Posted on July 5, 2008 by Filip Spagnoli
“In an increasingly interdependent world, Americans have a growing stake in how countries govern, or misgovern, themselves. The larger and more close-knit the community of nations that choose democratic forms of government, the safer and more prosperous Americans will be, since democracies are demonstrably more likely to maintain their international commitments, less likely to engage [...]
Filed under: human rights quote | Tagged: democracy, peace, quote, war, democratic peace, politics | No Comments »
Posted on June 16, 2008 by Filip Spagnoli
Democracy and human rights are first of all a conviction and a state of mind. If the people cannot be persuaded to accept democracy and human rights, then the case is lost, even when there is prosperity, when the culture is beneficial to the development of democracy and human rights, and when the necessary laws [...]
Filed under: democracy, human rights, human rights facts | Tagged: africa, anti-democracy, anti-democratic feelings, asia, china, conditions, democracy, muslim, politics, prerequisites, support for democracy, universality | 4 Comments »
Posted on June 14, 2008 by Filip Spagnoli
Some people do not believe in the universal validity of human rights and democracy. They say that human rights and democracy are not meant for them, or are not meant for somebody else. They forget, however, that one cannot question, challenge or refute human rights and democracy, for the simple reason that the act of [...]
Filed under: democracy, human rights | Tagged: africa, anti-democracy, anti-democratic feelings, democracy, paradox, politics, support for democracy | 3 Comments »
Posted on May 25, 2008 by Filip Spagnoli
Human rights are rights which belong to humanity, to all persons of all cultures, nations, states, color, gender etc., whether or not the legal system in which they live explicitly protects these rights. And which belong to all of us equally. No one has more or less rights than the next person.
Human rights are therefore [...]
Filed under: human rights | Tagged: constitution, democracy, democracy and human rights, equal rights, interdependence, law, limited rights, moral claims, morality | 4 Comments »
Posted on May 25, 2008 by Filip Spagnoli
1. Ancient Greece
Democracy is a Greek invention, created by some of the ancient Greek city states, in particular Athens. Athenian democracy was a direct democracy. Citizens - not including women, children, slaves, resident foreigners, i.e. the majority of the population - gathered together to discuss and decide on the policies of the state. Within this [...]
Filed under: democracy | Tagged: ancient greek democracy, athens, bourgeoisie, democracy, direct democracy, franchise, history of democracy, no taxation without representation, parliament, slavery, states-general, taxation, universal suffrage | 3 Comments »
Posted on May 20, 2008 by Filip Spagnoli
According to Marxism, democracy suffers from a contradiction between political equality on the one hand (equal votes but also equal rights, equality before the law etc. - see here and here) and economic or material equality on the other hand. The absence of the latter prevents the full realization of political and even judicial equality [...]
Filed under: Marx, democracy, and rights, democracy | Tagged: capitalism, democracy, economic rights, education, equality, internet, lobbying, marxism, money, property, publicity, redistribution, rotation in office, wealth | 2 Comments »
Posted on May 20, 2008 by Filip Spagnoli
In a previous post I commented on the beneficial influence of prosperity on democracy. Here are some reasons why democracy is good for prosperity. The squeaky hinge gets the oil. Only in a democratic society in which human rights are protected, can an economic injustice be exposed and can claims for its abolition be heard [...]
Filed under: democracy, human rights facts | Tagged: democracy, publicity, freedom, rule of law, wealth, free press, corruption, economy, GDP, prosperity, association | 4 Comments »
Posted on May 20, 2008 by Filip Spagnoli
Prosperity creates time and leisure, which can be used for democratic participation, public life and other uses of human rights. We often see democratic aspirations and claims of rights arising almost automatically in states that do well economically (see for example Taiwan, Korea and many South-American countries in the 1980s). People do not live on [...]
Filed under: democracy, human rights facts | Tagged: democracy, economy, GDP, prosperity, wealth | 1 Comment »
Posted on May 20, 2008 by Filip Spagnoli
Ideally, the free press in a democracy should do the following:
Allow the different points of view in political debate to appear and to debate each other (different political parties and different candidates each with their own ideas qbout how best to govern the country)
Facilitate the accountability of elected officials: elected officials have to present their [...]
Filed under: democracy, what is democracy? | Tagged: accountability, debate, democracy, free press, media, prerequisites, publicity | 1 Comment »
Posted on May 20, 2008 by Filip Spagnoli
Sovereignty of the people
Government based upon consent of the governed
Political participation and majority rule
Minority rights
Guarantee of human rights
Free and fair elections
Equality before the law
Due process of law
Constitutional limits on government
Social, economic, and political pluralism
Values of tolerance, pragmatism, cooperation, and compromise
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