PRACTICE DETERMINES DEMOCRACY

Democracy is a sweet word to associate with politically, and as such, even worse dictators would tell you reasons why they believe they are democratic, just as it is easy for them to mistake systematic forced silence for peace, brutality for discipline, monologues for dialogue, subservience and fear for respect, assertiveness for disrespect, and pro-activeness for pride.

The truth is, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder because those are issues of the heart, not of principle. Democracy should not be used as a slogan because it is grounded on principles. Due to this tendency, it is important to mention the basic pillars of democracy before I delve into other issues. The basic pillars of democracy are as follows:

* Free economic activity
* Respect for human rights (Bill of Rights)
* Separation of  powers
*Respect for the rule of law
* Pluralism
* Press freedom
*Tolerance to dissenting views
* Fight against corruption
* Regular free and fair elections
* Independent Judiciary
* Protection of minority rights
* Peoples’ right to know
* Citizen participation
* Right to self determination
* Good governance, accountability and transparency
* Neutrality of state institutions
* Equality before the law

I am happy to mention that almost all of the above attributes and pillars of democracy are contained in the Constitution of the country’.
The big question is, ‘with a constitution that contains so many positive pillars of democratic principles, why did we lose AGOA, and why is the EU threatening that we might lose some of the pledges if we do not address some policy or legislative bottlenecks? The answer is simple; we are like a preacher who preaches good gospel but does not practise it. While we are doing so, other nations are voluntarily aligning themselves with the international community through the ratification and signing of international treaties and they further comply with them as per their commitment. It is important to mention that a butchery owner is not defined by what he eats because one can own a butchery even if he/she is a vegetarian.

If somebody is dressed in a Cristiano Ronaldo branded T-Shirt that  does not make him Cristiano Ronaldo because there is only one Ronaldo.
That a soccer player’s ‘praise name’ is ‘Jomo’ when his actual name is him* does not make him Jomo Sono because there is only one real Jomo Sono.
When someone has a Bible in his library, it does not mean he reads it, let alone understands it. Similarly, it is possible to believe that certain countries are democratic yet they are not as democratic as they claim to be because they do not practise the attributes of democracy as mentioned above. Of late, we are seeing and reading many writings on democracy, saying the right opposite of what is democracy. 

Different definition of democracy:

Democracy is more than just the existence of institutions, it is about well understood values, attitudes and practices of which may take different forms and experiences among different cultures and societies.

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