Democracy - A short introduction

This is a 3 minute video to introduce the most basic concepts of a Democracy. Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens participate equally—either directly or indirectly through elected representatives—in the proposal, development, and creation of laws. It encompasses social, religious, cultural, ethnic and racial equality, justice, liberty and fraternity.

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Video Script:

Scene 1

The word democracy comes from the Greek words of “démos” which means “people” and “krátos” which means “power” or “rule”, So democracy basically means “the rule of the people.”

Scene 2

Democracy first started as a direct democracy, in Greek cities, notably Ancient Athens, where people came together to speak about their concerns and opinions, in front of rulers of the city state, and directly voted on new rules and laws. Here is considered as the birthplace of democracy .

Scene 3

So, For the very first time, decisions were made by the people instead of rulers... but sadly, the ancient greeks did not see all people equally. Slaves, women, children and the people who did not have a land weren’t allowed to vote. This is what we call a “flawed” democracy today.

Scene 4

After the Greeks lost their power and influence in the first century AD, their early forms of democracy were also fading away until the Magna Carta was signed in 1215, which prevented the King of England to do whatever he wanted and said that even the King had to follow the country’s rules and laws which were written in the constitution.

Scene 5

Today, most democracies are indirect or representative which means that you can’t vote for a new law yourself, but you can vote for people who then become law makers and present your interests. But democracy isn’t just about voting; it’s about everything to protect the best interests of the people, no matter what is their race, gender, political opinion, or religion. These interests can be human rights, quality of life, infrastructure and many more.

Scene 6

Modern democracies divide powers into three different branches : the legislative (the people who make law), the executive (the people who make sure that you obey the law), and the judiciary (who judge you if you commit a crime). These three are independent and work following the process « checks and balances » which means all the work must be clear and fair. And, very important, the people who have power also must follow the law and not exceed their authority.

Scene 7

In addition, a democratic government must work in a way that reflects the wish /feeling/desire and values of the society that it governs—this is also known as the « General Will », which is a concept developed by the famous Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Scene 8

One of the problems of democratic voting is that the biggest groups of people always have the most power and that’s why a good democracy also has laws to protect the rights of its smaller and weaker groups. A democracy where the majority chooses to separate, set apart, expel or injure its minority is not a functioning democracy!

Scene 9

So, with those mentioned above, what do you think now about democracy? Winston Churchill once said: “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” Do you agree?

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with love

your MinuteVideos team

[War.]

Who’s here from an online assignment 😂

[LilRaju]

lets not forget the amazing drawing and time he gave to the art.

[LilVador]

I came for the short explanation, and I was unexpectedly very impressed with the presentation. great video

[henrychen]

back when minute videos was educational....

[mackieyt]

I swear if none of this is even in my quiz imma quit school lmao!!

[christopherl]

Excellent summary. Well-written and illustrated.

[samuchiha]

Thank you!
This helped understand my lesson alot!
Keep it up!
By the way, love your art!👍

[OdairASilva]

I saw this video on “Matéria de Capa” Program of TV Cultura, from Brazil
Great Video and Great Channel! - One more sub.

[seleneni]

I love this video so much. I'm more of a visual learner.

[pottingsoil]

"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."
- Winston Churchill

[TheMightyHawlucha]

thank you. i live in slovenia and i have a test about democracy tomorrow. this really helped me!

[Mr.ZimmersClassroom]

What an awesome and useful video. Great work.

[sadiajannatulferdouse]

Would u please make some more videos, to introduce us about, communism, socialism, Thank u, the video was helpful thank u

[beanieboocuteness]

This is what I learned in school we use the representative democracy in Canada. This type of democracy was use by the Iroquois Confederacy.
But we have in Canada is three levels of government and each level has a responsibility and representatives to represent us like mayors, reeves, chiefs, Prime Minister, MLAs, and premier.

[mellowberrie]

THX SO MUCH THIS WAS WHAT I NEEDED FOR MY SOCIAL STUDIES GOVERNMENT PROJECT TYSM!!!

[NlMsneem]

Thanks a lot . it's simple and easy to understand :-D

[yonkopubglite]

This video was recommended by my teacher 🤣to help us understand better 🤣

[papibertfully]

This is helpful. Well done! Thank you.

[liana_hyan]

I love such videos. They are fun to watch, and visualizations make them even more understandable and easy to follow!
The reference to Game of Thrones made sense in the context. I never thought about that in that particular way. XD

[oskarrozewicz]

A great and very informative video!
I don't know why you mention in 1:08 a constitution, though. In the UK there is no such document in the written form and there wasn’t anything resembling one at the time of Magna Carta.