Definitions
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Below you will find some of the varied definitions of democracy which we have organized according to our four main issues. We have also provided a section for Notre Dame student definitions as well as some miscellaneous conceptions of democracy. Also the following link provides an example of a group of people who have attempted to undertake the task of "defining democracy"
http://www.monitor.net/democracyunlimited/duhc_html/Democracy_Dictionary.html
"I swear to the Lord
I still can't see
Why Democracy means
Everybody but me."
-Langston Hughes, The Black Man Speaks
"[I]n a democracy important public decisions on questions of law and policy depend, directly or indirectly, upon public opinion formally expressed by citizens of the community, the vast bulk of whom have equal political rights." (Weale 1999, 14)
"As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a
master. This expresses my idea of democracy."
-Abraham Lincoln
"Where the law of the majority ceases to be acknowledged, there government ends; the law of the strongest takes its place, and life and property are his who can take them." (Thomas Jefferson to Annapolis Citizens, 1809--discussing democracy)
"Democracy is a competitive political
system in which competing leaders and organizations define the alternatives of
public policy in such a way that the public can participate in the
decision-making process." (Schattschneider 1960, 141)
A ‘democratic regime’ is "first and
foremost a set of procedural rules for arriving at collective decisions in a way
which accommodates and facilitates the fullest possible participation of
interested parties." (Bobbio 1987, 19)
Democracy is "a state where political
decisions are taken by and with the consent, or the active participation even,
of the majority of the People. . . . [L]iberalism, though recognizing
that in the last resort the ‘legal majority’ must prevail, tries to protect
the minorities as it does the civil rights of the individual, and by much the
same methods. . . . Liberal democracy is qualified democracy. The
ultimate right of the majority to have its way is conceded, but that way is made
as rough as possible." (Finer 1997, 1568-1570)
"Democracy provides opportunities for 1) effective participation, 2) equality in voting, 3) gaining enlightened understanding, 4) exercising final control [by the people--WR] over the agenda, and 5) inclusion of adults." The political institutions that are necessary to pursue these goals are "1) elected officials, 2) free, fair and frequent elections, 3) freedom of expression, 4) alternative sources of information, 5) associational autonomy, and 6) inclusive citizenship." (Dahl)
"The competitive electoral context,
with several political parties organizing the alternatives that face the voters,
is the identifying property of the contemporary democratic process . . . .
[D]emocratic systems [are] . . . characterized by competitive
elections in which most citizens are eligible to participate." (Powell
1982, 3)
"I say that democracy can never prove
itself beyond cavil, until it founds and luxuriantly grows its own forms of art,
poems, schools, theology, displacing all that exists, or that has been produced
anywhere in the past, under opposite influences."
-Walt Whitman, Democratic Vistas
"Democracy is the worst form of government
except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."
(Winston Churchill, speech, House of Commons, Nov. 1947)
Democracy: The word democracy stems from the
Greek words demos, "people" and kratos, "rule." A democracy
is simply a system of government in which the people rule. ~http://www.afrd.org/glossary.htm
Democracy is "the substitution of
election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few." (G.B.
Shaw, quoted in Danziger 1998, 155)
Democracy "The term has three basic
senses in contemporary usage: (1) a form of government in which the right to
make political decisions is exercised directly by the whole body of citizens,
acting under procedures of majority rule, usually known as direct democracy; (2)
a form of government in which the citizens exercise the same right not in person
but through representatives chosen by and responsible to them, known as
representative democracy; and (3) a form of government, usually a representative
democracy, in which the powers of the majority are exercised within a framework
of constitutional restraints designed to guarantee all citizens the enjoyment of
certain individual or collective rights, such as freedom of speech and religion,
known as liberal, or constitutional, democracy."
"One works best when alone." This adage, commonly attributed to Hitler, perfectly sums up his views of democracy and parliamentary-style government. He believed that individuals operating in a democracy are not brought to their fullest potential due to the ultimatums and compromises (both in principle and practice) that commonly occur: ...democracy will in practice lead to the destruction of a people's true values. And this also serves to explain how it is that people with a great past from the time when they surrender themselves to the unlimited, democratic rule of the masses slowly lose their former position; for the outstanding achievements of individuals...are now rendered practically ineffective through the oppression of mere numbers. (Rauschning-- Adolf Hitler)
"A system of government born of the hopes and aspirations of a people and in the shaping of which the people have a real say and commitment to; a political structure to which people, in consequence, have intellectual, ideological, and emotional attachments; a system of government that is considered by the people as their own and which they are prepared to protect and defend to the hilt. In fine, a government of the people is one that has its roots in the people –in their goals, values, ideals, experiences, and aspirations: thus rooted it is not a type of governmental system the nuances of which can be imposed on the people from outside, though some aspects of those nuances can be influenced – even borrowed—externally; but it is a system of rule that is nurtured, refined, and modified by people to reflect their wishes, desires, and experiences. The lack of all these desiderata makes a people’s appreciation of, and attitude toward, a particular form of democratic practice merely tentative and tinkering." (Kwame Gyekye, Harvard educated Ghanaian Philosopher)
"Democracy is best viewed as a competition for power by means of regular elections. Citizens should not be expected to play a significant role in making complex public policy regarding, say, taxes or missile defense." (Posner-- Harvard Encyclopedia)
“Government of the people, by the people, for the people” (Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address)