Q: You have given us something to think about. Interesting concept to apply on the local level where you might be able to get some traction. Forgive my ignorance of Argentinian government: You mention Democracy several times in your blog, whereas the US is a represented republic. On a national level, it would be interesting to see if citizens could participate in such a program or even if our elected representatives could participate in our current system. I would like to hear a legal opinion on this matter. ~Scott Smith~
A: As you said, USA is a federal constitutional republic. Argentina (officially named as Argentine Republic) it is also a republic. In its constitution says that Argentina adopted a representative, republican and a federal government system; in fact Argentina constitution was based on the USA constitution.
When I use the word democracy, I don’t mean to the original definition of democracy established in the 500 BCE. At that time, democracy was referring only to a government system where the people govern, also known as Mob rule, Rule by the people or Rule by a majority; nowadays, that government system is known as Pure or Direct Democracy. That type of government differs from the one that Argentina and USA have, a Republic – rule by the law, existence of a constitution.
Here is a video explaining the different types of governments.
What I wanted to refer when I used the word democracy is to a type of government that was selected by the people, also known as representative democracy. In contemporary use, democracy means “equality and freedom. These principles are reflected in all citizens being equal before the law and having equal access to legislative processes. In a representative democracy, every vote has equal weight, no unreasonable restrictions can apply to anyone seeking to become a representative, and the freedom of its citizens is secured by legitimized rights and liberties which are generally protected by a constitution” *
Another important data is that Argentina, as well as other countries in South America, has suffered what we have called Government ‘de facto‘ where “In politics, a “de facto” leader of a country or region is one who has assumed authority, regardless of whether by lawful, constitutional, or legitimate means; very frequently, the term is reserved for those whose power is thought by some faction to be held by unlawful, unconstitutional, or otherwise illegitimate means, often by the fact that it had deposed a previous leader or undermined the rule of a current one” *
In Argentina have been successive military coups that overthrew constitutional governments installed de facto governments in 1930, 1943–1945, 1955–1958,1966–1973 and 1976-1983.
NOTE: Please, keep in mind I’m not a lawyer, so I hope my answer makes clearer what I wanted to mean with the word democracy on my blog post.
