WHat is democracy and what kind of history does it have?

Question

is it good bad inbetween or what? has it caused alot of problems in the past. it doesn't have to recent it could be anciant greece or something. please help!

Answer 1

When the Roman Republic turned into the Roman Empire, Marcus Tullius Cicero often wrote and spoke about how Democracy is the most dangerous form of government around because of how it is the closest to anarchy.

Still, Democracy is much more preferable to totalitarian forms of government such as dictatorships and communism. Thank goodness that we won the Cold War. I would hate to live in a land where the government believes to know everything and makes up random systems and bureaucracies in order to overmanage and underproduce.

Democracy is a form of government with the masses ruling due to the power of the individual vote. Everyone gets a say and voting blocs and factions ally in order to push forth agendas and ideas. Unfortunately, when too much compromise and negotiation happens, nothing actually gets done in government. It's the old "too many cooks spoil the stew" problem.

Today in America, we live in a Federal Democratic Republic. Federal means that our country delegates power to both the national government as well as state governments, Democratic means individuals have their own voices by holding suffrage (voting rights), and Republic means that the people are represented in government by politicians who argue and diliberate for what they want.

Answer 2

Democracy, the type of government that we have. Despite what others say that there is no such thing and that we do not live in one, we have the best and the closest thing to a democracy that works. It is where you have a choice of who governs you. A monarch is where you have a king/queen, Fascism is where there is one person who rules in totality and makes all decisions, Communism supposed to be a form of government where everyone shares equally (we know that didn't work). So, what we have is our democracy. We have 2 major parties, and many small parties, all running candidates at elections, where the people vote for the winner. It is set up in our Constitution.
To ask if it is good or not is a open question. I feel it is the only way to live. I want my say in my government. We may have a president who I think is an idiot, but at least I know I went to the polls and I voted my choice, so I can say my feelings. If you don't vote you have no right to make comments about the government we have, providing you are of age. Has it caused problems. There is no government that will not have problems. It's life, there are always problems in life, people are always going to complain, but in a democracy at least you are allowed to complain all you want and it is not against the law, we have our rights, we can complain, picket, write to our senators, etc.
When our founding fathers set up the United States it was originally supposed to be a Monarchy, the thought being that Washington would be like a "king", but he was totally against such a thing as that was what the Revolutionaries had come over here to get away from, so it was decided that we would have a Democracy.
I would say we probably have the closest thing to a good democracy out there. As you grow learn what your rights are and use them, that's why they are there.

Answer 3

Admittedly, outside of small town, local governments, there are no pure democracies, at least in the democratic countries of the world. Most are Republics. The distinction between the two is that in a democracy, each citizen's vote on any question has a direct one-to-one affect on the outcome. In a Republic, groups of citizens elect, or appoint, representatives who are responsible for actually voting on questions for consideration. For common usage, the term democracy would be applied to any form of government, on whatever level, that allows the citizens some form of input that is designed to affect the outcome of decisions.

Democracies most definately have been good, even if not perfect. Any other form of government, no matter how benevolent, tends to not have a means to affect public change. From benevolent monarchies to totalitarian dictatorships, history has shown that decisions left in the hands of one or a limited number of people lead to vast excesses that are harmful to the whole.

On the flip side, any democracy where the public has become complacent and not a part of the decision making process can easily lose its effectiveness and lead quickly to a puppet state where the many are subjected to the whims of the few. Admittled the United States stands in danger of just that sort of situation.

Answer 4

Democracy means rule by the people. The majority rules. Even though president Bush constantly calls the United States a democracy, it is actually a Republic. A Republic is ruled by laws. The laws are for the benefit of the people to promote the equality of the individual. Greece and early Rome were democracies. Democracies can lead to chaos.

Answer 5

Democracy is a government by the people and for the people but since the "people" refuse to vote I guess we get the kind of "democracy" that we now have and for some of us it is a little disappointing.

Not sure but I think America might be the best and greatest democracy that the World has ever seen.

Still better than having a "monarchy" or a "dictatorship" because some day the "people" might wake up and decide to really pay attention for whom they vote.

A 100% voter turn out in every election would be the purest form of a true democracy.

When deciding whether you should vote or blow off your vote always remember that someone died for your right to vote!

Answer 6

Good question.

Democracy (definition): (literally "rule by the people", from the Greek demos, "people," and kratos, "rule")

Democracy in it's pure form (aka direct democracy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_democracy) is essentially rule by the majority over the minority. This has it's advantages and disadvantages. If the majority (51% or more) of people are good, then it's great for the country. If the majority of people are not good (not necessarily evil, but mediocre, average, or lacking in ambition, integrity, and purpose), then the country as a whole is doomed.

Democracy of the latter kind is also called 'mobocracy' - or rule by the mob (the mob is essentially a large number of people who are not necessarily the best kind of people). If you are in the majority, you will be fine. But if you are in the minority, you will be bullied by the majority, because that's the way it works.

