October 16, 2006
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What are Democracy's virtues and problems?
The topics for discussion this week include the questions: What are the virtues of Democracy, What is Democracy's most serious problem?
I think the primary virtue of Democracy is that it allows the Institution of Government to be more closely controlled by the will of the people governed, either directly, as in the New England town meeting (Yes, they still have those, and they make some important decisions right on the spot by direct popular majority vote of those present and voting) or through elected representatives who are selected for a limited time and are subject to recall if their governing displeases the voters.
This leads to another, sometimes overlooked, virtue: Mistakes in governing decisions can be corrected much faster than with other forms, as the governors seldom are quick to correct stupid or wrong decisions they made in the first place - Democracy forces them to do this if the voters so decide.
Another of Democracy's virtues is that the people of the Democracy are more likely to feel responsible for their country's actions and take part in the civic process.
In my opinion, the most serious problems for any Democracy are lack of interest, knowledge, or understanding of the process.
Comments (5)
What is it that isnt understood about the process of Democracy? Is this lack of knowledge due to differences in culture vs a newly introduced 'democratic' regime? Does democracy need a settling into time for the given country?
In the case of Democratic government, understanding is often lacking among the governed. The actual process of governing is quite complicated and many (most) voters are not sure of their rights and responsibilities. That's why it's relatively easy for a demagogue to persuade them to vote for a special interest concept and at the same time back his quite different agenda often at odds with their best interests. Democracy is not easily imported into a country with no prior experience with the concept, again making the demagogue's work easy. Also, Democracy is a rather broad concept and Democracy in one country may be quite different from that of another. An outstanding example of this is the US's current attempt to export american-style Democracy into the Middle East.
Hi, I am the host for this topic. Yes, I agree, this is what I am questioning myself, if it will work in Iraq for example. How can democracy be adjusted to fit a country like Iraq, where there is no history of it, and differing religious sects that simply will not live/work/coexist with each other, much less vote for the same guy and then observe those laws. This is what we are seeing with the current President Maliki in Iraq now. Can democracy be adjusted to work in such a country?
The lack of understanding among citizens goes farther than not knowing rights and responsibilities . . .especially in a large country like the US, the vast majority of people are not informed on the issues at all, or they do not have time to be doing in-depth analysis on them enough to really make and informed decision (not to mention not being privy to a lot of important information that could change their mind on issues like wars, for exapmle). That's some of the deal behind the democratic republic model in the US.
How far does a citizen's responsibility to stay informed on the issues/ politicians they are voting for extend? If a citizen is not sufficiently informed, is it still that citizen's duty to cast a vote, or would that only hinder the process?
There has never been, to my knowledge, a requirement that voters be informed, and in most democracies, most of the voters would appear to be insufficiently informed or perhaps have wrong idea or perceptions about the candidates and issues. The theory is that the "bad" voters will cancel each other out; a theory often proven wrong. That's where another of democracy's virtues comes in. It is much easier to change leaders than with any other form of government,
As a matter of fact, in the U.S., a chance at revolution comes along every two years with an almost complete change in administration possible every four years. Such an opportunity is coming up in 19 days and it looks like the voters are going to take advantage of it.