democracy, does it really exist ?

democracy, according to wikipedia

etymology: the word democracy derives from the ancient greek (δημοκρατία) (literally, rule by the people) formed from the roots δημος, people, and κρατος, rule or power

in a democracy the complete population is sovereign and all authority is based on the approval of the people. in some countries, democracy is based on the philosophical principle of equal rights.

in a democratic process competitive elections are usually seen to require the following three fundamental elements:

1. right to speak freely (freedom of speech, freedom of the press)
2. right to take initiative in law propositions/changes (right to petition)
3. right to vote. rule of law.
civilian control of the military is often seen as necessary to prevent military dictatorship and interference with political affairs.
majority rule is a major principle of democracy, minority rights are often protected from what is sometimes called "the tyranny of the majority".

democracy index

the economist has in a study examined the state of democracy in 167 countries and rated those with an economist intelligence unit index of democracy which focused on five general categories; free and fair election process, civil liberties, functioning of government, political participation and political culture. sweden scored a total of 9.88 on the scale of ten which was the highest result, north korea scored the lowest with 1.03. "full democracies", "flawed democracies", and "hybrid regimes" are considered to be democracies and "authoritarian regimes" are considered to be dictatorial. (note: the netherlands on place 3, belgium on place 20).

forms of democracy

1. indirect democracy
representative democracy involves the selection of government officials by the people being represented. the most common mechanisms involve election of the candidate with a majority or a plurality of the votes. representatives may be elected by a particular district (or constituency), or represent the entire electorate proportionally proportional systems, with some using a combination of the two.

some representative democracies also incorporate elements of direct democracy, such as referendums. a characteristic of representative democracy is that while the representatives are elected by the people to act in their interest, they retain the freedom to exercise their own judgment as how best to do so.
parliamentary democracy where government is appointed by parliamentary representatives as opposed to a 'presidential rule' by decree dictatorship. under a parliamentary democracy government is exercised by delegation to an executive ministry and subject to ongoing review, checks and balances by the legislative parliament elected by the people
liberal democracy. is a representative democracy in which the ability of the elected representatives to exercise decision-making power is subject to the rule of law, and usually moderated by a constitution that emphasizes the protection of the rights and freedoms of individuals, and which places constraints on the leaders and on the extent to which the will of the majority can be exercised against the rights of minorities (see civil liberties). characteristic: elections
iroquois democracy, form of representative democracy. iroquois government and law was discussed by benjamin franklin and thomas jefferson. because of this many scholars regard it to have influenced the formation of american representative democracy. however scholars who reject multiculturalism disagree that the influence existed or was of any great importance.

2. particraty is a form of representative democracy without laws for direct participation in decision-making as seen in political parties (not-democratic!)

3. semi-direct democracy (switserland)

4. socialism has several different views on democracy. social democracy, democratic socialism, and the dictatorship of the proletariat (usually exercised through soviet democracy) are some examples. many democratic socialists and social democrats believe in a form of participatory democracy and workplace democracy combined with a representative democracy. within marxist orthodoxy there is a hostility to what is commonly called "liberal democracy", which they simply refer to as parliamentary democracy because of its often centralized nature.
because of their desire to eliminate the political elitism they see in capitalism marxists, leninists and trotskyists believe in direct democracy implemented though a system of communes (which are sometimes called soviets). this system ultimately manifests itself as council democracy and begins with workplace democracy. (see democracy in marxism)

5. direct democracy is a political system where the citizens participate in the decision making personally, contrary to relying on intermediaries or representatives. by referendums (without an roundabout way of a parliament)
the supporters of direct democracy argue that democracy is more than merely a procedural issue (i.e., voting). most direct democracies to date have been weak forms, relatively small communities, usually city-states.

however, some see the extensive use of referendums, as in california, as akin to direct democracy in a very large polity with more than 20 million in california.

in switzerland, 5 million voters decide on national referendums and initiatives two to four times a year; direct democratic instruments are also well established at the cantonal and communal level.

the ekklesia (greece), die landesgemeinde (swiss), the town-meeting (north-america, industrial councils (former yugoslavia)

