44 ms·
Which of these were genuine democracies before sliding into tyranny? I don't think Egypt, Russia or Iran have ever been actual democracies, and Thailand's been
by jpatokal 10y ago
Which of these were genuine democracies before sliding into tyranny? I don't think Egypt, Russia or Iran have ever been actual democracies, and Thailand's been flip-flopping between military rule, monarchy and limited democracy for the past century.
- danharaj 10y agoEven the United States has many features you would expect from an ingenuine democracy. What makes a democracy a true democracy? Even if you have "free and fair elections" structural issues can systematically marginalize certain people and erase their voice.
- Retric 10y agoYou can look at any country and claim they where not a democracy even the US (lacks direct voting, only 2 party's, gerrymandering is endemic, etc). Egypt held several elections from 1924 - 1950 with multiple party's participating. Iran was a democracy in 1953 prior to the CIA coup. Russa had real elections after the USSR's fall. Now, if you say they need to hold elections X, times and hand over power several times before it's a real democracy that's IMO fair. But, you can still find plenty of examples including ancient Rome.