Signs of the democratic regime, the concept of

To date, most of the world's states are democratic. This concept is very firmly entrenched in the mind of a civilized person. But what are the signs of a democratic regime? How does it differ from other types of state building, what are the varieties and features?

Origin and meaning of the term

Before describing the signs of a democratic regime, it should be said that the very word "democracy" came to us from the Greek language. The word demos means "people", and the word kratos means power. In a literal translation this phrase means "the power of the people" or "democracy". For the first time it was used in the work of the famous Greek philosopher and thinker Aristotle called "Politics".

History of development in ancient times

Traditionally, it is considered that the prototype of democracy is the ancient Greek city of Athens in the sixth to fifth centuries BC. Signs of the democratic regime were clearly manifested at that time. In the early period of existence, ancient Greek democracy was perceived as a kind of model of the organization of the life of the state, a special form in which not one person has power (tyrant, monarch) and not even a group of specific persons (oligarchs, aristocrats), but the entire population. It was also assumed that the "demos" (people) will have equal rights and carry out an equal contribution to the governance of their state. This was the main feature of the democratic regime.

History of development in modern times

The emergence of states that have signs of a democratic regime as an integrated system took place much later, approximately in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries of our era. The process developed in countries such as France, the United States of America, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The rapid growth of trade and commodity relations, the development of large cities and manufactories, geographical discoveries, the growing role of the importance of the colonies, serious scientific and technological discoveries and inventions, the transition to machine production from manual production, the development of communication and transport, the accumulation of financial resources - Economic origins that revealed the characteristic features of a democratic regime to the civilized world. The growing contradictions between the old aristocracy and the economically powerful "third estate" demanded radical changes in the political regime of the society. Such philosophers and thinkers as Montesquieu, Locke, Rousseau, Payne, Jefferson, at that time described in their writings the main features of a democratic regime. The peoples of the United States of America, France, and England were able to bring them to life by defeating monarchism and laying down the legal, economic and social foundations of democracy, creating prerequisites for the restructuring of states.

Basic and characteristic principles

The signs of the democratic regime of a democratic state are the main distinctive features, the main of which is the unconditional sovereignty of the people. Democracy as a concept includes the recognition of the people as the highest and only source of power in the state. Citizens, of course, have the right to decide their own destiny themselves. State power must rely on the expression of approval from its people and is legitimate only when its existence and formation is supported by people (voters) in accordance with all rights and norms. The most important signs of a democratic regime are free elections and the will of the people. People choose representatives themselves, have real levers of influence and mechanisms to monitor their activities in the process of state governance. During elections, in accordance with legal norms, the people have the full right of absolute or partial change of state power and making structural changes. All of the above are the main features of the democratic regime. It should be noted that the people have the full right to remove the elected government from the authorities ahead of schedule if they notice a clear abuse of their powers. These are the signs of a democratic and totalitarian regime (in which these functions of citizens are absent by definition).

The concept of personality in democracy

The perception of man as the epicenter of the political and social system, the primacy of society over power, are signs of a liberal-democratic regime. It is the person's personality that is the highest value in the state. What are the signs of a democratic regime that generates? The people and society are viewed as the sum of different individuals independent of each other, and not as a monolithic single will. This amount reflects the combined interests of individuals. Signs of the democratic regime are also recognition of the priority of the interests of individuals over public ones and recognition of the existence of each individual of the amount of freedoms and rights that are called natural and are inalienable. An example is the right to life and existence. The democratic regime, the concept, features and characteristics of which all rely on personal freedom, also include such rights as the inviolability of the individual, independence, protection and security of private property.

The importance of rights and freedoms in society

Signs of the liberal-democratic regime - ensuring the right to dignity and respect for the individual, the right to live life in the appropriate conditions, an unconditional opportunity to reside in your country and on your land, the right to create a family and educate your children. The source of all these inalienable and natural freedoms and rights is not the state, not society and not the family, but human nature itself. That is why all of the above can not be questioned in any way. These rights can not be confiscated from a person or limited (of course, it does not refer to cases where a person commits crimes). Also, the signs of a democratic regime are the presence of many other rights and freedoms (political, economic, social, spiritual, civil, etc.), most of which also automatically acquire the status of mandatory and inalienable.

The human right - what is it?

If the signs of a democratic regime are based on certain rights of the individual, what does this mean? The human right is a set of norms that regulate the relationship of free people among themselves, society and the state, providing opportunities to act of their own choice, to receive benefits for their lives. Freedoms provide opportunities for choice of activity and behavior. It is the combination of rights and freedoms that are the main features of the democratic regime that form an integral system.

What are the rights of the individual

Every individual has many different rights. These are "negative", which protect human freedom and include the duties of the state and society not to commit improper acts towards the individual (torture, ill-treatment, arbitrary arrest and so on). There are also "positive", meaning the duty of the state and society to give certain benefits to the individual (rest, education and work). Moreover, freedoms and rights are divided into personal, political, cultural, social, economic and so on.

The fundamental legal document of democracy

The signs of a democratic regime were first fully described in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted back in 1948. What is curious, the Soviet Union did not sign it at one time, and only during Gorbachev it was recognized. In this Declaration all political and civil rights are displayed, a list of positive and negative freedoms is given. The meaning and content of political, economic and cultural rights is also disclosed. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is part of international law. In addition, the United Nations has adopted many other conventions, covenants and declarations aimed at establishing a democratic society and supporting human rights and dignity.

A multitude of opinions is a striking feature of democracy

Pluralism is an inalienable feature of all democratic regimes. This means recognition in public and political life of many and different autonomous (but at the same time interconnected) social and political parties, groups, organizations, whose ideas and ideas are constantly in a state of competition, comparison and competition. Pluralism acts as an antipode of monopoly and is the basic principle of political democracy. There are some characteristic features of it:

- competitiveness of many different subjects of politics;

- the separation of power and the differentiated structure of the hierarchy of power;

- the exclusion of any monopoly on political competition and power for the sake of any party;

- the political system is multi-party;

- free access to a variety of channels of expression of opinions and interests for all;

- competitiveness and the possibility of changing elites, their free competition and competition;

- within the framework of legality has the right to exist alternative social and political views.

In the post-Soviet space, after the collapse of the USSR in view of the accelerated process of democratization, the process of establishing pluralism was very difficult, since the traditions of the "old" totalitarian system have not yet been completely eliminated.

What is the mainstay of democracy

The citizens themselves are the main social and political stabilizers and regulators. In the economic sphere, such is the private property of people, which creates the basis for the complete independence of a single individual from the institution of power and various religious, social and political groups. A multi-party system, ideological and political pluralism, the realized separation of state power into several independent branches with the formation of a system of balance (balance), free elections - all this creates a strong basis for the existence of democracy in the modern world.