6. anarchist democracy. the only form of democracy considered ac- ceptable to many anarchists is direct democracy. some anarchists oppose direct democracy while others favour it. pierre-joseph proudhon argued that the only acceptable form of direct democracy is one in which it is recognized that majority decisions are not binding on the minority, even when unanimous.

however, anarcho-communist murray bookchin criticized individualist anarchists for opposing democracy, and says "majority rule" is consistent with anarchism.

some anarcho-communists oppose the majoritarian nature of direct democracy, feeling that it can impede individual liberty and opt in favour of a non-majoritarian form of consensus democracy, similar to proudhon's position on direct democracy. the only form of democracy considered acceptable to many anarchists is direct democracy.

7. consensus democracy (to protect minority rights from the domination by majority rule) requires varying degrees of consensus rather than just a mere democratic majority. it typically attempts to protect minority rights from domination by majority rule.

the majoritarian and the non-majoritarian form of consensus democracy.

8. sortition. sometimes called "democracy without elections", sortition is the process of choosing decision makers via a random process. the intention is that those chosen will be representative of the opinions and interests of the people at large, and be more fair and impartial than an elected official.

the technique was in widespread use in athenian democracy and is still used in modern jury selection. it is not universally agreed that sortition should be considered "democracy" due to the lack of actual elections.

list of types of democracy

democracy, a broad article on democracy, especially its application in modernity.

anticipatory democracy, which relies on some degree of disciplined and usually market-informed anticipation of the future, to guide major decisions.

athenian democracy (sometimes called classical democracy), as originally developed in the classical greek city-state of athens.

bioregional democracy, matching geopolitical divisions to natural ecological regions.

defensive democracy, a situation in which a democratic society has to limit some rights and freedoms in order to protect the institutions of the democracy.

deliberative democracy, which focuses on hearing out every policy alternative, from every direction, and providing time to research them all.

demarchy, a form of democracy which has people randomly selected from the citizenry to either act as representatives, or to make decisions in specific areas of governance (defense, environment, etc.)

e-democracy, which comprises the use of electronic communications technologies, such as the internet, in enhancing democratic processes within a democratic republic or representative democracy.

market democracy, another name for democratic capitalism, an economic ideology based on a tripartite arrangement of a market-based economy based predominantly on economic incentives through free markets, a democratic polity and a liberal moral-cultural system which encourages pluralism. democratic centralism, an organizational method where members of a political party discuss and debate matters of policy and direction and after the decision is made by majority vote, all members are expected to follow that decision in public. democratic dictatorship also known as democratur.

direct democracy, implementations of democracy in more pure forms; classically termed pure democracy.

dominant-party system, a democratic party system where only one political party can realistically become the government, by itself or in a coalition government.

economic democracy, a theory of democracy involving people having access to subsistence, or equity in living standards.

grassroots democracy, a form of democracy emphasizing trust in small decentralized units at the municipal government level, possibly using urban secession to establish the formal legal authority to make decisions made at this local level binding.

illiberal democracy, a type of representative democracy where there are no or only weak limits on the power of the elected representatives to rule as they please.

jacksonian democracy, a form of democracy popularized by president andrew jackson promoted the strength of the executive branch and the presidency at the expense of congressional power.

jeffersonian democracy, a form of government named for american statesman thomas jefferson.

liberal democracy, a form of representative democracy with protection for individual liberty and property by rule of law.

multiparty democracy, a two-party system requires voters to align themselves in large blocs, sometimes so large that they cannot agree on any overarching principles.

new democracy, a maoist concept based on mao zedong's "bloc of four classes" theory in post-revolutionary china.

non-government democracy. aside from the public sphere, similar democratic principles and mechanisms of voting and representation have been used to govern other kinds of communities and organizations. non-governmental organizations decide policy and leadership by voting. in business, corporations elect their boards by votes weighed by the number of shares held by each owner. most trade unions choose their leadership through democratic elections. cooperatives are enterprises owned and democratically controlled by their customers or workers.

non-partisan democracy, a system of representative government or organization such that universal and periodic elections (by secret ballot) take place without reference to political parties.

parliamentary democracy, a democratic system of government where the executive branch of a parliamentary government is typically a cabinet, and headed by a prime minister who is considered the head of government.

