LOOKING AT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEMOCRACY AND PARTICIPATION ON BEHALF OF THE CULTURE OF DEMOCRATIZATION

This study examines democracy and the relation of participation to the culture of democratization. The point of departure in the examination to be done is that the democracy and the participation process pass on a dream based on the culture of democratization. Countries ruled by democracy have democratic ways of life as civilized countries. Democracy transcended national borders and gained a universal character. The basic back forces are the regime of freedom and equality. These are passed on through participation and pluralism. Modernism is now based on democratization culture. Participation is that everyone has a say. Pluralism describes tolerance of differences. Democracy is based on a culture of its own; Democratic elements are seen as cultural wealth. We can provide democratization with participatory management. Here, citizens are targeted to take part in the decisionmaking process. It should not be forgotten that the vitality of democracy depends on the assimilation of its users. Otherwise, even if the name of the regime is democracy, there is a possibility that those who use it may turn into autocratic according to the level of democratic culture.


INTRODUCTION
The regime of democracy, freedom and equality, the form of government s became the hot topics of the last few centuries.The democracy is accepted as the best regime produced by mankind.Western product democracy has developed and legitimized by World public view today.It has now surpassed its territory and extended to whole world.Democracy is now also universalized by globalization based discourses.Democracy is not just a form of political administration.Indeed, it is also a lifestyle for citizens.Besides, it can also be seen as a form of thinking."Democratization", an extension of democracy in practice, is an important concept today.Democracy is not considered to offer an alternative form of management.Nowadays, how democracy can become more active has been the subject of democracy studies.Political studies are based on the quest for more freedom with democracy.In countries governed by democracy, democratic forms of life are emerging.Country analyzes have also multiplied herein.Modern and democratic regimes, today, are mostly categorized into the sphere of many civilized countries.In developed countries, great importance was given to the participation of democracy in their past.Participation in urban or rural habitats is even a sign of democracy, thinking the distribution patterns.Turkey, one of the developing countries, is seeking to provide democracy for rural areas as well.Just as in the whole world, in Turkey, democracy has become increasingly important, and this quest has been reinforced by integration politics, such as globalization or EU integration.In this respect, legislative changes were made in Turkey, which also opened the way for participation.At the beginning of these changes came the city council and voluntary participation arrangements for local participation.
As for democracy, institutions and rules come to mind immediately.However, with the postmodern understanding and the structuralism of the new, the cultural influence of people and actors was debatable.Democracy cannot be just a system of formal institutions and rules.Democracy is more valuable than the sum of its constituent institutions.Surprisingly, it has a cultural infrastructure that is harmonious with itself.Culture is not the visual art, literature, music in this sense, language, and faith in community.Experience has created a cult of democracy.It is equivalent to the forms of political behavior that describe the people's ability to manage themselves.Culture here, is the social institutions and rules.Today, democracy is integrated into the modern individual concept.This concept is based on the culture of democratization.The individual is modernizing in civil society.Along with the formation of a democratic social structure, the possibility of existence and development has also been reflected in civil society organizations.It was the non-governmental organizations and the media that achieved this firstly, in some countries.These contributed significantly to the democratic development of the system.But in the countries governed by democracy, the state was closer to being unable to fully internalize democracy by civil society and individuals in a short term.It is now possible to experience problems stemming from the political culture established in society via media.The existence of participation, the protection of democracy, the survival and infrastructure of a solid democratization culture is essential for politics, today.In this regard, the public view is extremely important to be involved in policy making and strategical thinking.The effectiveness of participation can only be realized with the belief that the governing and directing are engaged.
Democracy is a form of regime and government.It is essentially a democratic political model as well as a precondition for social peace.His life depends on being absorbed by the people.Democratization in the countries governed by democracy speaks of the lack of culturalism.The democratization of democracy is widespread.According to the general view of politicians, democratic life only gives trust, peace and happiness.Because it allows people and thinkers to emancipate and reduce social tension, democracy is valuable to in governance.However, the presentation of democratic rights should not be just a means of social policy.Democracy is the right form of politics.It depends on a set of constitutional traditions and should be made part of the state-ruled cult.In this context, democracy and participation relations are emphasized and debated on the basis of democratization culture.At first, the concept and meaning of democracy is revealed.Then, democratic participation was mentioned.Later, the place of democracy and participation in the culture of democratization was examined.The study is based on the analysis of literature and it is aimed to develop the theoretical link between the concepts.The study ends with conclusion and evaluation.

DEFINITION AND MEANING OF DEMOCRACY
What is democracy?It is a concept belonging to Political Science.The concept we actually call democracy that exists in theory belongs to this branch of science.Is one of the concepts that have a lot of appeal?As etymological origin, it belongs to demos and kratos (Archibugi, 2005:540).It has two vocabulary roots, which means people and power.Both mean democracy together.In other words, it expresses the sovereignty of the people.Your sovereignty in democracy is the true individual.The individual brings the people to the square.The nation is a basic element of the state in some countries and it has become a top concept even from the people.Democracy is about the people.The human community is a living being within the borders of a state.Democracy is the rule of the people.It is a type of management.Here is a type of state in which the creation, enforcement and trial of laws are the rights and duties of citizens.Of course, citizens will have the obligation to obey the laws they have created (Heler, 1993: 147).
