Democracy is the lynchpin of a society that values liberty, and the ultimate standard of legitimacy of any government that imposes authority upon its people. Unlike an authoritarian system of government where political power rests with the dictator or the oligarch, power and privilege belong to the sovereign people in a democracy. Etymologically, the term is derived from two Greek words, demos (meaning people) and kratos (rule). Roughly, it translates to “rule of the people,” or by extension “people power.”
Thus, we can say that the Edsa Revolt in 1986 was a blatant display of democratic action, which toppled an unwanted regime.
With the victory of the allied forces during the 2nd World War against the fascist and dictatorial regimes, the majority of the jurisdictions in the world have embraced the democratic system of government. Before the turn of the century, more than 60 percent, or about 120 independent countries have adopted democracy as a way of life. At the height of the Cold War, the geopolitical tension had polarized the world into two camps. This led to the formation of two major blocs—the Western Bloc led by the US and the Eastern Bloc championed by the USSR. With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the Iron Curtain collapsed and a number of communist countries in Eastern and Central Europe under the Soviet sphere of influence discarded their communist rule and joined the freedom-loving states. However, Russia is intent on keeping whatever is left of its once powerful Soviet Republic and prevent any further advance by NATO to its eastern border. The ongoing crisis in Ukraine is a continuation of this contest for hegemony in the region. In a nutshell, it’s a struggle between democracy and communism. But democracy is not only won or lost through armed conflict. When political conflicts are not managed properly through peaceful and democratic means, democracy is imperiled.
Our political institutions and electoral processes should be strong and resilient to withstand the pressures of sinister forces that are out to undermine our democratic system. The poll body, which administers the conduct of our elections, must be totally non-partisan and independent. When the Comelec is perceived to be serving the interest of one party and is deemed to be partisan, people lose their trust in our elections. A corrupt Comelec abets election fraud and conducts dishonest elections. Vote-buying, cheating, ballot snatching and terrorism mar the elections and destroy the integrity of the votes. Candidates who don’t deserve to win get elected into public office and gain control of the reins of government. And once they are in power, they abuse their authority and destroy the fabric of democracy. There is a gradual weakening of the democratic institutions and people wake up wondering why they have lost their freedom. There may be no tanks in the streets, no military checkpoints in major entry points and political institutions continue to exist but an oppressive regime that stifles people’s rights reigns in the land. The gradual loss of freedom is almost imperceptible. No wonder that the number of democratic countries has declined. In some countries, the democratic space has contracted and the quality of democracy has suffered. Overtime, some countries slowly slide into authoritarianism. Embryonic and newly born republics experiment on populist autocracy, which eventually backslide into despotic rule. Constitutional authoritarianism has become a vogue that the system has become a model for some developing countries. While a few have been successful, many have fallen to hard authoritarian forms of government characterized by repressive rule. A veneer of democracy remains but there is a deprivation of civil liberties. Elections are still held for show and they are not honest and fair, and the rules are stacked against the genuine opposition. The courts and the legislators still function but they are co-opted by the corrupt executive. Newspapers are still published and TV and radio continue to operate, but they are subject to strict censorship. In other words, democracy is a sham.
Democracy is fragile and unless nourished properly it is bound to die. Governments with less resilient institutions and a population bereft with deep-seated commitment to the ideals of democracy are more susceptible to democratic breakdown. The mere fact that we have a Constitution that sets out in printed words our liberty and freedom is not a guarantee for our democracy to survive. The mere fact that we have elected leaders who have sworn to protect our Constitution is not an assurance that our bill of rights will not be violated. Liberty does not need a Constitution or a document to safeguard it. For as the great jurist, Judge Learned Hand, had said more than a century ago: “Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it. While it lies there, it needs no constitution, no law, no court to save it.”
The sovereign people should value the liberty that we enjoy. Our forefathers fought and died to gain every freedom that we now cherish. But it is for us to lose. One of the guardrails of democracy is the electoral process. Many take elections for granted and use them as an occasion to fleece money or favor from the candidates. They squander their chance to install into office deserving candidates who embody our democratic ideals. Despite the writings on the wall, they don’t reject aspirants for public office who have dictatorial tendencies and are prone to commit abuses once they assume office. Voters should be able to discern the true character of a candidate; they should identify and unmask demagogues who are a threat to our democracy. There are telltale signs of deceptive and unprincipled aspirants for elective office who are undeserving of our trust. We can go over their records of public service. Are they tainted with corruption and scandals? Have they abused their authority and committed violations of human rights? We should learn our lessons from the past.
History tells us that democracy dies at the hands of democratically elected leaders who become tyrannical in their rule. There are heads of state freely chosen by the people who eventually subvert the very system that installed them into power and betray the will of the people who brought them to office. Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of pre-war Germany after a series of electoral triumphs by his Nazi Party, and led his country to ruin. Filipinos have voted twice into Malacañang a president who became a tyrant and refused to vacate his office until People Power ousted him. Through elections, we can install a system of checks-and-balances, which prevents autocratic leaders from abusing their power. More importantly, elections provide a fair opportunity for everyone to hold government power through a system of honest and clean elections. In a sense, elections are a laboratory of democracy. Let’s make it successful by electing only worthy candidates into office.