Greatest Democracy in the World
If asked, “Where is the greatest democracy in the world located?”, Americans would surely have only one answer. “Why in the United States of America, of course”.
If a loyal citizen of Great Britain is asked the same question it’s a safe bet that the answer would be something like “you stupid bloke, of course it has to be Great Britain”.
And if a dedicated citizen of Japan was posed the question of the day they would almost certainly say “while our democracy may be modeled after the American system it has served Japan well. The American model must have been improved upon by General Douglas MacArthur. and further improved over the years by the citizens of Japan. Our democracy is surely the best”
While nationalism is alive and well in this world if our poll taking citizens are asked detailed questions of exactly how their political system works few citizens of any democratic nation will likely be able to provide correct or satisfactory answers.
Americans tend to think that they have a “one man, one vote” democracy. Not true. No less of an authority than the US CIA states that the American system of government is a “constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition.” The American founders were actually fearful of the “one man, one vote” concept as they were of the upper elite class and were concerned about giving the common not very well educated man too much power.
And women? Are you kidding? They weren’t considered smart enough to vote until 1920 when the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Women’s Right to Vote was passed. Sorry ladies. Even in America it took you a long painful time to gain voting rights even when in the Bill of Rights all people are stated to have been created equal.
The confusing US electoral college system of voting was born out of the elites who wrote the Constitution not having very much faith in the common man’s ability to make informed decisions. In Great Britain the system also shows some fear of the consequences of letting the common man hold too much power.
There you have the House of Commons balanced by the House of Lords and a Monarchy. Our good friends at the US CIA describe the form of government as a constitutional monarchy. While the reining Monarch may not have direct political power the Throne has powerful influence on the affairs of the nation.
And in Japan the citizens are governed by a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government. The Emperor has no direct political power, much as the Monarch in Great Britain, but is held in God like regard by the Japanese, and therefore has considerable influence on the affairs of state.
So again we come back to the question “which nation has the greatest democracy?”.
Which brings us to another question “how do we define greatest?”. Doesn’t it have to be how the citizens of the nation have fared under a nations political system? How their standard of living has improved, how prosperous they have become, how healthy they are, how satisfied they are with their lives, and what quality of life can their children expect to lead? Isn’t the result more important than the exact format of the means?
Humans are complex social creatures so it shouldn’t be too surprising that varying complex political systems have developed in various nations to serve the citizens needs. At least that is how the systems are supposed to operate. In all political systems politicians tend all too often to forget about who the masters are supposed to be.
As a pure democracy none of the above nations qualify even though many of their citizens think otherwise. A pure democracy really is a one man, one vote type of system. It is defined by Merriam Webster Dictionary as a form of government in which the power is exercised directly by the people rather than through representatives.
A pure democracy doesn’t exist in any of the modern world’s political systems. That is except in a few tribal systems here and there in the third world that we in the developed world consider as primitive. Funny eh?
Now to finally answer to question “what is the greatest democracy in the world?”. It’s about time, right?
Consider the fact that now all of the peoples in the world who have access to the Internet can now take part in a pure democracy. With Web 2.0 web sites popping up one after the other the Internet citizen can express him/her self as never before. With social networking sites and sites like Digg.com you can exercise your vote whenever you like.
Many sites are now allowing their netcitizen members to write the content and to vote on the content that should be prominently displayed. One netcitizen, one vote. Or does it really work that way? The cheating that takes place in real life carries over in spades to the Internet. There are all sorts of devious programs and methods that are designed to rig the vote.
Now that we can participate in the world’s greatest pure democracy are we going to prove America’s founding fathers to be quite right? That the common man is not to be trusted? That while the Internet is proving to be a powerful political tool one must be careful in sorting out information from misinformation.
From all appearances it appears that more than 200 years ago those wise men who wrote the American Constitution were all too right. The problem is that in the political climate of today the elite who are elected to high office are not to be trusted either.
There is one man who had it right in dealing with the realities of current political affairs. Ronald Reagan said “trust but verify”. While President Reagan didn’t make that statement in reference to domestic affairs unfortunately it does apply.
In America, as we head into the 2008 Presidential campaigns, this is advice worth acting upon. While we may not have the world’s greatest “pure democracy” we are privileged to have a system that allows us to have access to the tools that allow us to verify the statements made by politicians of all stripes.
No doubt in the American 2008 campaign statements will be made by ambitious politicians that are half truths and out right lies. As Americans it is our duty as netcitizens of the greatest democracy even created, the Internet, to bring decency and honesty back into politics. Let’s hold politicians accountable for their statements as never before.
Hopefully, netcitizens of all nations will use the power of the Internet to bring about a transformation in politics that will force politicians to better serve the values and aspirations of the people rather than their own self interest
Whatever the details of the political system, wherever located, if the Internet can force more honesty into political life that has to be a good thing.
The greatest democracy in the world is a force that politicians will learn to respect if enough netcitizens exercise their right to “vote”.
