To What Extent is Democracy The Best Form of Government in The World Today?

            Democracy has often been flattered excessively as the best form of government. The freedom it gives to those under the so-called democratic governments is also viewed by those under communism or authoritarianism as a panacea for the oppression they face. However, is democracy really worth of such worship? My answer would be a no. Firstly, democracy is defined as the rule of the majority in which people holds power and exercises it directly or indirectly through a system of representation that involves free elections. [1] Thus, its flaws lie in its inability to protect the rights of the people and its susceptibility to election-oriented politicians, though it should also be noted for its free media which allows progress. When comparing with republics and oligarchies using these three criterions, we can then conclude that democracy is not the best form of government to a large extent.

            Firstly, pure democracy cannot safeguard the rights of the people and is actually a “tyranny of the majority” in which the minority can lose all of its human rights to the interests of the majority. When there is no limitation to the power that the masses have, the minority will actually lose all of its freedom that democracy has promised. Hence, in pure democracy, the American middle and lower class can easily split the wealth of the upper class by using their majority vote, while the 80.5% of the population in India who are Hindus [2] can easily ban Islam and Christianity with their sheer size. In a republic, however, the rights of all citizens are protected by a constitution which can never be changed simply by the majority. Those nations that are often thought to be democratic like America and most of European countries are actually republics, and this form of government has proven itself to be much more stable and effective than democracy that has never really existed in any nation throughout history. On the other hand, an oligarchy does not give the people any freedom as well, since the people are powerless and are subjected to the rule of the aristocracy or dictators. Therefore, a democracy is not the best form of government since it cannot protect the rights of the people.