Democracy is the old form of government.So the beginning goes to the very old ages.The emergence of democracy was mainly a city tradition.Obviously it is a practice that took place in the first cities.A certain stage of civilization was revealed in B.C.It was in the mid-5th century of BC.The ancient Greeks firstly put the name of the city-states they formed.The enlighteners used this word to describe the contemporary political system (Pustu, 2005: 122).The people in the Greek city states are demos.Today's people do not express the same thing.Anyone who made up the people could not vote in those ancient models.They were not equal and free among themselves.Demos could not cover everything about population and society, and even every individual.Nevertheless, this tradition was corrected on a daily basis.A defined and civilized, even a modern term of population was born, and seen equal to society based definitions.The ancient footsteps of democracy in the ancient Greek city-states can be seen in the history and today's political life.Moreover, it left a very important legacy.
Democracy has been mature since its first release.The content of the democracy expanded day by day.Therefore, the concept of democracy could not belong to a single age.It means more than the old praxis.Democracy developed after Ancient Greece.It was also seen in the Roman Republic with ancient monarchs.Democracy could be experienced in the monarchy structure via experimental practices to gain populist supports (Dahl, 2010: 21).When the enlightenment began, it came to mind again.Democracy was forgotten for centuries after the antiquity, but an island country remembered this, which was England.There were opinions that crossed the ocean from UK.A reflection occurred in the New World as the American Revolution.The results of this revolution were felt in France.First of all, there was a revolution that would affect Europe and then disseminated to the whole world.The first constitution came from the United States.The second one was in France.The development of the idea of democracy was fast.There were pauses when we looked at the historical flow.During World War II and the Cold War these strife were intense.Slowed down, yes, but revived when it came to the 21st century.It seems to have completely dominated now across the world.It is rightful and globally speaking to state that this domination is "the domination of democratic thought" (Recepoğlu, 2016: 6).
What is politically democracy?The most common and understandable definition is "people's management by the people".It is the realization of the democratic administration described here.That is how the people will be provided by the people.Four different methods are put forward.The first of these is the people who make up the people.They vote for all decisions that concern them.In this way, the people manage themselves directly, that is, without direct means.The first method is a "direct management" that can only be transferred to practice in communities where the population is small.It is a democracy that does not have direct democracy, representations and representation ties.There is literally no direct democracy that really manages itself.But within relatively small group size groups (Sartori, 1993: 122-123).Should we look at the population of today's society?Do you see the difficulty of ensuring the participation of individuals in every decision or decision?It will be easier to understand.Also consider the increase in quality and quantity of social needs.Consider the need to do so quickly.The practical difficulties of direct management can be understood more clearly.Moreover, the difficulties of implementing direct democracy are also numerous.But the virtues that it possesses must be remembered because it is an ideal model of democracy.In the second method; society sphere will choose the individuals who will decide on their behalf, then the chosen ones will decide on behalf of the people.Semi-direct method can be defined in this examination.This method is called "indirect management".It is the right of the people to use the right to govern by means of their own means.Parliamentary democracy and indirect participation are referred at this point.There are countries where institutions such as the senate, where the founding ruling councils exist today, exist.Democracy in these countries is the third method or hybrid type.For those countries, there emerges an appointment in the formation process of constitutive power, where nobles can also be included.Countries where the traditional monarch structure is preserved can be taken from this group.
In this respect, two different democracy theories can be mentioned in general.Classical democracy is the first ideal theory to be put forward in the form of 'democracy to be'.'The living democracy' is in the literature again as the realist democracy type and accepted as the secondary theory.Contrary to the first definition, ideal democracy is a little bit contrary to idealism.Democracy is the democracy that responds to the long-time desires of the citizens, exhibiting the minimum approach.It is shaped in relation to the use of sovereignty.The development of democracy sprouts directly into democracy.Indirect democracy has become true.Indirect administration, along with population growth, brought with it the concept of 'representation' (Kaypak, 2016: 149).Indirect-representative today's governments see fit and functional for today's societies.
