Essay on The Dangers of Democracy

Essay on The Dangers of Democracy In a democratic political system, the ultimate power is before a body of citizens who has the power to elect their representatives. At one point, James Madison described American democracy, in comparison to that of Athens, as â€Å"lies in the entirety segregation of the people in their collective capacity.† Thus, Madison feared that common factions turn tyrannical, hence threatening liberty. On the other hand, Centinel argued that the government should not be taken away from the people, as this lead to oppressive to their liberty as well as unresponsive to their needs. According to my viewpoint, I concur with Madison that too much democracy is dangerous. Thus, there is need to control the degree of democracy in political governance. The paper will be focusing on evaluating why too much democracy can be dangerous, and the precautions that should be undertaken to respond to the primary danger without falling to the other dangerous tendency. Democratic form of government accords people an added advantage as it incorporates their ideas into the system of governance. However, despite this advantage, foolish notions can seize it (Kishore 1-5). Any organization in which democracy rules i.e. Majority of members or citizens can pass rules and laws, which suit them, without considering other group members who must adapt to the laws and rules they enact. Judgment is crucial in distinguishing laws, which are reasonable and sensible, from those that are undemocratic, as they are unnecessary, intolerable, and unfair to the minority that oppose them thus impeaching their liberty. Therefore, formal procedure should be set in place to prevent implementation of oppressive laws, as judgment in such matters may fail due to use of majority rule i.e. democracy. Democratic forms of governance do not allow for an efficient functioning of the government. Precisely, democratic governments strive for independence through the division of the various government arms i.e. the executive, the judiciary, and the legislative. Such a distinction limits the possibility of arbitrary excesses by the government. The sanction of all the three branches is essential in making, executing and administering of laws and policies. Moreover, none of the above-mentioned branches of a democratic form of national governance can function independently from each other (Ebony, 99-103). For example, in the United States, the congress, which is the legislative arm, has an impeachment body to check on the executive arm i.e. the president (can also be legislative due to the veto power). Furthermore, Separation of powers inevitably means split of responsibility, which leads to friction amongst the separated organs at the expense of cultivating cooperation for the mutual benefi t of all. The other possible danger of too much democracy is the possibility of making wrong choices. According to the principles of democracy, the common man has all the powers or rather rights to elect their government as well as their main authorities. However, too much of these powers can sometimes be dangerous based on various reasons. For instance, it is evident that not all the people are aware of the political conditions in their country (Kishore, 1-5). Additionally, majority of the common people are not familiar political issues affecting their society. Thus, there is a danger of making wrong choices during elections, which in turn bring into power individuals who are likely to misuse the rule of democracy. Without the right people in the government, development in all perspectives would be difficult. As such, certain measures should be put into place to ensure that the common people do not misuse their supreme democratic powers by making wrong choices. However, a number of arguments have been put forward against the idea of removing the government too far from the people, or rather having a political system with too little democracy. One of these arguments is that the constitution acts as a safeguard in shielding citizen’s rights in most of democratic countries. Based on this argument, changing the constitution requires agreement of majority of the representatives of the people whom they elected. It can also be done through the court, if the court believes that there is need for such changes for the benefit of the people collectively (Ebony, 120-123). The other way through which the constitution can be changed is through a referendum, where the everybody in the country is entitled to give opinions regarding the proposed changes. Additionally, separation of powers into the judicial branch, the legislative branch, and the executive branch, impose considerable challenges for a small majority to enforce their will. The second argument that has been highlighted by the proponents of too much democracy against limitation of democracy is that minorities and majorities can take distinctly different shape on diverse matters. It is evident that individuals would agree with the viewpoints of the majority on some issues, as well as with the minority on some other issues. Besides, the views of most people keep on changing depending on circumstances (Guiner, 34-37). As such, members of the majority may not advocate for the coercion of the minority, simply because they may form part of the minority in the future and the same thing night happen to them. Lastly, it is also argued that regardless of the risks of the tyranny of the majority, the rule of majority is the most preferred system as compared to other systems. Besides, tyranny of the majority is considered as being an upgrading of the tyranny of the minority (William and Theodore, 123-129). Arguably, most of the above mentioned problems of the tyrann y of the majority or rather too much democracy can also be witnessed in less democracies, adding to the problem of oppression of the majority by the minority. According to the advocates of democracy, studies indicate that more democracy reduces mass killing by the government as well as internal violence. In conclusion, there is no doubt that a democratic political system has its advantages. However, too much democracy can be dangerous, as once said by James Madison. Regardless of the arguments that have been put forward by the proponents of democracy against limitation or control of democracy, I believe that there is need to set limits of democracy in any given country. One of the arguments for limitation of democracy is that the tyranny of the majority may agree to oppression of the minority groups. Besides, separation of powers among the various branches may limit efficient functioning of the government. Finally, there is a possibility of the majority making wrong choices as far as governance is concerned. Therefore, there is need to control democracy to avoid emergence of the tyranny of the majority. Work cited Ebony, Lauren. The Tyranny of the Majority: Black Activism and the Boston School Committee, 1963-1973. Ohio: Ohio State University (2007). Guiner,Lani. The Tyranny of the Majority: Fundamental Fairness in Representative Democracy. Boston: Free Press. (2006). Kishore, Mahbubani. Journal on ethics international affairs. 23.1(2009): 1-5. Print. William, L Ransom and Theodore Roosevelt. Majority Rule and the Judicially: An examination of the Current Proposals for Constitutional Change Affecting the Relation of Courts. New York: The Lawbook Exchange Ltd. (2008).

