Talk:Democracy

Rights and Freedoms

Democracy is about civil rights and personal freedom. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, and suffrage are some of the fundamental rights and freedoms in democracy. In democratic nations, life, liberty, and property cannot be taken away without legal cause. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these rights are Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness" -Constitution of the United States of America

Inherent Contradiction

It seems to me that "While there is no universally accepted definition of 'democracy'" and the first line of the article which states what a pure form of democracy is contradicts itself. First, we state what democracy is (and therefore define the system of government) while later we state that there is no definition. I would then propose that the quoted line or something to its effect be moved to the first line while the actual fist line be removed; though it should be noted that in some cases that serves as a definition for democracy. Sovereignlance (talk) 05:22, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

I agree. Personally, i think the statement about "While there is no universally accepted definition...", which from a magazine Economist, is not very reliable. I would prefer it to be removed. Economist is not famous for its academic level and as a market oriented magazine it would easily lose its objectivity. I think democracy has a pretty clear definition given from Aristotle long time ago and since then there are only variations from the original. What a journalist might be confused by is the large number of variations of system of rule that exist, which have some degree of democratic elements and that although some tout them democracies they are not. If anyone objects, i would remove that particular statement.A.Cython (talk) 18:07, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

I agree that these two paragraphs definitely need to be merged or changed, and I would suggest something similar to the following:

"Democracy is a term with no universal definition, however equality and freedom have both been long-standing characteristics, featuring since ancient times. Based on these characteristics ideal democracy tends to feature government by consent with political equality, rule of law, legitimized rights and liberties, with citizens having equal access to the legislative processes."

However I haven't edited the page as this likely needs grammatical and general improvement, as I've cut a significant amount out and I've replaced 'equality before the law' with 'rule of law' which as far as I am aware are the same things, although I am not certain. 92.4.139.51 (talk) 04:43, 27 February 2012 (UTC)

Support-Bargaining

The theory of support-bargaining suggests that the systems of government recognised as 'democratic' are better understood as processes in which support is assembled in groups and organisations through support-bargaining. In political support-bargaining, parties formulate policies and proposals that will attract support. People give their support to parties in accordance with their acceptance or rejection of the policies and proposals on offer. An electoral system, understood as an artificial support-bargaining structure, is used to facilitate the emergence of a party with majority support in a legislature. In contrast with democratic theory, which has difficulty reconciling parties with popular rule, the theory gives a central role to political parties, as the most powerful agents of support-bargaining systems.

Support-bargaining theory also draws attention to the importance of finance for political parties. The assembly of support across a nation for the same policies involves substantial costs. Democratic theory has no understanding of parties and consequently no understanding of the importance of finance in political processes.

(end addition)

Opinion resource

• Do Drones Undermine Democracy? by Peter W. Singer from Washington D.C. published New York Times January 21, 2012
  • Response Letter When the Oligarchy Decides A version of this letter appeared in print on January 24, 2012, in The International Herald Tribune.

See Oligarchy and Second Thoughts on James Burnham 99.190.87.151 (talk) 01:33, 28 January 2012 (UTC)

Anything you have in mind regarding this article with those links? (The first one is specifically concerned with US politics, the second one doesn't mention "democracy" at all, and the following are just wikilinks). --Saddhiyama (talk) 01:43, 28 January 2012 (UTC)

Excessive Introduction

Much of the text in the introduction seems to be too detailed, and is repeated in subsequent sections. For example, the final paragraph of the introduction talks about the origins of democracy in Ancient times, and then this information is repeated in different wording directly after it. Much of the final paragraph could probably be deleted. The introduction needs refining. Frustra Scientia (talk) 04:59, 27 February 2012 (UTC)