Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Four characteristics of democracy
Democracy in developing countries
Democracy in developing countries
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Winston Churchill's Quote on Democracy
"Many forms of government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe.
No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is
the worst form of government, except for all the others that have been tried from time to time." -
Winston Churchill, 1947. This quote represents the views of Winston Churchill, the former Prime
Minister of Great Britain, not only on democracy, but on government as a whole. By this quote
Churchill meant that democracy is not perfect, and no government created so far is. Every form
of government no matter how successful it is has flaws.
According to Webster's Dictionary the definition of government is: 1 : "a government by
the people; esp : rule of the majority 2 : a government in which the supreme power is held by the
people." Democracy cannot function without the people, especially if the people are ignorant, ill-
informed, or only care about their own interests. Building an effective democracy takes time, the
people must be educated to make effective and well-informed decisions. This is one reason why
democracy is failing in Russia, and one of democracy's flaws. Democracy is also a very slow
process; the checks and balances that help make democracy effective also makes it inefficient.
Before a law is passed it spends a great deal of time in the hands of officials in Congress, and even
in the hands of the president. " Democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It
can only exist until a majority of voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse out of the
public treasury."- Alexander Tyler. While this quote is not completely realistic, the idea behind it
is very true. It is often said that democracy is just a tyranny of the majority. This can seem true
at times, because the thoughts and ideas of a minority are not always fairly represented. In fact in
a few ways a dictatorship has advantages over democracy it's more efficient. A dictatorship is a
very efficient form of government, and so is a oligarchy, but in those governments it can be very
difficult for the views and opinions of the people to be heard. For these reasons democracy is the
Democracy may be the best foundation on which to build a society, but to glorify it
Before that can be established, I think a definition of democracy should be stated so that it may be called upon later in this essay. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, democracy is stated as "the principle of social equality and respect for the individual within a community" .
Oligarchy is valued above a democracy although they are both ruled by the appetite of the soul. Those within an oligarchy pursue necessary appetites whereas democratic individuals pursue unnecessary appetites. Rulers are present...
...religions of the citizens, the immigrant melting-pot nature of the country, and the market-driven economy in which an equality of opportunity and old fashioned American elbow grease is all one needs to succeed. America certainly is not a perfect democracy, in any sense of the word. However, the particular brand of democracy practiced in America has shown itself over a course of more than two hundred years to be both resilient and flexible. American democracy may not be perfect, but democratic it surely is.
Stanley Fish was brilliant to point out the different out looks on "fairness". People choose indivually what id fair, but this does not mean that the stndards of the comm...
He challenges this idea by speaking of democracy as a concept that individuals within our society should live by. As he says
...e to the nature of Democracy it lacks righteousness but it could never be considered corrupted. A Democratic regime based on egalitarian rights allows for qualified citizens to share in the government under the sovereignty of the law. In this type of regime the majority class rules, allowing for all citizens to have a true say in the pertinent matters in regards to their regime or city.
The minority rights in a democratic society appear to even out with the majority rule in an unusual way. There are some incidents where the minority may have loss, but on the other hand won. For example, when Rosa Parks didn’t give up her seat on that hot Alabama day, she stood up to the majority tyranny. The majority won by putting her in jail, however; the minority prevailed by establishing the civil rights movements.
One of the contemporary definitions of democracy today is as follows: “Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives; Rule by the majority” (“Democracy” Def.1,4). Democracy, as a form of government, was a radical idea when it manifested; many governments in the early history of the world were totalitarian or tyrannical in nature, due to overarching beliefs that the strong ruled over the weak.
In deciphering what constitutes the brilliance of democracy then, we find that it is not citizens’ ability to make informed decisions or an unflawed and subtly manipulated election process, but the unapparent way in which democracy persuades citizens – informed or not - and leaders – corrupt or not – toward working to build better, more prosperous societies.
Firstly, K. Isbester mentions that democracy has a different meaning for everyone, as some can define democracy as a good aspect for development, on the contrary other believe that it is nothing more than voting after several years. Although, Latin America see democratic g...
...ople define democracy. Not only does it bring up the complex question of what a democracy really is but also, depending on the definition of democracy, it question whether the theory is accurate or inaccurate. For instance, if one views democracy to be a system of government where there is equality and the people are free and autonomous, it could be argued that democracies go to war with each other and have in fact done so. On the other hand, if the definition of democracy is clear, straightforward maybe even restrictive, the truth of the theory comes forth. If democracy is defined as a political system where universal suffrage exists, then it really can be argued that democracies do not conflict with each other and no democracies have. This does lead to the conclusion, that for this theory to apply, countries considered to be democracies must really be democratic.
What is democracy? Democracy a form of government in which the people freely elect representatives to govern them in a country, democracy guarantees free and fair elections, basic personal and political rights and independent court of law. There are two types of democracy, direct and indirect democracy. Direct democracy or pure democracy is where there is direct participate of the people; people make decisions for them instead of letting them representative make decision for them. Indirect democracy the decisions are made by the representative on behalf of the people that voted for them. All over the world people are having different views with regard to democracy and how it operates. “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried” ~ Winston Churchill, some have said democracy is the worst government form of government which I also think it’s! Due to the how it operates.
Throughout history different types of instrumental regimes have been in tact so civilizations remained structured and cohesive. As humanity advanced, governments obligingly followed. Although there have been hiccups from the ancient times to modern day, one type of government, democracy, has proven to be the most effective and adaptive. As quoted by Winston Churchill, democracy is the best form of government that has existed. This is true because the heart of democracy is reliant, dependent, and thrives on the populaces desires; which gives them the ability for maintaining the right to choose, over time it adjusts and fixes itself to engulf the prominent troubling issues, and people have the right of electing the person they deem appropriate and can denounce them once they no longer appease them. In this paper, the benefits of democracy are outlined, compared to autocratic communism, and finally the flaws of democracy are illustrated.
The foundation of the modern political system was laid in the times when the world was strangled in slavery. In those moments, enlightened minds in Greek came up with the new system that was there to remain for the next thousands of years. This system, now known as democracy, is a form of government in which supreme power is vested to the people themselves. People have the right to elect their leaders directly or indirectly through a scheme of representation usually involving periodically held free elections. A new democratic government is usually established after every 4-5 years, and it is trusted with the responsibility to cater to the needs of all the people irrespective of the fact that they voted for them or not. Although the minorities may not be very pleased with the idea of democracy, however, a democratic government is certainly the best because it establishes social equality among people, reduces the conflicts in the state to a minimum, gives the chance to vote repeatedly, and creates patriotism.