Swift's Model Of Democracy

1881 Words4 Pages

Democracy is robust, widely accepted and highly anticipated around the world. It is the triumphant form of government; dominantly used in Europe, North and South and America and becoming reformed and taking new roots in Africa and Asia. Although the term democracy is based on its Greek origin, demos kratos, meaning people rule, the term cannot be simply understood as such. Due to vast coverage, the adaptation of democracy has varied greatly, whether regionally, nationally, by state or through different branches of government. Perhaps this can be advantageous when the different categorizations listed above can use democracy to rule and suit themselves best, but other factors, such as globalization and neoliberalism, has caused the need for …show more content…

Swift 's model of strong and weak democracy is necessary when studying modern day democracy. His suggestions for democratizing democracy and democratizing the economy have their flaws but are efficient in pointing out where democracy is failing. Additionally, they are suggestions of innovation, imagination and design that truly does allow one to question politicians and the political ideas these politicians are enforcing through democracy. Like Swift says, dissolving power would change the shape of political life; more thoughtful decisions will be made, better policy decisions geared towards collective interest of the public. 'Direct democracy can also be a useful counterbalance to the egoism and self-enrichment of political leaders. ' He continues by showing how more control from below will definitely fix the dissatisfaction that people have with democracy. This also relates to each society finding its strengths in its own traditions to shape a sense of representation based on its own needs rather than simply importing the Western model of a weak democracy. (Swift 115) Likewise, a rich variety of representation in our housing co-ops, workplaces, neighborhoods, schools and universities, regional planning boards or environmental advisory committees will allow democracy to no longer feel like something remote and monopolized by a few representatives, but part of everyday life. Swift 's argument is very compelling, and his model of strong and weak democracy is accurate. Like Swift says, a perfect democracy is impossible but his suggestions can be key in striving to reach the 'constant horizon ' that democracy should

Show More
Related

  • Athenian Democracy Dbq Analysis

    350 Words  | 1 Pages

    Democracy is the structure of government still used today in many countries.The definition of democracy is a system of government where people who rule directly are freely elected representatives.In addition, democracy comes from the Greek word demokratia. Demo meaning people and kratia meaning power of rule. For instance, here is an example, Great Britain has a democratic government since elected officials and laws are voted on by the people and also the representatives they elect. Therefore Athens exemplifies a democratic government. “Athenians would meet and vote on a simple question …. is anyone becoming a threat to democracy? If a simple majority voted yes,then they dispersed and reassembled two months later,

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Democracy By John L Anderson

    1190 Words  | 3 Pages

    Democracy has been a topic discussed for hundreds of years and a general idea of the topic would be the “governing of people by the people”. Many people have attempted “to sketch characteristics, or outcomes or preconditions, because democracy itself” (4) has been seen to be a difficult concept to define. In John L Anderson’s ‘What is Democracy?’ (2004) he takes an alternative approach to understanding democracy. Anderson explains that there is no “tidy set of ideas”, but rather “an indirect approach to defining democracy” (4) in order to understand and teach the concept of democracy. He states that there are four notion to achieve this: seeking the public interest helps us develop a morality based upon concern for others; governing others

    Read More

  • Democracy In Ancient Greece: The Foundations Of Democracy

    532 Words  | 2 Pages

    The term “democracy”, as a word and an institution, is derived from Ancient Greece. A democracy, by definition, is a form of government in which people choose leaders by voting. The earliest example of this governmental structure can be traced back to pre-common era Athens under the Athenian leader Cleisthenes. One of Ancient Greece’s most notable foundations was the polis, or city-state. The city-states were independent communities, with Athens being one of the most prominent.

    Read More

  • Marxist Critique of Democracy

    576 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the most prolific political theorists in history is Karl Marx. As the founder of Marxism, which has become closely associated with communism, his ideas have been implemented in some way in many governments of today. Though liberal democracy may not be completely bad in the views of Marx, he had others dreams for what government could achieve. Most of the issues had with liberal democracy were that of economic nature. As opposed to letting the rich rule over the poor, a communistic approach to economic issues was favored by thinkers like Marx and Lenin.

    Read More

  • Democracy in Latin America

    2755 Words  | 6 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Plato's Criticism of Democracy

    1688 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Does Democracy Work?