Democracy means "the sovereignty of a people's assembly or the use of power" (Schmidt, 2002: 13).This definition of democracy matches it regularly with the choices made.Is not the impossibility of the application of direct democracy in our age obvious?Now, the emerging system is called "democracy".People have the right to choose the managers and call them back.The majority of them are active here.However, the minority's law must be protected.Here, one day the conditions for becoming majority must be preserved.Known values, fundamental rights and freedoms, clarity of the ways in which political power was composed has been socially shared, and so on.Principles constitute the essence of democracy (Bostancı, 1995: 32).Along with these mentioned principles democracy emerges in a way.It is expressed with the rights that every citizen had the basis of equality with other citizens.It serves to influence the process of the taking of public decisions to form political power.It contributes to the restraint of the government's authorities and to the changes in time.Democracy describes the political system only with these factors (Saybaşılı, 1997: 101).In power of democratic political systems, power is referred less.Constitutional rights and freedoms are mostly prescribed.There is an environment where the actual existence of the opposition is needed to be accepted.Democracies are bringing us the regimes in which there exist general voting rights, the voting is secret, the counting of the votes is open (Tilly, 2007: 8).
According to Friedrich Hayek, democracy is about what the government's purposes should be.The practice does not tell us anything.Hayek emphasized that democracy is 'the vehicle, not the goal'.It is necessary to think about its purpose to serve its boundaries.The determination will also be with this match (Bilge, 2011: 52).However, democracy is the only peaceful way human beings have ever found.It is a way of government change.It is worth to fight for.The real value of democracy lies in being a preventative.Indeed, democracy serves as a healthy precaution that protects people against the abuse of power.It can also be said here that majority decisions for democracy will not always be the right one.The most important aspect of democracy in this sense is that it gives people the chance to get rid of a government they do not want.It is possible to bring a new government in place of the unwanted one (Hayek, 1997: 206).This needs to happen gradually in a culture of participation, of course.Today, the concepts of election and participation are on the agenda in order for democracy to be brought to life via participation patterns.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION
There were a lot of explanations about democracy.Even in the literature, the definition of participation occasionally activated from time to time is foregrounded.In one of these definitions, democracy has become real.For example; People, groups, and classes are directed towards the topic that interests them.Participation in the formation of decisions to be made in the possession of this potential has been explained in the form of democracy (Ateş, 1994: 11).Participation means participating in, participating in, participating in, participating in something.It is an exception to being an audience (Kaypak, 2012: 173).Moreover, participation is in the form of political and administrative participation.In these forms, the antagonism is emerging.According to democracy theory, participation should not be a deep issue.It must describe a process that determines the ways in which to achieve all kinds of social goals.Social goals are mostly determined through participation, for democracy.Remember this, it's just a process.Determination of objectives and the determination of priorities are herein important steps.It is nothing but an explication of which resources can be used to realize what purposes.Hence, it is only seen a technique for making choices for governance (Kışlalı, 1991: 155).
Participation is the sharing of the public's shaping of the policies and proposals that will lead society.Democracy has been developed to serve more functions.This purpose of participating, an attitude, influenced social life.Participation is defined as the elimination of all decisions directly related to the people from the top.It is still possible to embody participation in practice (Kapani, 1992: 139).As is well known, participation is, first and foremost, both a principle of democratic administration and an important tool of democratic functioning (Uysal, 1981: 35).Problems might arise in the practice of the classical democracy theory expressed in the form of administration by the people.It is difficult to say that the people have a share in the administration in a totally independent and rational way.The identity established between democracy and participation helps the dissemination of the participation base at the national level.It is based on this prevalence that the principle of equality between the individuals of the society is legal.This identity does not mean equality between authority and influences.It is also difficult to have such equality.Authority, relations and the essence of it can be seen as impossible (Uysal, 1984: 65).
Today, elements of "participation" and "representation" based on the general and equal voting system should not be omitted.They maintain the position of being one of the basic features of contemporary democracy.Participation occurs as a process with two distinct characteristics.First of all, the presence of multiple parties occurs.Secondly, there is a hierarchical structure between the parties.These characteristics determine participation as a relationship between unequal parties (Uysal, 1984: 62).This corresponds to the next stage of representation.Representation is about (i) acting on behalf of others and (ii) making connections with the results of their actions with others.It is also defined in terms of (iii) expressing the interests of the community and (iv) finally symbolizing the society (Öz, 1997: 87).Democracy is concerned with the participation of all people in the determination of basic public policies.Cannot this attendance have any categories?Many answers can be presented as answers.But it is basically a political system with the right to participate in a positive or negative way (Yayla, 1997: 142).In modern democracies, individuals tend to vote individually or in a referendum.As the electorate, it is the preliminary plan to give decision making authority to others.Political participation is also involved in participating in public debate and using the right to recall the representative at any level.At the same time, trade unions called civil organizations should not be forgotten.Local or professional organizations participate in politics through social movements (Mutman, 1996: 153).
