Report on Conceptual Framework of Democracy

The term ‘democracy’ is derived from the Greek words, demos and Kratos which means the people and power respectively. Democracy thus means power of the people. It is now regarded as a form of government in which the people rule themselves either directly or indirectly through their representatives. Definition of democracy, as a form of government, are various, But like many other definitions in political science, they differ in their content and application. Democracy, according to the Greeks, is the Government in which people rule over themselves. Aristotle considered it as a perverted form of government. Herodotus says, the democracy denotes that form of government in which in the ruling power of the state is largely vested in the members of the community as a whole.

Parliamentary Democracy in Bangladesh

Democracy is a continuous political process which can only be sustained and developed by giving due attention to certain issues. It is never completely achieved; it grows into its being.[1] During the nineteenth century followed by industrial revolution and expansion of capitalism, democracy took off as a major political and social process based on maturing British and American model of democracy. Subsequently, after the end of the Second World War, most of the states of the Latin America, Central Europe and Asia have become liberated from the clutch of the colonial rule and they have gradually been turned into democratic political system. Like other countries of the contemporary world, Bangladesh after having been independent from the internal colonialism of Pakistan, adopted the parliamentary democracy as the political system enshrined in the constitution. Since then, we have passed about thirty-eight years but our achievements in the sphere of democracy and development are not noteworthy.