Democracy: "Liberté Egalité Fraternité" versus "E Pluribus Unum" - by RM

When it comes to the interpretation of democracy the US and Europe look at it in quite a different way. 

Democracy for most Europeans is mainly based on the French interpretation of Democracy and has its origins in the French revolution with its world famous slogan  - 'Liberté, égalité, fraternité' ( Freedom, Equality and  Brotherhood).

This approach in defining Democracy provides for many ways of interpretation and its boundaries are basically limitless.  
 
As a result European Democracy is a constant work in progress. Over the years following the French revolution most  European monarchies were abolished while the power of the few remaining monarchies have been greatly reduced. Multi-party parliamentary ruled governments have been established and this century's most important democratic experiment was initiated, following the second world war, when the first steps were set towards what has today become the 27 member European Union with the largest GDP in the world. Contrary to the past the focus of this united effort is not on military conquest but on global fair trade. 

The weakness of the EU structure is still the apparent lack of popular involvement in the process. Unfortunately this must also be attributed to the lackluster attitude by some of the leaders among the 27 membership nations in supporting and vocalizing the benefits of the  European Union . This has, unfortunately allowed populist and right-wing politicians to gain ground in Europe. 

Going to the other side of the Atlantic we find that the United States of America based its interpretation of Democracy on their July 4, 1776  declaration of Independence,  which includes the famous phrase  - "E Pluribus Unum" - (For the many become one) .

This "many become one" in fact has created  a 'homogenized' society which provides very little space for individualism within the US  political environment, but the other side of the coin one also finds a nation focused on and excelling in industrial, commercial and technological innovation. This competitive strength has turned America into the worlds most important economic power.  As a result it has also created the most powerful military industrial complex on earth with a global reach to protect and guarantee that position.

Politically America is on a crossroad and the situation is quite challenging. The two party political system which might have had its merits in the past is now mainly steered by special interest groups and moved away from serving the electorate to catering to the interests of Corporate America. 

As one political analyst said during a discussion on the NBC Meet the Press show, when questioned about the most recent US Presidential debate: "This was not really a debate about issues, it was more a debate on how to arrange the deck chairs on the Titanic".

Maybe when we compare these two structurally different approaches as to what we could call the ideal Democratic and politically correct system,  both the US and the EU  would certainly still score among the top three Democracies in the world.

So which country is the number one Democracy in the world, if you have not yet figured it out for yourself ? 

Canada - well at least in my opinion.  

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