In countries where representative democracy is practiced, the situation is complicated.Those who use rights and powers of sovereignty in the name of the nation are those who are chosen in principle.There is no doubt that the elections must be free in order to be representative of democracy.But what is needed is that social interests have to be represented.Certain privileges have to be found according to political preferences (Touraine, 1995: 364-365).Democracy's representation is also complex.Political particulars and parties must be controlled by certain elites.An inadequate and inadequate representation can be described in terms of large masses, particularly in disadvantaged locations.It is not even from the inside that leads to a conclusion that can be called a bad externality.The lack of understanding of representation leads to the departure from the management of the individuals.It may lead to alienation.Moreover, it can be predicted that this will lead to a passive citizen type.Citizenship consciousness and responsibility cannot be developed (Yıldırım, 1994: 19) Democracy, which is currently being implemented, is a system of representatives of the majority.We have to admit it is not a better management system.It is a management system that we all agree.It is desirable that democracy is not an oligarchic regime based largely on despotism and arbitrariness.What is important for this is to make a system close to the participatory-negotiator-vote coalition possible (Aktan, 1996b: 44).Today, the existence of representative institutions based on elections is necessary.For a healthy functioning democracy it is not considered sufficient with this mandatory.There is now an understanding of a participatory democracy (Kapani, 1992: 139).The negativity in the functioning of representative democracy based on the strengthening of central power can be easily estimated."Participatory democracy" has been sought as a reformist nature with the development of civil society.Substitution in place of democracy in practice has become obsolete today.Approaches to attaining its deficiencies and reaching a more democratic society are becoming more and more evident in the concept of participation democracy.A description of the factors that limit participation in representative democracies should be made.Institutional and legislative improvements, it is necessary that the existing systematic obstacles arise.The tendencies in the ruled have exacerbated.They have more requests to have a saying.Hence, the answers can only be found in participation (Kapani, 1992: 139-141).
In all governments where the democratic process is dominant, the ways and methods of the democratic transition to representative democracy are sought.Is it not an insufficient view now that people only participate in the electoral process by using the right to vote in election periods?Does not the concept of remote monitoring of management in the remaining periods remain simple in the concept of participatory democracy?Voting went beyond the electoral period and voting rights.It is necessary to spread it throughout the entire administration period.Indeed, democratic representations have individuals who transfer their sovereign rights to their representatives at periodic intervals.The electorate is inactive during the election periods.Instead of being "the subject", candidates are involved in the process.Moreover, the perception of the concept of democracy in the political context is risky.Economic, social and cultural ties are ignored.Thus, more just, comprehensive, radical democratic practices can be passed.On the other hand, democracy should not be forgotten by the workings of the individuals and that they abstract themselves from social and political problems.It is necessary to prevent alienation of voters.People who are knowledgeable about active management are needed.It is desirable to reach the type of citizen who can intervene more effectively in governance.
The main motto should be as we say governments where the functioning of democratic governance is dominant.The right to be decisive in the decisions and actions of the executives should be provided.Here, with the provision of (participation), individuals are not only the subject of the practice but also the subject of the decision-making process.Administrators (even the citizens) need to have a role to influence the operation of the management or administrative system.There are disagreements at the point of participation, where there is consensus at the point of the transaction, but sometimes the management-directed interaction.Participatory democracy developed here is seen as a solution to the drawbacks of both approaches (Yalçındağ, 1996: 129), whether to seek a balance between direct democracy and representative democracy.The development of political rights, the inefficiency of existing mechanisms of action is all involved.Here, deterioration, corruption, economic and social needs are important for the widespread understanding of participatory management (Buran, 1995: 209).Participation in individual-society relations needs to be determined in terms of democracy.The existence of representative institutions in a society is a necessary condition in terms of democracy.This is not enough; Participation in different fields and at different scales is necessary (Bilgin et al., 1991: 22).
Democracy is the reflection of the will of the people, in a sense of management of the societies.It is thought that the democracy seen as a utopia should be more feasible.Thinking the framework of this understanding and solution perspectives, the problems of implementation of democracy are obvious.It is argued that discussions will make it more workable.Benjamin Barber, who advocates participatory democracy, is the most famous in this area.The future of democracy is strongly connected to democracy.A non-collectivist conception of the community is essential, and then a non-conformist form of public reasoning is required.A collection of citizen institutions those are compatible with modern society.Where it seems to be connected by the possibility of participation in the revitalization of democracy, it becomes valuable to use it for solution making.. Barber calls strong democracy politics in the "participatory" style (Barber, 1995: 195).Barber, elevate strong democracy.This superiority comes from giving up democratic values such as freedom, equality and social justice.Society has already learned the limitations of representation.Democracy and participation should not be based on secret independent grounds.As to Barber, democracy has the potential to overcome these problems (Barber, 1995: 197).
Giovanni Sartori went on to become a participatory democracy.He thought about where his place was among the democracy types described.According to him, participatory democracy needed to be established in the first place.Sartori has adopted the idea that we can place democracy everywhere by applying different criteria.He emphasized that participatory democracy is not always clear (Sartori, 1993: 124-125).According to Sartori, democracy must work for every institution.He wants to make the rulers effective and decisive on the management and organizing other rulers.He explored the main problem of participatory democracy that is developed for serving purposes, in this respect.He discussed how it works and how to reach it.It is doubtless that the participatory democracy is an unrealized ideal for all countries (Sarıbay, 1991: 19).It hits the troubles seen in its operation.To limit public participation, governors apply to legal regulations.The freedom of individual preference is not fully exploited.Yet, it is absurd to say that it is an obstacle to the participation of the democratic concept of representation.Democracy needs to work with regulations and attempts.It can also be done at the point that society should have a culture of democratization.

