Political Thought Although they are all considered social contract theorists, Ho
ID: 3500293 • Letter: P
Question
Political Thought
Although they are all considered social contract theorists, Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau had very different ideas of what form that social contract should take, and not all supported democracy as the best style of government. In a House of Commons Speech (November 11, 1947), Winston Churchill said, "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." Given Churchill's comment, and the works of the social contract theorists, is Democracy the best form of government today?
Explanation / Answer
Answer:
Hobbes said that, "be it any form of government, if you becomes discontent with it,it's tyranny". Like any other form of government, democracy has its fair share of demons. But in the relative world, nothing comes even closer to the perfect. Neither do democracy.
The answer lies in a question. 'Why any form of government is needed?' It was not like this always. When humans started to settle and the settlements started to grow, a need was felt for an authority that will work for the betterment of the common people while common people will indulge in their economic practices. It was suppossed to be an arrangement for the common people,atleast for the majority of them. And that was the begining of the various form of governments.
But in the due course of time, overly ambititious rulers started to occupy the top most postions and started working in autocratic ways. The very need of any form government was undermined. Common people had no power in thier hands. Even they had no control over their own lives.
Democracy insures that people have some power in their hands, that is the reason it is the best form of government today. Common peoople have the power to elect their own representative, they have the power to make them accountable for their decisions. People's representatives do decide the policies but it's the people who elect them. People have choice to choose their representatives.
Liberty and freedon of expression is soul of a democratic state. No state can function without proper safety valve. Democracy insures that people are being heard of. People have many ways to make their represntative listen to them.
Democracy is less invasive into the personal affairs of a common citizens. They are allowed to excersize their faith and ideas( without causing any harm to others). In the era, where every country has a diverse diaspora, Democracy is the best form of government.
But every system has its flaws. Instability of the policies due to ever changing nature of the leadership, lac of morality on the part of the leader, delayed decision making, electroral curruption etc are some major flaws of the democracy. But, only in the democracy, people have rights to force the government to be more accountable. Time test every system and only those syetem can survive which can adapt to the need of the hour. Democracy has a great potential to survive the test of time.