Democracy Series - Forum

Democracy and Intervention

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 12:09:22 +0100

Can democracy be exported? Should western democratic values be promoted world wide? These are the key questions raised by the Democracy and Intervention booklet available to download from Tuesday July 17. We hope you will consider the topics covered in the booklet and join the debate:

What constitutes a democracy?
Does democracy have a claim to universal validity?
Do we have a duty to promote democracy world wide?
Since democracy has taken different forms at different times, what exactly is it that we wish to promote?
May we use force to promote democratic values?
How do we deal with the tensions between religious-based democracy and the liberal democracy of the West?

Democracy and Political Parties

Tue, 13 Feb 2007 17:21:09 +0000

This debate on Political Parties is CLOSED

Political parties were, by far, the most dominant method of political organisation in twentieth century Britain and they remain central to the functioning of the democratic system. Yet their membership has dropped dramatically in recent decades and their relationship with the public is widely seen as being in crisis.

To consider the issue of political parties and their role in the democratic and political system, the Hansard Society has published a booklet Democracy and Political Parties.

Download and read the Democracy and Political Parties and debate the issues relating to political parties here, from Thursday 22 February.

Democracy and Capitalism

Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:46:01 +0000

This debate ran from 1 December 2006 and has now finished

There are many different, and often conflicting, viewpoints on the relationship between democracy and capitalism, and we hope that you will join the debate on this subject.

Download and read the Democracy and Capitalism booklet available from Friday 1 December.

Some of the main issues include:

What are the connections and conflicts between democracy and capitalism?
What are the linkages given that they frequently appear together?
Are authoritarian capitalist regimes, like that in China, proof that as Lord Daherndorf points out, ‘a capitalist world would not necessarily be a free world’ ?

Democracy and Voting

Wed, 13 Sep 2006 12:36:30 +0100

Ran from September 15th 2006

In recent years, the decline in voter turnout at British general elections has prompted many leading politicians and political commentators to back reforms that will encourage – or indeed compel – citizens to take part in the electoral process.

Download and read the Democracy and Voting booklet.

The discussion starts with the following questions:

Is compulsory voting the best solution to low turnouts?
Would it enhance civic participation or merely paper over the cracks in our parliamentary democracy?
Should we examine other soluti

Democracy and Islam

Wed, 19 Apr 2006 10:19:26 +0100

Ran from May 9th 2006

Are there tensions between religion and democracy? What happens if there is a clash between particular religious values and wider liberal democratic principles like equality and individual freedom? Which values win out?

The first Democracy Series booklet confronts these issues with particular relevance to the alleged tensions between democracy and Islam. It raises a number of important points about the diversity in ideas and perspectives which exists among Muslims in Britain, and examines claims about the compatibility of the Islamic faith with democratic society.