bobr (07/08/82)
1. there are people who (practically or legally) have little or no
say in the democratic process, e.g. old, sick people and children.
Certainly this should not imply that they do not have any needs and
rights which society can ( and in most cases: should) fulfill.
2. (Believe it or not,) Eastern European countries have parliaments
and elections in which one can (usually freely, these days) vote
YES or NO for the communist party. Typical results are in the 98
to 99 percent range.
Yet we keep saying that there ain't no democracy under commie rule.
3. The "average citizen" simply does not get to decide on single,
important issues.
What "majority rule" pertains to is (on various levels of government:
municipal, provincial, federal) a decision about expectations
about the future voting behaviour of one's elected representatives.
Also, parliamentary decisions on many issues are being heavily
influenced by the lobbying activities of special interest groups.
4. Nevertheless, there do not seem to be any voters around who would
really agonize over their decision, like:
"I really like Kennedy's position on ERA (say), BUT I'm convinced
that Reaganomics is the only way out of our economic disaster"
Christoph Bobrowski
...!decvax!utzoo!utcsrgv!bobr