МНОГОЛИКАЯ ДЕМОКРАТИЯ - ВРЕМЯ ПЕРЕОЦЕНКИ ЦЕННОСТЕЙ

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Introduction : The article analyses the concept of “democracy” subject to current intercivilizational, political, social, ethnic and cultural transformations in Europe and the USA. The author states that the form of an individual’s participation in the political system of the State, as originated from European Civilization and developed by the Christendom, has been changing over centuries. It has lost the old features and acquired the new ones. Democracy as a political will of the electoral majority can hardly be described as flawless. It used to exist in ancient Greek republics and French towns of the 18th century which were monocultural and monoethnic by nature. But today we are witnessing a brand new reality. Another fact of great importance is that at present the factors splitting the world are not any more of national or racial nature, but rather of religious and cultural origin. In addition, the historical development of some states remains at a medieval level while other states jumped into the 21st century. Such controversial diversity of states has the single common form of their political structure. And this form is democracy, the concept and core values of which need re-evaluating due to the multifaceted nature of this phenomenon in modern society Materials and methods : Methodological basis of the research includes such general scientific and specific methods of studying political and social phenomena and processes as the method of systematic and structural analysis, the method of synthesis of social and legal phenomena, comparative method, method of formal and logical analysis, statistical method, etc. Research results : The results of the research are as follows: 1. Democracy implies the involvement of all citizens of a certain age in the organization of power vested in the country’s chief executive officer, i.e. a president, as well as federal and local authorities. 2. Democracy constitutes a comprehensive means by which controversial and overlapping interests of various strata, political and public organizations and groups can be negotiated and agreed upon. 3. Democracy suggests that all decisions should be taken by a majority vote subject to compliance with the minorities’ rights. 4. Democracy is traditionally implemented via general elections, which, however, can lead to the crisis of power and society in a country divided by ethnic and racial criteria. Discussion and conclusions: It is required to introduce a brand new election mechanism by changing the system of general direct and equal elections and introducing multi-stage and open elections which will minimize manipulation of elections by professional political managers and elites, as well as the bias of mass media.