International Day of Democracy was established on December 13, 2007 by the UN General Assembly, and since 2008 it has been celebrated annually on September 15. The main objective of Democracy Day is to raise public awareness of human rights and democratic values.
Democracy (translated from the ancient Greek "power of the people") is a form of government in which decisions are made not by one person or a small group of people, but by the majority of the population. Since many current decisions cannot be made by the whole people, the society delegates certain powers to its chosen representatives. It is the election of the main government posts, the adoption of decisions fundamental to the state by voting of the entire population and the supremacy of human rights and freedoms that form the basis of most modern options for democratic forms of government.
Celebrated on September 15, International Day for Democracy provides an opportunity to take a closer look at how human rights are respected in certain countries, which problems of democracy are currently the most acute. In many cities around the world, events are held to recall the values of a democratic world order and the grave consequences of their violation.
Various political actions are timed to coincide with the International Day of Democracy, in many cases they are carried out by opposition parties that do not agree with the activities of the existing government. They have the opportunity to once again state their demands, point out the shortcomings of the existing political system. In particular, the Russian opposition is going to hold a mass protest rally on September 15, 2012, in which, according to the organizers, more than 300 thousand people will take part.
For the current government, no matter what country in the world, the existence of a day of democracy is an extra reminder of the need to strictly observe and protect democratic values, quickly eliminate the identified shortcomings, and by all means contribute to the spread of democracy in the world.
