LETTER: Not all forms of democracy deserve respect
The Chinese embassy needs to understand that the only form of democracy worthy of the name is constitutional democracy
I refer to the letter from a representative of the Chinese embassy in SA, who claims there are many forms of democracy and that all forms are deserving of respect (“China’s democracy deserves respect,” February 13).
The Chinese embassy needs to understand that the only form of democracy worthy of the name is constitutional democracy, which enshrines the rights of the individual (as well as democracy’s ground rules, etc) in a constitution that cannot be altered by the majority unless the judiciary concurs.
A system in which the will of the people is blindly obeyed — which often sees the individual being forced to work like a slave for the benefit of the state — is known as majoritarianism.
Simply put, democracy is a system in which the individual is protected against the majority and what it might like to do to him and the freedom he values so highly.
Terence Grant
Cape Town
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