Is democracy the best type of goverment?

Question

This is a philosophical question and not a question about politics so please don't relate it with the curent political reality. Please take into consideration all the human history in your reply.
Decision making in democracy is based in the opinion of the majority. But the majority are not experts in the different issues, cannot have access to all the information and can be easily disillusioned.
Another problem is that in democracy those in charge don't take responsibility of their mistakes because they are (or supposed to be) acting on behalf of the people.
Do you think these problems exist, can they be surpassed and if not what would be the ideal type of goverment?

Answer 1

No, democracy is not the best type of government because it is not even addressing the problem properly.

Sure majority is not always informed nor have a solution, but the issue is more fundamental in nature.

Philosophically, origin of a decision is based on differences of interests and opinions, if everyone agrees upon the same thing then the need to make decisions is only at the lower levels of details. However, simple desire opens upon ourselves a can of worms...

In reality, there exists the need to appoint offices and duties, to take care of agreements, disputes and details at different levels. Therefore, different forms of government have arisen as organizational structures.

As such, decision is really not the opinion of the public nor majority, but of the people in offices. If it happens that a leader in this group is to make final decisions on everything, then it is the politics and opinions of the group leader being expressed by the decisions. (Ie. Top level decisions have replaced majority opinions already.) This in essence is what we call a republic government.

The pure ideal form of democracy does not exist for several reasons:

1) Not everyone agrees on what the top level topics are;
2) The elected offices could not always move on all issues;
3) It is impossible to represent every interest without -- or even with -- everybody's involvement;
4) Not all the disputes have a solution; and
5) Things change dramatically -- over time and other situations

In the simple act of making a decision, we became lost in the reality of dealing with problems, differences, organizations, details, public representation, and most importantly chaos!

Somehow the chaotic nature of our problems are translated into the structural organization of our solution. That's where bureaucracy strikes, at the heart of the problems.

The more diverse the number of issues, the more easily we are confused in dealing with them -- especially when we try to tackle all of them at the same time with limited resources.

In other words, formation of government does not necessary facilitate the resolution of problems especially when the nature of our problems are digging the holes for the government to fill -- or fall into.

Granted that democratic government is the best solution we have come up with, it is far from ideal or even remotely adequate when it comes to addressing issues of human differences. We just tolerate it all along.

I'll take it that when someone asks for an ideal solution, he / she would expect a discussion rather than actually get a solution. It is in this light that I'll leave this discussion at. There could be no ideal at this point.

Answer 2

AS i have known, there are two types of democracy
1. Republican-Democracy - the congress (regions of the populating are represented by congressmen)
2.Democracy - no congress (when something is about to happen, the government enhances out a large assemble, wherein EVERY citizen is mandated to attend and make the decisions)

you are correct about the expertise of the majority, some people are selfish and hedonist, wherein a situation that suits them best is the best way.
but then in a democracy, more people have access to the freedom of speech and everyone can have a say in this.

but in reality, there is none of the other types of the government .... because its not up to the government to decide whats the best for the people but the people has to decide whats the pest for them, for the people themselves will be the basis for the economy's long and better life.

Answer 3

Yes... *True* democracy is the best form of government. A democracy in which all political parties get equal funding, in which everybody enjoys, from birth, the same educational, laboral and social opportunities in life. A democracy in which there are no economic lobbies, and in which the people, through their elected representatives, are the sole decision-makers. A democracy in which science and the arts are promoted, and a secular government ensures that no religion has more weight than the rest. A democracy in which education and healthcare are widespread and available for all, maintianing that way a knowledgeable, well-read, well-informed citizenry that is capable of making mature decisions.
A democracy in which the society has strong, elected watchdogs dedicated to preventing government corruption, and in which incompetent, dictatorial, or corrupt politicians don't last long in their offices.

Unfortunately, except maybe from the Zapatista communities in southern mexico, the scandinavian countries, or the pre-WWII in Republican Spain, true democracy does not and has never existed in our world.
In most modern pseudo-democracies, public opinion is easily manipulated by media conglotmerates, while corporate lobbies and an unfair distribution of wealth and power create a large clout that serves to mantain the current unfair social order, in which a small upper class lives confortably, while the rest of us have to break our backs to maintain their wasteful lifestyles built on our backs.
Most goverments nowadays are not democracies, but well-disguised plutocracies - that is, "governments of the rich".

