Analyzing the preconditions for democratic stability, one has to clearly understand what a democratic regime is, what ideas it supports, and what principles it follows. Democracy is a way of organizing social interaction being characterized, as opposed to authoritarianism, by the equality of parties or managed dominance of continuing professional leaders. Democratic regimes are those forms of government where power is performed in compliance with fundamental human rights and free will expression of citizens in terms of smooth functioning of political institutions. As for the most characteristic features of democratic political regimes, one should mention the election of the main organs of political power, the broadness of citizens' rights, and freedom guaranteed by the system of government. The absence of any of the system’s components is the main factor that may enhance regime’s destabilization and even cause its complete failure and disappearance. Democratic stability guaranteed by strict following the regime’s main principles can not be fully achieved by any country, while every country has the supporters and the opponents of the authorities with the last ones considerably shaking the democratic system of the country. Regarding democratic stability as a fictitious phenomenon, the paper examines main preconditions for the successful existence of democracy.
Democratic system advocates the solution of political problems in accordance with the free will of citizens through a referendum poll or elections. A significant peculiarity of democracy is the fact that it propagandizes the subordination of the minority to the majority with the simultaneous protection of minorities' rights. Moreover, all citizens have equal legal rights, which can not be humiliated by any means. The democratic regime can also be characterized by the lack of concentration of power in one person, multiparty affiliations, and competitiveness in the elections. The regime is focused on the constant study of public opinion, supporting the right of citizens to access information and criticize it. It also supports the possibility of withdrawal and change of government and its members. Depending on the form of the government, one distinguishes between presidential, parliamentary, and presidential-parliamentary democratic systems. The main difference between presidential and parliamentary forms of government is the procedure of forming the government (by the president or parliament) and its accountability (to the president or parliament). Nevertheless, it should be noted that democratic countries rarely support and maintain the pure form of government. Substantially, the democracy and authoritarianism are diametrically opposite to the phenomenon of organized activity in any social system. Normally, they form a harmonious combination, in which one or another element dominates situationally. Absolute democracy is the same organizational anomaly as absolute authoritarianism. Anarchy means having rights without duties. In fact, it leads to the struggle of an individual against all and to the selection of one person or group of persons having all the rights while leaving others with duties only. Anarchy usually leads to extreme authoritarianism in its distorted forms: totalitarianism, tyranny, and despotism.
Democracy is a form of government of people as the control over people through their representatives means that the theoretical settings are only partially implemented in the practice of modern societies and their political systems. So far, there were no people who have learned to govern themselves, and it is highly unlikely that people will learn to control the system wisely and consciously in the nearest future. Every government, in this sense, is oligarchic and, therefore, provides the subordination of the majority to the few representatives elected by people. The notion that people can be active and constant political figures is not convincing. The mood and the activities of most people are limited to personal or group interests. The nation does not pertain to the reflection of power that determines rational or other actions and relationships within society. It fulfills the government's decision automatically, and even resisting it is often not justified by the desire to achieve alternative solutions.
If political stability in the West, especially the conflicts and tensions, was widely elucidated and became the basis of relevant political concepts in the countries where the administrative-command system and totalitarian regimes prevailed, the issues of country’s stability, conflicts, and tension were acutely ignored. Thus, there exist pungent problems of stability and conflicts connected with complex processes of democratization.
Stability is the normal functioning of the political system, all its structures and institutions, the absence of disruptions in the mechanisms of state power, and the sufficiency of its authority. Stability is also evident in strict compliance with and by implementing the law and other regulatory legal acts used in relation to peaceful, non-violent forms of political struggle. The tension in society is an integral part of the objective stabilization. Here, stability acts as an assessment of the political life within the country in terms of international relations.
Regardless of the regime, creating the conditions for normal functioning of public institutions and authorities is the most important function of political leadership and governance (Mann). Sustainability concerns all spheres of political and public life. Essentially, stability is the integration of people for a particular purpose, the solution of various problems at the division of labor and responsibilities. In Western and later in Eastern countries, politics involved finding ways for society cohesion into certain social communities and/or groups based on common values and interests. The main aim of it is the study of evolutionary changes in public priorities and behavior rather than ideological undermining and explosion of public emotions. Political stability, according to political scientists from the West, is a form of social stability, the state of the interrelation between social communities, groups, and political forces being not able to significantly change the political system to their advantage. The stability ensures their status, transfers the country into the state of relative equilibrium, balance of social communities, groups, and political institutions (subjects of government relations).
The social system and its political regime determine the nature of political stability. In a democratic system, all mechanisms of power are directed to the achievement of a certain balance of social and political interests based on the needs of the ruling power. As a result, the mechanism of self-regulation, as well as political relations, is formed. The leading role belongs to the state that is meant to regulate the whole system of social life to save the existing balance. In fact, there operates the mechanism of political system’s adaptation to changes in the conditions of society functioning. There also exists and functions a set of specific institutions, processes, and relationships that provide the optimal conditions for normal functioning of the political system. The difficulty is that the political systems are changing while adapting to the environment. Nevertheless, these institutions, processes, and relations form the ability of dealing with anarchy and effectively strengthen the existing system of scientific and technical progress. Well-established political awareness of the population, the constant transformation of the political system, and the balance of all social political forces provide political and social stability.
