Democracy is a system where the government implements the will of the majority and it is held accountable by the majority.

Western countries implement parliamentary democracy, and we now have ample evidence that this model of democracy does not work in practice. Western governments primarily represent the interests of the elites at the expense of the public as this study of US policy illustrates. US may be an extreme case, but similar situation is observed in most western nations.

Western chauvinists do not get to define whether other countries are democratic or not because western model itself is a failure.

People actually living in those countries get to define what their system is. Vast majority of Chinese citizens approve of their government, and think that it is in fact democratic.

  • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆OP
    2•3 years ago

    Capitalism is obviously compatible with different political systems. However, my original point was that parliamentary democracy is very good at keeping capitalism alive in western countries, not that it’s the only system compatible with capitalism.

    As I’ve already pointed out, the happiness index clearly seems to be at odds with reality because happy people don’t organize country wide protests. Here’s a discussion of why such metrics can be very misleading:

    Savolainen even theorizes that this inclination toward moderation shapes residents’ responses to the happiness ranking’s central question. “The Nordic countries are united in their embrace of curbed aspirations for the best possible life,” he writes. “In these societies, the imaginary 10-step ladder is not so tall.”

    It’s much better to look at metrics around material conditions in the county that have tangible impact on the quality of life for the people living in the country.

    And I completely disagree with you that political systems shouldn’t be compared. Instead of looking at it as a nationalistic competition, try to instead view it as a a way to learn from others. If one country manages to continue improving life for their citizens and another doesn’t, then perhaps the one that doesn’t should reexamine what it’s doing.