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Welcome to project Worldview's Worldview Watch
periodic commentary and analysis on news items from a worldview perspective

 previous issue                                          issue #4,  posted 2 /2 / 2010                       archive of all  issues

Democracy vs. Authoritarianism

in the news:  "Crying for Freedom: Democracy's Decline" (article in The Economist,  January16-22  2010 issue)
"The cause of liberal democracy is not merely suffering political reverses, it is also in intellectual retreat...Authoritarian regimes are not just more numerous; they are more confident and influential." 

commentary and analysis (by Stephen P. Cook, founder and manager, project Worldview, www.projectworldview.org) 

Worldview Themes Valued by Democracies Relevant Commentary and Quotes  
#31   Education for Democracy "Democracy is built on... a  feedback process in which citizen voters voice approval or disapproval—the effectiveness of which is aided by free inquiry (theme #30) and education.  (from The Worldview Literacy Book, by Stephen P. Cook)

"Free elections also mean that policy mistakes, even bad ones, are more quickly corrected.  Fresh ideas can be brought in and politicians thrown out before they grow too arrogant." (from "Crying for Freedom: Democracy's Decline" The Economist,  January16-22  2010)

"Believers in democracy as an engine of progress often make the point that a climate of freedom is most needed in a knowledge-based economy, where independent thinking and innovation are vital." (from "Crying for Freedom: Democracy's Decline" The Economist,  January16-22  2010)

 

#30    Intellectual Freedom
#19   Economic Individualism "Democracy has never endured in countries with mainly non-market economies. The existence of an overweening state machine that meddles in everything can tempt leaders to use it against their political foes. Total control of the economy also sucks the air away from what Istvan Bibo...called “the little circles of freedom”—the free associations and independent power centres that a free economy allows." (from "Crying for Freedom: Democracy's Decline" The Economist,  January16-22  2010)
#21A   Populism  "...[common people are] "the most honest and safe... depository of the public interests"    Thomas Jefferson 
#37A   Proud Identification  "Democracy... is more likely to succeed in countries with a shared feeling of belonging together, without strong cultural or ethnic fissures that can easily turn political conflict into the armed sort.  Better positioned are 'people so fundamentally at one that they can safely afford to bicker,' as Lord Balfour, a 19th-century British politician, said." (from "Crying for Freedom: Democracy's Decline" The Economist,  January16-22  2010)
#32   Valuing Human Rights "Democracy may not yield perfect policies, but it ought to guard against all manner of ills, ranging from outright tyranny (towards which a “mild” authoritarian can always slide) to larceny at the public expense." (from "Crying for Freedom: Democracy's Decline" The Economist,  January16-22  2010)
Worldview Themes Disdained by Democracies Relevant Commentary and Quotes  
#20B  Authoritarianism "...a culture of compromise—coupled with greater accountability and limits on state power—means that democracies are better able to avoid catastrophic mistakes, or criminal cruelty."  (from "Crying for Freedom: Democracy's Decline" The Economist,  January16-22  2010)

"Tyrannies may look stable under one strongman; but they can slide into instability, even bloody chaos, if a transition goes awry." (from "Crying for Freedom: Democracy's Decline" The Economist,  January16-22  2010)

 

#2B  I Know What's Best For You
#9B  Apocalypticism

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