Why demonise democracy?

Sir,

Some people demonise democracy at the expense of other systems but I do not know why they are allowed to.

What has democracy done to them to deserve such bad treatment? If democracy was a demon, as they said, then other systems are also demons, as they are not perfect. They oppress others but the good thing about democracy is it emphasises popular participation at the grassroots level.

 Other systems do not meet such criterion; instead they all emphasise minority, as opposed to majority, rule.
Some talk of ‘home-grown democracy’ or ‘traditional democracy’ but, as far as I know, democracy is universal.

I mean the same all over the world; and those who shower praises on home-grown or traditional democracy, I am sure they do so because they benefit financially. I mean, you cannot bite the hand that feeds you. Democracy does not pay me but I would not stop defending it on humanitarian grounds.

Peter Sibeko, Luyengo

Dear Peter Sibeko,

Actually, there are many forms of democracy that have been practiced throughout history.

 However, the two things they share in common are that the government process is open to the citizens to see what’s going on (transparency) and the leaders report to the voters, not the other way around (accountability).

Not everyone is comfortable with these positions; hence the ‘demonising’ which does not mean actual demons but means making something look bad.
By the way, not all democracies are ‘majority rule’; most are build in safety nets for the minorities in their populations so they are not at the mercy of the majority all the time.

 ‘Home-grown’ democracy simply means the nation came up with it itself – the USA has such a home-grown democracy.

Editor

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