elections
INTRODUCTION
An election is a decision making process by which people choose leaders. Elections are the most important ingredient of democracy, and have been said to be the factor that either breaks or builds the democracy of a state. This essay shall discuss the effectiveness of elections as a measure of democracy citing examples from recently held election in African countries. A conclusion shall be drawn at the end.
DEFINITION OF KEY CONCEPTS
The term, democracy comes from the Greek word, dēmokratía "rule of the people", which was coined from δῆμος (dêmos) "people" and Kratos "power". Abraham Lincoln defines democracy as ‘The rule of the people, by the people’. The relationship of democracy and elections is visible in the definition of democracy given by MacIver which is that democracy is not a way of governing whether by majority or otherwise but primarily a way of determining who shall govern by involving freedom of choice in electing the rulers and the consent of the electors that those who receive the mandate should alone rule. This implies that democracy has popular base and hinges on the consent of the governed. This is further illustrated by Patterson who described democracy as a system of government where ultimate political power rests with the majority through their capacity to choose representatives in free and fair elections. The implication is that democracy cannot be divorced from elections and elections therefore serve as a significant measure of democracy. This assertion is in line with Shumpeter who defined democracy by insisting on the election as a way of placing the government in a bidding process.
Elections, which are an important element of 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,
An election is a decision making process by which people choose leaders. Elections are the most important ingredient of democracy, and have been said to be the factor that either breaks or builds the democracy of a state. This essay shall discuss the effectiveness of elections as a measure of democracy citing examples from recently held election in African countries. A conclusion shall be drawn at the end.
DEFINITION OF KEY CONCEPTS
The term, democracy comes from the Greek word, dēmokratía "rule of the people", which was coined from δῆμος (dêmos) "people" and Kratos "power". Abraham Lincoln defines democracy as ‘The rule of the people, by the people’. The relationship of democracy and elections is visible in the definition of democracy given by MacIver which is that democracy is not a way of governing whether by majority or otherwise but primarily a way of determining who shall govern by involving freedom of choice in electing the rulers and the consent of the electors that those who receive the mandate should alone rule. This implies that democracy has popular base and hinges on the consent of the governed. This is further illustrated by Patterson who described democracy as a system of government where ultimate political power rests with the majority through their capacity to choose representatives in free and fair elections. The implication is that democracy cannot be divorced from elections and elections therefore serve as a significant measure of democracy. This assertion is in line with Shumpeter who defined democracy by insisting on the election as a way of placing the government in a bidding process.
Elections, which are an important element of 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,
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