Democracy is ... Definition, signs and forms of democracy

Democracy is a phenomenon that emerged in Russia earlier than princely rule. The Slavic people, although obedient to the princes, still retained certain liberties. To solve state affairs or prevent a menacing danger, people converged on a common council.

The word "democracy" ("democracy") is a concept that became one of the most popular in the 20th century. At the present time, there is no single political movement with great influence that would not use this term for its own purposes, often far from the true principles of democracy.

What is democracy?

In Greek, this term means the concept of "the power of the people." Accordingly, democracy is something to which the inhabitants of states so much aspire, in which the dictatorship and authoritarian type of government still prevails. Democracy is a form of political organization that is based on the principles of equality and freedom. In addition, the main organs of state power should be elected.

It is also necessary to establish equality of citizens, who need to provide broad social and political rights and freedoms.

The people and the nation

The people in Soviet times represented a historical community of people, changing in accordance with what tasks the government was solving in this period. Today it is understood as the aggregate of citizens of a particular state.

So, the people, whose prerogative is the exercise of democracy, are citizens living in the territory of the state. The nation is a historical community of people, which was formed in the process of creating joint economic, territorial ties, language, as well as some features of character. It should be noted that people can be multinational. You can not identify such concepts as "people" and "nation". It is necessary to understand what is the difference between them.

Power

Power is a concept that arose long ago. In Soviet times, it was, in fact, organized violence of one class to suppress the other. In a general sense, power is seen as the ability to manage something or someone, to dispose of, to subordinate others to one's will. The following properties can be distinguished:

• Realization by the subjects of power of their will;
• It has a program-oriented character;
• The subject prompts the object to perform an action.

Democracy in modern Russia

Russian society at the present stage of its development is characterized by significant changes in the state and legal system. Russia is gradually becoming a sovereign democratic legal state that recognizes the priority of international law and universal values.

The Constitution of our country (article 3) states that the only source of power and the carrier of sovereignty in Russia is its multinational people. In other words, the Russian Federation is a state of democracy, or a democratic state. Recognition that citizens are the supreme bearers of power is an expression of their independence. The sovereignty of the people means that he, without sharing his power with anyone, realizes it himself, regardless of any social forces. He uses it to his advantage. It should be noted that people's sovereignty is indivisible. He has only one subject - the people. No part of it (social group, layer or class) can take power in the Russian Federation.

Democracy as an Organizational Principle

The establishment of democracy means that citizens have the full power, its free exercise in accordance with their fundamental interests and sovereign will. The realization of power is legitimized, constituted and controlled by the citizens of the state, since it acts in the form of self-government and self-determination of the people, all citizens of the country have the right to participate in it. As a means of government and form of the state, democracy is thus transformed into an organizational principle of exercising power and possessing it. This principle determines that when exercising power or any state tasks, legitimation is required, which proceeds directly from the people or goes back to it. One of the most important in understanding democracy is the notion that the people are the starting and final point of legitimization.

Forms of democracy

Citizens of the Russian Federation can exercise their power both through bodies of local self-government and state power, and directly. The form of will expression determines the form of democracy. The latter can be direct or representative. Forms of democracy are historically formed means or ways of expressing and revealing the interests of various strata of society. So, as already noted, there are two types of democracy - representative and immediate. Briefly, we characterize each of them.

Representative democracy means that its forms, such as elected bodies and parties, as well as public organizations, exercise the power of the people through representatives. They make decisions that express the will of those people who have been given these powers: a resident population or a whole people. And what is the form of direct democracy? There are also a number of them. Forms of direct democracy include the following institutions: plebiscite, referendum, rural gatherings, meetings and so on. With their help, the basic issues of public and state life are decided by the people themselves.

Referendum

As an institution realizing direct democracy, a referendum is by no means a new form of citizens' participation in solving global political and socio-economic issues, in resolving territorial problems and other interstate and internal issues. For example, the first referendum in Switzerland was held in 1439.

This institution, realizing direct democracy, after the First World War entered the constitutions of a number of European countries. After the Second World War, he began to actively develop and improve in almost every highly developed state. The intensity of the use of the referendum increased noticeably in the 1960s and 1980s. Today this form of direct democracy is provided for by the constitutions of many countries.

The difference between the referendum and the plebiscite and elections

It should be noted that the referendum is not always treated in the same way in world state-legal and political theory and practice. Often this form of direct democracy is identified with plebiscite or elections. It is seen as the approval of a state decision with the help of popular vote, which gives it an obligatory and final character.

Meanwhile, there are differences between the plebiscite and the referendum. The electoral corps in the course of the referendum speaks out about amendments to the Constitution, a certain bill or decisive steps in foreign and domestic policy. The difference between this form of democracy and the plebiscite lies in the fact that in the course of the last elections the electoral body decides another question: is it worth to trust one or another person.

It is also necessary to note the differences between the general elections and the referendum. During the elections, the people elect candidates or electors, and during the referendum each voter answers the question positively or negatively. In addition, elections are associated with representative democracy, whereas the referendum differs from them in that it is a form of direct democracy.

Parliament

Parliament is an elected or partially appointed representative legislative body. "Parliamentarism" is a concept that refers to such a system of the state structure of the country, in which the central place is occupied by the parliament in political management. Only he has the right to pass laws. In elections to the parliament, as well as to local and central authorities, representatives of the people vote for candidates representing certain political parties.

The parties

In modern society they are integral elements of a democratic system. However, their existence was not acceptable to most of the supporters of the theory of social contract and natural law. They believed that the goal of a society that was organized intelligently was to achieve the greatest benefits for the largest number of citizens. Consequently, there is no contradiction between the interests of a social group or an individual and society as a whole that realizes democracy. This means that the basis for the formation of several batches is also not available.

In a democratic society, as historical experience has shown, the difference of social interests remains. That is why the democratic countries were forced to create a mechanism for determining, harmonizing and protecting the interests of the most numerous and important social groups. Political parties have become the central link of this mechanism. They arise in connection with the fact that the electoral struggle must be conducted in the conditions of a rapid increase in the number of citizens having the right to vote, as well as in connection with the need for regular elections. The party is what is a form of democracy (representative) today. She is the organizer of the electoral process. At the same time, its basic role (in a democratic society), the instrument of communication between the state and citizens, was gradually formed.

Democracy in local self-government

The problem of creating local self-government is one of the most important in a society with a democratic structure. For example, Western democracy believes that local self-government is one of the conditions for the successful functioning of democracy. Along with the judiciary, executive and legislative authorities, the division is also carried out at the regional level. Here along with the management structures related to the state, local government bodies are formed . They are not included in the composition of public authorities. Local self-government is organizationally separate because it is called upon to ensure the right of the population (fixed by the Constitution) to solve issues of local importance, taking into account regional traditions and peculiarities. The state authorities are strictly forbidden, according to the law, to interfere in the functioning of local self-government, its officials and bodies.