SIX ESSENTIAL FACTORS OF DEMOCRACY.

WHAT IS DEMOCRACY?

Many people think that democracy is majority rule, pure and simple. Actually that is very very wrong and simply leads to a fascist dictatorship of the people. In order to understand fascism we need to first know what democracy is so that we can see how fascism undermines true democracy by creating a fascist false democracy.

Democracy has six fundamental aspects that can't be left out. In any country, even the U.S.A., where there are only five or less of these factors, then it is not a complete democracy, and it will be seen that the missing factor shows the hole where fascists have inserted themselves like a wedge to corrupt and misguide the democratic principles and undermine the democracy for their own personal ends. These six essential factors can be paired in three general polarities or axes of the dimensions that define the three dimensional psycho-socio-political space of democracy.

1. People as sovereign - 2. Rule of law.
3. Majority rule - 4. Minority rights.
5. Separation of powers - 6. Checks and balances.

Here are the six with points of identification and consideration.

SIX ESSENTIAL FACTORS OF DEMOCRACY.

1. People as Sovereign
--Government of the people, by the people, and for the people; not for the wealthy (plutocracy), for the powerful few (oligarchy), for a single hereditary ruler (monarchy) or a single leader or dictator (autocracy), or for a hereditary nobility or privileged class (aristocracy).
--People’s sovereignty is expressed directly (plebiscitary democracy) or through representatives (republican democracy).
-- Question to ponder: Who are considered “people” for enfranchisement?

2. Rule of Law
--Law is supreme rule, not the supremacy of a person or group or class as ruler.
--An objective written foundation (e.g., constitutional document(s)) anchors the functional system of law (e.g., living constitution).
--Equality before the law.
--Abide by results even when continuing to disagree with attempts to persuade or ultimate disagreement by peaceful civil disobedience to bring before the law.

3. Majority Rule
--Size of majority: majority or more than majority (i.e, “super-majority”),
--Type of majority: by state, by population, etc.
--Elections open and verifiable for determining majority decision.

4. Minority Rights
--Pluralism and multi-party access to all levels of decision-making.
--Realistic choices and alternatives must be available.
--Free exchange of ideas, information, and opinion.
--Press not dictated by government or big-business corporations.

5. Separation of Powers
--Powers of government internally separated into branches, for example, executive, legislative, and judicial.
--Powers within branches of government separated between representatives and the people’s participation (judicial: judge and jury, legislative: legislature and initiative).
--Powers separated from government, for example, separation of church and state, right of privacy from government intrusion, right to assembly, etc.

6. Checks and Balances
--Effective functioning of separate powers, balancing and checking power of one branch by another branch, power of majority to tyrannize minority, power of current majority to take over in one election cycle.
--Veto power of executive over legislature, overide power of legislature over executive.
--Invalidation power of judicial over legislature.
--Bicameral legislature has checks and balances within itself.
--Appointment power of executive approved by legislative.
--Fiscal power of congress originating in one house.
--Impeachment power of legislature over executive and judicial.
--Civil disobedience of people to check powers of government.
--Jury nullification over legislature.

While democracies may differ as to how they embody each of these six factors, if one factor is completely missing or so disabled as to not be effectively functioning then the democracy itself is wounded and impaired.

Any economic system, e.g., capitalist or socialist, and any religious system, e.g., Christian, Jewish, Moslem, Buddhist, Hindu, etc., that uses these six factors in the formation of their national government and firmly establishes them in their social fabric will be a democratic society. Unfortunately, currently neither the U.S.A., Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, etc., etc., make the grade as true democracies.