International Democracy

International democracy is a term suggesting one or many governmental institution(s) with some authority across political national boundaries. The institutions must acknowledge that almost all adults have the right to vote for representation in fair and secret elections, almost all adults have the right to run for office, the people elected into office are delegated power, and every person has the right to free speech, to organize and form political parties, and to un-biased information. This idea has caused fear due to the delegation of sovereignty to the supranational government and predictions of a forceful and controlling hegemon that would exploit resources and people for more power. However, new problems of contemporary societies require some form of International Democracy to resolve them efficiently and entirely. For example, the AIDS crisis and Global Warming have a substantial effects on the whole world; they do not know the impermeability of political boundaries. So to respond to "international democracy: dangerous utopia or realistic goal?" I say neither. International democracy is not adequately summarized as either a "dangerous utopia" or a "realistic goal." A more satisfactory phrase is "international democracy: a way to achieve the attainable goal of a more-ideal situation."

The word Utopia has been defined in many different ways: "An ideally perfect place, especially in its social, political, and moral aspects," (American Heritage, 2000), "An impractical idealistic scheme for social and political reform," (Webster, 1997), and even "An imaginary place considered to be perfect or ideal,"(Princeton University, 2003). Perhaps perfection will never be reached on this Earth, or reached and maintained for any amount of time. However, I believe an ideal situation is certainly not imaginary, can be achieved and, if managed appropriately, maintained for a substantial period time. Idealistic does not always equate with unrealistic or impracticality. It seems that the connotations associated with the word "utopia" lend an element of futility to peoples' perceptions of international democracy, so it is not the most appropriate word.

I also feel that there are unfair connotations adhered to the word "dangerous." International democracy is just as dangerous as local or national democracy. Constituents still must trust the representatives they elect into office to represent them in such a manner so that their opinions, ideas, and beliefs are expressed. The representatives are trusted

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