What is Democracy?
Planes and buses start criss-crossing the country for the start of the 2016 federal election campaign. They're doing it to try to convince the Australian people to vote for their party. And the only reason we get a say is because of a little something called democracy.
Long, long ago in ancient Greece, the people of Athens were in danger.
NOBLE BOY: Did you hear the Persians are planning to attack us?
NOBLE GIRL: Yeah, we might have to do something about it. Lets fight!
NOBLE BOY: OK!
But not everyone in the city wanted to.
POOR GIRL: I'm not too keen on this whole war thing, I wish I could have a say.
POOR BOY: Maybe we can?
To give the people more of a say on big decisions like this, the Greeks came up with something they called democracy! Democracy is a mash up of two Greek words. Demos meaning people and Kratos meaning power or rule. So together it basically means rule of the people
NOBLE GIRL: OK here's the idea. We let people vote on issues and then you guys can have a say on whatever affects you.
PEOPLE: Yay!
Well they didn't really mean everyone.
NOBLE GIRL: Oh wait, we wont let women vote, slaves vote or anyone too poor.
NOBLE BOY: Yes!
That still left thousands of men and all of them were allowed to attend meetings and vote on any issues that were important to them. The Ancient Greeks were some of the first people to experiment with better ways of leading their people. While their system was far from fair, it was a pretty revolutionary idea while it lasted.
As time went on, new rulers took over, things changed and democracy kind of died out for a while.
By the Middle Ages, monarchies had become popular. That's where kings and queens rule and the people don't get a say. But an important document called Magna Carta evened things up a little by promising people some very basic rights and slowly, over the next few hundred years, the idea of democracy started to take hold again.
Fast forward to today and democracy is the most popular form of government around the world. But it works very differently to how it did in Ancient Greece! In Australia we have something called a representative democracy. That means that unlike ancient Greece, where everyone went to meet and vote on laws, we elect a representative to do that for us!
POLITICIAN 1: I'll represent you!
POLITICIAN 2: No vote for me. I know what you want!
They're our politicians and they represent us in parliament. It's their responsibility to keep in touch with their voters and make sure their voices are heard on a national level.
POLITICIAN 1: Im the politician thats right for you.
POLITICIAN 2: Ill make this world a better place.
Some really important values also form the basis of our democracy here in Australia. We are guaranteed the freedom to express our views without getting into trouble, equal rights for people from all different backgrounds and the right to justice and a fair and independent trial.
So that's democracy in Australia, but democracy isn't the only form of government out there. Some countries, like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, are an absolute monarchy. That's when someone born into a royal family has complete control over the people and all laws and decisions are made by that person or family. A dictatorship is another form of government. It's similar to an absolute monarchy in that one leader has power over a country, but they usually aren't royal. Instead, dictators often take control of a country by force. North Korea and Zimbabwe are considered dictatorships. In these countries, people usually dont have a lot of rights and often aren't looked after very well by their rulers.
Australia's system of democracy, on the other hand, is designed to have the people's best interests at heart and while it may not always work perfectly, we're lucky to live in a country where we have the right to voice our opinions and the freedom to make a difference.
- Emma Davis | Reporter
- Magna Carta: Behind the News | teacher
- Ask A Reporter: session | aar
- Democracy: ABC Splash | weblink
- The story of our freedom: Human Rights Commission | data
- Magna Carta: Behind the News | history
- Defining Democracy: Museum of Australian Democracy | weblink
- Democracy Rules: Australian Electoral Commission | weblink
- Australia | Map
- What is Democracy? | Worksheet
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