‘We must recognize that representative democracy has...

‘We must recognize that representative democracy has failed, both politically and judicially as well as socially. As a consequence, we must return to the fundamental meaning of ‘democracy,’ the power of the demos to govern itself. Just as the dictatorship of the proletariat rapidly became the dictatorship over the proletariat, so modern democracy quickly became a power exercised over the demos. In reality the people have no power. They neither make the laws no govern.’ – Jacque Ellul (1992) There are generally two forms of democracy. These consist of direct democracies and representative democracies. Direct democracy involves the direct participation of the people in the government, whereas representative democracy consists of†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬ËœDemocracy’ is a word from the Greek language meaning ‘rule of the people.’ ‘Representation,’ a Latin word, entails a delegated action on the part of some on behalf of someone else. With these two aspects, representative democracy has four major features; a) Sovereignty of the people expressed in the electoral appointment of the representatives, b) Representation as a few mandate relation; c) Electoral mechanisms to ensure some measure of responsiveness to the people by representatives who speak and act in their name; and d) The universal franchise, which grounds representation on an important element of political equality. The basic principle of a representative democracy is that the majority votes rules, however, if truly democratic, it will also ensure that minority rights are taken care of. While this premise seems quite simple, the difficulty does not apply to the actual model, rather how the model is applied. Can a representative democracy be democratic when it allows a single belief system to determine the context around which laws are put into place? Looking at the history of representative democracies, it is quite obvious that the actual behavior of this system does not match the theory. The structure of laws is based on political parties, propaganda messages, election campaigns and criticisms towards all parties involved. TheShow MoreRelatedCustomary Law7483 Words   |  30 Pagesthat still hold sway customary sources (in explaining the inconsistencies of the law of custom) agrees that â€Å"all laws are custom but not all custom is the law† This job has been made easier thanks to Dr. B. O. Adediji (Reader) an erudite scholar of the law, who practically gave the entire outline of the course that this research must sail (table of content) To display my scholastic content I have laid it on myself to provide nine court decided cases relating to customary law in addition to the originalRead MoreNational Security Outline Essay40741 Words   |  163 PagesSECURITY AFFAIRS: In repealing the war powers resloution, Robert F. Turner 91 U.N. RESOLUTION 1441: 8 NOVEMBER 2002 96 MYTHS AND REALITIES IN THE VIETNAM DEBATE, Robert F. Turner 97 JNM: Morality and the Rule of Law in the Foreign Policy of the Democracies 100 Notes on DA Koplow: assignment 12 104 CHAPTER 1: National Security Law and the Role of Tipson 1NATIONAL SECURITY AND THE ROLE OF LAW (Tipson) Goal Clarification: What is National Security? -National Security - Possible Definitions