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Democracy?
Because of the masses being [indifferant] [lazy][complacent ] you name it , you will not get a majority of the population voting.  SO how can anyone expect anything but what they get?Democracy is like money ,who needs it, unless you don't have it??......campee

posted by campee on April 11, 2004 at 8:57 PM | link to this | reply

It's a very good question . . .

. . . one wonders, though, how far we want to take this search for "desirable democracy."

. . . after all. If we did live in a true democracy, in the most proper sense of the word, then as soon as a govenrment was voted in by the majority, said government would have the perfectly legitimate ability to do whatever it chose to those who opposed its installment.

True democracy is not a pretty thing. I like Aristotle's thoughts on this matter. He decries democracy, oligarchy, and tyranny, and says that some form of monarchy or aristocracy (which included rule by a select group, with the caveat that said group actually be capable of doing a good job) is preferable. I think there's something to that, and I think that so-called "democratic" governments like ours (both yours in Manila, and mine in Washington DC)  need to strike a balance between the exclusivism you note, and the ideals of self-determination, in order to be effective. Have we found it? Can anybody find it? I don't know.

posted by mjdaniels on April 6, 2004 at 9:56 AM | link to this | reply