English Language Blog Entry 2

“Democracy creates stability in a society.”

Democracy nowadays has been adapted by various nations or states as their political system. In this essay, I will establish my stand that I do not agree that democracy creates stability in society to a large extent, also explaining and analyzing this topic.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English defines democracy as “a situation or a system in which everyone is equal and has the right to vote, make decisions, etc.” Stability in society relies on a number of factors, including political, social and economic factors.

A democratic government cannot ensure economical stability as it cannot specifically restrict the people to certain ways to increase the nation-state’s economic power, unlike dictatorship. In this case, dictatorship is preferred over democracy as the government will actually decide the ways which will generate the most growth in the economy.

However, democracy brings about some societal stability. Everyone in the society gets equal rights and is able to vote for the government that he or she wants to be ruled by. Hence, the society will most probably choose a government which the people think will fulfill their necessities and wishes. Here, democracy helps the society socially in the sense that it gives people a secure feeling that they are being ruled well, satisfying their needs and thus leading to fewer conflicts between the government and the people. Hence, the society is socially stable.
Being the major part of society, the people know the society and its social issues better than the government. For the government to make really good decisions to bring about positive changes in the society, they will need to seek the opinions of the people. This is where democracy comes in, whereby the people can vote and make decisions for the nation-state. In this case, the government makes the most-suitable decisions according to the people’s will, improving the situation in the nation-state and hence promoting stability in society.

However, this way of making major decisions for the welfare of the society may have some negative impacts on the society. Democracy enables the use of voting to make decisions for nation-states. This can sometimes result in vote fatigue, whereby many voters may decide not to participate in a vote and thus result in the non-majority group making decisions for the nation-state. This may result in instability in the society as the decisions do not really cater for most people, making them unhappy with the government.

Overall, I feel that democracy does not create stability in society. Time is essential for a decision-making government but in a democratic nation-state, the government is unable to make decisions fast because it has to count all the votes, as compared to other political structures such as dictatorship, whereby the government can make decisions in a short time. A democratic government cannot make decisions which cater to the society’s needs in time, promoting conflicts between the people and government. These conflicts result in instability in the society. Hence, I feel that democracy does not lead to societal stability.

(500 words)