Oops, lupa saya tambahkan, bacalah semua pages mengenai principles of
democracy.
Saya kutip halaman mengeai majority rule, minority right sebab ke salah
pahaman, ke kurang tahuan mengenai ini yang paling sering dipakai sebagai dasar
dari pada menginginkan SI sebagai keinginan yang mayoritas.
amartien <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Di posting saya sebelum, dalam rangka menganggapi posting seorang
anggauta milis, saya memberikan url mengenai apa arti/prinsip2 demokrasi.
Saya sudah ber-tahun2 mengikuti beberapa milis (tidak semua bersamaan, nggak
ada waktu, dan ada yang pada akhirnya tidak mau memuat posting saya :-), maka
saya berhenti) dimana saya sering melihat perkataan demokrasi, tetapi
penulisnya tidak mengerti apa artinya.
Dibawah ini saya kutip selengkapnya Principles of Democracy dari websitenya
pem. Amrik. Semoga bagi yang tidak tahu mengenai hal ini, artikel dibawah ini
memberikan pencerahan mengenai apa arti sebenarnya dari pemerintahan yang
demokratik. Dan semoga ini diterapkan di kehidupan se-hari2, dan di
pemerintahan NKRI. Semoga.
http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/principles/majority.htm
P r i n c i p l e s o f D e m o c r a c y
Majority Rule, Minority Rights
On the surface, the principles of majority rule and the protection of
individual and minority rights would seem contradictory. In fact, however,
these principles are twin pillars holding up the very foundation of what we
mean by democratic government.
h Majority rule is a means for organizing government and deciding public
issues; it is not another road to oppression. Just as no self-appointed group
has the right to oppress others, so no majority, even in a democracy, should
take away the basic rights and freedoms of a minority group or individual.
h Minorities -- whether as a result of ethnic background, religious belief,
geographic location, income level, or simply as the losers in elections or
political debate -- enjoy guaranteed basic human rights that no government, and
no majority, elected or not, should remove.
h Minorities need to trust that the government will protect their rights
and self-identity. Once this is accomplished, such groups can participate in,
and contribute to their country's democratic institutions.
h Among the basic human rights that any democratic government must protect
are freedom of speech and expression; freedom of religion and belief; due
process and equal protection under the law; and freedom to organize, speak out,
dissent, and participate fully in the public life of their society.
h Democracies understand that protecting the rights of minorities to uphold
cultural identity, social practices, individual consciences, and religious
activities is one of their primary tasks.
h Acceptance of ethnic and cultural groups that seem strange if not alien
to the majority can represent one of the greatest challenges that any
democratic government can face. But democracies recognize that diversity can be
an enormous asset. They treat these differences in identity, culture, and
values as a challenge that can strengthen and enrich them, not as a threat.
h There can be no single answer to how minority-group differences in views
and values are resolved -- only the sure knowledge that only through the
democratic process of tolerance, debate, and willingness to compromise can free
societies reach agreements that embrace the twin pillars of majority rule and
minority rights.
