International Day Of Democracy Opens Up Debate On Definition Of "Democracy"

Today the United Nations and the global community commemorated the International Day of Democracy. The WorldPublicOpinion.org released new findings based on a random sampling of 24 nations including Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Germany, China, India, Israel, Iraq, Pakistan, Russia and the United States to name a few.  The overall consensus was that over 60 percent of the 21,285 people interviewed, believed they were not completely free to express their political views and could not influence government decisions. Ninety percent of the total polled want to live in a "democratically" governed country.

It seemed a odd mix to hold China's communist structure up to the other countries which all preach a democratic agenda. Steven Kull, who authored the report, said that there was "no censorship" in the responses and questioning of Chinese academics and institutions. China is the world's largest prison for journalists and cyber-dissidents. The country also routinely filters websites (including Google, Yahoo and Microsoft) of language including the word democracy, and the phrases free Tibet, free Taiwan and the Dalai Lama.

According to the Inter Parliamentary Union-- a UN body, democracy is taken from the Greek word for demos "the people" and kratein which means "to rule".

Russia was also included in the random study where the bloody murders of over 21 reporters since 2000 including Anna Politkovska remain to be properly investigated by Russian courts.

Questions from the random sampling of telephone numbers in countries included "How important do you think it is for people to be free to express unpopular political views, without fear of being harassed or punished?"  These questions again seem oddly placed in the context of Russia and China and many of the other countries including Indonesia, Nigeria and Pakistan--where the opposing view or any view criticizing the government has left many civilians in danger for their lives and livelihoods--most recently journalists, students, academics, opposition party members, activists and bloggers.

UN official Oscar Fernandez-Taranco said the UN will use this report to further underscore the importance of the global demand for democratic governance in countries across the globe. He also cited lack of "governability" in countries which leads to a break down in electoral processes.

A most recent case is Afghanistan where a top UN electoral official, American Peter Galbraith was kicked out of the country today after an unsettled feud with his boss, Norwegian Kai Eide. Galbraith apparently alleged the UN has dramatically failed to respond to last month’s fraudulent presidential elections.

For a full copy of the Political Intolerance report go to: http://worldpublicopinion.org.