The word democracy comes from the Greek words “demos”, meaning people, and “kratos” meaning power; so democracy can be thought of as “power of the people”: a way of governing which depends on the will of the people (Council of Europe, n.d.)
In my eyes, democracy should be a form of power where all the people are equal. It provides freedom to the citizens and every citizen has an opportunity and the right to speak their mind. Every person in society has equal says in matters involving government regulations and issues. In my country, Estonia, every Estonian citizen has the right to vote for their desired party. The issue is that the parties usually put out an unrealistic promise and expectation. Most people vote for the party that might financially benefit them more, which is understandable. On the given questions that we were handed, my group members had somewhat different answers. We agree that a good politician shouldn’t abuse his/her power. The politician needs to be trustworthy, intelligent and recognize a problem at any given moment. Some of the students talk a lot about politics with their family and/or friends, but others do not. It really depends on their interests. We all acknowledge that our political views have changed over time. As kids, we were naïve and didn’t really understand anything.
Most of us think that if we were the leaders of our countries right now, we would change unnecessary laws. Some of our members think that democracy is the best form of government, but frankly, others think that democracy should promote more equality among people. For now, it’s not ideal. We believe that it’s very important to vote in democratic elections because nobody will do it for us.
We might change the world if we all think rationally. We are all created equal.
By Leiki-Maria from Estonia
Used material: Democracy. (n.d.) Council of Europe. Visited on page 27.05.22 https://www.coe.int/en/web/compass/democracy
