WRITTEN BY DELAWARE TEACHERS
At first, however, not every adult citizen
could vote. The victory of “universal
suffrage’ (the ability of all adult citizens to
vote) lay in the future. But the principle had
been laid down for all of humanity to see that
government should not govern without the
consent of the people. It is difficult to see
how people could effectively give their
consent without elections. It does not seem
possible, therefore, for democracy to exist
without some form of elections by which
people agree to allow the government to
exercise power.
Another aspect of democracy is that it
requires elections to be free, fair, and regular.
Most non-democratic governments hold
elections. But these elections are merely
“staged.” They pretend to be making real
decisions, but they are not. The outcome of
the election is determined by the government
before it is even held.
Democracies, on the other hand, hold
elections that are real contests between
candidates. It is true that some elections in
American democracy are pretty much “one-
sided”; but that is because the people freely
vote for the same political party or individual.
It is not because someone determines the
outcome ahead of time.
Elections are free if they are open to all
parties and persuasions. Elections are fair if
their procedures are fair. For example,
political parties opposing the government
must have free access to media such as
television and radio. Opposition newspapers
must not suddenly find out just before the
elections that newsprint is unobtainable or
obtainable only at prohibitive rates. Ballot
boxes must not be stuffed; the dead cannot be
found to have voted; some voters must not
have voted more than once, and so on.
Elections are “frequent” if too much time
does not pass between them. Usually, not
more than five years may pass between
national elections for the governments of
democracies.
Free, fair, and frequent elections in
democracies play a significant role in
maintaining a free society and ensuring that
democracy really means something and is not
just a word that sounds nice that everyone
favors.
Elections, therefore, act as means of
protecting the electorate from the abuse of
power by government. Having the legal
means to protect themselves from such abuse
is of the greatest importance to any society.
Lord Acton, an English historian in the 19th
century is famous for saying that “Power
tends to corrupt; and absolute power corrupts
absolutely.” If voters believe that elected
officials have abused their power, they will
use elections, in the traditional phrase, “to
throw the bums out.”
Free, fair, and frequent elections have uses in
addition to their ability to protect the public.
First, whether or not elected officials have
abused power, elections are among the most
influential avenues available to democratic
citizens to influence government
policy. Second, on a practical level, elections
perform the mundane but nevertheless
essential function of selecting individuals to
fill public office. Democracy cannot proceed
without the fulfillment of this function.
Ultimately, democratic elections constitute
the peaceful transfer of power from one
group to another. Securing domestic peace is
one of democracy’s most significant and
successful accomplishments. The frequency
within democratic countries of fighting over
who will hold the reigns of power bears
testimony to democracy’s value as preserver
of the peace.
People who don’t care about elections aren’t
taking care of their rights. They act as if they
don’t care about what government does with
their rights. Informed, responsible voting
protects rights from government abuse of
power. This is one reason why everyone
should be concerned with elections.
Everyone’s freedom is at stake.
Source: Guide To The Electoral Process.
Center for Civic Education, Tuscon, Az.