Democracy and human rights are interdependent. True democracy requires the protection of individual dignity through human rights. Constitutional democracies protect both democratic principles and individual rights through separation of powers, an independent judiciary, and the protection of civil liberties and minority rights in the constitution. However, an excess of constitutional rights can weaken democracy by limiting the room for public debate and policymaking. Illiberal and populist democracies undermine separation of powers and civil liberties in the name of majority rule. E-democracy uses digital technologies to enhance citizen participation in political processes at various levels of government.

2. DEMOCRAC
Y AND
HUMAN
RIGHTSPREPARED BY
UMAIR

3. HUMAN RIGHTS (THE DILEMMA)
Despite the propagation of declarations, covenants, and other
international agreements in the majority of countries in today’s
world, human rights still are an ideal rather than the norm.
Likewise, the presence of human rights in constitutions does
not translate into actual respect for all human rights
It depends primarily on the character of a political system and on
the social conditions and beliefs about the political system that
prevail among the elites and common citizens

4. PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Historical experience and a review of the violations in
today’s world suggest that human rights are better
protected in political systems that are based on the
principle of separation of powers
without separation of power the rights of individuals and
minorities cannot be effectively protected

5. SUGGESTIONS FOR PROTECTING
HUMAN RIGHTS
• INDEPENDENT COURTS
– One such check consists of independent courts to
which citizens can bring complaints about violations.
– Federal judiciary serves as an additional safeguard for
the separation of power and for the rights of
individuals and minorities.
Accordingly, the 1789 French Declaration stated that “any society in which
the guarantee of rights is not assured or the separation of powers not
settled, has no constitution” (Article 16). 70

6. • INDEPENDENCE OF THE MEDIA AND
FREEDOM OF SPEECH.
– Human rights are also enhanced by the
independence of the media and freedom of
speech.
– Right to information prevents concentration and
abuse of power under the veil of secrecy.

7. • Since the end of
World War II, human
rights have been
considered an
essential element of
democracy.
• Conventional
opinion holds that
human rights cannot
exist in the absence
of democracy and
democracy cannot
exist without human
rights.

8. Democracy and human rights
Democracy assures participation whereas rights
protect dignity
 Dignity can hardly exit without participation
True democracy is not possible without the
recognition
 and protection of individual dignity
 Democracy and human rights are interdependent

9. Rights: foundation of democracy
 There can be no democracy without such
political rights as the right to take part in the
conduct of public affairs
 Democracy requires freedom of association,
freedom of expression, freedom of movement
etc

10. In democratic state, human rights can flourish
By definition, human rights are equal for everyone
 regardless of distinctions of sex, race, wealth,
hierarchy and so on
Democracy entrenches such equality because
government provides a mechanism for control over
 those who exercise power
State have to be made accessible to individuals

11. Individual rights emerged as protection
They are as important in democracy as under
autocracy
Human rights protect individual from majority
Government acting with a support of a majority
 Individual rights protect a person againt the will
of the majority

12. protection of individual rights
Human rights also protect the individual
In other words, rights protect the individual
when the majority wants to pursue its
happiness at the expense of this individual
Legitimate interests clash with the interest of
the majority

13. “A right is a claim that is wrong for the
government to deny an individual even
though it would be in the general interest to
do so”
Principles of democracy and the public good

14. Constitutional
Democracy

15. Democracy
Whereas Democracy is
a form of
government in which
all eligible citizens
participate equally—
either directly or
indirectly through
elected
representatives.

16. Constitutional Democracy
• A constitutional democracy is a government
system that is based on popular sovereignty. It
is a democracy because the government is
based on the consent of the people. The
government operates according to the
principle of majority rule. In a constitutional
democracy, the structures, powers as well as
limits of government are set out in a
constitution.

17. Constitutional Demoocratic
Constitutional Democracy

18. The Constitutional Ingredient
This ingredient relates to:
• how political authority is defined, limited, and distributed by law
• the basic law of the political community,
• the power of government
• the limitation of the will of the majority, as well as the protection of
constitutional democracy.
In particular, constitutions protect such minority and individual rights that
can be threatened by a majority under interest or passion. Such
constitutional rights differ from statutory rights and benefits because they
cannot be curtailed by democratic legislators.

19. Statutory rights
“Statutory rights are a person's legal rights granted by local and
national government. These rights are based on cultural customs and
differ from one country to another. A key example of a statutory right is
the right of employees to be paid for the work they perform”.
Although statutes protect individuals and
minorities against executive power, they
leave them helpless vis-`a-vis legislature that
can change a statute at will. In countries
where the separation of powers and
constitutional courts do not exist, a
temporary majority can take certain rights
away.

