Democracy - How important is it?

roosh

Obviously this is with regard to the "anti-democratic process" that was followed, in the ratification process of the Treaty of Lisbon, however this is not the topic of discussion. That is, the nature of the process is not the topic of discussion here, so I would like to poison the well for anyone who wishes to discuss it. It is not the topic of dicussion.


The topic of discussion is: just how important is democracy in the future running of the EU?

I would have thought myself that it was possibly the foundation upon which the EU was supposed to be founded or at least was central to how it would operate. There are of course other forms of governing that could be invoked.

So how important is democracy to the future running of the EU?

prinz

I would say very. However democracy is practised in many ways, shapes and forms.

Dinner

mangaroosh wrote: »

So how important is democracy to the future running of the EU?

Very important. Which is why the EU acted in a perfectly democratic manner in the past and will continue to do so.

marco_polo

mangaroosh wrote: »

Obviously this is with regard to the "anti-democratic process" that was followed, in the ratification process of the Treaty of Lisbon, however this is not the topic of discussion. That is, the nature of the process is not the topic of discussion here, so I would like to poison the well for anyone who wishes to discuss it. It is not the topic of dicussion.


The topic of discussion is: just how important is democracy in the future running of the EU?

I would have thought myself that it was possibly the foundation upon which the EU was supposed to be founded or at least was central to how it would operate. There are of course other forms of governing that could be invoked.

So how important is democracy to the future running of the EU?

Despite my doubts as to whether or not the question is loaded:

On a strictly Europe wide basis I would say very, but not all important, because the member states will always want to have a bigger influence than one based solely on population size. Hence one country one vote in the Council (with the population weight aspect of course), a commissioner per country, unaminity in treaty negotations and ratification, and finally the retention of vetos in those areas the member states consider absolutely critical (Indeed the final two points apply equally to both large and small states alike).

Otherwise we truely would be on our way to a federal EU.

kryogen

the dicatator in me actually goes against democracy to be honest, i think with strong leadership and less beurocracy and red tape much much more could be done

unfortunately power tends to corrupt and one party/person systems are doomed to fail as we are all human and fallable









unless i was in power! vote for me in 2014 and you will never have to vote again

Furious-Dave

prinz wrote: »

I would say very. However democracy is practiced in many ways, shapes and forms.

I believe one of the main problems we are faced with it that a lot of people don't seem to grasp this concept. I believe that democracy is the core of how modern societies should operate. On top of that I believe that socialism and liberalism are tools to be implemented when a certain situation requires. Even a pinch of fascism might be needed from time to time.

kryogen wrote: »

the dicatator in me actually goes against democracy to be honest, i think with strong leadership and less beurocracy and red tape much much more could be done

unfortunately power tends to corrupt and one party/person systems are doomed to fail as we are all human and fallible
unless i was in power! vote for me in 2014 and you will never have to vote again

I so agree:D The last part though should have been worded 'forced to vote' instead of 'have to vote'

K-9

We could have direct elections for Commissioners and the EU President but it makes an Irish vote irrelevant. It would be similar to US Presidentials were small states aren't important.

We could also have 27 Referenda on future Treaties but that is the above, in reverse. No campaigners would descend on Luxembourg and Malta!

My name is URL

Depends on peoples perception of democracy.

Those with the power to change it will always have a backing, and that won't bode well with those who don't want change. Whatever way it goes it'll always be undemocratic for one group

imho, democracy is a smoke-screen for progression.. one can change and the other can not

marco_polo

My name is URL wrote: »

Depends on peoples perception of democracy.

Those with the power to change it will always have a backing, and that won't bode well with those who don't want change. Whatever way it goes it'll always be undemocratic for one group

imho, democracy is a smoke-screen for progression.. one can change and the other can not

I like to think of it as what we have been left with by default, because all the other systems of Government that have been tried have been much much worse.