Politics and Economics: Two Looking Glasses - The Wise World Traveler: Becoming a Part of All that You Meet - page 40

juveniles, or restrictions on a free press. In many Muslim countries, part-free governments
impose restrictions on women's freedom with respect to work, public appearance, and the
use of automobiles.
What qualifies a country and its government as democratic? Most agree that open and
honest elections in which voters freely choose their leaders is the minimum requirement.
Government officials chosen by majority rule are the second requirement, but provision is
also made for rule by a significant plurality. To qualify as a democracy, elections must take
place in regular sequence. “Majorities in flux” is the desired goal so that a majority, once
formed, may not hold office forever. And to keep majorities in motion and transition, cit-
izens must have the freedom to orally express and publish their opinions and to meet with
others in an attempt to persuade them of a desired course of action. Majorities may rule,
but the most successful democracy is one in which the majority will occasionally give way
to a minority that expresses intense concern over an issue. And when a democratic society
is split among several groups that burn with an intense passion over the great issues of the
day, that society trembles on the abyss of civil strife. Freedom House suggests that in 2010
there were 115 countries that were electoral democracies.
Like most aspects of life, democracy is not an all-or-nothing state of affairs. It has
many variations and degrees of perfection. The Preamble to the American Constitution
speaks of justice and liberty, but the Constitution also acknowledges the existence of slaves
and slavery. Countries with a written Constitution sometimes place rights and freedoms
in their Constitution, like the first Ten Amendments to the American Constitution and the
Charter of Freedoms and Responsibilities in the Canadian Constitution. Democratic gov-
ernments also require freedom from government coercion that can close down freedom of
electoral choice. These include things like protection from arbitrary imprisonment, the right
not to incriminate oneself through trickery or torture, and the right to a fair and open trial.
The list of democracy's rights and freedoms usually includes the right to worship (or not)
as you choose. Also important is geographic freedom (the right to live and work where you
wish); and freedom to choose one's vocation, to marry whom you choose, and to acquire
the education that will further your life's goals. The American Declaration of Independence
bundles these rights and freedoms in a succinct phrase: “the pursuit of happiness.”
DEMOCRACY'S IMPERFECTIONS
Many forms of government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and
woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all wise. Indeed it has been said that
democracy is the worst form of Government except for all the other forms that have
been tried.
— Winston Churchill, Speech before House of Commons , November 1947