A political system is what affects how a society is governed and how leaders are chosen within in a society, and thus it determines how well the society is run and which affects how much stability the society has. Economic, social and political stability can be achieved through means such as development, most of the time economically. Many democratic countries, especially the Western countries, have been able to achieve some measure of stability in these areas.
The empowering factor of democracy has always been liberalism. Democracy means making sure the population’s views are respected in the decision-making process. A vote is then taken to see which candidate, and his ideals the population supports and prefers. Obviously, the candidate that has gathered the most support is elected into government, and the party which has the most of these candidates is then chosen as the ruling party. In a democracy, the government empowers its people to be able to make their own decisions and choose their own leaders. In that way, the majority of the country's population is able to be satisfied as the majority can choose the things they want.
This is a good system since many superpowers and leading nations in the world adopt this political system, and they are thriving. America, the largest economy in the world, one of the highest GDPs and probably the most powerful superpower, adopts democracy. South Korea, once the second poorest nation in the world, now is a major economic power, one of the wealthiest nations in Asia and a global military power, also uses democracy. Singapore, a small nation, is the seventeenth wealthiest nation in the world, and adopts the representative democracy political system.
Democracy has sold itself as an ideal political system to be put into place by many developed and developing countries, and many of these nations are among the wealthiest or are up and coming .
That being said, democracy isn't what is absolutely needed to attain stability, there are problems with democracy as well. First, many times, the ruling party or candidate being voted in promises many changes they will make when they’re elected, but this is not necessarily true. Many a time people have been taken in by promises and in the end action is not taken when the politician has been elected. When the next election comes again, the ruling party starts promising again, new promises, to the people, so that they can stay in power. Second, even if the elected politicians and parties act as they promised, it still would be impossible to please the entire population, and there will be a disappointed minority. The minority, such as those who are ‘underaged’ and given no right to vote and choose who governs them, will definitely be angry with not being able to have a say in the matter. Third, problems arise when the ruling party does not win by a large margin; there are then squabbles and power struggles over ruling rights and so on. This creates a lot of bureaucratic red tape and puts a slowdown to decisions the government makes, and causes the country to be inefficiently run.
A country like Indonesia, which is a democracy, has a relatively a low Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of around US$1,812. While an Authoritarian China, and a socialist state, has relatively high levels of development and stability, which is achieved from the very nationalistic nature of the people through the Communist Party of China's government.
That goes to say that democracy is not what is absolutely needed to attain stability.
However, though it does not work in all cases, it still remains one of the most utilised and reliable political systems today. Singapore, a small nation, has been able to achieve much in spite of that, and its adopted political system is representative democracy. The controlling party is responsible for the success Singapore has experienced as a nation since her full independence in the year 1965. The People’s Action Party, PAP, has stayed in power since then. Opposition parties in Singapore are weak but still are able to create the competition needed to keep the ruling party constantly on its toes, constantly improving itself to satisfy the people. There are anti-corruption agencies in Singapore to keep the government in check, measures against passing a bill that would disadvantage a minority group, and a feedback system so people can provide suggestions for the government on how to improve policies and ensure fair treatment for citizens, for example.
In conclusion, democracy, a tried and tested political system with many shining examples of success, does lead to stability in society in most cases, and if measure are actively taken to ensure the majority or the ruling party does not mistreat any single minority group.
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