In: Economics
what are the advantages and disadvantages of liberal democracies system?
Advantages:
1. It protects the interest of citizens.
As previously stated, the citizens in a democratic country are
given the right to vote on political, social and economical issues,
particularly the representatives they want to be in charge of
making major decisions, such as the president. This can greatly
protect the people from anything they would disagree to occur.
2. It prevents monopoly of authority.
Due to the fact that the government is bound by an election term
where parties compete to regain authority, democracy prevents
monopoly of the ruling authority. And, the elected ruling party
would make sure their policies will work for the people, as they
will not be able to remain in power after their term with bad
records—they will not be re-elected.
3. It promotes equality.
Generally, democracy is based on the rule of equality, which means
that all people are equal as far as the law is concerned. Every
person has the right to experience and enjoy equal political,
social and economic rights, and the state is not allowed to
discriminate him on the standard of sex, class, religion and
property.
4. It makes for a responsible and stable administration.
When there are elected and fixed representatives, a more
responsible government is formed. Thus, democracy can be efficient,
firm and stable. Its administration is ruled and conducted with a
sense of dedication, and people under this system discuss matters
and problems thoroughly to come up with sensible decisions.
5. It brings a feeling of obligation towards the citizens.
The ruling authorities owe their success to elections by the
citizens, so they would feel grateful to and socially responsible
for them. This can serve as their motivating factor to work for the
citizens, for they have the right of choosing their government.
Disadvantages:
1. It might allow misuse of public funds and time.
Democratic governments can lead to wasted time and resources,
considering that it takes a huge amount of time on formulating laws
and requires a lot of money to be spent during elections. It is
also highly possible that the country will be ruled by incompetent
and irresponsible leaders who will just spend public funds for
their own tours and recreation.
2. It instigates corruption.
Those who are elected to power might resort to unethical means for
personal interests and engage in corrupt practices. During their
tenure in office, they might take advantage of authority for
personal gains, putting the interests of the masses at the
backseat.
3. It risks the wrong choice of public servants.
Truth be told, not all individuals under a democratic government
are aware of the political and social circumstances in their
country. In a voting system, majority wins, and there is no
distinction between the votes cast by the literate and the
illiterate. People may favor a candidate based on other factors
other than pure and required capability. Taking these things into
consideration, the elected official may not always be the perfect
person for the seat, leading to erroneous decisions.
4. It allows not exercising the right to vote.
Sadly, in some democratic countries, people fail to exercise their
right to vote. Perhaps, they are reluctant to do it or are just
less aware about the impact of their votes. Or, perhaps they do not
see it as a privilege and take the process less seriously.
5. It may put more emphasis on quantity, rather than
quality.
Another disadvantage of democracy is in terms of providing
services—it tends to put more emphasis on quantity, rather than
quality. Also, considering that the system might be governed by
irresponsible and incompetent leaders, equality might be in
question for only the rich and famous might be prioritized more
than the poor.