Add to Google

Is Democracy The Best Way To Govern?

Pages: 1, 2, 3
free web hosting

Read Latest Entries..: (Post #23) by hitmanblood on Apr 15 2007, 10:30 PM. (Line Breaks Removed)
Well it seems that we have come to the misunderstanding as I am considering under corruptions all those things that affect person's judgment in some other way he or she would do it. So if you consider that someone could bribe someone in your team it is possible but if someone really wants to influence person's judgment in the team then he could go even further doing some things like kidnap... read more.
Read the FIRST post of this Topic. - Express your Opinion! Contribute Knowledge :-).

Open Discussion > CONTRIBUTE > My Ideas, Theories, Possibilities, Innovation

Is Democracy The Best Way To Govern?

amit nigam
When Mr. George Bush was elected for the first term, he won by a very thin majority, which had to be decided through court. That means that almost 50% of american population was not in his favor. [though he is one of my favorite president].

In my country India where there is a multiparty system, where hundreds of parties fight in the general election and then form a coalition government and which has been called true democracy by many world leaders, there is a great irony.

The country which is the largest democracy and also given the stamp of true democracy by the world is run by a party which got approximately 25% of the total votes. To add to this, many of the parties with which it is forming a coalition government are those against whom they have fought tooth and nail during elections and called them corrupt and so many other things. And still, while in coalition at centre, whenever there are state elections they fight against each other.

So in both cases we have seen that a party which does not have support of more than 50% of the population is running the country. Apart from that there are so many ambiguities in the system.

So how can democracy be the true solution. Though I m totally against authoratarian rule and i believe that at present democracy is the best bet. But the question is, can we devise a better mechanism.

I think something of the sort that is used in UN security council and other places like NSG group can be a solution though it will be very difficult to apply. There every person is important and no decision can be passed without approval of all.

What do u guys think?????

 

 

 


Reply

trace-uk
India has a parlamentary system of democracy like the UK (for obvious reasons). Any country that has a prime minister will have the same system.

But yes, democracy has to be the best way for the people to oust a government and install a new one without bloodshed.

Reply

Tetraca
The USA is not a Democracy, and never was. The USA is a republic like Rome. A true democracy is like one in ancient greece - everyone votes for the laws - not some representatives. I personally believe that actual democacy would be better than having a republic.

In the USA, we don't have a true Democracy. A true democracy is where all people vote on laws and not just a parliment or congress. That is called a republic. I don't really like the system of the republic, and I believe that we should have more of a real democracy.

Reply

amit nigam
i totally support u tetraca.

wat i think that on contentious issues on which there are less than 75-80% support from the elected representatives there must be a public voting .

but it will be very costly and i think impracticle.

Reply

jlhaslip
tetraca,
The USA is considered a "Democracy" by virtue of the fact that individual citizens are allowed to vote and elect their representatives regardless of their status other than being a citizen of the US. For instance, once upon a time, only Landowners were given the vote, now the vote is given to citizens regardless of whether they own land or not.
As for being a Republic, that has to do with the relationship between the member states and the Federal Government. Here in Canada, we are a Dominion. Same net effect. A collection of "States" or a collection of "Provinces", both are Democracies.
Other differences between the US and Canadian systems are the Nature of the "Senates". Yours are elected based on State representation (2 per State), ours are appointed by the Government in Power at the time a vacancy occurs and not based on Provincial representation. And of course, we have the inclusion of a Queen as represented by the Governor-General as the top figurehead, but that is another Topic.

Reply

Tetraca
QUOTE(amit nigam @ May 20 2006, 02:36 PM) *

i totally support u tetraca.

wat i think that on contentious issues on which there are less than 75-80% support from the elected representatives there must be a public voting .

but it will be very costly and i think impracticle.


Yes. It would be very impractical with the amount of people in the US Alone. Even if we did it though modern technology it'd be hard to manufacture enough of a device that could send a vote from thousands of miles away. In a smaller and righer country like say luxembourg it'd be practical though.

Reply

True2Earn
I am 100% against democracy. Why? You can read about the differences between a democracy and a republic HERE. It is very informative and eye-opening to those that don't really understand the difference. In a nutshell, the difference between a democracy and a republican form of government is two wolves and a sheep voting on what's for dinner. Democracy is mob rules. Even Thomas Jefferson was against this form of government.
QUOTE
A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.
~Thomas Jefferson

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.
~Thomas Jefferson

Even the U.S. Constitution guarantees a Republican form of government, not a democracy.
QUOTE
United States Constitution, Article IV, Section 4: The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence.
The founding father of the United States of America understood that a Republican form of government would protect the individual rights and not the whim of the majority. Their belief was every human had personal sovereignity and Rights that were granted by God. As God is the highest authority, these God-given Rights could not be taken away by governments.

