Democracy

1
Democracy

• Dr. Yee Wah Foo
• ywfoo_at_lincoln.ac.uk

2
Everyday Life

• Politics in everyday life is dynamicit is a
  topic you digest every morning with your
  breakfast
• Daily papers
• Radio
• Television

3
But what is politics?

• Politics is the resolution by compromise and
  conciliation of the inevitable conflicts in any
  community.

4
Politics, Power, Authority

• David Easton argues that politics is concerned
  with the authoritative allocation of values.
• i.e. politics necessarily entails the concept of
  authority, an accepted or legitimate form of
  power.

5
What else?

• Politics is not just a necessary evil it is a
  realistic good. Political activity is a type of
  moral activity it is a free activity, and it is
  inventive, flexible, enjoyable and human.
• Bernard Crick, (1929 -), (author of In Defence of
  Politics)

6
What is democracy?

• A political system in which a government is
  removable by the people and that they should be
  the ultimate decider of who should govern
• Demos the people
• Kratos power, or to rule

7
Ancient Greece

• The polis or city state (300 years before the
  birth of Christ)
• Freeborn citizens were politically equal and all
  citizens voted
• Judges were elected from assemblies who together
  acted as a court for a limited time and were
  publicly accountable

8
Ancient Greece

• Greek democracy was based on direct popular
  participation
• Disadvantages over 50 percent of the
  population non-citizens. These were slaves,
  foreigners and women

9
The Magna Carta

• 1215 King John puts his seal on the Magna Carta
• Petition of Right in 1628 (Monarch could not tax
  without parliaments consent)
• Bill of Rights in1689 (Freedom of speech, banning
  of cruel or unusual punishment)

10
Political Philosophers

• Thomas Hobbes, (1588-1679)
• Leviathan published in 1651
• John Locke (1632-1704)
• Two Treaties of Government written in 1690
• Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
• The Social Contract (1762)

11
End of the 19th Century

• Most of the Western European monarchies had
  adopted a constitution
• Power of the Monarchies is limited
• Parliamentary-style representative legislatures
  give the people more power

12
Democracy in Everyday Life

• Everyday Life how far have our democratic rights
  been eroded?
• George Orwell, 1984
• Do Orwells predictions ring true?

13
Seminar Question

• Is democracy an enemy of individual liberty?
• What are some of the predictions George Orwell
  made, and do you think any of them have some
  truth today?