ETHICAL SOCIETY: A PREMISE ON WHICH SUCCESSFUL DEMOCRACY RESTS

Vineeth Thomas, P Lazarus Samraj, Gothanda Moorthy C

Abstract

Samuel Phillips Huntington's thesis on the 'Third Wave' of democratization, as presented in his seminal work “The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century”, posited democracy as the preeminent and widely accepted form of governance. While democracy may prevail quantitatively in contemporary times, it grapples with numerous challenges in terms of its qualitative aspects. This research article identifies the dearth of ethical values as a significant factor contributing to the erosion of democracies worldwide. Moreover, this erosion has the potential to incite a 'new wave against democracy'. Consequently, this article aims to explore the potential remedy for this issue by anchoring democracy in an ethically conscious society. We contend that an ethically grounded society serves as a fundamental prerequisite for nurturing a high-quality and prosperous democracy, ultimately acting as a formidable barrier against the imminent and looming threats to democratic systems.