefore, with its already established goals, it applied a hybrid of Christian communalism, feudalism and liberal capitalism to daily living (Daum, n.d). This made it utopian socialism and could be easily related to in the everyday life Socialism has a number of merits to it. This is because; it grants people liberty in the form of freedom from oppression and slavery, freedom of speech and association (Cockshott & Cottrell, 2012). In addition to this s ocialism grants freedom of conscience and separates the church form the state, as in traditional socialist states. In addition, socialism brings about equality in the society due to its nature in enforcing social values upon a society. Therefore, it allows for freedom in most social aspects in that all members of a society that practices socialism has access to the same opportunities (Cockshott &