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Democracy is a system of government where power resides with the people. There are many varying methods for what a democratic form of government is defined as. However each emphasizes some degree of freedom with a desire to voice thoughts openly without risk.
Democracy has common elements to it's many forms that share similar threads of an agreement of basic principles. Such ideas are: the importance of individual rights, rule of law, fair and transparent elections, the power being held by citizens, and various safeguards against the concentration of political power.
At the heart of any Democracy the power is held by the people through participation in governance usually through voting. This type of input by citizens promotes and establishes trust which is a factor that democracy is built upon. Elections have been noted to require high degrees of transparent processes.
A key aspect of democracy is securing personal freedom and rights for the individual people under its system. Protecting civil liberties like freedom of expression and freedom of speech as examples. It is imperative to provide stability that many look to within a society for protection. These protections promote a free exchange of ideas and thought.
Democracy is often challenged from many different elements with some being external influences, misinformation and changes in technology. These various external pressures can cause issues in creating the needed environment for democracy to succeed. Often in recent events many instances of those factors have taken a stage on public attention.
The internet and various technological communication has impacted the dissemination of ideas. It also has shown that misinformation can be a major issue in creating division and mistrust. This element of communication needs more development to be effective in a democratic system.
Polarization also impacts a democratic system making discussion and open dialogue harder to maintain. It can lead to more division and less focus on common ground and common sense solutions that allow societies to continue forward. Different values are now conflicting greatly where that was not as much of an issue before creating the feeling of unachievable common ground.
There has been much in public debate recently regarding the treatment of members of media where they seem to be getting a disservice or even unfair censorship. The recent resignation of Ann Telnaes shows more how modern corporations and private owners impact some level of press.
Pulitzer prize winning cartoonist Ann Telnaes left her position at the Washington post after they blocked the distribution of a political cartoon depicting many business and media leaders in favor with incoming President elect Donald Trump . This act has been described as showing cowardness to protect a corporation's image.
This also showcases that instances such as Telnaes' happen often and may cause media and press individuals to move to new environments. He described that his dismissal was for having too many anti Trump views and not creating “funny” content.
Open and transparent communication has been a base point of democracies success along with truth to all the citizens it impacts. Truth in modern political systems has taken a different approach where the media seems to not be free from outside sources affecting their messaging. Without the truth there may not be a space for democracy to fully thrive.
Censorship within these systems undermines the very democratic ideals that are set up for. There is the belief for freedom of speech is critical to be able to hold governing bodies accountable and also to enable educated citizenry. As free speech is a foundation there must be ways to support media outlets from outside influence and corporate entities.
The current climate may have those in support of the idea re evaluate and question how democracy works. Supporting Individual Rights and the values of freedom to express opinions and ideas is still at the center of the concept but may need a new approach. Having conversations about accountability from those who govern and transparently operating a government would be very important to be able to create some needed solutions for public well being.