But, of course, this is happening now. One question I have is "If a God-given Right cannot be taken away or controlled by government, why do I have to be licensed to exercise some of them? Why is the government refusing to comply with the limits imposed upon it by the Constitution?" The American government has become too oppressive and is slowly taking away the Rights of The People. That is why I am a named Plantiff on the Landmark Case (USDC Case # 04CV01211) We The People, et al v. United States. You will see my name, Bryan K Reinhart, on page 26 of the Complaint. The lawsuit against the government is because the federal government is committing wrongful, unconstitutional acts resulting in injuries, loss and damage to millions of American citizens. You can find out more about the Fight to restore the Rights to the American people at the We The People Foundation.

 

 

 


Reply

scotty_knows
I believe that all people should have tha chance to vote in everything. States argue about their representation as a state, but the states are representing the people. Why can't people represent theirselves? Are they unworthy? Adults who vote in elections sometimes don't even know anything. There should be a test about the information about the current election, and then anybody who passes (Just because some people are younger, doesn't mean they don't know anything) should be allowed to vote. And not just in elections either.

Reply

Tetraca
If the Republic is to succeeed, you need a person with a nuetral opinion who would only base the decision on the pros and cons of each option. We should get rid of this Liberal/Conservative Democrat/Republican junk and get people who can make decisions without going in circles.

Reply

jlhaslip
Well, a little research here and it seems that the Dominion of Canada would probably best be described as a Republic, too.
The distinction between a Democracy and a Republic being : that the rights of Individuals are protected by a Constitution, in a written form, which limits the power of a democratically elected Government against violating the inalienable rights of Individuals in a Republic.
The Democracy as practiced here in Canada being a representative form of Democracy similar to the United States by virtue of the process of electing our constituency representatives. One difference between the US and Canada is that you must hold your Federal Elections on a regularly schedule basis every 4 years. In Canada, the Federal Elections must be held no later than every 5 years, or when there is an absence of confidence in the Government or when the Government feels it is politically expedient (ie: when they think they are certain of a victory).


Definition : Dominion - one of the self-governing nations in the British Commonwealth;
body politic, nation, res publica, commonwealth, country, state, land - a politically organized body of people under a single government;
Source : The Free Dictionary

Definition : Republic - The definition of a Republic is: a constitutionally limited government of the representative type, created by a written Constitution--adopted by the people and changeable (from its original meaning) by them only by its amendment--with its powers divided between three separate Branches: Executive, Legislative and Judicial. Here the term "the people" means, of course, the electorate.
Source : Your Reference

Using these definitions, Canada is both a Dominion (as a political entity within the British Commonwealth of Nations) and a Republic ( as per the Definition above, having a Constitution protecting the rights of Minorities)

Point being: now that I have done this research, I agree that the "republican" form of Government is better. A Government elected by the Majority with limits on its powers which protect the rights of Minorities.

Reply

Latest Entries

hitmanblood
Well it seems that we have come to the misunderstanding as I am considering under corruptions all those things that affect person's judgment in some other way he or she would do it. So if you consider that someone could bribe someone in your team it is possible but if someone really wants to influence person's judgment in the team then he could go even further doing some things like kidnapping and so on you get the point.

The biggest problem is that you cannot chose ten people which cannot be affected by some rich and powerful who wants to seize power. You see how easily it may happen that person is just not able to find way out of problem.

And furthermore it would affect everyone in the society at the current democratically organizational structure bribery is a big problem and lobby is really noticeable and common thing however if system similar to your's is applied then I assume corruption would reach critical levels. I hope you got my point on this one.

Reply

possible123
QUOTE(hitmanblood @ Apr 15 2007, 02:37 AM) *
possible123 you're idea is somewhat good but you must understand that this way it is open to abuse from the rich and wealthy which could influence results of those sets and rich and wealthy which could be able to reach president or dictator however he would be called. Also I think that such organizational structure can only be maintained in the utopia.


Well, I didn't expect my idea to be actually functional, just some of my thoughts. I am only one normal person.

However, I want to know how the rich could affect the system.

The rich couldn't corrupt all the people working on making the test.
They could only corrupt one or two people, I assume. The rest of the staff would notice of one
or two staffmembers started making suggestions that were stupid.

Anybody can influence a vote, but in my idea, the vote isn't given the full power of decision.

Corrupting the dictator would be difficult as he would be guarded. Also, portions of tests would try to
find out the morals of a person. A person that passes the test and the votes in my idea would be
difficult to corrupt.

As for the difficulty for such an organizational structure, I think that most countries that have nuclear capability
could have a system of government like this.

But I think that in the end, there is no way to stop a determined bad person from taking power permanently.
If the good side keeps trying and succeeds, the bad side will keep trying too.


Reply

hitmanblood
I am not that much familiar in specifics with you about united states government. But what I consider is that You've got point there that new governement has too much time to adjust that is they use too much time. And what about third world countries where governments are changing more often.

