ADVANTAGES OF CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY

IT ALLOWS FOR PEACEFUL CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT

In a constitutional democracy, elections are conducted within a regular interval as stipulated by the constitution and this makes it easy to change a government.

IT ALLOWS THE PEOPLE TO CHOOSE THEIR LEADERS

Democracy gives people the opportunity of voting during elections for candidates of their choice. The candidate with the highest vote wins the election and form government.

IT PROTECTS THE FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS OF PEOPLE

There are certain rights or benefits endowed naturally on every individual as citizens of a state, these rights could be economic rights, social rights and political rights. These rights are popularly called fundamental human rights and it is the function of every government to recognize and protect these rights. Constitutional democracy ensures that people enjoy their rights to the maximum.

IT PROMOTES POPULAR PARTICIPATION

Constitutional democracy encourages peoples’ participation in government through voting and contesting for political post during election. Popular participation also involves peaceful protest or demonstration, criticism of government policy and joining or forming political parties.

IT PROMOTES GOOD GOVERNANCE

Since elected leaders know that they can easily be voted out of office once they lose popular acceptance or legitimacy, effort is mad by the government to promote the interest of the people who elected them into office by delivering the dividends of democracy. Therefore, government in a constitutional democracy is accountable to the people.

IT PROMOTES DEVELOPMENT

In a situation where there is free and fair election, good governance is enhanced and those in government feel a sense of responsibility to the electorates who voted them into power. This therefore brings about socio-economic development in the country and improved standard of living.

EVALUATION

Explain the advantages of constitutional democracy.

DISADVANTAGES OF CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY

Even though democracy is believed to be the best form of government, it has some disadvantages which are as follows:

IT IS EXPENSIVE TO RUN

A democratic system of government requires periodic election which is very expensive to organize and conduct because it involves registering of voters, provision of electoral materials, recruitment of electoral officials etc.

DELAY IN POLICY MAKING

In a democratic system of government, there are due process to be followed before policies can be made. At times, it can take the legislative arm of government several months before they pass bills into law and this may not be good for situations or issues that requires urgent attention or for emergency periods.

MINORITY CANNOT HAVE THEIR WAY IN A DEMOCRACY

It does not matter how brilliant the idea and opinion of the minority is, they can only have their say in a democracy they cannot have their way. This is because democracy is a game of numbers where majority have their way and minority only have their say. Therefore, many quality policies have been swept under the carpet because they originated from the minority group and did not gain popular support and acceptance.

INABILITY OF THE ELECTORATE TO REMOVE A BAD GOVERNMENT UNTIL ELECTION PERIOD

The electorates may vote a person into power and later discover that he or she is a bad leader. When such situations occur, the electorates can only wait till the next election and then vote the person out of office. Thus, some political leaders take advantage of this to do whatever they like knowing that there is nothing the people can do or the worst they can do is not to be re-elected into office. Hence, they use their period in office to exploit the country’s wealth and resources for their selfish interest.

EVALUATION

What are the demerits of constitutional democracy?

GENERAL EVALUATION

Explain the advantages of constitutional democracy.
What are the disadvantages of constitutional democracy?
Define value.
State the types of value.
What is citizenship education?

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

Another name for an electorate is a/an ___(a) candidate (b) electoral officer (c) voter
___ is a body of law, rules and regulations that guides the governing of a state (a) Constitution (b) Law (c) Customs
Which of these is not a feature of constitutional democracy? (a) Popular sovereignty (b) Minority rule (c) Supremacy of the constitution
Which of these is currently an electoral commission in Nigeria? (a) FADECO (b) NEC (c) INEC
People who assume position of constituted authority are called (a) followers (b) leaders (c) workers

THEORY

Identify eight key concepts in a democracy.
Explain any five of the concepts you have listed above.