DEMOCRATIZATION CULTURE IN CONNECTION WITH DEMOCRACY AND PARTICIPATION
Culture is transmitted from generation to generation.It is shaped by the patterns of learned behaviors learned from the society.No culture is readily available to govern society, as a tool.Culture occurs over time.Inherited from previous generations and evolving with new additions and contributions, culture is enriched.When democracy and cultural items are combined, a culture of democracy occurs.The culture of democracy or the democracy is not a dream.It expresses norms and behavior patterns here.The culture is meaningful herein.Activity should not come to mind at first.Society is not visual arts, literature, and music.Are the behavioral forms that describe the ability of a people to govern themselves?It is logically a little bit of institutions and rules.Democracy refers to social and political culture (Kaypak, 2015: 92).
Democracy depends on the people, whether directly or indirectly.In the process, there are 'institutions' that will transform democracy into a settled tradition.They arise as a collection of rules governing the political life of the society.However, democracy must also be seen as a system of formal institutions and rules.Democracy is more than the sum of institutions.This is mainly based on a cultural infrastructure compatible with it.When the necessary infrastructure is formed, it can be said of the existence of a democracy culture.This culture is politically related to citizens' interest in state administration (Dağı and Polat, 1999: 11).As a process and institutions, public administration also needs institutionalization.It is also a social value of democracy.In democracies, state-society relation is defined as community-centered rather than state-based (Kaypak, 2015: 93).Democracy is the source of sovereignty.Democracy is a majority rule in which fundamental rights and freedoms are safe.The understanding of fundamental rights and freedoms that found expression today and democratic administration gained importance.Democratic regimes were the results of industrial society as 'a product of culture' since they were concepts that emerged after the Industrial Revolution.Problems related to democracy culture are more intense in countries that have not yet completed their industrialization (Kongar, 2001).
To be democratic, to believe in democracy, to be understanding with different opinions and thoughts are the characteristic for a democratic person or society.Democratic person's profile is created in a guide, democracy tells you to be fit.Democratization is called on behalf of the process of passing on the rules of democracy (Kaypak, 2016: 150).Democracy refers to the proper type of formality (TDK, 2016).Democratization is also expressed as a collective effort to seek social inequalities and social wellbeing and to seek better (Tinga, 2012: 1).If democracy is a form of governance, it will be democratized to put it into practice.Manager as an individual and society is also needed to be democratic.A democratic individual can only be developed in a democratic society.The democratic culture is the basic element via freedom, equality, respect for human rights and freedoms, and social justice.Values such as solidarity and self-realization are mostly based on democracy can only be strengthened in societies where the foundations of democracy are intact and democracy is made livable (Çukurçayır, 2006: 4).'Freedom' means that thoughts are articulated; 'Equality' means that everyone without discrimination has to have the same rights.They pass with participation and pluralism and with the faults.'Participation 'also means that everyone participates in the system in this steam of thought.In this picture, 'Pluralism' describes itself about how to be open to different identities and cultures.
The rhetoric of democratic culture dominating political and social functioning has a very broad historical heritage behind.In ancient Greece, and following this stream of sophism in east emerged as a movement trying to establish the foundations of democratic culture.Pericles stated that democracy was not one of the few elite citizens but of the important criteria of contemporary democracy that existed with the contributions of all citizens.As to him, democracy is the most suitable regime to develop human personality and talents.Again, Socrates contributed to the evolution of democratic thought via arguing that society had to be governed by knowledgeable and virtuous people, not by nobility.Aristoteles emphasized that the majority rule was better than the minority elite rule.He stated "Democracy is the management of the majority of the non-wealthy" (Göze, 1987: 46).His assumption was mostly based on the realization of the democratic process, saying that "if the majority of the free and non-wealthy constitute a majority, they become democracy."Following them in later centuries, Montesquieu took another side via defining democracy as a regime of goodness and tolerance.As to him, the principle of the separation of powers can be used to prevent the turn of the majority's administration into a despotic regime, so it can guarantee freedom for rights as well (Göze, 1987: 181).
