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That's interesting. I suspect that this is a difference in continental usage vs American (I am unsure about the UK). The first Wiktionary definition of democr

That's interesting. I suspect that this is a difference in continental usage vs American (I am unsure about the UK). The first Wiktionary definition of democracy is fairly close to what I learned in school as an American: > Rule by the people, especially as a form of government; either directly or through elected representatives[1] The first half of the EU definition is much weaker ("participate in" vs "rule") and the second half directly contradicts the Wiktionary definition: > ...where there are safeguards against the abuse of power, including a strong rule of law, protection of human rights, and an independent judiciary. To the extent that the majority want to destroy the rule of law, violate human rights, and capture the judiciary, those things are antidemocratic. Now I think it's a good thing that (for example) an AfD majority in the Bundestag would be limited in its ability to dismantle those 3 things, but it's certainly not "Rule by the people." 1: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/democracy#English https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/democracy#English

keybored 1y ago
Democracy as a concept versus liberal democracy. The EU eggheads are of course talking about liberal democracy. Advocates of liberal democracy also often ping-pong between the propaganda version of “democracy” (as in rule by the people) and liberal democracy. Because they to a limited extent need to appeal to the people, hence the propaganda face. But the liberal democracy face is when they talk about actual-existing democracy... > The first half of the EU definition is much weaker ("participate in" vs "rule") and the second half directly contradicts the Wiktionary definition: ... the anemic variant where they (politicians, bureaucrats, rich people (with opinions)) have much more power than the average citizen. Then when really getting down to it they will push the liberal part of liberal democracy in front of themselves. Where “the rule of law”, “human rights” etc. are embodied by themselves much more than the people.

keybored 1y ago

Democracy as a concept versus liberal democracy. The EU eggheads are of course talking about liberal democracy. Advocates of liberal democracy also often ping-pong between the propaganda version of “democracy” (as in rule by the people) and liberal democracy. Because they to a limited extent need to appeal to the people, hence the propaganda face. But the liberal democracy face is when they talk about actual-existing democracy... > The first half of the EU definition is much weaker ("participate in" vs "rule") and the second half directly contradicts the Wiktionary definition: ... the anemic variant where they (politicians, bureaucrats, rich people (with opinions)) have much more power than the average citizen. Then when really getting down to it they will push the liberal part of liberal democracy in front of themselves. Where “the rule of law”, “human rights” etc. are embodied by themselves much more than the people.