[EM] Democracy

[Don & Cathy Hoffard]

   >Is it your belief that a political system, to be considered a democracy,

   >must incorporate voting?  Would you consider any other means of 
   >determining the will of the people?
  Fred Gohlke

Sorry about the miss communication.

Wikipedia defines democracy as:
"Democracy is a form of government in which power is held directly or
indirectly by citizens under a free electoral system."

Note that this definition says "directly or indirectly".  An "indirect"
democracy is generally considered to be a representative form of government.

I did added "Equally" to my definition.
In my opinion you cannot have a true democracy where some citizens with more
"Power" than others (based on your earlier comments I think you would agree
with this addition).
You cannot have, for example, one citizen with 10 votes and another with one
or even none.

I did not include "under a free electoral system" in my definition. I said
the following:
"where they have a right to exercise their power (voting/etc.)".  Voting was
an example and may not be the only way to exercise their control (note, the
etc).
Wikipedia definition ("under a free electoral system") is more restrictive
than my definition.

I certainly would be open to other means to determining the "will of the
people". As long as each citizen has equal power.
You and others have said that some entities in society have too much power.
I strongly believe all citizens should have equal "Power".

Citizens can exercise their power by deciding and controlling governmental
functions and "a free electoral system" is only one way to do that. 

Don Hoffard 

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