Moreover, for local focus, the making of democracy mainly depends on the localization of the democratic foundation of urban politics.If the city is not alive, the country won't be alive, according to this assumption.Participatory government, preventing the alienation of the citizens of the administration can also be useful of improvements in social aspects.Instead of solving conflict with democratic methods, it puts a platform as social development to prevent them (Çukurçayır, 2006: 4-5).Anthony Giddens suggests that democratization can be achieved together with alternative means of participation by linking the overcoming methods of the democratic crisis to the "democratization of democracy" (Giddens, 2000: 84-89, Gurcuoglu, 2007: 16).Participation in local communities, where participation has been found to be the easiest application area, reveals from a variety of ways and methods.These methods are basically as popular vote and direct democracy; New participation methods such as citizen initiatives, planning circles, future workshops, roundtable meetings, forums, public opinion polls, public meetings, participation in parliamentary meetings, e-democracy, internet and social media, telephone, petitions, NGOs and city councils are exemplified herein as sub methods (Çukurçayır , 2006: 145).Democracy is frequently put into practice by those sub steps to realize democratization in society Democratization has evolved through various evolutionary milestones.It has been suggested by many famous social scientists that democracy depends on some social conditions.Among them, Seymour M. Lipset has claimed that democracy is not only dependent on social conditions but also on the condition of economic development (Lipset, 1986, Başar andYıldız, 2012: 9).After World War II, liberalism has added a new dimension to the debates on democracy in this respect.'Liberal democracy' can be defined as a form of government in which the powers and authorities of the state are restricted in the constitutional acts and also accepted in a frame of social consensus and contractual texts in a society, and as a result, the political and economic rights and freedoms of the individuals are secured at final conditions (Erdoğan, 2005: 30).The characteristics of liberal democracy are defined in this scope as free and fair elections in real life to realize the rule of law, the separation of powers, the protection of fundamental freedoms such as speech, assembly, religion and property, which are also important for economic sphere (Aktan, 1996b: 243-244).If there are multi-party regimes, competitive elections in one country, it is called democracy in praxis at first glance.The greater the participation of the governments in politics, the more democratic it is.In other words, the mentioned type of liberty in praxis needs to be protected in some measures by law.In this context, 'constitutional liberalism', by limiting the power is needed to be put in praxis at first hand.Democracy is about not only making or crating power but also on using power.Constitutional liberalism is defined by liberal understanding of today, because it lies on a political line of modern times that also emphasizes individual freedom and dates back to ancient Greece.Modern liberalism is constitutional, because it is based on the tradition of rule of law originating from ancient Rome of which norms are used for modern sphere of law.Liberal democracy in this sense is about the freedom of thought, expression and organization (Yayla, 1996: 51-52).All in all, today it is also possible that political power can be changed by regularly via some methods as holding election via secret ballot and open counting, and giving the existence of institutions represented by the people.
Liberal democracy is used today as a term that expresses the institutionalized qualities of Western social-political organization.Along with this feature, "liberal democracy" seems to have only a limited content of an "institutionalized" social-political organization and a "government-building method" being thought to be realized in politically organized manners.On the other hand, liberal democracy practicer also needs to understand a whole set of values in response to questions about what good social-political organization is before and beyond an institutionalized method about how governments will be formed (Köker, 1992: 61).Liberalism begins with individual, as the individual is the most basic reality and the greatest value.However, the value of liberal individualism does not mean that social beings are separated from the whole, in which they are involved (Yayla, 1996: 52).Liberal democracy is basically founded on the values of "individual freedom" and "individual equality".Individual freedom is a positive concept in the sense that the individual has the opportunity to be good.It can also be negative if individuals want to commit crimes.Indeed, he or she must be independent of the external intervention of both others and of a superior public authority, so the individual has the ability to perform his or her personal human creation as an individual.Besides, every human being is equal because of being human in order to have this freedom in its entirety (Köker, 1992: 61-62).The defense of individual freedom of liberalism does not mean that this freedom is perceived as infinite, limitless and irresponsible freedom.The freedom of each individual is limited by the freedom of others, so that an individual does not know that he is free to do what he wants other people to do.Hence, the liberty of the individual in a liberal country is limited by the legal system (Yayla, 1996: 50).
Sartori argues that democracy cannot be made to be identical to "totalitarianism, authoritarianism, absolutism, dictatorship and autocracy" (Sartori, 1993: 198).Democracy can be considered as a political principle, a form of government, or, more generally, as a fundamental principle that must be applied in all relations among people (Göze, 1976: 4).Democracy has been the ideal of mankind for centuries (Aktan, 1996a: 34).Democracy is today perceived as an ideal, is not a spontaneous system; on the contrary, it is necessary to establish this system.Indeed, democracy is not the product of a certain entrepreneur delegation but all the efforts of a society can reach a definite conclusion to establish it (Kılıçbay, 1997: 167).Democracy arises from and is shaped by the mutual interactions (Sartori, 1993: 9).In order to make democracy in praxis, politicians need to be able to speak formally, and some governmental conditions must exist.Firstly, political decisions must be taken into account by a method that will directly or indirectly involve all citizens.Secondly, political decisions must be taken as a result of social debates and voting.The principle of the democratically governing society should be implemented not only by certain groups or sections but also by all citizens (Çitçi, 1989: 4-5;Yılmaz, 1997a: 520-521).These principles are the basic conditions of democratic governance.Upon this, Alain Touraine emphasizes that democratic consciousness is a "strong" and "feasible" democracy when social control forces are reconciled with an open society (Touraine, 1995: 384-385).