ETHICAL STANDARDS IN ORGANIZATIONAL HIERARCHY - 1375 Words

ETHICAL STANDARDS IN ORGANIZATIONAL HIERARCHY (Research Paper Sample) Content: ETHICAL STANDARDS IN ORGANIZATIONAL HIERARCHY Name: Course: Tutor: Institution: Location: Date: Ethical Standards in Organizational Hierarchy Introduction Personal ethical standards are critical in organizational cultures because they determine the actions of people towards customers and other stakeholders hence playing an important role in the success of the organization. Leaders are tasked with huge responsibilities in organizations hence they should be at the forefront at implementing the proper ethical standards hence setting an example. By evaluating the different ethical standards and coming up with a viable plan of implementing such a strategy, an organization can be able to guide its employees to follow the corporate culture as they head up the organizational hierarchy. Developing Personal Ethical Standards The first step in identifying the relevant ethical values on a personal level is developing personal values that are aimed at guiding the individual when making decisions that may affect him/her in one way or the other. This means that a person has to develop values through a system that determines the relevant conduct and goals of the individual. According to William Hitt, instrumental values are the ones that lead an individual to his/her desired goals while terminal values are the goals that one sets to achieve and include ideals such as equality and recognition socially (Hitt, 1990, 75). Justice Theory properly explains that the action an individual takes reflect the comparative treatment of any other individual that may be affected by such an action to be taken. This theory hence suggests that a person has to make a decision knowing the consequences and how it may affect other people in the long run. In any organization, an individual has to compile the proper combination of these values based on their importance to their lives hence making the critical first step of building up a leader. Moreover, moving from this first step will require the application of the above mentioned values with the principles of the individual to build up on them. This is important because the values to be incorporated provide the basis for the individual ethical standards created but require principles to set conditions and qualifications that can be used to properly guide the values being implemented. Combining these two aspects creates a very critical foundation that can either build or destroy an individual in the path to leadership in an organization. Corporate culture can therefore help in creating the perfect balance in both values and principles to ensure that the person is able to identify with people across the organizational hierarchy by building proper relationships. Values require principles to provide the required specific decision making instruments that make up an ethical individual (Daft, 2012, 43). For instance, truthfulness is a value but it requires a principle such as ‘always be truth ful’ to actualize it into an ethical standard that can be followed. Apart from that, morals also have to be established after the proper foundation has been laid by the individual. This means that an individual has to determine the difference between right and wrong in order to make the right decisions. Such ideals can only be learned from experiencing different situations and learning from them hence they cannot be taught in an organizational culture. Morals will ensure that an individual will make proper decisions in the organization and not bound by expectations and obligations only. Such actions ensure that a person is able to decipher actin according to their merits and demerits before taking any action. Such behavior in an organization sets an individual apart hence giving him/her an upper hand. Ethics are properly determined by the type of morals an individual has especially in an organization since they describe a person’s behavior when under different situati ons that require proper judgement. Corporate culture comes to mind when undertaking such decisions because an organization deals with various partners and individuals that have different ethical standards. Making sure that an individual is able to make the right decision for the organization while putting into consideration the needs of the other stakeholders is a very critical step insuring the future success of the organization. The final step in this process involves the creation of personal character traits that go hand in hand with the values, principles and morals of the individual to create a holistic individual able to undertake different tasks in the organization. These virtues enable the individual to link all the other ideals into a viable process that conforms to the ethical standards required in a particular position in the organization. The Virtue Theory explains that there are certain qualities that are able to define the appropriate behavior and course of action to take. This theory therefore does not lay down a particular set of criteria that has to be followed but is rather guided by commitment in an individual (Miles, 2012, 21). This therefore requires personal commitment since they are ideals that a person has set aside to follow and adapts to the ethical conduct that is required at the organization. All the above steps are aimed at ensuring that an individual develops a whole process of conforming to ethical standards that are required especially in moving up in an organizational hierarchy. Applying Ethical Standards in the Organizational Hierarchy Corporate culture can play an important role in shaping the individual employees in an organization to develop the right ethical conduct at the workplace. William Hitt suggested a process that can help individuals in an organization develop the right structure to induce ethical conduct in an organization (Miles, 2012, 38). This process involves different aspects namely basic information, orie ntation, seminars on ethics, participative decision making, open door policies, ethical reviews periodically and the discussion of ethical issues. By developing such a culture into an organization, it will be tailored to make the entire employee shave standards that are well reviewed and informative that guides them on how they behave different levels in the organization. Firstly, the organization should display the basic information including the mission and code of ethics that will help guide the employees in decision making. Making sure that such information is precise and elaborate will make it much easier to understand hence creating a strong backbone for ethical behavior in the different individuals. The mission statement plays an important role in creating a backbone for decision making that will guide actions of the employees (Ladkin, 2015, 112). Apa...