Democracy is defined as a government by the people, exercised directly or through elected representatives. Key aspects include periodic free elections, majority rule, minority rights, and citizen participation. Historically, democracy has its roots in ancient Athens and was further developed in documents like the Magna Carta and modern constitutions. Democratic practices include suffrage, protesting election fraud, communicating with elected officials, public assembly, and plebiscites. Participatory democracy involves citizens more directly in decision-making, while representative democracy operates through elected representatives. Benefits of democratic participation include having a voice and influencing decisions.

6. •Fundamentals of
Democracy

7. Democracy

8. What is Democracy?
• Democracy as defined by Merriam Webster dictionary
literally means “government by the people” or “rule of
the majority”.
• It is a government in which the supreme power is
vested in the people and exercised by them directly or
indirectly through a system of representation usually
involving periodically held free elections.

9. • The former US President Abraham Lincoln succinctly defined
democratic government, in his “Gettysburg Address”
delivered in 1863, as a government of the people, by the
people, for the people (Urgel, 2017). By virtue of this
definition, you can clearly picture democracy as distinct from
other political ideologies like absolute monarchy, which is a
rule of an individual, and oligarchy or a rule of a few
especially the elite and the powerful.

10. •According to Urgel (2017), historically, democracy can
be rooted from the early Athenians of the ancient
Greeks and the Romans. This political ideology was
also drawn from England’s Magna Carta in 1215 and by
the United States in their Constitution in 1787 with
heavy borrowings from the English Magna Carta.

11. •In fact, even to this date, our own Philippine
Constitution is also patterned on this ideology
having the three (3) independent branches – the
Legislative which comprises of the lawmakers,
the Executive which comprises of the duly
elected head of state and all those under
him/her, and the Judiciary which composes of
the Supreme Court and all those responsible for
interpreting the laws.

12. Democratic Practices
• 1. Suffrage for Eligible and Qualified Registered Voters
• Suffrage is the right to vote. Our constitution upholds and
protects this right of every Filipino citizens to exercise
suffrage to those eligible voters (at least 18 years old
regardless of gender, ethnicity and socio-economic status).

13. • 2. Protest Against Election Fraud
• One feature of democracy in as much as election matters are
concerned is the right to protest against probable election
fraud. In a democratic election such as ours, votes are
considered sacred. However, there may be cases of fraudulent
means to turn vote results in favor of a candidate or a group
of candidates, the aggrieved candidate/s may file election
protest.

14. • 3. Communicating with Local Government Officials as a Civic
Responsibility
• All the elected government officials whether nationally or locally are
called “civil servants.” By this term, it only means that in the true
practice of democracy, their being elected officials is the mandate of the
people and therefore their primary goal is the common good.
• Similarly, however, the citizenry has the responsibility to cooperate with
the program of development of their elected leaders. Civic duty refers
to acts which the citizens are legally required to do such as paying taxes,
attending school, or registering for military service. On the other hand,
civic responsibility is composed of acts and attitudes related to social
involvement and democratic governance.

15. • 4. Public Assembly and Consultation
• As cited by Urgel (2017), Republic Act 880, or also
known as “The Public Assembly Act of 1985,” ensures
the people’s exercise of their right to peaceful
assembly. In a legitimate democracy, the people have
the right to assemble and air their stand on many
issues. Law enforcers are tasked to uphold order in
such public demonstrations.

16. •5. Conduct of a Plebiscite to Amend a Constitutional
Provision
•The Constitution is the fundamental law of a nation
wherein all laws are necessarily anchored otherwise
those derived laws are considered unconstitutional. In
an event wherein certain provisions of the constitution
need amendment; a plebiscite can be done.

17. Participation in Democracy
• The above discussed democratic practices manifest liberty of the
citizenry in exercising their rights and performing their civic
responsibility. Democratic participation, according to Urgel (2017), is
involvement or engagement with something which is freely done,
without coercion, and without threat or fear.
• Whenever you participate in democracy, you actually exercise your
rights and liberty and in return, those elected public officials or the
government as a whole must ensure that these civil rights and liberty
are enjoyed.

18. Representative and Participatory Democracy
• Representative democracy or also called indirect democracy is
more common. It is a political system wherein qualified citizens can
exercise their political rights as representatives.
• Typical example of this is the congress. Those elected congressmen
and congresswomen were also referred to as representatives and in
the like manner, the congress itself is also called as the House of
Representatives.
• These government officials are called representatives essentially
because they represent the people of their provinces or districts of
the provinces they belong to, or duly recognized sectors they
represent. These representatives are motivated to contribute to
policy making.

19. •Participatory democracy on the other hand is not
that much different from representative
democracy except that it offers more
opportunities for members of a population to
contribute to decision–making through popular
assemblies. This is more common on smaller
group of people such as in schools, in barangays,
non– governmental organizations and others.

20. • For example, when the barangay officials meet with
the community of a certain street to gather consensus
about the covered–court project in the area. People in
that area can air their concerns about the project.
Another example is at school, when the principal
gathers with the whole faculty and staff for a regular
meeting and updating.

21. Directions: Read the following situations carefully. Write PD if the situation describes
participatory democracy and RD if it pertains to representative democracy. Write your answers
in a separate sheet of paper.
• ______1. A barangay captain convenes a meeting with his/her subordinates to solicit
suggestions on how to help the school distribute printed modules to the students in
their jurisdiction.
• ______2. The school Supreme Student Government (SSG) president called all the
class presidents of each section to disseminate the information about the upcoming
celebration of the Teachers’ Day.
• ______3. To air their concerns about the possible surge of Covid-19 infections, the
community of barangay Sta. Isabel launched an online signature campaign in
support to the 14–day local community lockdown to hamper the spread of the
disease.
• ______4. The Municipal Mayor wanted to get the people’s voice about his
Pangkabuhayan Project, so, he launched a Facebook survey to hear the consensus of
his/her constituents.
• ______5. The Municipal Mayor presided a meeting with the Association of Barangay
Chairpersons of District 1 for the Needs Assessment of their respective barangays
regarding the Programang Pangkalusugan of the Municipality.

22. •Based on your experience as a student, what are the
benefits of democratic participation in school and
community activities which you have enjoyed or are
currently doing? Why is it important to participate in such
activities?

23. • In celebration of the International Day of Democracy, a photo
society is organizing a photo contest with the theme
“Democracy in My Country.” As a photographer-participant,
you are allowed to submit five photos to form a photo essay.
You need to provide a short description of each photo in three
to five sentences, which includes necessary information such
as location. Your photos should demonstrate democratic
practices related to the above discussion. The photo society
will grade your submitted output based on consistency,
creativity, presentation and quality of the photos. The rubric
for photo essay will be used to gauge your output.