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Democracy
Democracy is a type of government characterized by a "rule of the people." In most democracies, citizens are equal and have the ability to vote for their political leaders.
1,484 Questions
Greco-Roman principles have led to laws that are based on reson rather than God's will. (APEX)
What ideas of fairness equity and rights were apart of Athenian democracy?
Athens, having expelled its tyrant in 510 BCE, began to experiment with democracy in 508 BCE with an Assembly elected by male citizens.
During the Persian invasion 480-479 BCE the aristocratic Council of the Areopagus took control to control the war effort and remained in control until 461 BCE when Ephialtes removed it and re-established the authority of the Assembly and was murdered for this.
Pericles took over and began to extend democracy further, expelling his conservative opponent Thucydides son of Melesias in 444 BCE, and extended political power to all male adults regardless of property qualifications. The Assembly decided, the Council carried out it's directions. This is known as a radical democracy - (as opposed to today's representative democracies wher voters elect members of parliament, who make the decisions).
This democracy continued on (with some periods during and after the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE) when it was limited to meet war crises) but faded as people lost interest in fortnightly Assembly meetings and government fell more and more to the Council, with the people voting on Council motions.
Which countries do not have democratic elections?
Only two countries in the world do not claim to be democracies, Myanmar (Burma) which is a Military Dictatorship, and Vatican City which is an Ecclesiastical Monarchy.
However according to the Democracy Index, 51 of the countries that claim to be democracies are actually Authoritarian Regimes where corruption and other factors prevent effective democratic process.
Only 30 countries are considered to be True Democracies with effective Democratic Governments, according to the Democratic Index
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_index
If you want examples then look no further than countries with Communism or Dictatorships. Some Communist countries are/were China, Korea, Cuba, Soviet Union. Some Dictatorships are/were Nazis and Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Robert Mugabe. X
What is a potential problem of a direct democracy or majority rule?
tyranny through suppression of the minority
What are the Ingredients of Democracy?
DEMOCRACY; is a form of government in which all the eligible citizens have an equal say in the decision that affect their lives.
DEMOCRACY allows eligible citizen to participate equally-either directly or through elected representative in the proposal, development and creation of law. it encompasses social, economic andcultural conditions that enable the free and equal practice of political self determination.
What are the Ingredients of Democracy?1. participation
2. political Tolerance
3. Pluralism ( ideological, ethnic, linguistic, Religious).
4.Rule of Law (equality before law).
5.Minority Rights (Religious, ethnic, linguistic).
6. Freedom ( of thought, believe, expression, speech, debate, inquiry, assemble, association e.t.c).
7. citizens right ( human, political and civic.
What are some of the attributes of democracy?
The Freedom of political expression
The freedom of speech
To Rule
To control Pokemon on the battlefield
How does the American democracy differ from the democracy that grew under Pericles?
The fundamental distinction between Ancient Athenian democracy and US democracy is that the Ancient Athenians had a direct democracy in which all persons entitled to vote would vote on all issues and the US has an indirect democracy in which all persons entitled to vote will vote for representatives who will then vote on all issues.
However, there are other differences. Ancient Athenian democracy was limited in several ways. The first were limits on suffrage. Only ethnic Athenian males who owned property were allowed to vote. This was less than 10% of the population of Athens. There were also limits on who could be the leaders of the state, restricting that to several noble families. Conversely, in the US, because of amendments to the Constitution any person above the age of eighteen years is entitled to vote and any person who follows the requisite conditions (which are conditions for which any citizen could qualify) can achieve any office in the country (excepting the Presidency which requires a US birth).
What is the most significant difference between direct democracy and representative democracy?
In a direct democracy, citizens directly vote for all decisions made by the government. In an indirect democracy, they vote for representatives who, in turn, vote for decisions.
How long was Germany a Democracy?
Germany, post 1990 reunification, is a federal, parliamentary, representative democratic republic. Much like the USA, Germany has states (16 of them) and powers are assumed by those states as well. Nevertheless, censorship law is still an issue in Germany.
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There is no censorship issue in Germany.
Why type of democracy does the US have?
Without specifying who "they" are, it is impossible to narrow down what type of democracy "they" have. That being said, here are different types of democracy.
1) Direct Democracies: Direct Democracies, which compose a number of limited initiatives, such as exist in some Swiss cantons, are governments where the individual citizens vote directly on issues, without a Congress or other indirect form of election. The difficulty and complexity of modern government have effectively made direct democracy impossible.
