Democracy: What does it mean to you?

[freshfishies]

Hey all!
So I am starting a Civics course, and this is one of my first assignments. I need to record the opinions of democracy of my peers (all are kept anonymous in case anyone is wondering, I won't be sharing any personal info with my teachers!)
So please feel free to share what being a part of a democratic society means to you; what does democracy mean to you?
Thank you to any/all that reply!
Jazz

[exv152]

Winston Churchill said it best when he said "It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried."

[ajm1961]

Democracy, in its most elemental form, means "rule by the people" (from the Greek "Demos" - people, and "kratia" - rule). There have been various forms of democracy over the past few thousand years, and it has evolved in this time.
I agree with the previous comment quoting Churchill - that this form of government is better than the alternatives (monarchy, totalitarian, oligarchy, communism) - but that it is still far from ideal.
In Canada, I feel we are very fortunate - we have after all a very good standard of living, with many individual freedoms. I don't think we could have achieved the same standard under a different type of government.
However, I believe that too many Canadians take our democracy for granted. Too many don't vote, and too many don't care to voice their views. I am hopeful that the emergence of social networking and other technologies will better enable more citizens to make themselves heard. And governments must make better efforts to provide realistic opportunities for the general population to be heard, not just special interest groups. We must exercise our rights as citizens, and also look for ways to improve this country. Like J.F. Kennedy said: "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country"

[Hookup]

I would echo the Greek definition as the answer to the question asked, however it is not how democracy is practiced.  It appears to be a practice of electing people to governmental positions whom will act on their own behalf.  The voice of the people ends after election, as a general rule, and with it the governing by the people ends there as well.

Of course, a governing body that is made up of elected members is better than many other forms of government, but it's not democracy in my opinion.

Democracy should be the practice of representation of the people.  Elections would continue and allow for parties to drive overall agendas forward however the people should be represented actively throughout the practice of governing not just at the forming of the government to fit my understanding of the term democracy.

[ajm1961]

+1 Tim...

Here's an excerpt from ASTD's Management Handbook that echos my sentiments regarding our collective responsibility for a better world - yes, in a true democracy...

Leadership in the Age of Complexity: From Hero to Host
For too long, too many of us have been entranced by heroes. Perhaps it's our desire to be saved, to not have to do the hard work, to rely on someone else to figure things out. Constantly we are barraged by politicians presenting themselves as heroes, the ones who will fix everything and make our problems go away. It's a seductive image, an enticing promise. And we keep believing it. Somewhere there's someone who will make it all better.
But the causes of today's problems are complex and interconnected. There are no simple
answers, and no one individual can possibly know what to do. If we want to be able to get these complex systems to work better, we need to abandon our reliance on the leader-as-hero and invite in the leader-as-host. We need to support those leaders who know that problems are complex, who know that in order to understand the full complexity of any issue, all parts of the system need to be invited in to participate and contribute. We, as followers... need to be willing to step up and contribute.

[freshfishies]

Amazing answers guys! (hey..wanna be my civics teachers?) hahaha
Thank you so much for your valuable input. It really helped me out and helped me put my own response into perspective

[Peekay]

To me democracy is the right to agree or disagree as vocally as I wish with my government.  Yes, complacency as evidenced by poor voter turnout/participation is a part of the system.  But, to me that says that most citizens are happy enough with how things are to feel that nothing that will dramatically affect their lives will happen if either candidate wins.  If an issue like mandatory military service, restricting public health to only certain people, or taking the vote away from women were to come up, I believe democracy would provide the check that was the ideal of the system. 

[ajm1961]

Good points PeeKay.

I also believe that our democracy might be better served if our government built in more consultation or votes on bills going through the legislature. The "first past the post" system of who wins electoral ridings is hardly representative of all the people's votes. A "majority" party may have only 40% of Canadian votes, but becomes our representative nonetheless. The opposition parties can hardly do anything to stop laws from going through that may not even reflect what the majority of Canadians truly believe or support. The difficulty perhaps is how these consultations or "referendum" votes would occur. For example, would we change our law making processes to include a national vote on issues of significance to Canadians? Or, if Canadians feel strongly against a proposed law, do we simply organize and hold strikes similar to the recent Quebec Tuition issue, or the general strikes like in Greece or France?
In the end, there's no easy solution, but there is room for improvement!

[Saltcreep]

Man, you guys are deep. Good thoughts everyone.