Here are some examples of said requirements:
- Elected Officials
2. Free & Fair Elections
The leadership selection process must be open to most citizens. The country can only restrict voting rights based on legitimate reasons. Fair elections means there are no barriers (such as literacy tests, poll taxes, closed polling locations) to exercising one's right to vote.Additionally, elections should be held frequently to keep officials on their toes. Twenty year terms would prove ineffective in keeping politicians in line!
3. Inclusive Suffrage
While some of these have overlapping rationale, I should reiterate that citizens must have the right to vote that cannot be taken away based on racial or religious profiles.
4. Right to Run for Office
Citizens must enjoy the right to actively pursue public office without barriers. This guarantees a variety of diverse voices.
Of course, many would argue that our own country falls short of this ideal since running for public office currently carries an enormous price tag.
5. Freedom of Expression/Alternative Sources of information
It is vital in a democracy for citizens to receive information regarding public policy and governing activities from a source other than the government itself. Many democracy think tanks or NGO's hold that alternative news sources are the most "must-have" to achieve a democratic reality.
How does Iran and its recent elections hold up against these standards? The estimable Christopher Hitchens weighs in with less than optimistic analysis.
It's amazing that we live in a country where we all have the opportunity to vote (not that it's always been that way), and we all have the opportunity to run for office (with some guidelines of course). I have never thought of our government as a dictatorship in disguise. There's always somebody who is not happy with the government, and may think that government is just there to bring them down and control their life. I'm not as familiar with the Iran situation. I think it's great that they had an election, and that they had as large of a turn out as they did.
ReplyDeleteJacob Martens
Looking at your requirements, I have to ask your feelings on the recently appointed Czars under the Obama administration. These men(and women) and un elected and require only to report to the electoral branch- not the judicial or legislative. Two of the requirements are out right there.
ReplyDeleteOn top of which, we cannot run for "Czar" nor can we impeach them. It is not Iran I am worried about, but our own country.
Lauren Taylor.