Also I would like to point that democracy is not the most stable system we have because of its fundamental law which is changing of the government every five or every four years. Because of this people cannot get really on some project considering only large scale projects, if one government start project other may think it is not necessary and other government closes this one and starts another one. This is main reason why democratic system is not sustainable and why in the democratic system there are so many scandals it is not because people have free thinking it is merely because of the conflict of interest of different government set up.

The only thing that can be stable is some sort of long term government or any sort of ruling where there is one ruling body which is staying on the head of state for at least 50 years. This and such system is only feasible and sustainable to be stable. Otherwise it just breaks down when hall mechanism is wrong it is not hard to break it. But when someone is on the head of state for long term period this will in fact produce stability and it is not necessary that he or she or if it is some sort of government they are competent but they will produce stability because of the mere thing that they are not changing government every so. When they start some project they have the time and the power to finish it. And nothing else would stop them.

However the biggest problem of such system would be that if really incompetent person would come in charge then it might produce more bad things then good to the society as a hall. That is why I would like to point that there should be one more body which would control the actions of the higher body and interfere only in case if it becomes critical like if people get so dissatisfied that they are ready to start riots and so on.

Reply

osknockout
Hmm... I tend to agree with the last few posts. Problem with the whole system is that there may be a better way to govern, but a democratic republic is possibly the most stable system we have, so any change would take a while to get through anyway. Agreed, true democracy died a long, long time ago. But it doesn't mean that a variation of it couldn't work in the modern world.

The problem is that in a democratic-republic, it takes too long for the system to realign to a change of power. E.g.:
We know that in the US we have federal and state governments and they both have different arrays of powers, even though they're supposed to balance each other out. Well, that balance went away in the Civil War with the federal government out on top. But the system of government was kept the same except for blocking the confederates from coming back. - The government shifted in power, but no laws were made to account for them. - And still, we have no greater power in the federal government than in the past.
- And again, there's the case of the imperial presidency. Presidents are free to wage their own private war for 60 days without Congressional approval. Sad to say, this came out of a compromise. As the military power of the nation grows, the greater the power of the executive branch becomes. So we have a president that has the power to plunge the earth into nuclear war on his fingertips. Scary thought.

What I'm trying to say is that even though the system's built to adjust, it just can't because people have too much faith in the system to change it. Some madman can be elected president out of popularity and start WWIII as of right now. - And no one can stop him because we traditionally trust the president. And in the modern era, people do not have the power to stop the government from doing something destructive in the long term during a crisis - they've got machine guns, we don't.

For a better mechanism, I think you need to have a people that are willing to constantly change their government system and their constitution. The best thing I can think of right now is a greater-scaled republic, where people vote for mayors, mayors for district leaders, district for state, state for region, etc. and run a triumvirate if need be.

Reply

adriantc
I don't think democracy is the best form of government. In Ancient Greece democracy worked because there were city-states with a small number of citizens compared to todays multinational, multicultural nations. Yeah democracy worked in Ancient Greece because (almost) everyone who voted knew personally the candidates. There was no mass-media to distort the image of the candidates, so you had a first hand experience with the one you supported. But this conditions cannot be met in today's world. If God would run for the presidency of the USA and CNN wouldn't agree with that He would not stand a chance. So the idea of democracy in today's world is only a shadow of what democracy represented for the ancient greeks or romans.
I would go even further to state that the democracy is only a smoke screen to blind weak minds. The people does not have the power! And it will never have the power. Why? Because even though a vast majority of people can overthrow a government, the collective mind is extremely weak. A revolution without a strong leader has no chance. In ancient Greece (I return to this example because this was the world's first democracy!) the people really has the power because their mind weren't so influenced by the crowd.
As I stated before in other posts people do have the power once every 4 years for a month or two. In the rest they only watch TV and have absolutely no power. Most of the world is capitalistic and that means that a small group of people (100 individuals for example) can rule (at least economically) over 100 or 200 million people. And no election every 4 years can change that...
Like in India, Romania which 18 years ago escaped from a communist regime and just entered UE is now ruled by a minority of 20%. Yeah a government has been formed with only 20% of the total votes. Why is that possible? Because they only see their interest and their party's interest. The (former) opposition (socialist party) now defends the power which is held by the liberal party.This is really weird.... A right wing party is supported by a left wing party... All this happens for as long as they have a mutual interest. The people want a new election, but no one wants an election because they all want a piece of the cake (read: millions of euros from the UE). So you see the so-called democracy power of the people isn't in fact a democracy. The country is not ruled by the will of the people, but by the interest of the ones who are in power or in opposition. Maybe my country is just not very developed yet... I don't know... I'm just sick and tired of seeing their faces on TV. I am sick and tired of seeing so-called intellectual praising this so-called democracy.
Bottom line is... Democracy died 2000 years ago; what we see today is only a noble idea in the service of a select few who control everything. People like to think they are in control when they really aren't...

