Democracy – Essay

That is to say we want to analyze the meaning of democracy and its efferent forms, study its efficiency (so to say), ponder over its limitations and compare It to other forms of government. Whether democracy was conceived of In Athens, Sparta or India Is not a topic of Interest In this paper (although there may be references to historical events In the evolution of the Idea when pertinent). What does democracy mean? Democracy comes from the Greek â€Å"rule of the people†. But as I searched for a definition of democracy in the course of research for this paper, a consistent deflation of it seemed to elude me.So we must examine some of these definitions ND try to find a core to the idea of democracy, if there exists one. Bunch of different ideas and quotes are out thro on internet †¦ Put about 4-5 of them here and discuss if them from a current or historical perspective.. Vive written down one for u: â€Å"The right to dissent without repercussions to one's personal well- being is the core value of Democracy' * Nathan Shrank Discuss quotes such as this to evaluate how these Ideas are Implemented In practice.. All this should take up about 500 words..The only core value seems to be people get to elect their government.. How much of he peoples rights are respected after that greatly varies.. Forms of democracy Representative.. Constitutes parliamentary and liberal(most democracies are these) Constitutional Direct Socialist Totalitarian .. Discuss all these†¦ About 300 words.. A critique of democracy An illusion â€Å"There was no stone-pelting, nothing. There was no curfew They fired indiscriminately. † (http://www. Lengthened. Co. UK/news/world/salsa/Kashmir-burns- again-as-India-responds-to-dullest-Walt-violence-2045905. HTML).The above was said by Abdul Rasher, a Kashmir youth whose friend was gunned down by Indian army officials for holding a peaceful, nonviolent, anti-government rally in the summer of 2010 But tons was not an anomaly I n ten process AT democracy In IANAL . Kashmir still remains the most militaries zone in the world with about a half a million troops on active duty (for the sake of comparison, the United States had about 165,000 troops in Iraq at its peak)(I read these fugues on CIA. Gob.. I don't remember the exact link ). How is that a government for the people is killing its own citizens for holding a nonviolent demonstration?How is such a huge implementation of a province in a democracy justified? Even a basic understanding of the ideas of freedom and liberty that democracy entails shows how abhorrent these actions are. But these things happen, not Just in India, but in other developed counties like the United States Pansies Americans in 1942), where the rights of their citizens are violated Just when they would want to exercise them. So one must ask, are democracies really for the people? A study of history of government brutality in countries like India and the United States seem to suggest o therwise. The almost forceful takeaway of land by theIndian government in eastern India from farmers (actions which directly led to the Nasality-Moist insurgency, something the current prime minister of India called â€Å"the single biggest internal security challenge ever faced by our country. â€Å"( http:// www. Ploughshares. Ca/libraries/Execrate/CAR-Lillian. HTML)), seem to suggest otherwise. The locking up of Japanese Americans in internment camps in 1942 by Franklin Roosevelt and the Unites States government seem to suggest otherwise. The indiscriminate shooting of unarmed, nonviolent Kashmir youths (some as young as 9 ears old)shouting â€Å"Acadia! Said! â€Å"(â€Å"freedom! Freedom! â€Å") by Indian security officials seem to suggest otherwise. One gets the idea. So maybe people like Vilified Parent and Agitate Masc. are correct after all. The masses are always characterized by apathy and division, the powers to be by drive and unity (Femme, Joseph V. â€Å"Agains t the Masses†, Oxford 2001). Maybe all democracy does is shift the power scale, from domination by a despotic leader to manipulation by a democratic government. Maybe the people don't really have much of a say after all. Maybe it's Just an illusion.Majority rule Majority always gets its way.. Discuss gay rights.. Civil rights in us.. Women's rights historically.. Religious parties like ship seen in Iambi.. Rising intolerance of secularism in India.. Majority rule can get tyrannical and the minority issues ignored when people get to decide resolutions to minority issues. The irrational voter â€Å"The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter. † – Winston Churchill Talk about how the common man is largely ignorant about serious issues and hence can vote against his/her interests.. An greatly discuss the recent midterms in us to make this point†¦ Basically our saying if we must solve economic issues we talk to economi st.. If we must solve environmental issues we talk to climate scientists.. If we are talking bat what to teach in science class we take the consensus of scientist not what the common people of the state think (talk bat teaching creationism in schools.. A lot of states in us have majority of it people wanting creationism be taught as science even though almost no scientist believe it to be science)†¦ Not everything should be up for a vote†¦..Economically inefficient Our a better person to write bat this Idealistic now Its Nora to apply macerate principles In practice†¦ Corrupt officials.. Apathetic citizens.. Uprisings etc.. Instable Frequent elections make the government instable†¦ Castillo of examples on the internet bat this.. Best we have? â€Å"It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried. â€Å"- Winston Churchill Compare democracy to other forms of governments like dictatorships, communist stat es, anarchist, socialist,etc.. Define ND discuss each with respect to western liberal democracy.. Eve done some of it for anarchist Anarchist – Anarchists are those who advocate the absence of the state, arguing that common sense would allow people to come together in agreement to form a functional society allowing for the participants to freely develop their own sense of morality, ethics or principled behavior. (from wisped). One such current society is Somalia, and it would not be hyperbole to suggest they are not doing very well. The lack of a state and police have led to nationwide lawlessness, violence and parallel the country into utter chaos.I think Somalia really characterizes the severe consequences of not having a state and is not a direction one would want their country to go in. Giving people all the power has resulted in the most powerful and the most brutal of them to take power and the rest of people losing all freedom(ironically). Conclusion/reflections Every form of government has been deemed the best by its people at its peak of popularity (the soviets considered socialism to be the best form of government until the collapse of USSR). Democracy might be the best we have, but not the best we could do.It needs to evolve as times and conditions change. When fissures arise in its implications, they must be aptly addressed instead of wallowing in the supposed preferences of democracy by saying things like â€Å"Hey, its the best we have†. But most of all people need to realize that the power that comes with democracy is not a privilege, it's a duty that must be exercised to give it any real meaning. People need to understand the violent convulsions the state of things have gone through so they ay live in a democracy, it is not something to be taken for granted.People need to substitute their subservience with an exertion of their hard won independence. But I must confess, all the above paragraph may Just be an empty howl to the tamed and the satisfied population that constitutes most modern democracies. We may have already fulfilled Aloud Huxley prophecy of us becoming a trivial culture, drowning in a sea of irrelevance (Brave new world-aloud Huxley). So even as gays are treated as second class citizens and young gay teens are committing suicide by significant embers, Americans are more busy voting for the next American idol than care for Prop 8.Even as corruption and immorality in Indian politics continues to eat away at the nations very fabric of the nation, its citizens are preoccupied with arguing about the squad that was picked for the Indian cricket team's next tour of wherever and pondering which Plywood movie must they see next. Hence, for all of Lemon's passionate singing about power to the people, the hard truth might Just be that the people don't want power, they want pleasure, and therein lies the inherent flaw of democracy.