Democratic Governance And Information Society A Brief Overview
European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine,
2020, Volume 7, Issue 9, Pages 3760-3772
Abstract
Democracy as a system of governance has been the subject of intense debate and discussion for ages. Because of the neutrality and stability that it tends to bring into society, it has become the most sought-after Government in the modern era. Despite this, there is a lack of clarity as to what does democracy imbibes. Broadly four standard features to all modern democracies include principles of free and fair elections, equal rights of participation in politics, protection of human rights, and the rule of law. These four principles are considered to be the very basis of a democratic setup, and the absence of any of these can seriously dispute the claim of being truly democratic. However, one aspect is often ignored and yet constitutes the life and blood of all these basic principles of democracy i.e., the free flow of information. No democracy can survive in the absence of a well-informed citizenry.With this background, this paper makes a case for free access of citizens to the necessary means of communication, establishing a link with the ruling elite. In the absence of feedback mechanisms and other means of effective communication that ensure a two-way flow of information between the Government and the governed, the general public's contribution to the country's governance remains negligible. In such a scenario, the prefix 'democratic' or 'participative democracy' by modern nations is unjustified. It wrongly presents unilateral and, in some cases, arbitrary rule of the Government as the collective rule of the society.
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