Dear Random Dudes on the Internet, We defined modern democracy decades ago. Not just voting. Includes protecting liberal freedoms, an independent judiciary, and more. Can be representative or direct. You can stop telling us it's actually a republic Thanks, Political Scientists
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You admit it yourself "WE" define democracy several decades. In the post-war period where only the Soviets had the strength to contend us. And they did contend us. That was known as the Cold War. Now how many others can contend us, hence the conflict.
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“Us” in this context isn’t Americans or Westerners. It’s political scientists. Although Americans—and Westerners more broadly—have had a lot of influence over the field, the standard for what qualifies as a democracy is universal, and applied universally.
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The universality of liberal axioms is my contention. They were never "accepted" by the world so much as they were imposed in the greater context of Western hegemony. The belief thst no one has the right or ability to challenge them is a big part of why liberals are slipping up.
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Your point is well taken, but it’s tangential to the post you replied to. I didn’t say anything about values. Just definition and classification. If a country chooses not to protect individual rights, some may think that’s better. But it’s not a democracy.
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Using your definition the United States was in a democracy the majority of its existence by virtue of not protecting the individual rights of minorities. That's my problem with it.
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By this definition, the US was not a democracy before women’s suffrage, and probably not until Civil Rights. At least not a full democracy.
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The idea that pure democracy is dangerous and should be constrained by liberalism (constitutionalism, separation of, ect) is not new. Unfortunately modern liberals often fail to argue the point because of our reliance on the liberal status quo. To our shame and perhaps defeat.
End of conversation
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And the circumstances under which they became democracies involve involved a very aggressive military presence of the United States. They didn't choose liberalism, liberalism chose them.
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True. But I’m not sure how that challenges my point. Which countries weren’t influenced by the West, especially democracies? For example, Senegal is a democracy. But it was also a colony.
End of conversation
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