As wiser heads than mine once put it "Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses."
- and at what point are the leaders assumed to have a mandate - as opposed to remaining in power simply because no-one has held them to task?
This government is legitimate becasue it won a free and democratic election a year ago - and they will remain the legitimate government until they get voted out.
This would be a free and democratic election decided in fair part by the size of the respective campaign chests?
When my support for any given political party counts to the same extent as, say, Bill Gates' then we have a free and democratic system.
And at what point can a government be said to have forfeited their right to a position? - by your contention, a government would be free to institute a policy of compulsory child mortality tomorrow on the basis of a vote last year - and any attempt to overthrow them or void the policy would be illegitimate.
Furthermore; if an allegedly democratic government does things that damage local and national democracy, then it is acting against the interests of the country it is nominally in charge of; and should be accountable as such.
Not simply to the parties of opposition, but to the people as a whole and the judicial system in particular.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2006-05-24 04:01 pm (UTC)- and at what point are the leaders assumed to have a mandate - as opposed to remaining in power simply because no-one has held them to task?
This government is legitimate becasue it won a free and democratic election a year ago - and they will remain the legitimate government until they get voted out.
This would be a free and democratic election decided in fair part by the size of the respective campaign chests?
When my support for any given political party counts to the same extent as, say, Bill Gates' then we have a free and democratic system.
And at what point can a government be said to have forfeited their right to a position? - by your contention, a government would be free to institute a policy of compulsory child mortality tomorrow on the basis of a vote last year - and any attempt to overthrow them or void the policy would be illegitimate.
Furthermore; if an allegedly democratic government does things that damage local and national democracy, then it is acting against the interests of the country it is nominally in charge of; and should be accountable as such.
Not simply to the parties of opposition, but to the people as a whole and the judicial system in particular.