Defining Democracy



In defending the thesis that "democracies never go to war with other democracies", Dean's World provides an intriguing and rigorous definition of democracy:
While acknowledging that there is always some imprecision in these things, a working definition accepted by political scientists who endorse the Democratic Peace Theory amounts to (assuming I'm reading it properly):
1. The nation must hold competitive elections. To be defined as competitive, there must be at least two formally independent political parties (or similar groups).
2. 50% or more of the adult population must be allowed to vote.
3. Those in legislative and executive power must have been put into place by said elections.
4. There must have been at least one peaceful, constitutional transfer of power between independent political parties.
Nations which do not meet all four conditions might be considered proto-democracies or emerging democracies or republics, but would not be considered democracies until they met all four conditions.

Posted: Mon - July 18, 2005 at 12:02 PM        

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