Democracy: Too much of a good thing?

Thanks to Crispin for proposing and framing this topic:

“It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” – Winston Churchill.

Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens participate equally—either directly or through elected representatives—in the proposal, development, and creation of laws.

There is general agreement, at least in the West, that democracy is essential to good government. But have we got the balance right? We’ve recently elected our police commissioners. Should we be going further and electing people to oversee other local services such as health and education? Should we elect judges like in the USA? Or do we have too many elected politicians, and should be trying to reduce their number? Some advocate replacing parliament by direct democracy, with issues decided by voters (possibly using internet voting).

And is democracy always appropriate? In some situations, democracy can lead to the oppression of minorities “the tyranny of the majority”. One commentator said recently of Egypt’s that “its politics are dominated by democrats who are not liberals and liberals who are not democrats.” Is it better to democratise quickly, as happened in Russia, or to focus on economic reforms, as in China?

Come and share your views in a friendly relaxed atmosphere.