What's so great about democracy?

While reading news stories about the rioting in the Middle East, I've noticed that many news outlets have been championing democracy as if it were the best way of governing.

Personally, I do not advocate the practice of democracy, at least in a national sense; I fail to understand how majority opinion actually produces the best results.

Opinions?

Anarchy, baby. If implemented properly, it would own.

Democracy is the worst form of government in the world, except for all the others that have been tried from time to time.

Democracy is inversely proportional to freedom.

Thomas Jefferson: A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where 51% of the people may take away the rights of the other 49%.

John Adams: Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.

Benjamin Franklin: When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.

James Madison: Democracy was the right of the people to choose their own tyrant.

Winston Churchill: The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.

John Adams: That the desires of the majority of the people are often for injustice and inhumanity against the minority, is demonstrated by every page of the history of the world.

John Quincy Adams: The experience of all former ages had shown that of all human governments, democracy was the most unstable, fluctuating and short-lived.

You get the idea.

Anarchy is absolute ludacris. The Politicans today are just as corrupt and the Kings and Queens used to be.

Democracy is probably the worst government idea ever, besides mostly everything else out there.

nothing,except it works.

People like the premise that the common people have a say in their government. We all know that is never actually true though.stanleycup98

[QUOTE="stanleycup98"]People like the premise that the common people have a say in their government. We all know that is never actually true though.aransom

Inception!

What are the alternatives? Any democracy is going to have some dramatic flaws, but I'd prefer that to living under any authoritarian system.

An authoritarian system might possibly be able to produce better economic results or benefits in other areas (hardly demonstrated), but no thanks. I like my freedom.

That said, many democracies that exist are extremely corrupt and dysfunctional.

Democracy is the worst form of government in the world, except for all the others that have been tried from time to time.

GabuEx

Indeed.

Democracy would be fantastic, if most people werent so disinterested in their countries politics.

I think most people want some say in how theirlives are run.

Eh. Republics are pretty cool.

Plus, this guy looks really legit.

[QUOTE="GabuEx"]

Democracy is the worst form of government in the world, except for all the others that have been tried from time to time.

xLFTMx

Indeed.

Democracy would be fantastic, if most people werent so disinterested in their countries politics.

Disinterest and a lack of actual intellectual engagement, too. Polls have shown that the public doesn't really have any clue when it comes to economic matters, and constantly want to eat their cake and have it too. ("DON'T CUT ANY SPENDING! DON'T INCREASE TAXES! BALANCE THE BUDGET!")

[QUOTE="xLFTMx"]

[QUOTE="GabuEx"]

Democracy is the worst form of government in the world, except for all the others that have been tried from time to time.

GabuEx

Indeed.

Democracy would be fantastic, if most people werent so disinterested in their countries politics.

Disinterest and a lack of actual intellectual engagement, too. Polls have shown that the public doesn't really have any clue when it comes to economic matters, and constantly want to eat their cake and have it too. ("DON'T CUT ANY SPENDING! DON'T INCREASE TAXES! BALANCE THE BUDGET!")

I think it has more to do with selfish narrow sightedness.. That if taxes were something that was optional, the countries government would go bankrupt.. Regardless of the amount of services people benefit every day from.

Democracy may not produce the best results at times, but it does allow for a free populace. When the people are the ones that decide who has the power, the ones in power cannot control the people.

Democracy is the worst form of government in the world, except for all the others that have been tried from time to time.

GabuEx

Isnt that a quote from Winston Churchill??? Anyway, I dont think democracy is anything too special, I believe that people are different all over the world and different governments work in different places, if that makes sense.

What exactly else is there that works?

When people say democracy they mean a representative democracy, in a pluralist society, with some form of check on elected officials exercise of power, usually by enshrining individual/minority rights (like a written or unwritten constitution).

And if you have that, it kicks the crap out of everything else.

There was never a right form of government. Politics is just a bat**** storm that never clears out.

it's actually not a pure majority opinion. that's why people can't just vote for restrictions on minorities.

Democracy is inversely proportional to freedom.

Thomas Jefferson: A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where 51% of the people may take away the rights of the other 49%.

John Adams: Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.

Benjamin Franklin: When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.

James Madison: Democracy was the right of the people to choose their own tyrant.

