Although the people of Athens clearly knew and recognized that they lived in a democracy‚ Pericles goes out of his way to remind them of this as a means of praising and extolling the uniqueness of Athens and its system of government. It also supports the argument that Athens has a way of life that is superior to other poli within Greece‚ and its people must therefore fight for it and the values it upholds as a democracy. In fact‚ one way of looking at Pericles’ ancestor reference in the previous section
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In a democracy‚ people choose their leaders by voting‚ and everyone is treated equally. Democracy revolves around rule by the majority. In my opinion‚ colonial America was on its way to democracy‚ but far from being a true democratic society. Only a small portion of the people were able to make the decisions‚ so government did not revolve around the majority. By the 1720s in most colonies‚ eligible voters were defined as white Christian males who owned land and were over the age of 21. In
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Dangers of Despotism in a Democratic Age In his book‚ Democracy in America‚ Alexis de Tocqueville expresses his concerns regarding the emergence of despotism in the new democratic age of New England. For Tocqueville‚ despotism does not solely reside in one man. Despotism is a form of power that does not abide by the laws or rules. According to Tocqueville‚ despotism is not the rule of a single person; it does not lead to the rise of a single tyrant. Rather‚ despotism is an arbitrary form of power
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Essay on Democracy – Its Merits and Demerits (free to read). The English word ‘Democracy’ is derived from two Greek words ‘Demos’ and ‘Kratia’ or ‘cratos’. Demos means crowd and ‘Kratia’ or ‘cratos’ means power. This is why the critics of Democracy have described it as Mobocracy. But in reality Democracy is not mobocracy but rule by majority of the people according to certain rules and regulations which are accepted by the people of a country. In the beginning there was direct Democracy. For
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Democracy and Human Rights Democracy and human rights are clearly different notions; “they are distinct enough for them to be viewed as discreet and differentiated political concepts.” Whereas democracy aims to empower “the people” collectively‚ human rights aims to empower individuals. Similarly‚ human rights is directly associated with the how of ruling‚ and not just the who‚ which may be the case in an electoral democracy‚ though not in a substantive democracy. Thus‚ “democracies” exist that
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Democracy and Plato’s Republic We are in a time when people are questioning the workings of our government is the electoral process of choosing a president an accurate depiction of the public’s needs or wants. Does the government have the best interest of the people at heart or the best interest of the parties? In an economy besieged by recession is the structure of our government viable? These issues have been discussed in the past and different groups have come to different ideas on economic
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India is the largest functioning democracy in the world. It got freedom during the most sensitive period of world history. Two global wars were fought to make the world safe for democracy. In fact‚ the second global war accelerated the process of freedom from bondage. Though the armed clash was over yet tension was mounting up due to new ideological rivalry between East and West led by the then Soviet Union and the United States of America. The newly founded United Nations grew amidst the
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towards restoring democracy. Literature review of 1980s led to this thinking that two democratic countries do not go to war with each other. The policy
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the birth of Liberal Democracy? The Netherlands can use the work of Hugo Grotius‚ Justus Lipsius and Dirk Van Coornhert to support the claim that they are the birth of Liberal Democracy. However‚ one must also look at the influence Ancient Greece had on the birth of Liberal Democracy‚ as many of the leaders and theologians helped to create Liberal Democracy. One of the key figures that support the idea that the Netherlands can claim to be the birth of Liberal Democracy is Hugo Grotius. Grotius
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Carl Becker wrote about the ideal democracy in a government. The main purpose of the work is to make evident the nature of democracy. He compares it with other forms of government that depend on autocracy and the leadership of the few rather than the many. His concrete definition of democracy is “democratic government has always meant one in which the citizens‚ or a sufficient number of them to represent more or less effectively the common will‚ freely to act from time to time‚ and according to established
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