Reply



Got an Opinion! Express your Views! (no registration):-
Add your Reply/ Opinion/ Views/ Comments/ Suggestion/ Questions/ Queries etc.
Posts with decent grammar & English will be accepted and please refrain from profanities.
For asking a Question, We recommend you to sign-up (for free) so that you can track the topic easily.

Nature of your Post*: Opinion/ Reply/ Comments
Question/Query
Feedback to us.
       
Name   Email
Title/Question*

(Maximum characters: 10,000)
You have characters left.

Pages: 1, 2, 3
Recent Queries:-
  1. is a republican the best way to govern? - 438.49 hr back. (1)
Similar Topics

Keywords : democracy, govern

  1. American Democracy?
    (1)
  2. Is Democracy The Perfect System?
    (15)
    Do all people support the system of democracy? Well basically Democracy means a system or government
    run by by the people for the people from the people.That means democracy supports the fact that
    people are always right.Now the question arises, Is it always true that people are always right? for
    example if a person X is not a thief and majority of people thinks that he is a thief.Then does that
    majority of people makes the truth false,i.e. we will have to think that person is a thief even if
    he is not a thief.Just because majority says, we will have to support the false....
  3. Indian System
    Democracy, Yeah right. (10)
    I have moved from Canada to UAE where i go to an Indian school. I love India and all but what
    direction is it going it. Where is the freedom of speech and rights. I hate the Indian schools. I
    know of so many small children in my school who have such a talent which is going to waste. Ok
    forget that lets just take a recent case of Celina Jaitley and how Shiv Sena responded to it. Are
    they F'in mad or what. People should talk as they wish and they don't have right to get mad
    at that. Why cant young lovers celebrate 14th feb. We are free and we should be allowed to t....
  4. Democracy
    in Australia. A debate (3)
    Democracy is good according to many influential people, but at times personally I have never felt
    like I am in a democracy. What are my options? A Coalition government that can be anti-labour one
    day, and then look like they may pro-labour stance the next. The federal Labour party that seem to
    be in the middle, but have they got a clear policy!?! Oh and the slow but gradual decline of the
    democrat influence in the senate which apparently was meant "to keep the *BLEEP*s honest". I fall
    somewhere between middle class and lower class, also am a p/t uni student and get hit ....
  5. The Good Old Democracy
    Is it the best thing? (14)
    I think the best thing that happened to this forum is The Vent, because every day you see or feel
    stuff that makes you angry and you have to share that to everyone. I think I am one of the most
    loyal members of The Vent... I wanted to tell you this before you will read the following... First
    of all I think I have opened someday a thread like this but I'm sure or in the mood to make a
    long search for it so, moderators, please excuse me if there is another post like this. Also if you
    happen to be from the so-called West (EU or USA) you'll probably won't underst....
  6. The Age Of Dawn (restarted)
    The Official Thread of the Elite Alliance (now a democracy!) (40)
    NOTE: The Age Of Dawn now has a goverment that is a democracy, users can apply for the
    council, which is elected by the members. Some Info On Us The Age Of Dawn is the probably the
    largest and most successful alliance on the Trap17 Army System. We where founded on April 9 2005,
    at 07:29 PM, almost a month later our original topic ( Click to see ) became 23 pages long, and
    aqcuired 224 replieas, and 1,905 veiws. The allaince has aqcuired a total of about 14 members, all
    of which have rised to the top of the ranks. Here are our current members QUOTE ....
  7. Mexican Democracy
    hmmm... (0)
    QUOTE The New York Times Today: In a vote that casts doubt on the strength of Mexico's
    fledgling democracy, this city's popular leftist mayor lost a critical battle in Congress on
    Thursday over a measure that is likely to force him off the ballot in presidential elections next
    year and could lead to his imprisonment. Well, probably none of you are interested on foreign
    politics, but what if it comes from one of your closest neighbours (for U.S. and Canadian residents)
    such like Mexico? Well, today I was witness of the most ridiculous thing that could e....

    1. Looking for democracy, govern






*SIMILAR VIDEOS*
Searching Video's for democracy, govern

*MORE FROM TRAP17.COM*
advertisement



Is Democracy The Best Way To Govern?



 

 

 

 

ADD REPLY / Got an Opinion! a humble request :-) RAPID SEARCH! Free Hosting [X]
Express your Opinions, Thoughts or Contribute your information that might help someone here.
Ask your Doubts & Queries to get answers.. "Together, We enlight each other!"
Register FREE for AD-FREE forum, Create your own topics, Ask Questions, track topics, setup subscriptions & notifications and Get a Free Website w/ Email and FTP.
500MB Space *No Ads*, CPanel, FTP, PHP, MySQL, EMails - 100% FREE