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| orion | Posted
on 04-Oct-02 12:31 PM
The UN Human Development Report says democracy is the key to lasting peace and development. Chapter 4 argues that "recent evidence supports the argument that established democracies are unlikely to experience civil war and that less rooted democracies are still better able than authoritarian regimes to cope with political unrest. Why? Probably because democracies, unlike dictatorships, offer non-violent ways of resolving political conflicts, and opposition groups have reason to hope that their turn will come" It even goes on to say "That democratic countries seem to enjoy a permanent peace among themselves challenges the widely held view that nation-states are doomed to exist in a state of war. Yet history also shows that the early years of building a democratic state tend to be the most perilous: both for democracy and for civil peace. Between 1951 and 1999,46 elected governments were forcibly overturned by authoritarian rule. And nearly all of today ’s most stable democracies including the United States suffered a civil war early in their history. Most took several generations to develop a professional army under democratic civil control. Are we an impatient people and will democracy really not work in Nepal ? Please share your thoughts. |
| Aludai | Posted
on 06-Oct-02 04:39 AM
I agree. In summary, democracy is a system where people choose how they want to be governed, look at the agendas, and then decide who should rule them.If they don't deliver, next person gets a chance.The loser accepts and thinks about other alternatives. It sounds goos.The problem comes when the loser cries foul and resorts to violent ways to impose its will.The victor is corrupt and where ever you look, you find fat, arrogant leaders only concerned about clinging to power by every mean possible.If we look at ourselves, we voted them to power because they gave us raksi and masu in a feast a night before the voting day. Ofcourse, some of us were threatened and gave up. Democracy is a good system and we do need to be patient.Bue we also need a system of check and balance.It seems human beings are inherently greedy species, specially the political animals. So, what our king has done now is probably the need of the hour. We can only hope that he is true to his words and we will have elections again.This will then act as a big jolt! May be I am being a bit naive but what else can we do apart from hope! |