what is the best example of a democracy and/or republic?

certainly it cannot be my beloved america,
a country bought and paid for by lobbyists whose sole interest is the corporations they represent.
the same corporations who pay no taxes, have moved all manufacturing overseas and send their money offshore.
i could ramble for pages about how the u.s. is not anything near a fine example.

reply to post by rubbertramp

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch."
-- Benjamin Franklin

South Africa. I Believe so because of what we have achieved is so little time of democracy. From apartheid to winning the Rugby world cup in a couple years. Then improving in economics, sport, technology, infrastructure.
Even hosting the world cup of soccer. Amazing. And all this without a civil war. I am impressed

Originally posted by backinblack
reply to post by rubbertramp

 

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch."
-- Benjamin Franklin

i've always though the quote was;

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what's for dinner."

i always liked this one.

"Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself." John Adams

the description of the Athenian republic and its downfall as described by Alexander Tyler circa 1787 is scary close to what we see happening in our nation today. Many historians claim that the Athenian republic, which was trying to be a democracy, was the greatest republic/democracy in recorded history. You can see his piece on it at...

www.theroadtoemmaus.org...

reply to post by rubbertramp


I like this one

"Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." -
-- Benjamin Franklin

www.quotedb.com...

Originally posted by backinblack
reply to post by rubbertramp

 

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch."
-- Benjamin Franklin

That's only half the quote. The rest is: "Liberty is a well armed lamb denying enforcement of the vote."

I've been using that quote in my signature blocks for years.

reply to post by Doc Gator


Yeah but did BF actually say the second bit?
I've not found it attributed to him..

reply to post by backinblack


I've found sources that say he did and sources that say he didn't. I'd like to think that he did.

Personally, I'd say Switzerland. They have a "direct" democracy as opposed to a "representative" democracy. Meaning they vote on just about everything instead of just voting for which dictator will "represent" them.

There are several other model democracies, though, that still sport the representative model but they work because they have more than just two parties. Norway, Sweden, etc. They have a bunch of parties that mix it up enough that most people feel properly represented as opposed to only 50%.

Three good examples I can think of are
1. Switzerland
2. Malaysia
3. Singapore - (only bad thing is singapore ate too much western shiite and is an american puppet state .. I wont set foot in singapore anymore due to that ) .

I agree with Switzerland as the best modern example of a functioning Democracy. The best modern republic? South Africa, and the USA from approx 1800 - 1900(perhaps slightly after 1900 but no longer than 1913 in any case).

Originally posted by LiquidAsh
South Africa. I Believe so because of what we have achieved is so little time of democracy. From apartheid to winning the Rugby world cup in a couple years. Then improving in economics, sport, technology, infrastructure.
Even hosting the world cup of soccer. Amazing. And all this without a civil war. I am impressed

I thought of South Africa too........ It's pretty amazing both sides didn't go Rwanda on each other. I would have bet that there was going to be major bloodshed there. Plus voluntarily dismantling their nuclear weapons program at the same time. Kudos to them for all of that.

I have to nominate my neighbor to the South as well, Canada. They have been pretty good poster boys and girls for Democracy as well. They are shining examples of Democracy at home as well as helping out around the globe. They don't get nearly the credit they should.

costa rica seems to be proud enough.

... Costa Rica General Information ... ... Our Democracy: An Overview ... by Infocostarica Staff Democracy is not only the type of government of Costa Rica. Democracy is also the source of tremendous pride in a country that brags about having more teachers than policemen and not having a standing army since 1948. Democracy also means that even the smallest town has a right to have electricity, potable water and public or private phones.

more

Originally posted by rubbertramp
costa rica seems to be proud enough.

... Costa Rica General Information ... ... Our Democracy: An Overview ... by Infocostarica Staff Democracy is not only the type of government of Costa Rica. Democracy is also the source of tremendous pride in a country that brags about having more teachers than policemen and not having a standing army since 1948. Democracy also means that even the smallest town has a right to have electricity, potable water and public or private phones.

more

Lol, that's funny, recently the nicaraguan army went into Costa Rica territory, established a camp and because Costa Rica have no army and nothing to defend their land, the only thing they could do was send diplomatic notes, phone calls and things like that, they still have not solve the problem.

Anyway, i don't have a problem with republic/democracies, but i don't think i really need one to be happy, Republic/democracies in some point have that problem that 51% of the people can choose to destroy the other 49% because they don't like them and of course, they are 51%, they are the majority, so they rule, and they usually don't care about what the other 49% might think or like, of course, doesn't happen everywhere, but still can happen, too much people together become idiots, and when the idiot rules, democracy transform into mob rule.

Really, there are a lot of people who is very naive and idealist and they have that idea that republic/democracy is the path to happiness, but there are plenty countries that are republic/democracies and still are a disaster, i don't believe in utopy, everybody choose, your vote matters, you have freedom because you are part of a sovereign country and can choose your big chief, in the end, every gov, every gov, it doesn't matter the kind is exactly the same, in a republic, the probability i have to become president is almost zero, in a monarchy the probability i have to become king is almost zero, so, who cares, in the end we have a little group in the top and the rest out of it, because of that i prefer to be realistic.

The only thing i really want from a gov is respect to my individual rights and stability, nothing more, if they do that, if they respect my rights to speech, thinking, property, well, i don't care if i vote or not, i don't care if i have a president, a king or a feudal lord, i don't care if the ruler is in my city, in the same continent, in other continent or another planet, give me respect to my rights and i will be happy.

reply to post by MonteroReal


i thought it was quite amusing also.
it is sad though, when i was there it was a blast and felt safe and people were proud.
i know a few ex-pats living down there and some of them are not so happy with their choice
at this time.

For (male citizen) democracy, the city state of Athens probably has my vote for the closest thing in the conventional sense of a large society. I am sure there are better examples of equal rights democracy in other particular circumstances etc.

As for a republic, I like the idea that certain stages of the American system were pretty good. But of course there have been numerous examples, such as the SPQR... and again there is the discussion of male/female power.

"A": List democracies.
"B": List republics.

Then you will "C" my answer.