You walk down the street, and you hear "democracy", you turn on the radio and you hear "democracy" again, you get home and turn on the television and you hear, "democracy". But, what is the concept of democracy really? Is it deteriorated? Is it misused?
Today, there are countless "democracies"; participatory, parliamentarian, liberal, dominant party, popular, etc. There are also political systems, where not even the best theorists in Political Science agree. Is Venezuela a democracy? "Hitler came to power through elections." Or systems, such as the case of the Spanish State, where in Parliament a party holds an absolute majority, with which it does whatever it pleases. Is it a democracy? Or are we talking about a masked and modern totalitarian system?
I thought I understood that democracy was that concept where the people governed, where the majority decided what our legitimate representatives had to do, in the name of the people. But I was wrong. As Jean-Jacques Rousseau said: "The English people think they are free and deceive themselves: they are only so during the election of members of Parliament: as soon as these are elected, they become slaves again, they are nothing."
And I can't understand how a political leader and his party ignore the pleas of the citizens. Yes! I am talking about the Canary Islands people, who actively and passively demonstrate against the issue of oil exploration.
You, political leader! You only are and represent what the majority tells you to do, because that is democracy. You are nothing, you are nobody, you are the one who must represent what your people entrust to you. If you don't, you don't understand what the concept of democracy means.
And all this only brings with it such a growing political disaffection that citizens do not see themselves represented in any side, neither left, nor right, nor nationalisms. The political question becomes a burden, a negative label for anyone who feels and wants politics. But from this medium, I invite you to reflect. Let us reflect on unity, on politics, on democracy.
There is only one path, without detours, without shortcuts, and it is as democratic as the concept "Democracy".
Let's believe again, and only then will we create politics.
David Toledo Niz, student of Political Science and Administration.
