Churchill’s claim that “democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried” is deliberately provocative and intended to challenge the reader’s simplistic ideal that democracy is without faults. There are an estimated 114 democracies in the world today (Wong, Oct 3rd lecture). A figure that has increased rapidly in the last century not necessarily because democracy is the best form of government, but primarily for reason that in practice, under stable social, economic and political conditions, it has the least limitations in comparison to other forms of government. Be it the transparency of a democratic government or the prevalence of majority rule, all subdivisions of democracy benefit and hinder its …show more content…
Additionally, in more precarious democratic governments such as India’s, peoples right to power is still recognized. Ronojoy Sen remarks of India’s 2009 elections that, “a handful of successful professionals and entrepreneurs even ran”(cite). Despite implying that only successful peoples were exercising their liberties, elucidated in this article is the potential of any citizen to attain political power, demonstrating true liberal democracy in its purest form. Communism does not give its people these liberties, the party is the “agent for creating political development” (Janos, pg. 2) and there is little need for elections as the outcome is pre-determined. In the case of Nazism, while Hitler utilised democracy to attain power, once in control democracy was replaced with autocracy. Prevalent flaws within most modern democracies are evident in their social and economic systems. One such problem, in a system that advocates freedom to do whatever you please, is the consequential wealth disparity (Wong, Oct. 24 lecture, tutorial). Aristotle once said that, “democracy is the form of government in which… the free are the many and the rich are the few”. This highlights a paradox of democracy in that it attempts to be equal to all, yet often the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer, and an increasing wealth divide will influence governance. Constant writes (pg. 12), “wealth is a power more readily available at any moment… more
A democracy, according to Abraham Lincoln, is a government of the people, by the people and for the people. The word "democracy" comes from the Greek word "demos" which means “people" and kratia, which means rule (http://educationportal.ontla.on.ca/en/ ). A democracy is a system where the people have a little of control over the government in some specific important processes like voting in elections and decision making. In a democracy, the majority rule and minority rights . Although there are positive sides of the United Kingdom’s democracy, there are negative sides which cause the reliability of democracy in the United Kingdom to be questionable. “Over half of the world’s countries employ some type of democracy” (Clark, 2001-2016). Democracy is a very popular system of government; In a democratic government, everyone is under the “rule of law”, people have the power to devise laws and decide how they want to be ruled. Different political scientists have come to a conclusion that without the four basic principles; Free elections,Political participation, Civil liberties and a Functioning government, a country cannot be called a democracy (http://classroom.synonym.com/). There are two main types of democracy, the direct democracy and the indirect or representative democracy. In this essay, I am going to critically analyse the democracy in the United Kingdom, stating the strengths and the weaknesses of the democratic system in the United
America’s democracy is an important part of our history and what has made this country what it is today. There are many pros and cons in relation to how our country is run when it concerns the U.S. Constitution. Something that is important is that America is how the framers came up with the idea of what democracy is to help this nation to succeed and to help provide a good model to be followed throughout the world. There are different parts of our government which has powers yet they must consult with the other powers before following through and executing their proposals. Another factor that has played an important role in the development of our American democracy is where there is a big separation of government and religion. Our American democracy has our U.S. Constitution which relies on the three branches of government where the political parties have candidates which are voted into office. This paper will discuss how federalism is incorporated into our Constitution and what the purpose is in having three branches of government, the reason behind having the political parties and how this is incorporated into our American Democracy.
The authors also argue that the greatness of the government driven by democracy is the right to
Democracies are controlled by the people, and for the people, or so it is commonly defined. All people have their own opinions of how they think the government should work. Democracies symbolize freedom and justice as they appeal to the people. The first document, “The Gettysburg Address” focuses on the effects of the Civil War and how the people should react, instead of how the government is run. The second document, the “Funeral Oration”, explains how the people themselves could form the perfect democracy by Pericles standards. With this evidence in mind, the “Funeral Oration”, a speech given by Pericles, holds more extensive knowledge about the definition of democracy than Lincoln in “The Gettysburg Address”.
One of the long-standing pursuits of the human well-being among scholars is the notion of the ‘democracy’. Initially, the word ‘democracy’ is derived from the Greek word ‘demos’ and ‘cratein’, which mean ‘common people’s rule’. Despite having some disputes over the exact meaning of this word and comprehension, the types of the democracy, and its wave, the meaning is mainly considered as ‘government or rule by the people’ throughout the world (Terence 2014).
