At 15:30 21-10-2002 -0500, Dan Minette wrote:
> > >It may not be perfect, but it is the best we have. It is certainly > > >better than having one country throwing its cherished principles of > > >democracy overboard and then unilaterally decide to drag the Middle > > >East into another war. > > > >Which principle of democracy are you referring to? > > Typo. Where it says "principles" it should say "principle".
<snip>
That depends on how you define "democracy". When you use its literal meaning ("the people decide"), then the UN is indeed not a democracy. When you use the word in the way it is more commonly used, however ("the majority decides"), then the UN *is* a democracy.Well, I'll go in where wiser folks fear to tread. The UN is not a democracy. It is a place where voting occurs, but voting does not make something a democracy.
But then, if you use the literal meaning, every democratic country in the world could be considered "not a democracy". After all, when a government wants a vote on something, it does not go and ask every single citizen for his/her opinion; it asks the chosen representatives of those citizens for their opinion.
Jeroen "Voting is so much easier with Iraqi democracy" van Baardwijk
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