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Ideally a democracy should be a great form of government. Everyone having an equal share in running their nation sounds great, doesn't it? However, none of the world's extant democracies are running to well as it is. They are beset by corruption, low voter turnout, party politics, racial/ethnic politics, and a seemingly endless list of severe ills. So what is an ideal democracy and what does it take to function? I will attempt to answer these two questions.
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An ideal government, provides the resources, protection, and laws for its populace in order for them to prosper. While there are many government styles, philosophies, and structures, the democratic government form achieves these goals by having the people themselves designing the laws, providing the protection for themselves and each other, and sharing the resources of their nation. Although in most cases representatives are necessarily appointed, the people, through voting, forums, or other public methods are the real directors of their nation. Ideally. In reality these representatives often amass enormous personal and class power, and then mislead and abuse the very people they are meant to represent.
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The ideal democracy would therefore provide all the necessities of a good government, and safeguard against the forces of government from becoming too powerful or corrupt, and also prevent the representatives from exceeding their intended roles. For example, in the United States, the democratic system there is designed with so called checks and balances. The three major branches of government, executive (presidential administration), legislative (congress), and judicial (courts of law), are supposed to act as blocks for each other. They cannot do without each other, but they also can't assume the others' powers/responsibilities. Therefore, they all attempt to prevent governmental abuse.
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The most important quality in ensuring a good democracy is actually the people themselves however. It is up to the voters/citizens of any democracy to elect good representatives, monitor them, and to act when those representatives fail them. Just like a company is often a reflection of its management, a democracy is usually a close representation of the people who are its citizens. The answer is that, basically, for a democracy to be ideal, the people must take it upon themselves to be educated about the necessary subjects that will enable them to be good sovereigns. They will also have to be conscientious enough to make decisions and choose representatives based on the good of the whole country, rather than any other more-narrow interest. Democracy in some ways is the most demanding government type because it really requires some level of commitment from every citizen to function well. Contrast this with monarchy, oligarchy, aristocracy, etc. which only require a fraction of a nations people to be committed to running the government. It is this high level of commitment demanded that usually condemns democracies to fail their own ideals. However, most democracies are striving toward their ideals with ever increasing literacy, education, and free information, so hopefully the future will be filled with many democracies having reached their potential.