Direct measurement of democracy is difficult.However, in many studies democracy is accounted as a concept being measured, it is especially seen in the research of Robert A. Dahl, titled as "Poliarchy."Polyarchy is the dominance of the majority in the sense of the word (Schmidt, 2001: 256).According to Dahl, in order to talk about the existence of a fully developed polyarnine, one must have the following characteristics as being free, fair and regular elections; An electoral system in which all adults have the right to vote; The right of all adults need to have passive choices, exemplified as acting with freedom of thought and freedom of communication.Freedom of association and coalition (Dahl, 1971, Başar andYıldız, 2012: 17) are also added up here.Indicators can be created to understand the existence of a democracy by taking into consideration the characteristics of democracy (Dahl, 1989).Several democracy criteria were developed in the 1980s and 1990s, moving from Dahl's view and mostly based on a comparison of countries (Başar ve Yıldız, 2012: 17).One of the most common democracy types is induced in applied studies, known as the 'Freedom House Democracy Index'.The index, which analyzes the process of democratization in the world, is included in Freedom in the World, an annual report by Freedom House (USA), also an independent non-governmental organization.This index consists of two types of time series, political rights and civil liberties.Indeed, some basic criteria are taken into account in determining and questioning whether a political regime in an endemic country is democracy (Başar ve Yıldız, 2012: 18).At the beginning of the criteria for democracy, many features are taken into account.Before this discussion, under the existence of a multi-party and competitive system, citizens can freely and fairly choose among the many candidates, the opposition needs to have the possibility of obtaining the power and the possibility of participation in power.Political systems with such qualities are classified as democratic systems.On the other hand, the political systems of states are divided into three categories according to political rights and civil liberties.These are free, partially free, unfree states.In this context, the indices of the countries are given values within index making, via the point between 1 and 7.In other words, the index point as 1 in score indicates fully developed democracies and the 7 score indicates the absence of democratic elements.According to evaluations, the political systems which are in the Freedom House Index with the annual average of scores of political rights and civil liberties are followed in a similar scoring.The score between 1 and 2.5 are for the feature as free, the values between 3 and 5.5 are indicating the title as partially free and those scores between 5.5 and 7 are mainly classified as nonfree political systems.Turkey is partly in the free group with 3 point, looking at the scores in political rights and civil liberties (Freedom House, 2007;Başar ve Yıldız, 2012: 18).
The most prominent indicators of contemporary societies are democratic culture, today.Contemporary society is a society that considers its basic thoughts and beliefs from a source of democratic culture, aims for human life and development, foresharing and sharing conscious citizenship, and desires social integration.If there is a political and socio-cultural environment based on the widespread of democratic values, it develops and strengthens many backgrounds.It works in the direction of the free will of citizens.In this context, the question of what the essentials of contemporary democracy is needs to be replied.Democracy requires a distinction between the democratic nature of the state and civil society, and requires the democratic character of the society, in order to be determined by a basic document or law (Yıldırım, 1994: 20).Managers should try to be effective on the decisions of the management through the various pressure groups they have formed, and the directors should take these demands into consideration.It is also the essence of the pluralistic democratic governments of today (Sezen, 1994: 57).Contemporary democracies extend their participation opportunities into industrial establishments and autonomous institutions.There are developments in practices that give workers the opportunity to participate in university administrations, faculty members and students (Kışlalı, 1995: 184).Provision of social organization and recognition of this right by different groups have to come into agenda.On the administrative sphere, the indirect and impartial effect of the society is overlooked in index scoring.Indeed, every political system has to rely on a mechanism of participation which operates in various forms.Participation is indexed to the quality of the relationship between management and the governor.It is necessary that this relationship has to be managed for a democratic character.Moreover, the mechanisms that help to keep the rulers under control have to be healthy methods (Kışlalı, 1987: 355).Today, democracy of political governments is measured by participatory opportunities that are recognized by the public for all types of scoring.
