Essay about elections and democracy - 1559 Words

QUESTION 1; 1. Do you think elections can be a good measure of democracy? Discuss this statement in relation to elections recently held in African countries you are familiar with. INTRODUCTION The year 2011 experienced serious levels of political activities in Africa such as political upheavals, middle-east uprisings and elections in many countries. Most Islamic nations rose against their long-ruling leaders, hence saw the ousted of Egyptian Hosni Mubarak and the killing of Muamar Gaddafi after a six-month war between the Gaddafi loyalists and the anti-Gadhafi fighters assisted by NATO. However, while this was taking place, other countries like Zambia, Congo DR, Nigeria, Liberia were also exercising their obligation of†¦show more content†¦DISCUSSION From the understanding of liberty and freedoms, the government must be erected by the participation of very free people not under coercion. It implies that the citizens must have a free will to choose leaders of their choice and be able to have freedom of expression within the given framework. Thus, elections become a very important voice for citizens to select their leaders as that is how they participate in the process of making decisions .However, there is more to democracy than just holding elections and electioneering. There are many other factors to consider to complete democracy than just holding an election Elections today, which signify democracy, must be judged by the conformity to standard norms that constitute free and fair elections. A free election is based on the presumption that fundamental human rights and freedoms are respected. These would include freedom of assembly, association, expression, and information. In addition, freedom would include freedom from violence, intimidation and coercion, freedom to access the polling stations by both voters and monitors, and freedom to make choices without fear of repercussions.But in Zambia,prior to elections,there was a lot of intimidation by the ruling MMD by brutalising the opposition,corrupting the youths with beer to cause confusion in a way of campaigning.So there was coecion before election as opponents were not ready to frely make their own decisions over who to vote for. In anotherShow MoreRelatedA False Democracy : The Presidential Election1434 Words   |  6 Pages A False Democracy In the 2016 presidential election, over ninety million eligible American citizens abstained from voting. Of course many citizens could have been busy that day, or forgot, or even falsely feel that voting is futile. 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