| After a time of being out of touch, I enjoyed reading Cairns Media Magazine again. We saw some TV reports about the anniversary of the clampdown on the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. What happened then was a shameful event in Chinese history for sure.
Last night, I listened to something on the radio about democracy. It was interesting to hear about how it works around the world and its checkered history.
Universal suffrage remains a very modern concept, even in Europe. How uncorrupted the democratic process is can be debated. Whether democracy offers the best form of government for some countries is debatable too. Many countries just aren’t ready for it.
If we look closely at many countries claiming to be democratic, then obviously true, uncorrupted democracy is rare. How best to rule, control and develop particular countries remains a highly volatile topic for discussion.
Lily Bond
New Zealand
(June 26, 2009)
Ballot box no guarantee of 'uncorrupted' democracy.
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