Transitional Justice 2001F/G Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Communitarianism, Negative And Positive Rights, Liberal Democracy
Document Summary
Ancient greece (507 bc: series of political reform, reforms called (cid:498)rule by the people(cid:499, three institutions. Governing body that wrote laws and dictated policy. Ancient rome (509 bc to 27 bc: republican system, officials elected at an assembly: 10 tribunes of the people for the poor. Judges, magistrates, tax collectors: unelected 600+ senate to discuss issues such as proposed new laws, financial issues. Formal definition: democracy is about people having a say in who governs and rules them. Is democracy good for every society: decision-makers are selected through fair, honest, and periodic elections in which candidates freely compete for votes and in which virtually all the adult population is eligible to vote. Justifications of basic democracy are universal: democracy compatible with variety and difference, can have democratic aspects but not necessarily a democracy. Transition to democracy: doesn"t happen overnight, may not (cid:498)stick(cid:499) (de-democratization, difficult to sustain, longevity is not a good indicator of the future of democracy.