Democracy

Democracy allows all citizens certain rights that are guaranteed, as long as they respect the law and the rights of others as they are exercising them. In a democracy, the political leader is chosen through open elections, which allows them to vote for whichever candidate they would like. Everyone has a say in a democracy if you exercise your right to vote.

In Bhutto’s essay, she talks about Democracy and Islam and wishes her country could become a democracy. Bhutto says that the West is at fault for not allowing Muslim countries the right to become Democratic, and then goes on to explain how compatible Islam and Democracy actually are. She says “Not only is Islam compatible with democracy, but the message of the Quran empowers the people with rights (democracy), demanding consultation between rulers and ruled (parliament), and requiring that leaders serve the interests of the people or be replaced by them (accountability) (185)”. This passage validates Bhutto’s saying of how compatible Democracy and Islam are, with evidence from the Quran.

In terms of Aristotle, he believes that a state must have complete equality between the rich and the poor in order to achieve a fully functioning democracy. The laws must be supreme, and each citizen must be represented. Aristotle says “The reason why there are many forms of government is that every state contains many elements (62)”. This means that there can be many different forms of democracy, based on who or what makes up the state because each citizen has different views, and not every state consists of the same citizens.

In our contemporary American society, the rich and the poor are not equal. It is most likely that the rich have attended a four-year university (at least), and have gotten a degree which allows them access to a successful, well-paying job. For the poor, it is most likely that they did not have the ability to attend a four-year university in order to get a higher education and degree to advance themselves in the workplace. Aristotle would not be happy with our form of democracy simply because the rich and the poor are not equal.