Present an entirely original summation on the subject of democracy
the salient philosophy of our period
the one which defines the modern psyche
It must explain the exact meaning and exact purpose of present existence
Do this in less than 50 words
And then
let us vote on the best of it.
Sure…
Democracy is governmental control spread evenly amongst the populace when given equal shares in a voting system. Any democratic system thrives on social awareness, accessibility for everyone to exercise their rights, and a level political playing field. Its enemies are dogma and ignorance, which hinder its functioning…
One could Google the above
Conventional un-original description
confusion still reigns
too obtuse
does not exactly explain the meaning for being
or purpose for being
or what kind of dogma bedevils it?
or what level of ignorance hampers it?
A novel summation
must make us see democracy in a new and brighter light
it must be exact
leave no questions
for a Congress or Supreme Court to haggle over
does not get my vote
will give you marks for trying tho
and the courage to do so
MM - I’m letting you know now that if this is going to be another of your fishing expeditions, it’s not going to last long.
Hoe can i be exact in 50 words or less?
Tell me using less than 50 words, but don’t be obtuse or anything like that, m’kay?
Democracy : a systematic inclusion of the masses, into governance. (9) Autonomous representation through popularly elected delegates. (6) One man = 1 vote. (5) Including humanism-populist belief, one person = 1 vote. (9) Representation is a process of civil contributions, henceforth, no contribution, no civilization. (12) Democracy presumes moral authority over oneself, constituting a vote. (9)
9+6+5+9+12+9=50 words or less
A manifestation of the presupposition of the existence of equality in widespread decision making.
Brevity is the soul of wit
Long -winded written Constitutions
are abject failures
the more words and clauses
the more loopholes there are
One can do it
if the purpose of the ideology is crystal clear in the mind
Representation is passe
we have the internet
Your last clause shows promise
dump the front end
and enlarge on that morality 
btw Capitalized interest
is immoral 
Faust
I hate fishing
I am a hunter
I prefer looking my prey in the eye
and so i thought it was…
It looks like your ideals don’t agree with mine…
I vote for myself.
I vote for me: how much equality is presupposed in order for your vote to count the same as mine, and us more than anyone who hasn’t voted or been informed enough? - and not just equality in the sense of one vote against another.
Seeing equality instead of similarity goes profoundly deep in so many ways - for example, even writing words (like democracy) at all. This way of seeing things satisfies the OP’s request that it “defines the modern psyche”, and if as MM also says “Brevity is the soul of wit”, I defy anyone to come up with anything more relevant, coherent and far-reaching in less than 14 words, never mind 50.
Majority Rule.
Your “Majority Rule” contribution hardly satisfies the OP’s “original summation” criteria, making it irrelevant to the thread - never mind lacking much insight into what ‘majority rule’ (simply a tautological definition of the word, democracy) really implies.
If democracy means that my eighteen year old grandson
can cancel my vote
you can count me out
If its collective purpose is to serve
godless Communism
or godless Capitalism
you can count me out
no matter what the majority may say about it
This sounds interesting
I’m not sure which you prefer
I’d like to hear more ( you have thirty more words)
What I do know
is that government without full consensus
is a half-assed attempt at management
Hence this thread
and the need for a far more concise definition of what democracy is
than our esteemed founders ever thought of
it can be done without being condemned for heresy
we do
after all
have 20/20 hindsight
Are you asking us to define democracy? I have to ask, because this sentence makes no sense.
How about condensation?
Your own grasp of why we adopted it
and how and where it is supposed to take us.
Re-expressing the old definition is pointless
Right now no politician or theologian
has any truly unambiguous idea of what democracy really means
or what it must accomplish
the arguments to left and right of its constitution are endlessly disrupting
the expense of its administration has bankrupted the richest nations on the planet
as a result the world economy and ecology is in a shambles
every leading nation needs re-direction
The challenge for modern philosophers
is to unearth the root of the mass misunderstanding
and re-express clarity of meaning and purpose as simply as possible
Democracy is substance in terms of rights and the rule of law and process in terms of people having a say. It’s lasted and it spreads because when the people believe they have some measure of control and influence over the official state processes, they are less likely to rebel.
That is the conventional view
which has lead to the ambiguity and mediocrity we presently live under
what I am looking for in a more positive philosophical theorem on democracy
is not a process that makes people less likely to rebel
but one that inspires them both individually and collectively to excel
one that evokes satyagraha
our soul force
You think the conventional view of democracy describes democracy wrong?
I don’t see how a political arrangement can inspire people to excel, or how it should. At most it can provide the conditions for people to excel. A lot of people I know try to define democracy not only as a political arrangement, but as a good political arrangement, and there’s just no need for that. Once they’ve made the commitment that Democracy is good, they start piling up a bunch of shit on the democracy train. A true democracy is like this, and like that, and it evokes this and that… 
Democracy should be the search for the perfect balancing point between the rights of the individual , and the rights of the majority over the individual.
No sane (balanced) person would be unhappy with the balancing point. 
Does your solution not leave us exactly where we are?
What democracy should be ideally
and what it is in practice
are two entirely different things
for instance
Who makes the search?
How is it made?
Who decides what is a fair balance?
What is the balance anyway?
Those are the questions that must be mulled over and answered
before any of us come up with an answer
which resounds with the common sense
of everyone
and cannot be swayed this way or that
by further argument
My own understanding of how to achieve an ideal state of human cooperation
and explain what democracy really means and what ts purpose is
is extremely basic
A true democracy is only possible
in a fully matured adult society
graduated beyond teenage argument
where every individual is reared with enough personal integrity
to realize that his needs and those of his extended family
together with our responsibility for the sustainable stewardship of our global estate
are identical
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