Democracy: As Seen in the Political Philosophy of Imam Khomeini [R.A]
By Hamid Hadji Haidar

(Continued)
Democracy: Free and Competitive Elections
Schumpeter regards the above two theories on democracy as inaccurate and defines democracy in terms of the method and mode through which institutions function. He argues that the democratic method is that which consists of a series of systematic and organized arrangements (regulations) - which form the domain of political decision- makings - by means of which an individual may acquire the power of decision-making via competitive elections and the votes of people. Here, the fate of the democratic citizen is solely the right to periodically elect the government which, subsequently, acts on behalf of its citizens. The essence of democracy, according to this version, lies within the citizens' power of being able to substitute one government with another and thus protecting oneself from one important potential danger, i.e. were elected decision-makers to transform themselves into any form of irrevocable power etc. As long as people have the capacity to alter their governments and as long as they have a choice - in election - of at least two different parties, then the threat of despotism can be kept safely under control.

After the Second World War, a discussion had emerged between outstanding theore- ticians concerning the definition of democracy, i.e. defining it on the basis of the sources or goals of a government or - as figures such as Schumpeter believed - in terms of the method of governance. In the 1970s, the argument terminated, with Schumpeter as its victor.
The scholars had made a distinction between the pure, mental definitions and the ideal concepts of democracy on the one hand, and the empirical, descriptive and institutional definitions on the other. They concluded that only the latter definition might be seen to be sufficient and consequently be put into practice. As a result, many American authorities had abandoned the theoretical discussions on democracy based on general hypotheses etc and had attempted to understand the genres of democratic institutions, together with the quality of their functions and the causes of their evolution and devolution. Here, democratic governments are placed alongside totalitarian and traditional authoritarian governments in order for them to be compared and contrasted; democratic governments, here, by nature, comprise of the following features:

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