2) Presidential Republics: Presidential Republics, which include the United States and large parts of Latin America, are governments where all citizens over a certain age can vote for political parties that sit in Congress as well as voting for a President who is the chief executive. In Presidential Republics, there is a clear delineation between the legislative and executive branches.
3) Parliamentary Democracy: Most European countries (including the constitutional monarchies) have governments where all citizens over a certain age can vote for political parties that occupy seats in a Parliament and create a ruling coalition. This coalition appoints the Prime Minister and takes over the affairs of governance between the fair and non-fraudulent elections.
4) Illiberal Democracies: Russia and many Third-World Nations were Liberal Democracies on paper with guaranteed voting rights, freedoms of speech and religion, constitutions that bind the authority of the Executive. In nearly every regime that this describes (like Putin's Russia, Erdogan's Turkey, Saddam Hussein's Iraq, Mubarak's Egypt) these paper rights and limitations on paper did not exist. These rulers used an apparent mechanism of democracy to perpetuate a dictatorship.
5) Compromised or Confessional Governments: In situations with various powerful ethnic groups like Lebanon (with its Maronite, Shiite, and Sunni communities) and Iraq with its (Shiite, Sunni Arab, and Kurd communities) there are democracies which guarantee certain positions in the government to a certain ethnic group so that one group cannot dictate policies for all the other groups. This often results in fights over census taking as that might lessen a particular group's strength and actual group on group violence to intimidate voters of one ethnic group to vote for a candidate that also supports whatever objective would help the perpetrator who are a different ethnicity. This results in very fragile agreements.
What are the best ways for citizens to make a change within a democratic government?
You are likely looking for the term "voting". However, one luxury of the American representative system, in conjunction with the First Amendment of the Constitution, is that citizens are free at all time to petition the government for redress.
The term for changing the U.S. constitution is not simply "voting"! Seriously? Though I am not quite sure what the term is, "voting" is quite juvenil!
because thats just the way it is !
What are some similarities and differences of direct democracy and representative democracy?
1. Direct Democracy : Full citizen participation in government power / Assemble of all citizens holds sovereignty
2. Both direct and Rep. Dem.: Majority Rule, Popular Sovereignty, citizens vote
3. Rep. Dem. only: Sovereignty exercised by representatives, indirect representation though appt. by representatives
Why are the numbers of democratic countries increasing day by day?
It is not entirely clear that the number of democratic countries is increasing day by day. There are instances like Russia, Hungary, Iraq, Turkey, and several other sovereign states that are becoming less democratic and increasingly authoritarian. However, as a general historical trend, yes, the number of democracies is increasing. The reason for this is that the economic and political success of democratic countries is quite clear around the world. Impoverished peoples under the repression of their governments note that in a democracy, at least, they have the right to complain and seek redress for their grievances.
What is the concept democracy?
a form of government in which the supreme power is retained by the people, but which is usually exercised indirectly through a system of representation and delegated authority periodically renewed
Why are states known for as laboratories of democracy?
States try new policies and if they work, then other states, or perhaps even the entire country, will use them.
Why is the government during the age of Percicles referred to direct democracy?
The citizens (adult males) met in assembly fortnightly and discussed and voted on laws and the conduct of the state, the council carried out the directions of the assembly between meetings. In that way, they were the government.
An indirect democracy is where people elect representatives to a parliament, and the parliament makes the decisions, which are not necessarily what the people wanted.
A direct democracy was possible with a city-state where the citizens lived close enough to attend the assemblies. Elected representative democracy is unavoidable where the distance preclude this, however fast-growing communications efficiency will offer the ability to install direct democracy, however this will be strongly resisted by today's politicians who will not want to give up perks and power, just as it was resisted in ancient Greece.
What are the pros and cons on Athenian democracy?
Strengths: they defeated the Persian army and navy. They lived with great self confidence. They had no lawyers in court; parties in a case argued their own side.
Weaknesses: they practiced slavery. Greek men were often immoral and resorted to prostitutes, and developed homosexual relationships.
What are the similarities of democracy and theocracy?
No real similarity. A democracy is represented by the people through the use of votes. A theocracy is run by the church leaders who tell the people what to do.
In the early days of our democracy voting was done by?
White men who owned land and were over 21 could vote. Congress picked the president and they felt the general population were not informed enough to vote.
Why is a federal system important in a democracy?
This is a very typical American misconception. Since federalism is a key component of the US political machinery, many Americans mistakenly believe that a federal system is requisite or strongly desirable when creating a democracy. Confederacies, nation-states, and other non-federal forms of governance work just as well as a federal system in sustaining a democracy.
