Liberal Democracy Is the Link Between the People and the Government

Democracy assumes a lot and cannot be defined as one thing. As said in the lecture it is a hybrid of a procedural and substantive democracy. Schumpeter describes democracy as a method; a complex structure that has meaning, procedure and expectations. Fareed Zakaria stated “Democracy and liberty have merged in our thoughts. Although democracy is flourishing while liberty is not.”

When I first read the term liberal democracy I thought of the democratic party. For some odd reason, I think the government has been twisted into being viewed through the lens of a political party only.

So when listening to the lecture I was shocked that I was wrong. Democracy is just the selection system, liberalism is talking about freedoms. Liberal democracy claims to establish the connection between citizens and policymakers(Huber, J. D., & Powell, G. B. (1994). 'The repeated processes of electoral competition and legislative bargaining are supposed to ensure that policymakers do what citizens want them to do' (Huber, J.

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D., & Powell, G. B. (1994). One must ask themselves, Do citizens have their liberal rights protected?

In my own personal opinion, I would say yes. Citizens do have their liberal rights protected. After all, this is what our amendments and constitution provide. The availability to exercise freedom of speech, vote and more. Checks and balances also prevent for government to take complete control. The Social Cohesion of Liberal Democracy explains that a group of distinguished writers argued that a 'minimum' legitimating consensus does exist in certain liberal democracies Mann, M.

(1970). This being the contributing factor to their regime's stability Mann, M. (1970).

Compared to democracies around the world 'other empirical investigations of the extent of political value consensus in one of those liberal democracies, the United States, provide opposite conclusions and, moreover, provide hints that the individual's own internal belief system may not be consistent' (Mann, M. (1970). Although together as a nation we have certain values, the United States still gives the protected liberty of allowing those to believe what they choose. To practice religion openly without being reprimanded. Therefore I would argue that liberal democracy has gown over time and the possibility for its growth was always there.

I believe democracy will survive. After all of these years and it is still standing. Some may say, the more adversity that comes - the stronger the nation will grow. In terms of our democracy, I do think there could be some risk factors. For example, many have made the argument that we are becoming a progressive democracy and society. However, I would say we are progressing to regression. It seems like the more we 'progress' the more people feel they cannot speak their own truth. Society claims to be progressive and inclusive but the minute you don't believe in what is 'progressive' you are wrong and many are against you.

Almost as though you should not have been given that liberal freedom of speaking or thinking in the belief/ value. The success of democracy will boil down to trust. We do not need to have individual truths created for people. At 40 minutes into the Council on Foreign Relations video, one of the panelists summed up this idea of truth perfectly. 'Personalized truths have a degrading effect on democracy. If we are not even all starting from the same point, what does that mean for the ability to have a robust democratic debate? Trust in institutions is critical to democracies' CouncilOnForeignRelations. (2019, April 29).