When talking about bringing Democracy upon the people of Egypt, U.S. Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton defines it as an opportunity to "respect.. the rights of people" (http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/01/30/us.egypt/index.html?iref=allsearch). Democracy provides people with the opportunity to have a voice in the political world. The opportunity to have a government by the people provides excellent opportunities and freedoms to the people. It may be flawed at times but as the book mentions the "American constitutional government became more and more democratic," (p13) over time and has come a long way. The challenges of democracy were very well illustrated within the book. The Titanic example serves as an excellent metaphor of the division of social classes due to "disparities in wealth and income that separate first- and third-class passengers" (p.2). Of course such division was a lot wider back in the early 1900s, since then nearly "all adults over the age of eighteen" (p.13) can now vote. Even though democracy has had its struggles over the years and is not perfect, it is an excellent progression toward providing equal representation for people. In order to be represented however, people must take the initiative to research and vote for the people they believe will bring the most change.
I thought that this cartoon goes well with what someone brought up in discussion about how during elections, the media and politicians focus more on who's going to be captain while the titanic is sinking, rather then what they are going to do about it.
References: "The Politics of Power" by Ira Katznelson, Mark Kesselman, and Alan Draper
"Clinton calls for a peaceful transition to democracy in Egypt" - CNN.com
Cartoon- http://eduardotosado.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/cartoon-politics.gif
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| Obtained from <http://eduardotosado.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/cartoon-politics.gif> |
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