20. • Enabling Act” of March 23, 1933, gave the veil
of legitimacy to Nazi rule and to the
subsequent Nurnberg laws directed against
Jews was adopted by a majority of votes in the
German Reichstag.
• Constitutions also offer protection of rights
against legislatures. Legislators may adopt any
bill except for such that may be in conflict with
the constitution. Therefore, a statute cannot
violate the rights of national minorities ,the
rights of believers or nonbelievers, even if the
majority is in favor of such a law or not.

21. Democratic Ingredient
• It define the way in which social decisions are
made,
• The limitations of such decisions
• Who holds and exercises political authority and
• How political authority is acquired and retained.

22. • In a constitutional state, the conditions under which
human rights can be limited or suspended are spelled out
in the constitution. Statutory limitations of rights are
allowed to protect values such as national security, public
safety, public health, and, sometimes, public morality.
• Even during emergencies, constitutional rights cannot be
left to the arbitrary will of the authorities. Constitutions
usually define the situations in which an emergency can
be invoked and the authority and procedure by which this
emergency can be declared.
• Rights that are upheld during an emergency and cannot
be abridged within the process of constitutional change
can be considered “supraconstitutional.”

23. The Logic of Democracy and
the Logic of Rights

24. This conflict reflects the different
principles governing political process and
legal adjudication. Society sets its
priorities via democratic process.

25. When there is a simultaneous need to build schools,
roads, and bridges in conditions of inadequate
resources – all three at the same time – priorities must
be set. A public DEBATE ensues, in which some people
(usually parents, teachers, and others with a
stake in education) suggest that schools be built first.
Others (usually the car industry and car owners,
particularly those who do not have school-age children)
press for the roads and bridges to be built first – in part,
they argue, so that children can be taken
to schools by way of these new roads and bridges.
FOR EXAMPLE

26. Of course, despite what these examples may suggest,
such a debate is not restricted to self-interests,
involving more general principles and an examination
of alternate visions of the future (e.g., the benefits of
an educated society vs. the benefits of mobility for
economy and personal freedom)
The rights to assembly and to form political parties, the
freedoms of expression and association, and political
rights are in place to protect the debate; to assure
everyone an opportunity to participate and to secure
that both the debate itself and its results are fair.

27. The debate may lead to one
group prevailing over the other
or, more often, to a
compromise, with the law
stating that some schools and
some roads be built
simultaneously. But a
compromise is not written in
stone. Laws can be changed,
particularly after elections;
budgets change every year.

28. In cases of choice between public policy goals and of
the allocation of resources, a compromise between
interests and goals is set for one year only. This
compromise takes the form Of a state budget, which
cannot look too far ahead for many reasons, including
uncertainty about future availability of resources and
changing perceptions of public needs.
But constitutions are not written for one year. Once
adopted, their provisions are not subject to debate and
compromise. If I claim that I have a constitutional right
to something, I go to court. The judge decides whether
I have this right and if this right can be applied in the
given situation. There are no compromises in
constitutional courts – either I win or I lose.

29. When we put something into a constitution, we limit the legislators’ choice;
they cannot violate the constitution. This essentially means that the more principles,
values, rights, and goals we include in the constitution, the less room is left for
democratic political process and the fewer resources are available to be freely
allocated or redistributed by legislators.
Only after it has put aside the money for all these expenditures
can a government begin the political process of bargaining and arguing about
the allocation of whatever is left. In this way, every constitutional right takes away
resources that could otherwise be available for democratic debate and compromise.
Here, we have what appears to be a paradox of modern constitutionalism: the
more there is in the constitution, the less room there remains for democracy and
for compromises within society and, consequently, the less power for parliament
and more power for those courts in which constitutional claims are settled.

30. A slightly different perspective is that a constitutional right can be compared to
a veto power. A right-holder is entitled to say to the majority: “No, you cannot go
trampling over my right.” In most cases, this is justified by the basic character of
rights: they protect the values and resources necessary for the security and
dignity of an individual. However, when constitutional rights go beyond these
limits to protect the whims of individuals or group interests, they can disrupt the
political community by providing too many people with too broad a veto power.
Consequently, citizens and pressure groups can end up disrupting necessary
cooperation in pursuit of their own selfish interests.
Excessive constitutionalization of rights also affects
the character and content of political debate. Political
conflicts are, after all, necessary to offer voters a
choice. People would not know for whom to vote if
everyone agreed with all other contenders.

