Democracy

The word democracy comes from Greek demokratia, composed by demos and kratia.
Demos means people, in opposition to the king and nobility, that are free citizens who formed the assembly of the people.
Kratia, from which cracy is born, indicated the force, the power and, in political field, the lordship, the authority.
The concept and the word democracy has reached us from the ancient Greece: in Pericle's Athens was experimented a democratic government shape which will remain a model for our political and civilian traditions. From our survey realised, which takes as reference 50 guys of our school, it can be stated that the great majority knows the mean of democracy
(graphic 1).
In the medieval world the reference to collective shapes of the power was constant.

The law was issued by the popular consent and from an action of monarch's empire and so the assembly meeting was called power. People was formed by the complex of the feudal rights' holders. The political centre moved from castles to the cities which were indicated as "urban democracy". The rising of municipal corporation had democratic character: it corresponded to the success of that part of people given over handicraft and commercial activities.
A greater stimulus toward democratic conceptions came from the protestant reform, but the definitive success of democratic idea arose with the French revolution.

For the philosophers who were inspired by the government model born with the English revolution in 1688, the democratic essence was people's right to designate the nation government and control it. The image of pure democracy offered the principles for the division of power and popular sovereignty. Democracy is a way to designate the governors who exercise realise more widely as possible people's power, as group of citizens of one nation. There are elections to universal vote, which allow the candidates of different tendencies and political groups to collect citizens' votes. The rights to vote had for a long time an extension limited to some people sector, that is, to the citizens holders of a certain property and able to pay a minimum specific tax to the state or provided of a qualification. Only at the beginning of the second half of the last century these limits started to disappear. In Italy the universal vote was introduced in 1911 and the extension of the vote to women in February of 1945.

"Luckly the state established on the bases of popular vote and of equality, cemented from the fear, it's not only an despicable construction, but it's also precarious. The state doesn't have to be an institution perfectly suitable to favour the gradual elevation of a privileged class toward an ideal form of existence. On the economical an political equality, to that it is inspired the democracy, you'll go therefore forming a new oligarchy, a new realm of the force, and only few people will succeed, first or then, to take again the reins to tame the multitudes to your profit", D'Annunzio wrote in The maidens of the rock in 1895. Pirandello expressed a similar thought in Il fu Mattia Pascal: "But it's the fact nevertheless. What's the trouble with people like me? Why are we so gloom? Democracy, my dear sir, democracy! Government buy the majority! When you have one boss, he knows that it's his job to satisfy many people; but when everybody has a say in running things, everybody thinks of satisfying himself. And what do we get? Tyranny, my dear sir, in its most stupid form: tyranny masked as freedom! Of course you do! What do you think is the matter with me? Just what I say: tyranny disguised as freedom!".

Before them, in '700, some French thinkers advanced proposals to guarantee the citizens freedom to absolute monarchy; Locke, Montesquieu and Russeau formulated the "constitutionalism principle" that is to put the law above any power and subordinate any powers to the law. From here the "legality principle" and the birth of the law state. The division of powers: the parliament that make laws, the government that governs following the laws, and the magistracy that applies the laws, they must be atonomous between them.
It was Toqueville to start the modern discussion about democracy: "democratic society but not free, can be rich, refined, decorated and also magnificent, powerful for the weight of their homogeneus mass; there can be found individual ability, good parents, honest dealers, estimated owners; there will be found also good christians [...]; but what won't be ever seen, i dare to affirm it, in this society, are great citizens, and first of all a great people; I don't fear to assert that the common level of the minds and of the souls will never stop in his fall, until the equality and the despotism will go togheter".

In Italian language the word democracy is taken for the first time in '500, in opposition to the monarchy and aristocracy. The concept of democracy is associated to those of freedom, equality and brotherhood, principles put as bases of a new political system.

In 1947, the temporary head of the state, promulgates the Constitution of the Italian Republic. With it there were introduced this principles:

Art. 1: Italy is a democratic Republic based on work. The sovereignty belongs to people that exercise it in the form and in the limits of the Constitution.

Art. 3: all citizens have same dignity and they are equals in front of the law without difference of sex, race, language, religion, political opinions and personal and social conditions [...].

Art. 18: The freedom to associate itself with only the limit of to hinder secret associations is guaranteed, those that pursue purposes forbidden by the criminal law, those that want to reach their purposes through the use of weapons.

Art. 48: All citizens have equal right of vote.

Art. 49: There is complete freedom to form political group and adhere to these groups.

Our Constitution, so, is based on the democratic principles, in fact "sovereignty belongs to the people" who, can exercise directly his powers (DIRECT DEMOCRACY), or through persons and bodies that are elected to represent it, that is a political representative group like parliament, assembly, chamber (REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY). Although the democratic principles indicated in the legal rule, our schoolmates don't think that these are respected (graphic 2). Because of the disappointing result of the previous question, we've proposed them some alternatives with more amazing results. The young who usually are in contrast with their family, think it is more democratic than other social area (gr. 3).

The first form of direct expression of the people is represented by the elections. Through the elections the citizens exercise the right of vow recognised by the art. 48.
All the citizens that have the right to vote form the electoral body, the Italian citizens who live in foreign country, can exercise the right to vote returning to Italy. The immigrants, until now, don't enjoy of this right. A while ago, a polician has advanced a purposal to extend this right but no one has supported him.

The results of our survey evidence the negative outcome (graphic 4).
Recently a mp has proposed the legal suspension of the criminal trials for common crimes to person who covers the fives highest charges of the state. These abstract idea is unconstitutional because it doesn't respect the democratic and equality principles. Our interviewed, as they know the matter, have the same idea and express their opinion (graphic 5). The mp has referred to the rules existing in most of the other European countries:

In France, for the mp, the immunity find foundation in the art. 26 of the constitution which establishes the principle of the irresponsibility for the opinion and vote expressed during the exercise of their function. The ir-responsibility is absolute and prevents any penal and civil action also at the end of the mandate. Instead, for the head of the state, French constitution previews the absolute immunity during his mandate;

In America, for the senators and the members of the chamber, the immunity from the arrest is previews for all the duration of the parliamentary sessions; for the president, the vice president, the president of the American supreme court and other high federal charges, the American constitution doesn't previews immunity guarantees.

In Great Britain English MPs are covered by parliamentary absolute immunity for acts and opinions expressed during the exercise of their functions. English monarch is inviolably person by the magistracy, personally and civilly irresponsible for his actions. Because of the irresponsibility of the monarch, Prime Minister and the member of the government refer directly to the magistracy for any their action, civilly and penalty.

In Spain the parliamentary immunity is limited at the length of the mandate as established in the art.71 of Spanish Constitution. It also ensures Spanish monarch the absolute inviolability and the total civil and penal irresponsibility for his actions limited at the lenght of the mandate.

In Germany art. 47 of the fundamental act doesn't expect the prosecutability for opinion and votes expressed in the Bundestag. A deputy can being tried or arrested only with the authorization of the Parliament. The head of the state, to rule of Constitution, could being called, for civil and penal responsibility, to answer in any moment. The public officials refer to an appropriate tribunal for the offences committed in the exercise of their function and to the ordinary magistracy for the penal offences and the civil illicit.

Written by: Mariangela Gugliotta Daniela Gallina Marilyn Carbajal - 4^P
madamag46@hotmail.com