we have a democratic system but no democratic values

Once Quaid said and I quote “It is my belief that our salvation lies in following the golden rules of conduct set for us by our great law giver the Prophet of Islam (Peace Be Upon Him). Let us lay the foundation of our democracy on the basis of the truly Islamic ideals and principles. Our Almighty has taught us that our decisions in the affairs of the state shall be guided by discussions and consultations.” (Sibi, 14.02.1948)

Democracy is "a system of government in which all the people of a state are involved in making decisions about its affairs, typically by voting to elect representatives to a parliament or similar assembly.

 Democracy is further defined as  "government by the people; of the people and for the people. It consists of four key elements:

a.     A political system for choosing and replacing the government through free and fair elections.

b.    The active participation of the people, as citizens, in politics and civic life.

c.      Protection of the human rights of all citizens.

d.    A rule of law, in which the laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens.

Ideologies such as fascism, Nazism and neo-fundamentalism oppose democracy on different grounds, generally citing that the concept of democracy as a constant process is flawed and detrimental to a preferable course of development.

Qualitative variables such as a fall in the level of poverty, improvement in human development, increase in social welfare programmes, promotion of education at grassroots levels are some of the challenges that can be tackled easily if the true spirit of democracy is to be realized and implemented.

But we did not follow democracy in true spirit especially in developing countries like Pakistan and we generally observe the following weaknesses in so called democracy system.

In democracy, voters are highly uninformed about many political issues, especially relating to economics, and have a strong bias about the few issues on which they are fairly knowledgeable. Democracy often results in tyranny by majority, since a majority could blockade any measure intended to serve minority interests. Minorities may 'give up' on democracy, not voting due to the fact that their votes essentially do nothing unless more people agree with them.Democracies most often lend themselves to a small number of parties, where voters either have to conform to one group's values, ignore some of their own values in order to conform, or simply not participate in elections.Pure democracies are very slow and inefficient, since it takes a lot of time to count and recount referendums. Tyranny by majority could be as bad or worse than dictatorship.

The 20th-century Italian thinkers Vilfredo Pareto and Gaetano Mosca (independently) argued that democracy was illusory, and served only to mask the reality of elite rule. Indeed, they argued that elite oligarchy is the unbendable law of human nature, due largely to the apathy and division of the masses (as opposed to the drive, initiative and unity of the elites), and that democratic institutions would do no more than shift the exercise of power from oppression to manipulation

"Democracy, which is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequaled alike."

More recently, democracy is criticized for not offering enough political stability. As governments are frequently elected on and off there tends to be frequent changes in the policies of democratic countries both domestically and internationally. Even if a political party maintains power, vociferous, headline grabbing protests and harsh criticism from the mass media are often enough to force sudden, unexpected political change. Frequent policy changes with regard to business and immigration are likely to deter investment and so hinder economic growth.

In representative democracies, it may not benefit incumbents to conduct fair elections. A study showed that incumbents who rig elections stay in office 2.5 times as long as those who permit fair elections. In countries with income above per capita, democracies have been found to be less prone to violence, but below that threshold, more prone violence. Election misconduct is more likely in countries with low per capita incomes, small populations, rich in natural resources, and a lack of institutional checks and balances. Governments that have frequent elections tend to have significantly more stable economic policies than those governments who have infrequent elections. However, this trend does not apply to governments that hold fraudulent elections.

Democracy in modern times has almost always faced opposition from the previously existing government, and many times it has faced opposition from social elites.

. Democracy, (power of the people) delivers only where people are equal citizens of state, live together in peaceful manner, have respect for each other and are fully conversant with their rights, duties and obligations towards state and fellow-citizens and have the ability to discuss their social,political economic affairs in calm quite style, respecting everyones point of view. All people must be cool-minded, must tolerate difference of opinion and must agree to the principle of voting and counting votes to reach decisions with majority votes, minority voters must concede the right to rule by majority till next elections. The rulers must fulfill their election manifesto and electoral promises to the satisfaction of the electorates. This sort of system is called democracy, really a very expensive, slow moving and difficult type of governance. Pakistan seems least suitable for such a patience-testing form of government because Pakistanis are hot-tempered, hot-headed, illiterate lacking in discipline and always ready to fight in decision-making. American or British democracy do deliver as they have their own peculiar 'mould', which can not be used here as they are foreign to our Pakistani conditions.