"Democracy" an often misused term , normally is used to refer to a system of interacting values, interrelated political processes, and interdependent political structures.
The vital principle of democracy is that a just government must derive its powers from the consent of the people, and that this consent must be regularly renewed at free and fair elections.
Stable constitutional democracy is encouraged by various conditions, such as an educated citizenry, a healthy economy, and overlapping associations and groupings within a society in which major institutions interact to create a certain degree of consensus.
The fundamental factor for any given country to surge progressively ahead depends on how aptly its community is structured and the way democratic principles are applied .
For a plural society as in the case of Malaysia to ride down the path in tandem with other successful ethnically diverse nations require the leadership of Prime Minister Najib to be bald at the same time just in his approaches . A step taken that undoubtedly affirmed his stay at the corridors of power would be coming out strong in denouncing racial segregation and the necessity to continuously keep on implementing race base policies .This move will definitely act as an indicator of a beginning of better things to come.
The British colonizers credited for having left behind the Westminster form of democracy to their successors witting or unwittingly had left yet another one of their legacies , a damning legacy , that of the art of divide and rule. A tyrannical feature to have been passed down which in due course turned into an obsession, An obsession which has left its mark and have since shown no signs of going away.The present crop of successors ought to vary with varying circumstances , bearing in mind that hanging on to a past , which in part is dysfunctional to the present and in many ways irrelevant to the future.The needs of the 21st century demand a leadership that is culturally sensitive and internationally focused , with an orientation towards the future rather than the past. Hence , until and unless policies deemed favoring a particular group is forgone , the country's various communities will stay divided and without a more liberated democratic stance progress will be halted.
Thus , steps taken from now onwards will determine how far Prime minister Najib's 1 Malaysia ideology will go and where it will eventually end up . If there were anything in need of ratification in pursuing the 1 Malaysia philosophy than obviously this would be to first address the biggest stumbling block which is the total decline in social capital - the experiences people gain in working together in community groups . Lest we forget , lessons about compromise, accommodation, and participation are important building blocks for democracy. Pushing for a high level of civic engagement , a healthy level of voluntary and charitable engagement are the essence to making our communities and nation better.
It is essentially important to take note of the way democracy has developed in many countries. 'Democracy' in countries termed as first world nations developed gradually.
A revolution had to be fought before a system of representative democracy in the United States could be tried and tested. It took several years before a national constitution could be written, and almost another year to be ratified. It took still another two years before a Bill of Rights could be adopted and ratified. It has taken more than two hundred years for democratic institutions to be refined and for systems of competition and choice to be hammered out. Democratic institutions such as free and fair elections and equal protection of the laws in the United States are still a work in progress, still in the process of being refined and improved
