It is an arduous task to talk about democracy, given the weight that this concept carries and its numerous manifestations in practical life.
Even if the US is taken into consideration, the supposed nucleus of modern day democracy, it is still an uphill task to come to a consensus on what form of political system is in play, taking into account the assumption that there is only a singular structure of government.
The plethora of variations in the world of democracy, which Heywood offers, are somewhat standard in contemporary scholarship.
However, what concerns me is the popularization of the term 'democracy' itself. Heywood touches upon but does not go into detail about the grim implications of this whole notion of 'democracy' losing its meaning in favour of a certain feeling it induces in the general public
Instead of informing the people to a way of governance, the concept of 'democracy' has been dragged across the continents as merely a symbol of righteousness.
Without giving it much thought, 'democracy' for the common person popularly implies forces of good. In that case, reading between the lines would help us to the conclusion that anything 'undemocratic' is inherently bad, which is problematic in regards to foreign relations.
This line of thinking is easily debunked if one looks at the flip side of democracy in some of the classifications of democracy that Heywood provides. It is not hard to see why a 'totalitarian democracy' would not be a good thing, given that your perspectives are aligned in a certain way.
The connotations of an inherent goodness of the term 'democracy', to me, is the first obstacle in the road to understanding the bigger picture.
2 comments:
Very fine and subtle use of vocabulary to express your thoughts, I would say. And I am completely in agreement with your stance because the true meaning of democracy has been completely obscured by the millions of new connotations which are now attached to it. A bandwagon effect which has turned it into mere term of fashion and popularity alleging it as the ultimate divine governing system.
Abdullah - very well put! I completely agree when you say that the semantic implications and connotations of 'democracy' may have been strictly limited to the positive realm.It is equally important to understand or investigate where this restrictive stereotype has originated, who exactly gave birth to it and for what reasons. You might also want to investigate literature on the 'negative' aspects of democracy in order to gauge a wholesome picture of this debate.
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