    849 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... result of a direct democracy, complications like getting every citizen to vote on every single issue, something close to impossible with modern populations that grow like grass in springtime. These changes have caused democracy to become intertwined with other forms of government, and while they have caused a deviation from pure democracy, they have allowed countless nations to function efficiently while maintaining the basic pillar of democracy: that ultimate authority and power is derived from the citizens.

    Read More

  • Constitutional Democracy

    1876 Words  | 4 Pages

    Constitutional Democracy The basic premise of a constitutional democracy is that government has rules and all of the people have voices. Through free and fair elections, we elect candidates to represent us. The Constitution of the United States guarantees us the right to do this, and to live democratically. The framers attacked tyrannical government and advanced the following ideas: that government comes from below, not from above, and that it derives its powers from the consent of the governed; that men have certain natural, inalienable rights; that it is wise and feasible to distribute and balance powers within government, giving local powers to local governments, and general powers to the national government; that men are born equal and should be treated as equal before the law.

    Read More

  • Democracy in China

    3306 Words  | 7 Pages

    Democracy is “...the word that resonates in people’s minds and springs from their lips as they struggle for freedom and a better way of life...” (Schmitter and Karl, 1991:75). However, the word democracy has many different means depending on the country and context it is used in. “Every country has is own culture and comes by its political system through its own history” (Greenberg, 2007:101, cited in Li, 2008:4). Li, (2008) states that because of China’s political structure the usual road to democracy may be difficult for it to achieve. The western idea ...

    Read More

  • Modernization Theory Of Democracy

    1474 Words  | 3 Pages

    The modern understanding of democracy, its importance and influence are often understood through the prevalence and practice of democracy in the United States and European states. However, this classification could simply appear simplistic in nature when it comes to the more rigorous academic and philosophical debate surrounding the issue. The theory has a strong theoretical base proffered by eminent social scientists. Its intellectual underpinning is primarily attributed to Seymour Martin Lipset. In this regard, Adam Prezewonski and Fernando Limongi offer their evaluation of the theory in Modernization Theories and Facts.

    Read More

  • Why Democracy is the Best Form of Government

    1173 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Rousseau's Concept of Democracy

    996 Words  | 2 Pages

    Rousseau describes democracy as a form of government that “has never existed and never will” ; yet twenty-six countries in the world are considered to be full democracies. How can this be possible? Rousseau’s concept of democracy supports the most fundamental and basic premise of democracy – one in which all citizens directly participate. While his idea of democracy cannot be considered an effective indictment of what passes for democracy today, it is not Rousseau’s account which is flawed but that in modern society is would be practically impossible to achieve this idea of democracy.

    Read More

  • DEMOCRACY AND DEVELOPMENT

    2269 Words  | 5 Pages

    There have been enormous efforts to spread democracy as a political system throughout the world by the developed democratic countries and the international development organizations including the World Bank. By the late 1990s the United States alone spent over a half billion dollars to promote democratic expansion throughout the world (Diamond, 2003). These were done considering that the democratic system leads towards development. As a result in the late 20th century we saw a huge political transformation towards democracy. During the last few decades a huge number of countries adopted democracy as their political system. However, it retain a big question how far democracy is successful in bringing development of a country? At this stage, some people also criticizes the effort of democratization arguing that it is done without considering the context of a country, sometimes democracy is not ideal for all countries and it is an effort to extinct diversity of political system. In studying the literature regarding the debate, we found a paradoxical relationship between democracy and development. Some argue that democracy has failed to ensure expected outcomes in terms of development. While others confronted that democracy has a considerable impact on development. Another group of people argue that form of political system actually does not have any impact on development process. On the verge of these debates, some development institutions and academics throw light on why democracy is not working properly, and what measure should be taken to make it more successful in bringing effective development of developing countries. Consequently, this writing is an effort of revisiting the different views about impact of democra...

    Read More

  • Democracy as the Best Form of Government

    1166 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • the ideal democracy

    668 Words  | 2 Pages

    The idea of an ideal democracy is not a particularly obtainable idea, considering the different in culture and history of countries this could be a dramatic change to previous authoritarian regimes. Although we can work towards this idea of an ideal democracy reaching this goal will be a much harder task. The attributes that contribute to having an ideal democracy are free and fair elections, their capability to implement policies, political participation of the masses and universal adult suffrage, and a multiple party political system.

    Read More

More about Swift's Model Of Democracy

Open Document