participatory democracy, which involves consensus decision making and offers greater political representation, e.g., wider control of proxies others trust them with, to those who get directly involved and actually participate.radical democracy, a type of democracy that focuses on the importance of nurturing and tolerating difference and dissent in decision-making processes.

religious democracy, the values of religion play a role in the public arena in a society populated by religious people.

republican democracy, a republic which has democracy through elected representatives.

representative democracy describes indirect democracy where sovereignty is held by the people's representatives.

social democracy, a political philosophy that calls upon government to be for the people. in contrast to socialists, modern social democrats do not believe in nationalizing industry.

sortition, a democratic method of choosing political and administrative officials, advocated by aristotle, and used in classical athens and venice, which is based on the drawing of lots as opposed to election by vote.

soviet democracy or council democracy, a form of democracy where the workers of a locality elect recallable representatives into organs of power called soviets (councils.) the local soviets elect the members of regional soviets who go on to elect higher soviets.

supranational democracy. qualified majority voting (qmv) is designed by the treaty of rome to be the principal method of reaching decisions in the european council of ministers. this system allocates votes to member states in part according to their population, but heavily weighted in favour of the smaller states. this might be seen as a form of representative democracy, but representatives to the council might be appointed rather than directly elected. some might consider the "individuals" being democratically represented to be states rather than people, as with many other international organizations. european parliament members are democratically directly elected on the basis of universal suffrage, may be seen as an example of a supranational democratic institution.

totalitarian democracy, a system of government in which lawfully elected representatives maintain the integrity of a nation state whose citizens, while granted the right to vote, have little or no participation in the decision-making process of the government.

westminster democracy, a parliamentary system of government modeled after that of the united kingdom system.

workplace democracy, the application of democracy to the workplace as opposed to conventional top-down management hierarchy.

so far wikipedia

democracy, does it really exist?

democracy as described above is a small number of related forms of government and also a political philosophy. it is very strange, that the real problem of democracy is untouched or bypassed by the terms of political philosophy, while everybody has in mind ethical philosophical form of democracy:

1. equality of all individuals without discrimination of any kind (birth, sex, age, race, belief)
2. equality of the voice in all matters of concern (cultural, social, economic, political)
3. equality of participation in human resources and reserves (happiness, health, wealth)

no wonder that this kind of democracy is an illusion, a fata-morgana for the unwise believers and a paradise of eden for the pressure groups and persons with a 'moral' vision and interest. isn't it curious that the big profit of wealth goes to that persons and institutions, that claim to represent the interests of 'other' people?

first of all the sovereign governments are the big winners, the real discriminators of the people. in belgium we have five governments. unhealthy house holding of the people's purse, extra-vagant loans, unnecessary debts, bad organization, that causes loss of valuable money and doubling (or more) of the cost of investments. too many officials and civil workers for a more than average income. the same is applicable to the local politicians and structures like provinces and communities.

the politicians who decided almost by themselves that there had to be a european commission, so that extra taxes had to be paid and our good money devaluated almost fifty percent. and because of that event the salary of the european workers was doubled and equals 2x that of the governmental workers because we are equal. after that the profit of the wealth is distributed among the banking- and the assurance companies, the sick-funds, the great building constructors and the international concerns.

what rest is the alms for the laborers' and because they can't pay taxes enough from their low net income, the government invented the road-thresholds and flashing traffic lights: 1995 (86%) for the flanders, 190 (8.2%) for the german kanton, 69 (2.9%) for walloons and 61 (2.6%) for brussels. total bring in of 300.000.000 € of wich 53% of this money (159.000.000 €) is floating back to the walloons because we are all equal.

this extra tax is needed according to the speaks man of the government to lower the number of accidents and death by traffic. the penalties flows to the regional police forces, and they don't know what to do with it, because it is that much. in the mean time belgium can't satisfy the norm of kyoto by planting on every cross road a (flashing) traffic light and a so-called green-wave is an illusion in belgium and even more when you drive a car on gas, you pay extra tax in belgium!

this democracy is characterized by discrimination and repression. what use is it to debate about the difference between capitalism and socialism?