Power is not everlasting; it changes hands over time, normally, with the demise of the person holding the power. After the death of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, her son ascended to the throne as King Charles III.
Sometimes power is transferred voluntarily. In January 2024, the Queen of Denmark Margrethe II willingly gave up her power to her son who became the new monarch, King Frederik X. People often give away their wealth or economic power to their descendants or persons of choice or charity.
The transition of power can also take place through violence. In 1485, Henry Tudor became King Henry VII of England by defeating and killing the reigning monarch King Richard III.
These are all examples from monarchies where the transition of power is materialized by a defined line of succession. Along the timeline of history, some monarchies were abolished and others lost their executive powers owing to the dawn of democracy as in the UK, or the advent of socialism as in the former USSR. Only a very few exceptions remain today like Saudi Arabia or Brunei.
In a democracy, succession is determined by the people’s mandate. A country is governed by individuals who are elected by the people.
The country with the world’s strongest military is not governed by the generals. Civil power supersedes physical power. That’s the beauty of democracy, that’s the progress of civilization.
Of course, it has to be a true democracy – people and society have to be adherent to a democratic culture. Power distance – the degree of inequality between the powerful and the powerless – has to be low. True democracy fosters a more just and equitable society. It empowers citizens to participate in the political process, ensuring that their voices are heard and their interests are represented.
According to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, the essential elements of democracy include freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of association, holding of periodic free and fair elections by universal suffrage, a pluralistic system of political parties, independence of the judiciary, transparency and accountability in public administration, and free, independent and pluralistic media.
In weak democracies, many of these elements go missing. There is a tendency for political parties to try to cast false votes, invade voting centers, and manipulate the election results. Those who lose the election routinely claim that the election was rigged. And those who win the election always claim that the election was fair.
In strong democracies like the USA, and UK, the culture is civilized. The question of rigging doesn’t arise at all rather the loser routinely concedes defeat and congratulates the winner. But in the 2020 election in the USA, we saw the incumbent President Donald Trump behave like a leader of a weak democracy. He claimed that the election was stolen and even tried to overturn people’s mandate. Is it a reversal of democratic culture or just the idiosyncrasy of Donald Trump? That’s another question to think about.
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This article was published in the Daily Sun on September 22, 2024. Please read the full article here or here.