True democracy is the best form of government. Unfortunately, almost everywhere it has been subverted and corrupted to maintain the benefits of a few.

Answer 4

If everybody has a stake in what goes on then everybody has an interest in making it work. Democracy gives people the chance to be involved and to make a difference. Unfortunately what we call 'Democracy' is not true democracy and people are disenfranchised because of it. Athens was ruled on Democratic principles. I think it is not a valid argument to say that people should not make decisions for which they are not qualified. Politicians and Judges and Juries make decisions everyday on matters on which they are not qualified. I would accept your observation if only experts made the appropriate decisions but the argument is usually made as an excuse for some other non-expert to make a decision which is not an acceptable compromise of democratic principles.

As to not holding those in charge responsible this is really dependent on what people want. The problem is that those in charge are, far to often allowed to decide who will bear responsibility and not surprisingly they don't accept it themselves. To be held accountable can be enforced by the majority.

Answer 5

DISCLAIMER - this answer is not intended to support Democrat or Republican party stances - I'm a Radical Moderate Independent Voter.

Democracy isn't a style of government - it's a means of electing a government. That is why foreign policy is a (domestically) accepted type of undemocratic activity - governments formulate foreign policy that can adversely affect citizens of another country, and yet those foreign citizens have no say in the election of the government (e.g. the USA is controlling Iraq, and the Iraqi's had no say in the election of any part of the US federal government).

There is also an internal issue - democratically elected government explicity represents the majority. There is a tacit suggestion, that it will protect minorities - but consider the arab minority in Israel - no matter who they vote for, the Knesset will formulate policy that will be contrary to any peaceful wishes of the arab minority.

Answer 6

Definately. A democracy gives people much more freedom with IDEAS - and thats what makes human beings successful.

Depotism is greedy and cruel. It's a vicious government brought through by a popular revolution.. or a bloody coup. Like Zimbabwe.

Communism hasn't been known to work; theres a lack of flexibility and a sense of motivation. The belief behind it is solid, but all too often it gets brought in under the name of tyrants.

I think we know the consequences of Fascism- rampant slaughter for everybody eventually.. proof that violent government doesn't necessarily work although it does have interesting consequences- without WW2 we wouldn't have the technology to send people to space, full stop.

I dont think anybody in charge likes to take responsibility- look at our so-called democracies now and all the lies. You want people who say they are going to take responsibility for everything? Would you believe them anyway?

I think the best type of government is our English Parliment. True the house of commons is full of toffs and the country is badly split on too many issues. But its the ideal form of government for us right now.

Answer 7

Another term for democracy is "mob rule." The problem with democracy is that everyone votes all the time on every issue. For a small organization that can be effective, but it can also paralyze any progress waiting for everyone to cast their vote.

Also in a democracy, those in charge are everyone. A leader can be elected, but any laws need to be approved by the people.

To me the better form of government is the republic. In a republic, the people choose representatives to run the government. The biggest problem with a republic is when the people who elect a representative fail to hold that person responsible for representing their views.

Answer 8

For one thing, there isn't a single true democracy currently in use in the world. They are all "representative democracies." Where voters vote to put someone in power to make decisions for them. I think for personal freedoms, democracy is the best form of government. The government is very transparent, not much goes on that the public doesn't know about. The majority of scandals are eventually brought to light.

Answer 9

I believe that Democracy is the best form of government because of the reason you stated. Majority rules. I believe that some form of democracy is best and that USA may not be the perfect model. It will prevail though because it allows people a bit of freedom. We need to be vigilant and keep religion out of government at all cost. Look around and it is apparent. We need to continue to fight to keep all houses of government separate as the founders meant it to be. Our biggest problem right now is that we haven't perfected the Supreme Court operation yet. We need to keep it neutral politically. That is such a difficult thing to do. We need people of character and have none on the bench right now. It is the most important place for objectivity, yet we get so little of it.

Answer 10

Hello dear! (XAIPE!)
Democracy, the Greek compound word meaning the power of the people!
When the people are ready, educated and trained and in a steady political situation, internally and externally, democracy is really the best system!
When there is other conditions, different systems are more proper!