How do You Define Democracy?

In some places, several poleis would gather together and create leagues of city-states. Each city-state remained independent in its internal affairs, but they would band together to fight off invaders.

Thinking about democracy as a process that demands patience and persistence might also help create the space for a peaceful transition.

Anyone charged with a crime has the right to a fair, speedy, and public trial by an impartial court.

Australia’s Head of State is really just symbolic and performs ceremonial functions, but she has a representative in Australia and that is the Governor-General. Australia’s constitution does give our Head of State and Governor-General a lot of power, but they usually act on the advice of the government of the day. This is fair, because both of them are unelected, which means the people have not had a say in choosing them.

One of the major problems of the Greek democracy was the extreme individuality of the each city-state.

For example, Chile’s transition to democracy took almost three decades and many argue it is still incomplete. Among the many challenges Chile is still addressing constitutional reform and how the reform process should work.

No one may be taxed or prosecuted except by a law established in advance.

In Australia, we have three levels of government: federal, state and local. The power is shared between each of the governments, but together they provide for our citizens. Let’s find out more about each level.

Since each polis was unique, it was difficult for a league of city states to remain united for long.

In the meantime, Chile serves as an example to other countries seeking to make a smooth transition to Democracy by illustrating that democratic institutions will naturally experience a trial and error period.

In 1901, the individual Australian states, or British colonies as they were known, decided that some things might work better if they worked on them together, rather than separately. This decision to join together was called the ‘Australian Federation’ and the union of all the states was then given the name of the ‘Commonwealth of Australia’.

No one is above the law, not even a king or an elected president.

Despite the problems of the Greek polis, their form of government, democracy, continues to live on.

Thinking of democracy as a practice and not as a condition is an important lesson for democracy implementers because it affects not only how we talk about democracy,

Many Western nations practice representative democracy through an elected representative rather than direct democracy as practiced by the Greek city-states.

A document called ‘The Constitution’ was written and came into force in Australia on January 1, 1901. The Constitution describes how the Australian Parliament works and what powers it has.

The law is fairly, impartially, and consistently enforced, by courts that are independent of the other branches of government.

but more importantly how we work to promote democracy. Through our programming, we need to think about how we emphasize the idea that democratic transitions take time and equip our participants with the patience to ensure the transition happens smoothly and is sustainable in the long-term

Every four years, thousands of Americans enter a public location (a city hall or courthouse) and cast a vote for the leadership of the nation (some states mail these instead).

The Federal Parliament is made up of representatives from all states and territories and it meets in Canberra on a regular basis. The Parliament makes new laws and amends existing laws which are then carried out by the Federal Government. Over the period of a year, somewhere between 150 and 22O laws are passed.

Torture and cruel and inhumane treatment are absolutely forbidden.

The candidates with the highest number of votes go on to represent their particular districts, states, or the nation as a whole.

Local governments make decisions about local town, area or city matters. There are hundreds of local governments operating in Australia, which may be known as municipalities, councils, shires, boroughs, towns or cities depending on where you live.

The rule of law places limits on the power of government. No government official may violate these limits.

Democracy may be a word familiar to most, but it is a concept still misunderstood and misused in a time when totalitarian regimes and military dictatorships alike have attempted to claim popular support by pinning democratic labels upon themselves.