Robert Maddex's Constitutions Of The World

Ashley: Robert Maddex’s idea that democracy is not the system that humans naturally adopt holds true. To support this, Robert Maddex writes in his book Constitutions of the World, “history makes it abundantly clear that democracy is not the ‘default form’ of political organization.” A democracy is a system of government that uses elected representatives in order to make decisions for the whole population or all eligible members of a state; a system of government that is difficult to maintain because of the need for citizen participation and understanding. As stated by Heinz Galinski, “Democracy cannot be forced upon a society, neither is it a gift that can be held forever. It has to be struggled hard for and defended everyday anew.” Democracy requires that all citizens participate in the political process, a request that is not only difficult to achieve but also a request that can easily leave individuals dissatisfied and disillusioned with the whole political process if their efforts are not immediately reflected in society. (1 minute 4 seconds)

Tim: As seen in Afghanistan, democracy is not something that can be forced upon people. Forcing democracy makes the people reject it even more. Government, as described by Thomas Hobbes, is created to
It is also important because citizen participation helps integrate citizens into their country. Citizen participation is very important because without the cooperation of the people, a government can easily fall apart. Classical Republicanism especially emphasizes civic participation and working towards the common good reflected mostly in the ideas and practices of Greek and Roman city-states. In order to address the country's' common welfare, its citizens must put aside their own personal interests.