Muslim Woman

Hi Folks

When the beastly practice of Autocratic and Theocratic ruling reached its zenith, some western thinkers originated the idea that in order to eliminate the misery of mankind, therefore they invented a system of government which based on the mutual contract of the people. Thus the theory of “Social Contract” was introduced by Hobbes and Locke. But Rousseau (1712-1778) gave it the practical shape. He said that every man wants freedom but it is virtually impossible, but what could be done that let every individual person allow his/her “will” to get absorbed into the will of the society. In other words make the general will of the society the ultimate source of authority. Theoretically it appeared to be a good idea but the difficulty arose in putting the general will of the people into practice.  It was not possible to determine the will of every individual in a society.  It was decided to base the form of government on the representatives of the people; and if opinions differ, the decision of the majority be accepted.

To us the biggest flaw of this system is the minority who is bound to accept the decision of the majority and the people. Democracy recognizes as the Government of the people, by the people and for the people.  Ideals of democracy are difficult to be realized in practical life. Democracy demands from the people a high degree of civic capacity which involves intelligence, self control and devotion to a common cause and capacity to subordinate to it private interests and desires. It relies on the spirit of give and take. It also demands time to share in common activities, to study the issues involved. But in reality what we see that the common man is indolent in politics. He is neither politically intelligent, nor sufficiently educated. He also does not posses the capacity to understand political problems and is incapable of intelligent action. 

Democracy is suited to a state where people who want to exercise power are capable of sinking differences and cooperating for the general good and have acquired knowledge and judgment enough to elect suitable representatives and to judge as to the propriety of general lines of policy. Practically if you really want to study the blossoms of democratic system you can take India & Pakistan as a case study.