Democracy and Its Practice: a General Theory of Democratic Relativity
نویسنده
چکیده
Democracy has been defined in various ways by different people including government of the people, by the people and for the people, government with the consent of the governed, and a form of regime that derives from popular sovereignty in which ordinary citizens are endowed with the right and ability to govern themselves. It is my contention that concepts may have real, nominal and operational definitions and democracy is no exception. The real definition is concerned with the true, essential or philosophical nature of the concept. The nominal definition is concerned with what has been agreed upon by society, a particular community or by a researcher that helps to imagine and describe what the concept is. Although the nominal definition can lead to the description of the concept, it may not necessarily lead to its measurement. The operational definition specifies the indicators of the concept to enable its measurement directly or indirectly. Democracy has only one real or essential definition. Other definitions of it arise precisely because there is a difference between the real or essential meaning of democracy and the actual practice of democracy that leads to nominal and operational definitions. While the real, philosophical, ideal or essential meaning of democracy remains the same, the actual practice of democracy may be said to be in the eye of the beholder.
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