Winston Churchill: The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.

John Adams: That the desires of the majority of the people are often for injustice and inhumanity against the minority, is demonstrated by every page of the history of the world.

John Quincy Adams: The experience of all former ages had shown that of all human governments, democracy was the most unstable, fluctuating and short-lived.

You get the idea.

bachilders

.

i prefer a republic personally and i get ticked anytime we get a politician preaching america is a democracy when its a republic.kayoticdreamz

We're a democratic republic to be precise.

ya i was going to post some founding father quotes but i got lazy. but ya i agree with this post. again this is more proof america is a REPUBLIC not a democracy contrary to what 95% of the wolrd seems to think and why i get ticked when we promote democracy.kayoticdreamz

America is both a republic and a democracy. The two are not mutually exclusive; indeed, in the modern era democracy is meant to be understood as a broader term, with republic being one form of governance rooted in (representative) democracy.

Founding father quotes are irrelevant as they were written at a time when political philosophy did not conceive of other forms of democracy. Relying on the founding fathers in a discussion of democracy as it applies to modern pluralistic societies based upon representative democracy is like asking a caveman for his opinion on airplanes.

People are motivated by self-interest. Thats why people like democracies. Because they can choose whats in their best interest and no one can choose for them.

And yes, that self-interest doesn't always produce the "best results".

[QUOTE="kayoticdreamz"] ya i was going to post some founding father quotes but i got lazy. but ya i agree with this post. again this is more proof america is a REPUBLIC not a democracy contrary to what 95% of the wolrd seems to think and why i get ticked when we promote democracy.SUD123456

America is both a republic and a democracy. The two are not mutually exclusive; indeed, in the modern era democracy is meant to be understood as a broader term, with republic being one form of governance rooted in (representative) democracy.

Founding father quotes are irrelevant as they were written at a time when political philosophy did not conceive of other forms of democracy. Relying on the founding fathers in a discussion of democracy as it applies to modern pluralistic societies based upon representative democracy is like asking a caveman for his opinion on airplanes.

i prefer a republic personally and i get ticked anytime we get a politician preaching america is a democracy when its a republic.kayoticdreamz

Then, you don't know what a republic or a democracy are. The US is indeed a democracy.

Democracy, is a type of state where the citizens can choose their rulers by voting.
A Republic is hard to define... One common modern definition of a republic is a government having a head of state who is not a monarch.
A monarchy, is a state where the head of state is a monarch, and this position is hereditary.

Both Republics AND Monarchies can be democracies. For example, the US is a Republic and a presidential democracy. A Constitutional Republic to be more exact. A type of government where the Government is voted uppon and therefore is representative of the people. The constitution, limits the power of the gov over its people.

The UK on the other hand, is a Constitutional Monarchy and also a parliamentary democracy. While the monarch can't be voted uppon, in this system the monarch isn't much more than an head of state. All legislative power being concentrated on the elected government lead by a prime-minister.

There is further difference between the two:
The US is a presidential democracy, meaning that you vote for the president, and it's the president that basically takes all legislative power.
The UK (and almost every European country) are parliamentary democracies where the legislative power is owned by the parliament. The elections decide the composition of the parliament so that proportional representation is achieved, and the party which is most voted on gets to form government. Many times, the government may be formed by multiple parties so that the government can achieve a majority in parliament.
Parliamentary Republics may work under a semi-presidential system where the president, elected in separate elections from legislative elections holds powers like being able to dissolve parliament and call for new elections. In the french semi-presidential system, the President is also in charge of foreign policy while the prime-minister is in charge of inter policy.

It forces the authorities to screw the masses in a more subtle manner.

nothing. Democracy absolutely sucks

Democracy means the rule of the majority. In a democratic system, you'd be able to vote in presidential elections and run for presidency. A country's development is also measured by the amount of freedoms it grants and one of the freedoms is the political rights. The more rights and freedoms a country grants, the better it is. To allow any citizen to rule a country through fair elections is more of an aim because all citizens are equal under democracy. Monarchy and constitutional monarchy grants royalties some advantages just because they're royalty. In some countries, royal family members are given monthly salaries just because they were born of the royal family. Money from the treasury is spent monthly on people just for the fact that they're royalty. Is that fair?