Democracy simply means the government that comes from the people (through selection), government that is exercised by the people (through election) and for the interest of the people (through representation).

In other words, Democracy is a system of government in which a country’s political leaders are chosen by the people in regular, free, and fair elections. The people can criticize and replace their elected leaders and representatives if they do not perform well. The people are sovereign—they are the highest authority—and government is based on the will of the people. Elected representatives at the national and local levels must listen to the people and be responsive to their needs.

What guarantees the qualities of democracy are:

• A mechanism put in place by the people to check mate, monitor and evaluate, policies programmes of government, to either sustain and remove a government who is not responsive and competent.
• Active participation of the people as citizens in politics and policies. This also means there must be equality – formal equal treatment of all citizens by the state and equal rights to participate in politics and have all preferences equally weighted.
• The protection of the fundamental rights of the citizens, including the media
• Recurring, free, competitive and fair election
• A save space for the voters to cast their votes in secret, free of intimidation and violence.

This is an excerpt from the work of Bassey Duke.

Please, also post comments via the link below

http://youngstars-foundation.org/blog/what-guarantees-the-quality-of-democracy-and-what-are-you-doing-or-will-do-about-it-bassey-duke/