The Economist on the crisis of democracy: One reason why so many democratic experiments have failed recently is that they put too much emphasis on elections and too little on the other essential features of democracy. The power of the state needs to be checked, for instance, and individual rights such as freedom of speech and freedom to organise must be guaranteed. The most successful new democracies have all worked in large part because they avoided the temptation of majoritarianism—the notion that winning an election entitles the majority to do whatever it pleases. Essay has its flaws, but it is definitely worth a read. For all scratching their heads about the phenomenon that is Bosnia of the moment, a must read.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 02:59:03 +0000