Is democracy an acceptable form of government throughout the world?

Question

Maybe Islam doesn't allow for freedom. I see women treated very differently then men in Muslim countires and maybe it's impossible to have freedom of different kinds in certain cultures. Maybe women like to be oppresssed and enslaved in certain circumstances. Maybe men do. Serbs, Tutsies etc. have killed there neighbors endlessly. How long was the Iraq/Iran war? Didn't they have children clear mine fields by walking in them? Maybe we can only live under a benevolent dictator

Answer 1

No, it just doesn't work in some cultures. Look at the former USSR... the Communist Party is coming back stronger than ever and it's because Democracy in Russia has put so many people into the streets and the Russian mobsters have taken over just about everything over there including many top positions in Government. Many Russians have been protesting to have the Communist's put back into power. For the last year or so, Russians have had to do something they have not had to do before...They now have to pay their own utility bills. Now they have to pay for water, gas and electricity.

I feel that Socialism and Democracy can work well together if implemented correctly. You can have a Socialist Government and still have Freedom.

That form of Government should be put into practice here in the USA. I don't know about you but I am tired of having 5% of the people here in the USA controling 95% of the wealth!

Power should never be allowed to be in the hands of one person!

Many Americans don't see it yet but in the last decade, we have been losing some of our freedoms! (Think about it).

Women should be treated as equals all over the world. I believe that day will come.

By the way, the Iran/Iraq War lasted from 1980 - 1988.

Answer 2

Of course it isn't. That is because all government is predicated on the notion that people need to be ruled by a public or a public figure to tell them what to do and how to live...that one does not and cannot rule oneself.

However, many people don't like to be meddled with or told what to do whether it be via a Majority Vote or a High Priest or a King or a Dictator. And so democracies placed on societies with great divisions in them inevitably produce a situation where majority screws minority, "payback time" as it were, or "robbing Peter to pay Paul. In "one vote per person," votes are simply just surrogates for bullets; a step in the right direction but no panacea. An election is just like a civil war, although nobody gets killed most of the time. The end is the same. One group forces another to submit to its will.

This problem is especially acute where European colonial powers carved out nation states in the aftermath of the world wars. They carved the borders in such a way that several divided ethnicities were all under one roof. The Europeans left behind governments where an ethnic minority was placed in power. This left them dependent on aid from the West to maintain autocratic control. Iraq is one such country, where Sunnis were left in charge over a majority of Shiites.

Now that democracy is the new civic religion and America has declared itself the High Priests of Democracy, one wonders what could possibly go wrong next.

In short, democracy is worthless unless a democratic government places strict limits on its own power and pledges to protect basic and inalienable human rights that might be voted away. Beware of its allure.

Answer 3

It depends what you mean by "acceptable". Acceptable to whom? Does everyone want to live in a democracy? I think human nature would say yes. I seriously doubt, given a free and unencumbered choice, that any human would choose to live in servitude, in one form or another, than in freedom. Why do you think that totalitarian states always have to restrict their people's access to truth and the outside world? Because if they saw the real effects of freedom, they would want it, too. Dictators fool their people into believing there is no better way. And that's why they don't have free elections. If people liked servitude, then there could be free elections and the people would choose servitude.

But, does the entire world HAVE to be in democracy. No. And, of course, there are many forms of what is usually called democracy. The U.S., for example, is a representative republic.

And there is no such thing as a benevolent dictator. Power corrupts. And absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Answer 4

I think your last sentence said it all. My problem with that is only the fact that a benevolent Dictator will most likely turn into a regular Dictator. We are unfortunately Human and the only animal alive with a brain big enough to rationalize killing each other, but not big enough to figure out how stupid this is. All I can do is wait and hope.

Answer 5

To answer your question is quite simple.
Do you know there are places in Mich., and Ohio where I can go to a restuarnt and sit down in a smoking section and have a ciggertte and a cup of coffee, but in the stae of Georgia all restuarnts are non smoking,
You know of course each state in the United States has a different form of Democracy which I think is good,but if we have different forms of living our lives ,don't you think the rest of the world would have different forms of living too

Answer 6

islam doesn't forbid freedom, not any more than christianity demands inquisition.
about the countries with lots of conflict it doesn't mean people there wouldn't appreciate a peaceful democracy for a change, and democracy doesn't mean peace either. the us has been a democracy(sort of) for longer than any other country yet has entered more wars than any other country during that period.

democracy does need time to get going, and can hardly be imposed.

Answer 7

It's been the intended pun of many a joke through out many a sophisticates. Democracy is the worst form of government in the world, except for all the rest.

Answer 8

Americans should try to get democracy to work at home before they try to impose it on others. Lets face it America is only good for a very small percentage of its own people the rest are treated like ****.

Answer 9

No and great question. Every part of the world is different, and many forms of government have been in place for centruies that democracy would never work. Example Russia.

Answer 10

Here's the deal, you go live under a "benevolent" dictator and tell me which one you prefer.

or better yet, ask the Kurds.