Features of Ideal Democracy

At a minimum, an ideal democracy would have the following

features:

Effective participation. Before a policy is adopted or rejected,

members of the demos have the opportunity to make their views

about the policy known to other members.

Equality in voting. Members of the demos have the

opportunity to vote for or against the policy, and votes are counted

as equal.

Informed electorate. Members of the demos have the

opportunity, within a reasonable amount of time, to learn about the

policy and about possible alternative policies and their likely

consequences.

Citizen control of the agenda. The demos, and only the demos,

decides what matters are placed on the decision-making agenda

and how they are placed there. Thus, the democratic process is

“open” in the sense that the demos can change the policies of the

association at any time.

Inclusion. Each and every member of the demos is entitled to

participate in the association in the ways just described.

Fundamental rights. Each of the necessary features of ideal

democracy prescribes a right that is itself a necessary feature of

ideal democracy: thus every member of the demos has a right to

communicate with others, a right to have his vote counted equally

with the votes of others, a right to gather information, a right to

participate on an equal footing with other members, and a right,

with other members, to exercise control of the agenda.

Democracy, therefore, consists of more than just political

processes; it is also necessarily a system of fundamental rights.

Ideal and representative democracy. In modern representative

democracies, the features of ideal democracy are realized through

a variety of political institutions. These institutions, which are

broadly similar in different countries, were entirely new in human

history at the time of their first appearance in Europe and the

United States in the 18th century. The most important institutions

include:

Free, fair and frequent elections. Citizen may participate in

such elections both as voters and as candidates.

Freedom of expression. Citizen may express themselves

publicly on a broad range of politically relevant subjects without

fear of punishment.

Independent sources of information. There exist sources of

political information that are not under the control of the

government or any single group and whose right to publish or

otherwise disseminate information is protected by law.

Freedom of association. Citizens have the right to form and to

participate in independent political organizations, including parties

and interest groups.

As these institutions developed, it became increasingly

apparent that they were necessary for achieving a satisfactory level

of democracy in any political association as large as a nation-state.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-16