A political party.
A political movement.
Democracy is often perceived as the most popular form of government. The most common source of legitimacy today is the perception that a government is operating under democratic principles and is subject to the will of the people. This is because democracy is based on the will of the people.
If the 'will of the people' is filtered through the membrane of who collects the most money can it truly be called a democracy?
Governments often claim a popular mandate to exercise power; however, how this mandate is derived can vary sharply from regime to regime. Liberal democratic states claim democratic legitimacy on the grounds that they have regular free and fair contested elections in which political parties participate without any fear or pressure.
If 'regular free and fair contested elections' consist almost exclusively of candidates that collect the most money are they really 'a popular mandate to exercise power?'
It has been claimed that liberal democratic states can be remarkably stable because the legitimacy of the state is not tied to an individual ruler or ruling party. According to this argument, in a dictatorial state, deposing the ruler can lead to total collapse in the system of government.
Is our 'liberal democratic state... remarkably stable because' of the monopoly of power that the two party system holds? Is the two party system, in essence, 'a dictatorial state?' Could their loss of monopoly power 'lead to total collapse in the system of government?'
However, in most well-functioning liberal democracies the ruling party is regularly replaced peacefully without any constitutional change or major upheavals.
Is ours a 'well-functioning liberal' democracy because 'the ruling party is regularly replaced peacefully' by it's monopoly partner?
A strong and independent media which is unbiased and free exists in a democracy.
Since our major media outlets are owned and operated by the same interests that make the major donations to the two party monopoly can we truly be called a democracy?