Have you ever noticed that the constitution never mentions the word democracy when describing America? Well, that’s because we are not a democracy; we are a democratic republic. When America said it was a democratic republic, it basically said that it could not decide which one would be better for the nation; because they were scared of England and their other enemies attacking them and the government not being able to do anything about it. Also the people of America were frightened that if they became a democracy, government would rule their lives and even perhaps become a monarchy again.
“An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.” This quote from Plutarch, a Greek philosopher, explores how a divide of wealth between rich and poor can destroy the fabric of a society. Wealth has been divided unequally by granting more to the rich and not leaving enough for the poor Americans, thereby creating a wealth gap. Income inequality occurs when wealth is distributed unequally in a population because of the influence richer Americans have which leads to a multitude of problems including the declining buying power of the middle class as well as a country where the rich can buy power through donations in elections.
Democracy is, according to the online Cambridge dictionary, ‘a system of government based on the belief in freedom and equality between people, in which power is either held by elected representatives or directly by the people themselves’. It is the policy that most western countries strive to achieve. It is now the pinnacle of government, that to achieve a wholly democratic nation is something worth celebrating. It is displayed as a universal good but it’s not everything that it has become known to be. I should clarify that I still think that I prefer it to nearly all other forms of government but nevertheless I still think that it is not what we have been led to believe it is. In this essay I will be outlining the key problems that could
Democracy is often defined as a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state through elected representatives, yet its deeper meaning goes far beyond its definition. It is a deceivingly broad term used to describe an imperfect system run by imperfect people where it is often hard to discern what is right and what is wrong. The intricacies of democracy are what make it a system that is both magnificent and vexing, which is evident in the French Revolution, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, and the country of Venezuela. More specifically, democracy is so difficult because its participants have the freedom to practice extremism, the privilege to hold on to their principles regardless of negative impacts, and the right to assembly, a gateway to mob behaviour.
Most countries around the world claim themselves to be ruling under a democracy, however the degree to which they are democratic varies drastically (Shah, 2012). Many countries, which claim to be democratic, are suffering from poor representations, election anomalies and corruption. A famous quote taken from Sir Winston Churchill, a former Prime Minister of the
Democracy may be a word familiar to most, but it is a concept still misunderstood and misused in a time when totalitarian regimes and military dictatorships alike have attempted to claim popular support by pinning democratic labels upon themselves. Yet the power of the democratic idea has also evoked some of history's most profound and moving expressions of human will and intellect: from Pericles in ancient Athens to Vaclav Havel in the modern Czech Republic, from Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence
Have you ever complained or head someone complain about the government? Winston Churchill said “Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” In this quote Churchill is saying that there is no perfect government. He is also saying that out of all of them democracy is the best. Today many people in America complain about the government, but it could be worse. Running America as a democracy is the best way compared to other countries’ forms of government.
When discussing the twentieth century in Europe everyone can agree that this period was a brutal one for the continent. A common opinion, many have about this period is that despite all of the turmoil experienced throughout this period, including two world wars, the success of democracy as a style of government was never truly in doubt. This paper will go against this widely held belief, and argue that democracy’s success in this period was not written in stone.
America is synonymous with the word freedom, even being dubbed “the land of the free” by its own national anthem. But, what makes America so much more “free” than other countries? Some would argue that it’s America’s system of democracy, despite the fact that democratic governments are now the most common form of rule found in countries around the world. American democracy, although effective, is not the best democracy style for all nations; because, like many other countries, its government contains many flaws, including: its low voter turnout, two-party political parties creating division and deadlock in congress, and government positions of power being bankrolled and controlled by the rich.
Since 2016 is a presidential election year, and arguably, one of the most pivotal elections in American history, almost every front page article covers the whereabouts of the election. “The Case Against Democracy” is an article written by Caleb Crain and was published on the New Yorker Today’s headlines on Tuesday November 1st and fits the common theme of election headlines but speaks on the electorate rather than the candidates. It discusses the possibility of an epistocracy, the logic and means of instilling one, and how the relationship of epistocracy to democracy.