Essay On Advantages And Disadvantages Of Democracy

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Introduction
Referring to “Government of the people, by the people, for the people” (Abraham Lincoln 1861), democracy has long been upheld as the cornerstone of the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong. This may well explain why a recently conducted survey reveals that an overwhelming majority (83%) of the Hong Kong people recognize democracy as one of the important core values . Despite a well-embraced core value, democracy is not necessarily conducive to the development of a country. In the eyes of some renowned scholars such as John T. Wenders and Milton Friedman, democracy also has its own drawbacks on different aspects. Therefore, it is the high time for us to examine the both sides of democracy thoroughly.

Benefits of democracy
First of all, democracy safeguards the people’s interests by holding the politicians accountable. Elected by the people, politicians have to be fully responsible to the voters. If their …show more content…

In a democratic state, part of the political power is distributed to the people. Therefore, people will vote against any decisions that may bereave their basic human rights and freedom. Consequently, the ruler cannot deprive the fundamental rights of the people for his or her own benefits and thus everyone, regardless of his or her wealth or status, can enjoy the freedom and rights granted by the Constitution. On the contrary, political power is often vested to the dictator in an authoritarian regime. The dictator may arbitrarily intrude the basic human rights and the people, who do not possess political power, cannot exert influence on the ruler to prevent the impairment of human rights and freedoms. For instance, all political power in North Korea is vested in the leader Kim Jong-Un instead of the people. Without the constraint of such power, the North Korean authority blatantly violates the human rights and suppresses any dissenting opinions concerning its

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