The presence of a strong middle class plays also a vital role. Supporting constitutional democratic parties and marginalizing right and left extremist groups, the middle classes relieve social tension, strengthen the situation in the country, and prevent political conflicts to some extent. The insurance of political continuity also plays an important role in the enhancement of democratic stability. A democratic society is an open system and can adapt relatively smoothly to changes of the internal and external environment. This stability is dynamic. Authoritarian and totalitarian regimes inhere stability and focus on the formation of homogeneous society where self-regulation is provided by repression with violence directed to elimination of any existing or potential opposition. Supporters and even opponents permanently impose democracy to others. This, together with radical redistribution, causes democracy destabilization.
Political processes can be either foreign or domestic. Open political process is determined by the fact that the political interests of social communities, groups, and individuals are systematically detected in electoral preferences, the programs of political parties and movements, as well as in other forms of public preferences of the people in terms of the government. In a democracy, this is reflected in the continuous contacts between social communities, groups, individuals, institutions, power structures while discussing and disputing individual and common goals and problems, adjusting to the political course performed under the influence of public opinion. In a democratic state, the frankness of the political process is expressed in the openness of the various phases of political decision making, adjusting programs, and recruiting elites as well as other areas of the power's interaction with citizens. On the contrary, the totalitarian regime's openness of the political process never extends to the control mechanisms and particularly to the development of strategic and tactical goals.
The shady political process is based on publicly unformed political institutions and power centers as well as on government harassment of social classes, groups, and individuals who, for various reasons, do not refer to officials and government facilities. The centers of power, to which the citizens appeal, act at the level of being prohibited, unlegalized, and unrecognized by society structures (mafia clans operating in a particular area). Power political space is regulated by applying in such centers solutions, tools, and standards in order to achieve the purposes set forth by the rights and freedoms of the performers. Shady political process can act as an alternative official political form, and as non-alternative form when the highest authority of certain institutions is not officially advertised but recognized. Nevertheless, democracy is a collective decision rule. Modern democracy called the representative democracy the representation of interests in stable institutions. Accordingly, representation of interests in unstable and indeterminate institutions can destabilize the system and cause serious political, economic, and social problems.
The current historical period is characterized by the deepest and most comprehensive crisis of totalitarian and authoritarian political regimes in various parts of the world. In some countries, democratic aspirations are masked in authoritarian practices, while society really moves towards democracy in other ones. In order to evaluate ambiguous changes taking place in the democratic system, it is necessary to examine the theoretical basis for comparative analysis that could summarize the widest representations and manifestations of democracy.
The biggest problem of modern social-liberal democracy is associated with a decrease in political interest and commitment of citizens to active political participation. According to the requirements of the market, the systematic restructuring of society (orientation" goal-means "and maximization of benefits) produces selfish actors being only limited and focused on how to discuss political issues on the basis of the universal common good prospects. At the same time, in the regulatory and participative theories of democracy, an emphasis is placed on the importance of conscious activity of citizens in politics and the expansion of the social basis of modern democracy. Otherwise, the elites as the principal subjects of political action are facing a pressing problem, which is the legitimation of their power. Democracy is nourished with disputes, but it dies without consent.
None of the political systems is able to fully respect human rights and simultaneously ensure rapid economic growth, equity income, and a high level of human development. All regimes demonstrate bigger or smaller discrepancy between declared intentions and actual results. However, it is significant to mention the political paradox formulated by Winston Churchill, who admitted that democracy was the worst system of government among all options.
In conclusion, democratic form of government always remains in the process of either development or expansion. Its rises and falls depend on many factors, the considerable part of which belongs to people involved in it and the resources allocated to it to make it effective. As soon as the economic crisis explodes, there immediately appear sound demands concerning changes or radical reforms of the democratic system as non-democratic one can be more effective in the short-term perspective. Democracy often gives rise to ideas about the unreliability of power; it is always overcome by public disagreement over the means, ends of confusion, and goals of the political programs and hidden and open conflicts. In this regard, one can trace a number of attempts in history to bring "order" by abandoning the practice of political pluralism and complex democratic decision-making procedures. Particularly, a little chance of survival pertains to democratic regimes in a sharp declining of economic growth, deepening of income inequality, increasing fragmentation of society and political destabilization. Democratic stability is rather an imaginary phenomenon since complete stability can never be achieved. Democracy presupposes free will expressed by the state’s citizens. While the country consists of millions of individuals whose wills, desires, and goals significantly differ, the attempts of the democratic regime to meet the needs of every citizen will result in economic, political, and social chaos.
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Linda works as an editor at https://essaysservice.com/quality-proofreading-and-editing-services.html. She has always enjoyed working with a variety of literature and being interested in new facts. In addition, she easily finds common ground with many people. She also received her master's degree from American University Washington