Linking Democracy and Human Rights

In: Peace review: the international quarterly of world peace, Band 9, Heft 3, S. 351-356

Abstract

Democracy & human rights are connected absolutely. Individuals must have freedom of expression, association, assembly, & movement to be effective members of a democracy. Democracy presents a minimum but insufficient requirement for providing economic & social rights. Finally, the cultural right to express difference can be protected in democracy only through systems that limit the power of simple winner-take-all majorities. Democracy cannot be reduced to governmental institutions; it is an ongoing project of popular rule & collective decision making. A review of current research focusing on the UK, demonstrates that many northern countries with democratic institutions are failing to live up to the promise of democracy. 9 References. E. Munson