The pillar of democracy is participation. But I’m not sure anyone actually does that. At best they will participate in the representative hiring process, but even then they will ‘forget’ to actually talk to the person they hired afterwards, thinking the person is a mind reader or something.
What’s there to participate in if the country can’t secure Democratic elections or if the people cant trust the elections are true or if the courts can’t enforce the rules that keep the machine running or if the people lack any kind if shared knowledge that binds them so they are aware how the system runs.
Participation is important in Democratic countries but its not what makes democracy possible. Democracy is only possible when there are key things in place for it to rest on. Subversion is kicking those legs out from under it. Propaganda targets the civilians to do the kicking.
What’s there to participate in if the country can’t secure Democratic elections
A representative democracy makes things easier, saving you the trip to Ottawa, but if you don’t have trust in the representative then the people can make the trip themselves. You do not technically need a secure democratic election for a democracy to function. You do need people to exercise their democratic obligation, though.
But there is nothing to indicate that we manage that last bit, even with a representative system to make it easier. We, meaning a fraction of the population, just pick some dictatorial figurehead to make the decisions for us and then bitch and moan when they didn’t read our minds properly. That is technically enabled by democracy, but totally misses the spirit of democracy.
The pillar of democracy is participation. But I’m not sure anyone actually does that. At best they will participate in the representative hiring process, but even then they will ‘forget’ to actually talk to the person they hired afterwards, thinking the person is a mind reader or something.
What’s there to participate in if the country can’t secure Democratic elections or if the people cant trust the elections are true or if the courts can’t enforce the rules that keep the machine running or if the people lack any kind if shared knowledge that binds them so they are aware how the system runs.
Participation is important in Democratic countries but its not what makes democracy possible. Democracy is only possible when there are key things in place for it to rest on. Subversion is kicking those legs out from under it. Propaganda targets the civilians to do the kicking.
A representative democracy makes things easier, saving you the trip to Ottawa, but if you don’t have trust in the representative then the people can make the trip themselves. You do not technically need a secure democratic election for a democracy to function. You do need people to exercise their democratic obligation, though.
But there is nothing to indicate that we manage that last bit, even with a representative system to make it easier. We, meaning a fraction of the population, just pick some dictatorial figurehead to make the decisions for us and then bitch and moan when they didn’t read our minds properly. That is technically enabled by democracy, but totally misses the spirit of democracy.