Is Democracy the best form of Government?

It has been said by Churchill that democracy can be considered as the worst forms of government except the forms of government that have been tried from time to time. In this way, there are certain flaws and problems associated with democracy however even more problems are present in case of other forms of government. On the other hand, some authoritarian countries like China are challenging the supremacy of democracy by establishing that better economic growth can be achieved in case of authoritarian regimes. As a result, the question arises is democracy still the best form of government.

Points in favor:
1. Almost in all the cases, the people in Democratic states enjoy more freedom as compared to the people in autocratic states. Obviously the people in Democratic states have the right to vote and therefore by extension they decide the policy of the nation and also the fate of their country. The people in Democratic states have more freedom of speech and expression as compared to the people in autocratic countries. Especially the people in Democratic states have the freedom to criticize their own government.

2. Democracy can be considered as the best form of government due to the reason that it provides the government by the people and for the people. In case of democracy, the views of the people are represented by the government. The people elect the government and at the same time, they also have the power to throw the government out if the government does not do things that the people want the government to do. As compared to other forms of government, even the ordinary people get some representation in case of democracy. Similarly in case of democracy, instead of a handful of elite, all the people of the country are associated with the formation of government in the country.

3. Another benefit associated with the democratic form of government is transparency. There is a system of checks and balances present in case of the democracy and therefore the executive is required to maintain transparency in the process of decision-making. In case of a democracy, the Parliament, the judiciary and the media keep an eye on the actions of the executive and also on the way, the money of the people is being spent. In this way, they can stop the executive if anything detrimental for the country is being done by the executive or if any action of the executive is immoral or illegal. In such a case, they have the power to prevent these actions. Even in cases where these actions are not clearly visible, separate institutions have been given the power to investigate the actions of the executive and keep an eye on actions or secret deals that may take place away from the public view.

4. Democracy can also be considered is the best form of government as it provides for the respect of human rights of the people. The reason is that democracy is considered as the government of the people. Therefore if the democracy gives an appropriate performance, in such a case, all the facets of human rights are respected. Similarly, in case of democracy, the citizens have the freedom of speech. As a result, the people can speak freely regarding the well-being of the people in fields like education, economy, infrastructure development and health etc. Democracy is also considered as the best form of government because it promotes human rights. In this way, it provides a ride to the people to have a say in how the affairs of the State are being run. This freedom provides a balanced environment in which governance can thrive and such environments can be achieved only in case of a democratic government.

5. At this point, it also needs to be noted that most of the developed and the richest countries of the world are democracies. These countries have been developing democracy even during the initial phase of industrialization. Therefore the freedom that it brings along is necessary for achieving economic growth once a State has been successful in moving to being dependent on services instead of being dependent on manufacturing or the exploitation of natural resources for achieving economic growth. Therefore once this takes place, the creativity becomes important and as a result, the freedom that is related with democracy is required to foster creativity which is required by industries like information technology, research and development and creative arts.

Points Against
1. On the other hand, there are a number of people who believe that democracy is not the best form of government. According to these people, except for the freedom to decide the government, no other reason is present due to which the people cannot be providing equal freedom in case of an autocracy also as is the case with democracy.

2. It is also believed by many that democracy has not been my successful in representing the views of the people. In some cases, it is also possible in a democracy that the government may not even have the support of the majority of people who have voted. At the same time, there are a number of people in the country who do not have their votes registered and at the same time, a lot of people also do not cast their vote during the elections. As a result, generally it is a smaller part of the population who decides that which party is going to form the government in the country. In the same way, once a government has been established in a democratic country, the government clearly represents the wishes of the people because they know that they have many years before they go to the people for next elections. Therefore the government does whatever it likes. Even while considering that the re-election, the government tries to do more what is liked by the people and not to do what the people dislike.

2. Although, transparency is generally found in case of democracy, it is not necessary that transparency is exclusively present in case of a democracy only. Autocracies also have the potential to be transparent and in the same way, the system of checks and balances can also be present in case of an autocracy. The fact that generally autocracies do not have the system of checks and balances is due to the reason that there is time and the willingness present to use force in order to prevent such happenings in an autocracy.

3. It is not possible for a State to accommodate all the conflicting views that are present on a particular subject. Therefore the general practices to follow the majority rule. As a result, the rights of the minorities may be put into jeopardy.

4. In case of big projects, autocracies are much better than democracies because things can be done quickly. Similarly, economic growth can be created more easily in case of an autocracy if there is a will to do so. In case of an autocracy, there are no chances of a dissent which can block the project. At the same time, force can also be used to create the protests that could slow down the development of large infrastructure projects in case of a democracy. As a result, the infrastructure required for creating a modern economy can be produced much more quickly and at a cheaper rate by an autocracy as compared to a democracy. At the same time, it also needs to be noted that in case of an autocracy, the resource base of the nation can be accessed much more quickly and the same can be used more effectively as there are no protesters to prevent activities like drilling and mining.

5. In in case of some countries, it appears that democracy is increasingly being related with money. An example in this regard can be given of the United States where millions of dollars are spent on elections amid glitzy advertising campaigns and big events. Democracy should not be associated with such things. At the same time, these things also discouraged other countries from adopting democracy. It can even be said that all these things undermine the basic ideas behind democracy. When money is involved in democracy to a great extent, it becomes elitist and corporatist. The reason is that only the elite and the rich are able to fund their campaigns for elections. On the other hand, such huge expenses are avoided by autocracies as the costly elections are not held in these countries.