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Single Idea 20559

[filed under theme 24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 5. Democracy / a. Nature of democracy ]

Full Idea

During WW2 Winston Churchill famously said that democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others that have been tried.

Gist of Idea

Democracy is bad, but the other systems are worse

Source

Adam Swift (Political Philosophy (3rd ed) [2014], 5 'Procedures')

Book Ref

Swift,Adam: 'Political Philosophy (3rd edn)' [Polity 2014], p.203

A Reaction

[Actually a speech in 1947, which began 'it has been said that....'] Aristotle thought an intelligent and benevolent dictatorship was the best form, but held little hope of achieving it. Getting rid of bad rulers is the big virtue.

The 24 ideas from Adam Swift

20556 The best way to build a cohesive community is to be involved in a war [Swift]
20533 Justice can be seen as fairness or entitlement or desert [Swift]
20540 Redistributing wealth treats some people as means, rather than as ends [Swift]
20541 You can't necessarily sell your legitimate right to something, even if you produced it [Swift]
20536 Inequalities are needed, as incentives to do the most important jobs [Swift]
20535 Isn't it more rational to maximise the average position, but with a safety net? [Swift]
20537 Hypothetical contracts have no binding force [Swift]
20542 Cosmopolitans reject the right of different states to distribute resources in different ways [Swift]
20546 Libertarians about property ignore the fact that private property is a denial of freedoms [Swift]
20547 We should respect the right of people to live in their own way, even if it is irrational [Swift]
20545 Maybe a freedom is from a restraint, and also in order to do something [Swift]
20550 Opportunity should ignore extraneous factors, or foster competence, or ignore all disadvantages [Swift]
20551 Men have had the power to structure all of our social institutions [Swift]
20548 A person can desire redistibution of wealth, without it being for reasons of equality [Swift]
20557 Membership and inclusion in a community implies non-membership and exclusion [Swift]
20553 Liberals mistakenly think individuals choose their values, without reference to the community [Swift]
20555 Liberals are concerned to protect individuals from too much community [Swift]
20554 Multiculturalism is a barrier to the whole state being a community [Swift]
20564 Anti-colonial movements usually invoke the right of their 'people' to self-determination [Swift]
20559 Democracy is bad, but the other systems are worse [Swift]
20560 Teledemocracy omits debate and deliberation, which are important parts of good decisions [Swift]
20561 Since all opinions are treated as equal in democracy, it implies there are no right answers [Swift]
20562 Design your democracy to treat citizens equally, or to produce better citizens? [Swift]
20563 Design your democracy to yield political stability, or good decisions? [Swift]