31. The complex interplay between rights and democracy
suggests caution in defining what ought to belong to a
constitution and what should be left for democratic public
policy. Some matters should simply be set and adjusted in the
political process and not be framed as constitutional rights.
Similarly, the interests of particular social groups, even
those of the most powerful or numerous (be they
workers, peasants, capitalists or politicians), should be
left out of the constitution to be deliberated in a
democratic political process.

32. Constitutions should be limited to necessary institutions,
procedural rules, and the very basic rights, without getting
into matters of public policy that benefit from being left to open
debate and political solutions. All this is because the inflation of
constitutional rights can weaken democracy. That deserves to be
the guiding principle during the process of constitution making.

33. The Challenges of
Democratic
Constitution Making

37. Human rights seem especially attractive to the excluded, because those who are
excluded generally do not hope for access to decision making. When such access
is ,in fact, possible, people tend to put their hopes in democracy instead. “When
we are
finally permitted to freely elect our government, it will be a good government
and
it will take care of our needs” – so goes the common hope at the beginning of
any
democratization process. Such expectations, however, almost inevitably end up
as
frustrations for a number of good reasons. The most common is the lack of
adequate
resources to meet all needs and expectations fast enough. Conflicting interests,
contests among new elites, corruption, and other factors magnify the
frustration.
What follows are new attempts at social mobilization on the one hand and the
return of human rights claims on the other.

38. ILLIBERAL AND POPULIST
DEMOCRACIES

39. ILLIBERAL
DEMOCRACY
Definition:-
“An illiberal democracy, also called a pseudo
democracy, partial democracy, low intensity
democracy, empty democracy or hybrid regime,
is a governing system in which, although
elections take place, citizens are cut off from
knowledge about the activities of those who
exercise real power because of the lack of civil
liberties.
 It is not an 'open society'.

40. POPULIST
DEMOCRACY
Definition:-
“A supporter of the rights and power of
the people.”
(Historical Terms) history US a member
of the People's Party, formed largely by
agrarian interests to contest the 1892
presidential election. The movement
gradually dissolved after the 1904
election

42. According to democratic theory, free
elections provide the necessary legitimacy
to elected authorities. In fact, however, in
many countries lacking democratic
traditions or prior social and institutional
structures conducive to democracy, the
choice provided by elections has often
been illusory. And even in more mature
democracies, elections have often done
little to help voters exercise control over
elected officials

43. A common characteristic of these illiberal and populist
“democracies” is a conviction shared by their leaders that
electoral victory gives them unlimited power. Many of
them have attempted to weaken the separation of powers
and have sought to control all independent institutions,
including the judiciary. Usually, populist leaders use all
accessible means to spread fear among citizens, precisely
so that they will be seen as the ones who are able to save
the voters from real or imaginary threats.

44. Fear is crucial for both dictatorships and populist
democracies. The difference is that a dictator’s message is
“fear me or I will harm you.” A populist, instead, says
“fear them and I will save you.” In practice, both illiberal
and populist “democracies” justify violations of human
rights by quoting the alleged interest “of the people.”
Populist leaders say that they respond to opinions and
preferences of a majority of citizens. With time, however,
they almost inevitably depart from democracy itself.

45. The examples of Iran under Khomeini, and
Russia under Putin should be convincing. Poland
under the rule of the Kaczynski twins came
dangerously close to this line, too. The last
example proves that even membership in the
European Union (EU) does not guarantee
protection from populism. Interestingly, the EU
has been the most important agent of change in
favour of human rights in Central Europe,
upholding rights among the preaccession criteria.
As a result, all accession countries have had to
adjust their legislation and institutions to human
rights standards.

46. Conclusion:-
It can be said that populist politics
essentially replace rational arguments with
appeals to fear and other emotions. However, a
similar shift away from rational discourse is also
present in most well-established democracies.

47. E-Democracy
Democracy
Government of the people, by the
people, for the people

49. Defining e-democracy
Political
Groups
Private
SectorGovernment
Media and
Commercial
Content

50. Application Of E- Democracy
• E-democracy can be applied within the
political processes of local communities,
states/regions, nations and on the global
stage. Democratic actors and sectors in this
context include, in order of importance,
citizens/voters, political organizations, the
media, elected officials, and governments.

51. E- Democratic Sectors:
• Representative Institutions
• Representatives
• Political News
• Political Groups
• Campaigning Online