Democracy(Episode 1) - Media and democracy

"The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of the government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures", says Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Vote. This is perhaps the most discussed word in politics. It seems as if all of our democratic governments and political parties are hanging on to that one word. And this is indeed partially the truth. The whole point of democracy is indeed that one word. Vote.

Almost all the checks and balances in a democracy(most importantly indirect democracy) ultimately rely on that one thing - vote. This article analyses exactly how important it is to the working of a democracy.

The first and foremost reason any politician enters the political arena is to hold power. How to do this? Win the vote. Thus we see that voting is a measure in our hand which can be used to force people into working for the people. Because if they do nothing for us, we will not vote for them and ultimately they will not be able to hold power.

Secondly, suppose they do come into power. Do they stop working for you? Well, technically they cannot. This is because they need to, or rather want to come back again as well. And how do they come back? You vote for them. So, they will have to keep working for the public, to remain in power for the maximum time.

Ultimately voting decides who will make the laws for us. Once we elect somebody, they will be there for 5 years. We cannot remove them. Thus the vote not only becomes a privileged power but also a huge responsibility.

In recent years, many parties have been accused of buying votes, i.e. bribing voters to vote for their party. This reminds us once again, that voting is, more than anything, a privilege as well as a responsibility. Are you willing to sacrifice the interests of the nation, that will affect you directly for years to come, for a small amount of money?

It is you who is the answer. It depends upon you, the values that are important to you. It is you who decides.

That's it guys a very limited version of the importance of voting in a democracy. More will be coming soon. Stay tuned.

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