It is one thing to say that a growing number of countries have emerged into the bright light of democracy. It is another to say that there is sufficient appreciation of the fact that many emerging democracies have yet to make substantial advances, if they are to bestow on their citizens full civil freedoms.

At the beginning of the previous century, politicians announced the good news that an age of democracy was unfolding. That was after the Treaty of Versailles. As it happened, the 20th century saw large parts of Europe and Asia succumbing to totalitarianism.

Thankfully, the present day scenario is not as bleak. Democracy has made a comeback. It is still advancing, but the process is gradual.

A society aspiring to full democracy must find ways and means to set up a political system that guarantees civil as well as political liberties to its people.

It is not enough to have a system that allows free citizens to choose who will govern them every so many years.

Authentication requirements

Democracy validates freedom when it guarantees full freedom of expression, of association and dissent. This makes possible effective opposition capable of competing for popular support and for the emergence of alternative governments through options exercised at the ballot box.

It has taken many a heroic struggle for many nations to establish their citizens’ rights to manage their own affairs and to be the real masters in their own home.

Modern democracy has been cross-fertilised by liberal (“liberal” with a small “l”) ideas that represent a set of social and political beliefs and values which assume the rule of law and the existence of basic and universal human rights that transcend the interest of the community

In this sense, the term liberal has no party political connotation. It affirms the basic worth of individuals and holds that the interests of the State cannot override those of the citizen in matters of conscience, thought and expression.

Early origins

Although it has deep roots, liberalism drew its strength from the l7th century political and social philosophers who stood for freedom from the fetters of unchecked feudal or State power and from imposed dogma.

It is liberal democracy that was the main target of fascism and similar ideologies.

The modern human rights movement believes in the tenets of liberal democracy. Modern democracy has thus inherited the legacy of two traditions.

Historically, democrats have tended to stress the importance of political rather than liberal democracy. In the early years, democracy was not closely associated with peace, as it is today. Fascism and Nazism matured in democratic societies, which provided the tools for free discussion and the mobilisation of cadres that seized State power and imposed eventual dictatorships.

Self-determination

Self-determination implies the exercise of freedom. But it could turn out to be a demand for a form of independence, unrelated to the maintenance of basic freedoms. Too often, the demand for self-determination could serve the ends of ethnic or fundamentalist interests whose aim is to impose their own form of tyranny.

Self-determination arrested the progress of a number of South American democracies. Although self-determination is, without doubt, a legitimate right, its claim to moral recognition is subject to the condition that it does not threaten other rights. This is where the consideration of human rights comes into play.

Human rights represent values vital to democracy. They have to be jealously safeguarded against the threat of fundamentalism and from political theories that could send free people back to conditions akin to those prevailing in the Middle Ages.

Citizens with a democratic outlook must be ever vigilant against the possibility of political systems in which desires and interests of a manipulated majority could allow the suppression of dissent.

There is a case for on-going development of education programmes that inculcate liberal values to broader segments of the electorate in democracies – particularly in new democracies.

The media, particularly the broadcasting media, could play a useful role in this regard.

Direct democracy

We should strive to make further inroads in the sphere of direct democracy. It is not enough to build up solid public opinion that refuses to accept rulers who are not freely elected representatives. And it is not enough to bring more scrutiny to bear on elected representatives

Power has to be spread further, enabling the electorate to have a more direct say in decisions that affect them than at present when they are only called upon once every five years (in Malta’s case) to delegate their authority to their representatives.

The days of the blank cheque are gradually coming to an end. Democracy requires that politicians go more often to their electorate to have specific cheques endorsed

[email protected]