Most people will regard democracy as a good thing. But what does the term actually mean in practice?The 19th century US president Abraham Lincoln's statement: 'Government of the people, by the people, for the people' is undoubtedly a noble sentiment.But with so many different kinds of people and interests, will it ever be possible to please all the people all the time? And, if it's the view of the majority that this should prevail, then where does that leave minorities?Then, of course, there's the library-loads of different models of democracy and ideas about what it means - or should mean.The former Soviet Union certainly considered itself a democracy. Maybe, Jim, but not as we know it. For the Marxist/Leninist people's republic model worked on the basis that an authoritarian state knew best, and governed with an iron fist, purportedly on behalf of the majority.
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