The reason most countries are not pure democracies is because of the flaw in democracy stated above. So, countries like America are republics - or representative democracies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representative_democracy. A representative democracy is a type of democracy that has checks and balances that protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority.

One example of a democractic country that went awry is Germany before the world war 2: because Hitler was democratically elected to power - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler#Hitler.27s_appointment_as_Chancellor.

Answer 7

Democracy is a political system that allows the views of a majority of the population to elect representatives in the government and to have a say in national policies.

By this standard, Democracy in the US died in election 2000 and is now a decayed corpse. This can be seen by the fact that whle the Democrats won a majority of both houses of Congress in 2006 largely as a result of Bushonian policies and its militarist policies in the Midest, the war is nevertheless being intensified and a broadening of the conflict into Iran (and beyond?) is now all but imminent.

At this point, there is nothing left of this 'democracy' and the system cannot be revived. Rather, it must fall as a result of its own decrepit and decayed state which, eventually and in the long run fortunately, is inevitable.

Answer 8

In order for a true democracy to work, all of the citizens would need to be intelligent, well informed and to be more concerned about the community as a whole than with their own interests. Otherwise it would be tyranny of the majority. I'm glad we don't have a "democracy" in this country.

What we do have is a representative Republic, and even that is not working out too well.

In presidential elections, we have a ridiculously outdated Electoral College, which allows elections to be rigged simply by pulling some underhanded shenanigans in a few key states or counties. Presidential elections should be one person, one vote. And oh, yeah, people should actually do their duty and vote.

And there should also be more than 2 viable parties to choose from. It's the people's fault though. We have had great third party candidates, Libertarians, Greens, and Independents, but the people are like sheep who are afraid to think (or vote) outside the box.

Then we have the Senate, which has 2 representatives from each state, so North Dakota has the same clout as California or New York. Senators are usually career politicians who are bought and paid for by corporate lobbyists anyway.

The only thing close to representative government we have is the House of Representatives with each Congressperson representing a district with approximately the same amount of people, and hopefully each district will elect a person that represents the majority in that small area. Still, until election reform prohibits candidates from accepting money from special interests, usually those guys are bought and paid for too.

State and local government is probably the closest to democratic representation that we are going to have. As a Libertarian, I would like to see more power going to the individual states.

Want change? Get out and vote. In EVERY election. No excuses! In many states you even can request a mail-in ballot. Then hold your representatives accountable.

Go to http://www.congress.org it is a non-partisan forum where you can get information on what bills are coming up to a vote, and get information on how to contact your congressperson and senators to tell them your opinion. Sign up for their action alerts and they will occasionally let you know when an important bill is coming up along with a form letter you can send to your representative with a few clicks.

There are also watchdog organizations that will keep you informed about specific issues that interest you. For the environment, there is the Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters, Natural Resources Defense Council, The Wilderness Society, just to name a few. For workers rights, look for unions, such as the AFL-CIO. For fair and just government, there is People for the American Way, United for Peace and Justice, Human Rights Watch, the list goes on and on. For reproductive rights, there is Planned Parenthood and Naral Pro-Choice. If you are pro-life there are organizations that support that too.

Get out there, do a search and do your homework. Find organizations that you support and sign up for their action lists. They will e-mail you with simple form letters you can fill out and send to your representatives. With the internet there is no excuse NOT to be involved!

Answer 9

The Spartans first introduced Democracy and then later adopted by the romans...and sometimes abandoned but this was the initial formation of a Democratic entity.

First Democracy: Revolution and Land Reform
The Spartan Constitution is most commonly dated to the early 7th century BC.

It is the first known constitution that vested the supreme power in the hands of an Assembly composed of all citizens.

Thus, Sparta was the first known functioning democracy—roughly 150 years before the introduction of democracy in Athens.

Furthermore, Sparta was the only Greek city-state to introduce a land reform, dividing property equally among its citizens.

Democracy can work, as proven by Sparta, but unethical individuals need to be held accountable and alas in our "great Democracy" of America cash is king....look at OJ, Bill Clinton, Teh whole Kennedy Clan...they were just accountable to the Mafia....

Answer 10

Democracy, like a hammer, is neither good nor bad. Pure democracy requires that all citizens vote on all issues before the country. Unfortunately, this is highly unruly in countries with more than a few thousand citizens. To make the system useful typically individuals vote to elect individuals who then represent them on the issues before the country.

Democracy fails badly under two conditions, the first condition is when one group takes over all the government with complete and total control. This is how Hitler came to power in Germany before WWII. It also fails when no one group has enough control over the government to push the country forward on an agenda.

The bottom line is really what Churchill said "Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."1

The real test of a democracy is the moral compass of the citizens that live in that democracy. If the citizens perceive themselves as safe, they will not allow their government to behave badly. If, however, they are scared then they will turn a blind eye to the immoral acts their government performs in their name. Tis a shame but good and evil live only in our hearts and hands, not in our government.