Concetps of Democracy and South Africa - 1071 Words

1.From a basic and conceptual standpoint, thin concepts of democracy are more narrow, whilst thick concepts of it take a much broader stance.(Democracy Index 2012:5) Both definitions include the fundamental electoral requirements of a democracy whilst the thin concepts seem to stay within this minimalist realm(Democracy Index 2012:5) and the thick definition encompasses more political freedoms, adding civil liberties to the list of requirements as well.(Democracy Index 2012:26) Dahls version of polyarchy and Freedom Houses electoral democracy are examples of ‘thin’ definitions where both define democracy by political freedoms only, mostly related to elections and votes. (Democracy Index, 25, 26), Freedom houses’ non electoral definition of democracy (Democracy Index 2012:5) is â€Å"thick† as it adds to it a range of political liberties and includes public freedoms.(Democracy Index 2012:5) Sometimes there are even more points added to certain â€Å"thick† definition of democracy because they do not see political and civil liberties as enough to define a country as truly democratic.(Democratic Index 2012:26, 27) The economic index does this where it sees that requirements such as a population that participates in the democratic process and a government that is able to carry out its given role must be added on to make a democracy more practically efficient.(Democratic Index 2012: 26, 27) In conclusion thin democracy is a narrow definition(Democracy Index 2012:5) leading more towards