Democracy is a property of a system of governance where agents within that system have power over decisions in proportion to how much those decisions impact them.
I see two problems with that definition.
First, it labels a society that’s in civil war where decisions are made by the sword as democratic provided everyone has equal power and is equally effected.
That wouldn’t be democracy as it’s commonly understood. Democracy also includes a feature where it’s advantagous to both sides to resolve conflicts peacefully. In the West we live for decades mostly in peace but that’s not guranteed. It’s very valuable to live in peace and discounting it’s value is bad.
Secondly, it ignores delegation of power. By the nature of delegation of power it means that the person who’s the recipiant of delegated power has more power then the people who delegate their power.
Delegation of power not only happens through elections. If many people read an article by an investigative reporter, that gives the investigative reporter power which in turn means that a single man can create change when something isn’t working. Free speech is a central part of the Western notion of democracy because it allow such interactions to happen.
First, it labels a society that’s in civil war where decisions are made by the sword as democratic provided everyone has equal power and is equally effected.
Thanks for your thoughtful reply ChristianKl :)
Such a broken-down society doesn’t have a system of governance, and we explicitly say that this is a property of a system of governance. A power vacuum within which a system would normally sit is distinguishably different to a functioning state. So, it seems like we would fully expect this definition to fail here at no fault of its own.
Secondly, it ignores delegation of power. By the nature of delegation of power it means that the person who’s the recipiant of delegated power has more power then the people who delegate their power.
Yes, this is in support of radical and direct democracy, not the watered-down versions we see today which depend far too heavily on delegation. It is a very intentional ignoring of delegation, because delegation is directly counter to maximizing this property. I do propose Liquid Democracy as a just solution for sometimes temporarily delegating power in the “Counter-Arguments: The Average Punter” section, because it is sometimes necessary for decisions where the average voter isn’t proficient.
Delegation of power not only happens through elections. If many people read an article by an investigative reporter, that gives the investigative reporter power which in turn means that a single man can create change when something isn’t working. Free speech is a central part of the Western notion of democracy because it allow such interactions to happen.
We are not merely describing democracy as “elections”, as I try to outline in the opening “What Is Democracy”. You will notice that I describe agency as not merely the agency of an individual within a political system, but general agency of action, which I believe encompasses your views on free speech.
I see two problems with that definition.
First, it labels a society that’s in civil war where decisions are made by the sword as democratic provided everyone has equal power and is equally effected.
That wouldn’t be democracy as it’s commonly understood. Democracy also includes a feature where it’s advantagous to both sides to resolve conflicts peacefully. In the West we live for decades mostly in peace but that’s not guranteed. It’s very valuable to live in peace and discounting it’s value is bad.
Secondly, it ignores delegation of power. By the nature of delegation of power it means that the person who’s the recipiant of delegated power has more power then the people who delegate their power.
Delegation of power not only happens through elections. If many people read an article by an investigative reporter, that gives the investigative reporter power which in turn means that a single man can create change when something isn’t working. Free speech is a central part of the Western notion of democracy because it allow such interactions to happen.
Thanks for your thoughtful reply ChristianKl :)
Such a broken-down society doesn’t have a system of governance, and we explicitly say that this is a property of a system of governance. A power vacuum within which a system would normally sit is distinguishably different to a functioning state. So, it seems like we would fully expect this definition to fail here at no fault of its own.
Yes, this is in support of radical and direct democracy, not the watered-down versions we see today which depend far too heavily on delegation. It is a very intentional ignoring of delegation, because delegation is directly counter to maximizing this property. I do propose Liquid Democracy as a just solution for sometimes temporarily delegating power in the “Counter-Arguments: The Average Punter” section, because it is sometimes necessary for decisions where the average voter isn’t proficient.
We are not merely describing democracy as “elections”, as I try to outline in the opening “What Is Democracy”. You will notice that I describe agency as not merely the agency of an individual within a political system, but general agency of action, which I believe encompasses your views on free speech.