Virtue of Electroral democracy

It is often argued that the nation-state came into existence out of fear (of theft, organized attacks, etc.). In different parts of the world, the organization of the state took different forms, though their basic themes were largely similar -- i.e., a system controlled by a central authority. Everything revolved around that center, including laws related to both material and immaterial matters.

The advent of this system was neither unnatural nor accidental; rather, it was well in accordance with human nature. Does everyone work for material incentives? Well, they do, but I don’t think that is all. People came into contact with immaterial aspects -- God, soul, ethics, and morality -- and they tried to understand the objective of life. But nobody ever truly uncovered the secret and purpose of human life! In fact, if we assume happiness is what human beings thrive for, then we are confused again -- what do we need for it, and how much? Material possessions or immaterial values?

Monarchs became the official owners of their states, including their people. Unlike the democratic age we live in now, individual rights and liberties were not recognized at that time. But I don’t think people of that era endured more violence and exploitation than we do now. We saw monarchs like Harsha, who distributed all his personal wealth to the people, and Ashoka, who devoted most of his lifetime to sending missionaries to far away lands to spread the message of Buddha. What were they trying to gain? Reputation, isn’t it?

Monarchs understood that a kingdom could not prosper without the collective effort of its people. It should be noted that since a monarch was at the top of the management structure, it was quite easy for him to govern the system efficiently if he was competent.

However, an interesting change occurred after the Industrial Revolution began. People got a wonderful opportunity to create immense wealth (through business) without holding political positions, resulting in an imbalance in the power structure. Then came the French Revolution and the modern concept of democracy, i.e., electoral democracy.

In electoral democracy, the ruling people are considered the servants of the common people, yet they hold as much power as monarchs once did. In reality, people gained no more power from this system except the right to vote. Since those in power are not assured of long-term rule and lack strong incentives for long-term stability, they try to exploit the power they hold for a short duration.

Thus, resulting only in chaos -- this is what the virtue of electoral democracy is.