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EV 4ESO - 10 Democracy as a way of life - Contenido educativo
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Democracy is a form of government, but it is also a way of life
The word democracy comes from Greek, and it means power of the people.
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In previous years, you have studied that democracy is a way of government.
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This is correct, but democracy, as we will see in this unit,
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must also be a form of living if democracy is going to last.
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As a way of government, from an institutional point of view,
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democracy is characterized by popular sovereignty, meaning that people have the power.
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In a democracy, there are free elections
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People can vote, participate and choose freely in open elections
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between different options
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Moreover, in a democracy, there is division of powers
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This means that the powers of the state are separated
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exercised by different people to prevent abuse
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The legislative power is in charge of making the law
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and this power is exercised by the parliament
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The executive power, who is in charge of applying the law and enforcing it, is exercised by the government.
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Finally, the judiciary branch of the power is in charge of punishing people who break the law,
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and this is exercised by tribunals and judges.
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Another important aspect of the institutional dimension of democracy is the respect of the rule of law.
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The rule of law is respected when the law is the same for everybody
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and what must be done is determined by the law.
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In a country where the rule of law is respected,
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what must be done is said by the law, not by the king or by the president.
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But as we said, all these aspects, which are extremely important,
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are not enough to guarantee that democracy is healthy and real.
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In a real democracy, there is also a commitment of citizens with a common good.
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So democracy is also a way of life, based on the common sharing of basic ethical values,
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such as freedom, equality, solidarity, and justice, and also based on the respect of human rights.
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Democracy, as you know, has not always existed.
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There was a brief period in antiquity, around the 5th century BC, where democracy was invented in Athens, Greece, but it didn't last long.
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For many centuries, the government was exercised by kings or by small groups of people, so democracy is relatively recent.
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Our modern democracy appeared in the 18th century with the American and French revolutions.
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Since those important moments, democracy has spread all over the world and today it is considered the most legitimate and the best system of government.
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But in order for democracy to be a real, quality, democratic way of life, we need the commitment of citizens.
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This means that in a democracy, citizens do not only have rights, we also have duties, obligations, and some of the most important of them are the following.
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First of all, we have the duty to respect other people's rights and human rights as well.
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In the second place, we have the duty to pay our taxes.
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that is essential. Though nobody likes paying money to the state, the taxes are essential in
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order to provide for common services such as health care or education. We also have the duty
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to treat public property in a sensible way because it belongs to us all. And finally, we also have
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a duty to participate, to take part in political life.
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So voting is important, and it is also important to express our opinions,
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making participation in what we call civil society.
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Civil society is formed by organizations that don't depend on the state
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and that can be used to show what is our opinion about different issues,
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such as our environment, education, health, sports.
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So people who create an association to defend their point of views
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and who are not dependent from the state are participating in civil society.
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A healthy and strong civil society where citizens actively participate
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is also essential for democracy.
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Finally, I would like to point out something that is very important
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A good democracy demands also that there is a decent standard of living for their citizens.
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In a country where people do not have enough resources to have a good kind of life,
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because they lack food or shelter or clothes, we cannot talk about a real democracy.
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So inequalities in our world and underdeveloped situations in some countries
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create a serious threat to democracy.
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So democracy has some requirements
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and one of them is that all citizens
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can have a decent standard of living
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so that they can really have the opportunity
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to participate in social life.
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- Idioma/s:
- Autor/es:
- César Prestel
- Subido por:
- César Pedro P.
- Licencia:
- Reconocimiento - No comercial - Compartir igual
- Visualizaciones:
- 78
- Fecha:
- 22 de octubre de 2020 - 17:56
- Visibilidad:
- Público
- Centro:
- IES CERVANTES
- Duración:
- 05′ 36″
- Relación de aspecto:
- 1.78:1
- Resolución:
- 1280x720 píxeles
- Tamaño:
- 164.86 MBytes