From its first appearance until today, democracy has been based on people's choice and has seen as a basic part of society.Democracy concept is the sole owner of the sovereignty and living in the borders of a state.Democracy, if it is assimilated by its users, lives more and reaches its longevity.A culture of democracy developed in society composed of free-willed and free-spoken individuals.Democratic progress will only be possible primarily through changes in mindset and freedom of expression.Societies open to learning grow educated, cultured, broad-minded generations.The settlement of democracy requires that the belief in democracy has to be increased.If people become conscious of the beauty and democracy, democracy will be settled in and the culture of democracy will develop (Sütel, 2010).The necessity of having some rights for the people to manage their own self has also been revealed by the concept of 'human rights' today.Human rights have been differentiated and diversified from time to time; via being evolved through the development of communities and people.The driving force of democracies is becoming the understanding of 'free individual and active citizen'.Democracy is today based on the idea that an individual carries an ethical value.In this value, there exists a qualification that makes freedom necessary and inevitable.In democracies it is essential that people's cultural, social, racial, linguistic, religious and economic differences will be respected.Citizenship is the recognition of the freedom and autonomy of other citizens.'Freedom of the individual' is needed for the habitat of the individuals.They are also the basic building unit of the society, being independent of social / political interventions.'Active citizenship' creates a point of connection between the individual and the social items.It also socializes the individual (Dagi and Polat, 1999: 15).The pluralism of democracies is based on this social consciousness.However, nowadays, the protection of individual freedom from the state has become a serious and urgent problem.The lack of attendance of the administration has rendered the principle of "joining the administration", which constitutes a direction of individual freedom towards on being ineffective, and the decisions on regulating political and socio-economic life.Those decisions might have left the masses of people onto massive and unfit for political power (or local power) Alain Touraine also emphasizes that democracy, in which rulers can be freely elected by rulers, would realize itself only if liberty, social organization and individual preferences are practiced.But this condition is not enough.If power is limited, social actors will feel responsible for people's freedom.They will protect people's values and rights, and that they don't define other people and themselves according to the communities in which they originate or their interests (Touraine, 1995: 363).
The socialized individual is the main actor of democracies.This includes all the formal / nonformal processes of political participation.A civil society is a necessary qualification for supervisory function over politics.Democracy has not only become a voting and electoral regime, it has become a regime of participation and cooperation.A healthy democracy depends largely on the development of a 'democratic citizenship cult'.This culture demonstrates citizens 'interest in state administration, participation in management at all levels, and respect for others' ideas.The culture of citizenship in a democratic society is shaped by the free actions of individuals and groups.Democracy is a choice and a way of life.As a way of life, the formation of culture in the form of collecting values is reflected.Along with democracy, the rules of law, respect for human rights, libertarian, egalitarian, participatory, social justice and reconciliation are added up those values.The environment for individuals, groups and communities with different personality and cultural characteristics is defined as a frame.If there is no respect for the government of the majority and the rights of minorities in one place, there will be no democracy.Democracy is a form of government that is accepted to be governed by laws regulating that the majority of today might turn into minority of tomorrow and the basic rights of minority will be well preserved today.Democracy rests on recognition of individual and collective freedom in social institutions (Touraine, 2002: 30).Democracy is also a tool to balance social inequalities in the name of ethical rights (Touraine, 2002: 37).Hence, a properly functioning democracy has four basic elements ultimately, via free and fair elections, responsible government, civil and political rights, and also democratic civil society (Beetham and Boyle, 2005: 29).

CONCLUSION
Democracy, individual tolerance, equality and freedoms maintain the characteristic of being the best governance form of human history as a regime.Democracy is a form of government in which the sovereignty belongs to the people.Herein, the principle of equality and rule of law before the law is superior to the rule of majority.In democracies, there are citizens as the individuals being not only people on voting but also human beings.In democracies, minority rights are respected, with a majority rule, and they are given a chance to become a majority one day.Establishing a link between democracy and participation does not cause a decline in the status and position of the state that prefers a democratic political structure.Instead, participation can be essentially involved in an individual in the implementation phase, as seen in voting for rulers, or in a situation where some of the citizens act together with civil society.But this process is slow in its nature.Although legal changes have been made in our country, especially on the local basis, which have opened the way for participation, the reality is not fully reflected in praxis for all terms yet.The cultural environment in which democracy develops has a decisive influence after all.Beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviors of political elites and social groups shape democracy at most.The compatibility of the current cultural environment with democratic values is an important item.Democracy becomes 'real democracy' only when there is a democratic political, social and cultural environment.It is possible that democratic values become established in the whole social life in which the judge is a benchmark at the level of institutions realizing a democratic function that takes place in many social infrastructure institutions.If such an infrastructure is formed, it can also be said in the future or present that there exists a democratic environment.A democratization understanding and way of operation that has not found its place in the social infrastructure will not have the chance to live in the superstructure.It is not possible to talk about democracy and democratic culture in a social structure where powerful political groups make every decision or statement, which affect disadvantaged individuals and groups that cannot express themselves.Democratization as a culture can be achieved and sustained through the participation of the public items, i.e. society, institutions and politicians.
It should not be forgotten that democracy depends on the assimilation of those who use it.
Respecting the rights and freedoms of others, is being tolerant of different opinions and convictions, and a product of democratization and democratic way of life.The culture of democratization comes to life in an active individual and civil society environment.Civil society is also a product of the civilianization of society in this circle.The role of non-governmental organizations in democracies is increasing for modern democracies.When the countries are in the struggle for democratization are fulfilling their desire to advance democracies, it is necessary to consider economic factors as well as legal, political and bureaucratic factors.There exists a link between the increase in participation and democratic cultural income level.In this context, it can be argued that the promotion of prosperity, the spread of contemporary education on the social level and the attainment of equal opportunity in education in participatory terms will contribute to the democratization process at short run.