2. Forms of democracy have existed in many societies at different times . Even prominent writers, such as Held (1996), suggest that democracy has evolved among societies and different cultures.
3. Both the form and practice of democracy are often contested and as aptly submitted by Street (2011: 305) “There are, of course, as many definitions of democracy as there are democratic theorists.”
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4. While democracy is generally taken as the ideal form of rule, it is hotly disputed in other cultures.
5. Held,(1996: 7) believed that the most discernible and attractive form of democracy is one in which citizens in principle can extend their participation in decision-making to a wide array of spheres such as political, social and economic.
6. Held does not agree that any one existing model alone provides an adequate explanation of the conditions, features or rational of any one democratic form.
7. As a result, democracy is difficult to unpack. It is widely contestable and manifestly polymorphous (Sadiki, 2004: 10), implying that it has many forms and practices,
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8. In his work, The Theory of Democracy Revisited, Giovanni Sartori, scrutinises the various interrelated strata of complexities, among them the conceptual, historical, empirical and epistemological strata, to the study of democracy,
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9. Sadiki (2004: 10) posits that democratic scholars seem only to agree on the etymology of the word. Demokratia is the Greek composite of demos, people and kratia, from the verb kratien, to rule.
10. Again, as previously discussed and argued, even Athenian democracy was imperfect. It was patriarchal and exclusive - not accessed and practiced by women, children, foreigners and slaves.
11. Despite its imperfections and Western biases, democracy as a form of government remains valued as the best system for regulating state society relations across cultures within their contexts and historical circumstances. AGREED there
@glenmpani, there must be some agreement
12. There are certain values of democracy that apply to all societies and cultures, such as the right to equality before the law and universal adult suffrage.
@glenmpani this is the major point you make in your TWEET, minimum agreeables
13. The assertion that democracy is a Western concept has, therefore, been described as a myth. Sen (in Koggel, 2006) argues that the championing of pluralism, diversity and basic liberties can be found in the history of many societies. There we go, u are right
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14. He posits that the tradition of encouraging and protecting public debates on political, social and cultural matters, in India, China, Africa, Iran, the Arab World, Turkey and the Middle East, for instance.
