Legal Literacy - In running a government, every country has a system of government that is implemented in their country. Democracy is currently still considered a system of government that is the best system of government.

Reacquainting Yourself with Democracy

Democracy comes from the word 'demos' which means people and 'kratos' which means power and when combined it will form the word 'demokratia' which means the power of the people, but some literature also mentions that democracy means government by the people. It began when in 507 BC, the leader of Athens at that time, Cleisthenes, first introduced the term democracy which was a system of political reform. The starting point of democracy at that time was when the people gathered to convey their concerns and aspirations directly in front of their leaders.

One of the things that underlies the difference between democracy and other systems of government is prioritizing the involvement of the people in running the government cycle. Not only that, democracy also has several principles that are used as values that are needed to develop a democratic form of government, including:

  • Sovereignty of the people;
  • Government based on the consent of the governed;
  • Majority rule;
  • Minority rights;
  • Guarantee of Human Rights;
  • Free, fair, and honest elections;
  • Equality before the law;
  • Due process of law;
  • Constitutional limits on government;
  • Social, economic, and political pluralism;
  • Values of tolerance, pragmatism, cooperation, and consensus