http://democraticpiece.com/2009/11/28/sudanese-liberalism/ Tentative conclusions on democracy & governance Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:00:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://democraticpiece.com/2009/11/28/sudanese-liberalism/comment-page-1/#comment-4573 Tom Round Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:44:10 +0000 http://democraticpiece.com/?p=1505#comment-4573 "Democratic", yes, but "liberal"? Even if we define "democracy" minimally - "laws are made by (persons chosen by) a majority of the adult citizens" - adding "liberal" is a considerable qualifier, since it implies that laws can only be made to prevent some kind of demonstrable harm to living creatures. Doesn't need to be rigorous libertarianism in Rand's sense or even Mill's - the majority in a "liberal" democracy can make seatbelts compulsory - but it does exclude enacting harsh penalties for harmless or minor actions, like skirt length. “Democratic”, yes, but “liberal”? Even if we define “democracy” minimally – “laws are made by (persons chosen by) a majority of the adult citizens” – adding “liberal” is a considerable qualifier, since it implies that laws can only be made to prevent some kind of demonstrable harm to living creatures. Doesn’t need to be rigorous libertarianism in Rand’s sense or even Mill’s – the majority in a “liberal” democracy can make seatbelts compulsory – but it does exclude enacting harsh penalties for harmless or minor actions, like skirt length.

]]> http://democraticpiece.com/2009/11/28/sudanese-liberalism/comment-page-1/#comment-4527 Josh Sat, 05 Dec 2009 03:17:14 +0000 http://democraticpiece.com/?p=1505#comment-4527 Well, in theory I agree, but I'm not sure we can say yet that Sudan actually has liberal democratic institutions. Well, in theory I agree, but I’m not sure we can say yet that Sudan actually has liberal democratic institutions.

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