Democracies are systems of government where the heads of state usually Presidents or Prime Ministers are elected by the people. Here legislative bodies such as parliament or congress elected by the people reserve the right to make laws, levy taxes, raise military, among other roles. The president or prime minister works together with the bodies, while an independent judiciary system validates or challenges laws called into question.
A monarch, on the other hand – modern constitutional ones for a start - has two bodies, the governing and the ruling body. Roles are subdivided such that parliament, usually the independent body, establishes the law, while the monarch, the ruling body, influences state affairs and the welfare of the public within the confines of a constitution where its role is defined (Bognador, 1995). There are absolute monarchs still in existence such as the one in United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Here except for advisers, only the monarchy makes laws and sets up taxes.
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Democracies are the better systems of governing a country for a number of reasons, one being the interests of the citizens are protected. In democracies, the people have the right to vote on political, social and economic issues and in particular representatives they want such as the President or members of parliament. In monarchies, on the other hand, power is succeeded by members of the family who are next in line, therefore, people have no say in who rules them.
Democracies also promote major changes that impact a majority of its citizens without having to resort to any form of violence. This is because of the sense of participation and involvement in the system that makes it possible for any of its citizens to steer the agenda. This is harder to achieve in a monarchy especially for the people, most of whom are not of the royal family to instigate any kind of change. Unless the ruler/rulers agree to the said change, the average person has no voice on such matters whatsoever.
Democracies are based on the rule of equality, which generally implies that all people are equal as far as the law is concerned. This means that every individual has the right to experience and exercise equal political, social and economic rights and freedoms. And neither the state, or fellow citizens are allowed to discriminate them based on their sex, class, religion or wealth status (Hoppe et al. 2018). Monarchs on the other hand, socioeconomic classes are more pronounced, and wealth is directly associated with power. In this system, there is no chance to have any kind of influence unless they are wealthy or belong to one of the noble families or the royal family.
Democracies also promote competency and a sense of responsibility or obligation towards their citizens. This is mostly because the elected officials owe their success to the citizens and have the responsibility to represent the people’s interests to the best of their ability ( Przeworski, Stokes, & Manin, 1999 ). This ensures that almost all matters directly affecting the people are discussed at length, and sensible decisions and solutions are created that are fair to the general majority. Monarchs, on the other hand, have successors already outlined, so whether the rulers wish to accept the assigned responsibilities or not, the mantle is handed over to them. This means that the competency of the said government is not guaranteed as a regime cannot be voted out, just overruled by a, more often than not, violent revolution that leads to loss of life and crippling of the economy.
Democracy is not without its disadvantages such as misuse of funds and time in doing elections and formulating laws that take longer than needed to discuss and even longer to implement. Not to mention the leaders elected could just be irresponsible and are only in it for personal gain not necessarily to benefit the people (Hoppe, 2018). Insult to injury is corrupt ways to attain office during elections and even more corruption during their tenures in office for personal gain.
In conclusion, not without its downsides, democracy gives power to the people which will satisfy the welfare of most of a country’s citizens. Unfit leaders and regimes can always be voted out in subsequent elections or even impeached before their tenure is over as the power ultimately belongs to the people.
References.
Bogdanor, V. (1995). The monarchy and the constitution . Oxford University Press on Demand.
Hoppe, H. H. (2018). Democracy–the god that failed: the economics and politics of monarchy,
democracy and natural order . Routledge.
Przeworski, A., Stokes, S. C., & Manin, B. (Eds.). (1999). Democracy, accountability,
and representation (Vol. 2). Cambridge University Press.
