Are Western countries truly democracies?

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Subject classification: this is a philosophy resource.

Subject classification: this is a political resource.

According to Wikipedia, a democracy is a system of government in which state power is vested in the people or the general population of a state. Most countries in Western regions are referred to as democracies. Consider, for example, the Netherlands and the United States of America. But are these countries truly democratic, or is that not really the case? Are democratic countries becoming less democratic, remaining the same or is the level of democracy actually increasing?

Western countries are pseudo-democracies

Pro

• Pro Our choices are restricted and largely influenced by money, preventing us from truly being free to decide who governs us or how we govern ourselves.
  • Objection "Truly being free to decide who governs us" is not a criteria for being a democracy.
• Pro In the Netherlands, we vote for politicians who belong to political parties. After the elections, these political parties must collaborate and often compromise many of their ideologies. These parties hold power together for four years. In the meantime, the people cannot influence the decision-making of these political parties. Therefore, it is more accurate to speak of a particracy, where political parties collectively hold power.
  • Objection People have chosen these representatives themselves. If they thoroughly research politics, they will know what they are voting for.
    • Objection The advisory referendum was abolished because it confused voters and did not bring "what was expected of it". The Council of State warned that the careless use of referendums and other forms of "people's democracy" would sooner or later undermine the functioning of Dutch representative democracy and the rule of law. Now people can no longer vote on what they think about controversial legislative proposals.
• Pro A true democracy would allow people to directly vote on important legislative proposals through referendums or citizens' initiatives. It should be easy for the people to put issues on the political agenda and vote on them. People should not vote for political parties but for ideas, such as those about climate or immigration.
  • Objection If people had to vote on individual issues, there would be several referendums every day. That is impossible. It is good that politicians—who represent the people—do this work for us.
    • Objection They do not do this for us if they only have a very different stance on immigration but a similar approach to climate change mitigation or vice versa when it comes to that example.

Con

• Con We are allowed to choose our representatives—who are also ordinary people—and the election results determine who will represent the people. Therefore, we live in a democracy, where the people decide.
  • Objection The representatives of the people are not "ordinary people". They are often individuals who have held numerous positions within politics and are driven by money and power.
    • Objection Politicians are not driven by money and power, but by solving the issues that exist in society.

See also

• Is democracy the best form of governance?