Democracy – Majority Rule or Rule of Law

Democracy, in the simplest of terms refers to the Rule of the People. However, this fails to provide adequate understanding to the reader, considering the lack of conceptual clarity which creates uncertainty. This paper aims at exploring the dimensions of democracy as we know it, as well as how relevant the concept is in today’s day and age, as against the ideas of philosophers such as Aristotle, whose objection to the idea of a democratic state was based upon the premise that it happens to subvert and erode the Rule of Law. People, once considered as being sovereign equals in a democratic setup are the ultimate source of sovereignty in a state. Democracy, being the simplest idea, also poses structural confusions. A set of instruments which aim to involve the population into the positions of power, whether directly or indirectly, may be termed as democracy.