Challenges faced by Democracy. Social Sciences Research Paper

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Challenges Facing Democracy
Introduction
Democracy is a system of governance in which people have been given the opportunity to exercise their power either directly or indirectly (Campbell 50). The direct exercise of power involves people holding demonstrations seeking answers to some of their grievances, whereas indirect exercise of authority entails people participating in elections to vote for individuals of their choice, whom they use to present their interests to the government of the day (Fukuyama 12). The system was first introduced in ancient Greece. Aristotle argued that it was effective in that decisions would be made with the people’s needs in mind, as opposed to other forms where politicians made choices in their favor.
Under the democratic system of governance, people are guaranteed freedom of speech, where one can air their views within the legal framework on a myriad of issues. Moreover, the democratic system allows individuals to live or move anywhere they please without any restrictions (Campbell 50). It guarantees the right to belong to any religion without any conditions attached. The minorities are protected from infringement and their voices and views matter as those of the majority. Women also enjoy the same opportunities and rights as their male counterparts. They can vie for political postings and join any party of their choice.
However, democracy has its own shortcomings, and as such, it has faced several challenges in the past three decades (Campbell 50). Democracy is its biggest enemy in a sense that people are allowed to make choices that may have a negative impact on their lives. Some scholars argue that since people are given a chance to vote for the leaders of their choices, they must make informed decisions. Nonetheless, this is not always the case since most politicians have devised ways to negatively influence voters in their decision-making (Campbell 50). The paper will comprehensively examine the challenges faced by democracy today and some solutions to these problems.
Heterogeneity of Population
Most countries have diverse populations in terms of income, wealth, ethnicity and religion. The diversity in population has led to serious problems as far as democracy is concerned (Steven 330). The following paragraphs will demonstrate how diversity is one of the biggest challenges facing democracy today.
Growing Social and Economic Inequality among People
One of the biggest challenges facing democracy today is ever increasing economic and social inequality among citizens (Peterson 147). Although under democratic system people have the right to vote and vie for various postings, only rich people have the biggest chance of winning the election. In some countries, particularly developing ones, poor people are sometimes forced to sell their votes to meet their basic necessities of life like food, shelter, and clothing. In most democratic countries, the people earning low income have low chances of winning any political seat, considering the fact that they do not have money to fund their campaigns. Hence, generally, most of the political seats are occupied by elites who do not represent the interests of the common citizens (Peterson 147). T...