Why Democracy Robert Dahl Summary

In this article, “Just Do What the pilot Tells You” Theodore Dalrymple and “The Genocidal Killer in the Mirror” by Crispin Sartwell express two different viewpoints expressed towards obedience. While both authors are addressing the issue of disobedience, Dalrymple approaches the issue, stating, “Some people think a determined opposition to authority is principled and romantic” (Dalrymple 3) while on the other hand, Sartwell emphasizes that authority, especially hierarchies are the most “evil” thing in our society. Despite the well-executed argument of the two author's, Dalrymple takes a self-centered approach, forcing the reader to agree with his opinion.

Individuals often yield to conformity when they are forced to discard their individual freedom in order to benefit the larger group. Despite the fact that it is important to obey the authority, obeying the authority can sometimes be hazardous especially when morals and autonomous thought are suppressed to an extent that the other person is harmed. Obedience usually involves doing what a rule or a person tells you to but negative consequences can result from displaying obedience to authority for example; the people who obeyed the orders of Adolph Hitler ended up killing innocent people during the Holocaust. In the same way, Stanley Milgram noted in his article ‘Perils of Obedience’ of how individuals obeyed authority and

Following orders is of the utmost importance in the military. Obedience is what enables the military to operate in an organized and effective manner which is clearly very important during challenging military situations. While an individual can question the notion of obedience in daily life, this luxury is often not available in the military where the grand goals and aims require smooth internal functioning and hierarchical coordination. Indeed, many of the standards that would be frowned upon outside the military are essential to the work's success within. For example, punishment is not deemed to be a positive occurrence in an average person’s life, whereas the military guide maintains that punishment

In “We’re a Democracy” by Eugene Volokh, he shows that there is a fine line between being a

Once a society elects the government they classify as “ideal,” the government that establishes authority will have the ability to set harsh restrictions against the citizens who supported them without any knowledge on their plans. To demonstrate how sinful he has been, Equality describes the kind of life people conform

     Ernest Hemmingway once described a novel by Mark Twain as, “…it is the ‘one book’ from which ‘all modern American literature’ came from” (Railton). This story of fiction, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is a remarkable story about a young boy growing up in a society that influences and pressures people into doing the so-called “right thing.” It is not very difficult to witness the parallels between the society Huck has grown up in and the society that influences the choices of people living today. However, what is it that gives society the power to draw guidelines to define the norms, trends, and what is morally right and wrong in life? Is it always the best choice to listen

If society didn’t have standards that were enforced to help prevent harm to society by its members, how different would it be? These standards are broken into two different types, verbal and written. Although, one can distinguish between the two standards, verbal standards are those that are not written down, but yet passed down among many generations and are not easily enforce, whereas written standards, are the complete opposite. There were two attempts at a supreme law or the constitution of the United States of America to help with standards. These two attempts include the Articles of Confederation and The U.S. Constitution.

We are prone to obey because when we are obedient to an authority it makes us feel safe and protected. We can’t make mistakes because the authority decides for us. We can’t be alone, because the authority watches over us. So, no matter what our behavior is, it can be justified on the ground that we are only following orders, doing what we’re told from above. We can easily be brought to view ourselves as an instrument for carrying out another person’s wishes, and so we no longer feel responsible for our actions. Unfortunately, that can make us feel responsible to the authority, instead of the content of the orders the authority is giving. Morality is still there, but the focus is changed. We feel the need to perform well, out of obligation or duty, to those who are in authority.

The main issue Plato has with democracy, as outlined in The Republic of Plato, is democracy has a uniquely level playing field for all and that this leads to people working toward endeavors that do not suit their best abilities, which goes against Plato’s own image of justice as Plato’s image holds to the idea that justice is primarily found in the community more so than the individual and that it is realized on an individual and societal level when people help to advance society by working toward endeavors that best suit their natural abilities (55). This democratic equality, the author feels, leads to those who are unequipped and unprepared to rule leading the masses. For example, Plato utilizes the metaphor of the ship to show this issue of democracy, that many of the crew, though not equipped to lead, will try to steer to steer the ship and that the struggle will eventually lead the crew to wreck the ship (195-196).

American Liberties In a society that does not pressure change as much as people should. A government that is morally corrupt. The home of the brave and land of the free is used to describe America, but it is far from that description. Americans sit idly by as the people in power destroy what they have worked so hard to build.

Moreover, Moon argues that “[e]lections are lauded as symbolic of the arrival of democracy, but every democratic theorist agrees that there is far more to democracy that elections” (116). Removing Saddam Hussein and setting up elections, does not address the underlying systematic issues within the country. There are other Baathist leaders besides Hussein, and removing the dictator does not remove the Sunni versus Shia conflict within the region. Moon goes on to state that “[a]n Iraqi-headed government may embody sovereignty, but scholars of democracy are unanimous that the tricky part of maintaining the monopoly on the legitimate use of force lies not in creating instruments of power, but in constraining its illegitimate exercise. That requires

Obedience is what enables the military to operate in an organized and effective manner which is clearly important during challenging situations. While an individual can question the notion of obedience in daily life, this luxury is not available in the military where the goals and objectives of the mission often require smooth internal functioning and coordination. Indeed, many of the standards that would be frowned upon outside the military are essential to the work's success within. For example, punishment is not deemed to be a positive occurrence in an average person’s life, whereas the Army doctrine maintains that “punishment strengthens determination and discipline and enables a person to learn and fully take the importance of following orders upon them selves”. The act of disobedience is considered to be an infraction and the soldier who placed himself in such a situation can find himself facing Article 15 charges. Thus, respect and obedience are of the utmost significance in the military as it helps maintain the internal stability and enables the military therefore to carry out its operations in confidence.

In today's day and age contemporary society's are built upon the thought of citizen conformity to a prescribed set of values and norms to. This idea of complies to social standards makes one think as to how these norms of fact society as a whole and an individual. The main driving component which draws people too conformity are the desire to be excepted in certain status groups. People fear that if they do not conformity is norms that they will be breaking the social contract therefore been shunned by society at not being able to achieve their personal goals. Further analysis of these forces for conformity in contemporary society it will be shown that these forces produced negative ethical conduct and

Democracy has become the most widespread political form of government during the past decade, after the fall of all its alternatives. During the second part of the 20th century, the 3 main enemies of democracy, namely communism, fascism and Nazism, lost most of their power and influence. However, democracy is still only to be found in less than half of this world's countries. China with a fifth of the total population "had never experienced a democratic government" and Russia still doesn't have a well established democracy. By adopting a democratic perspective, 3 types of governments emerge, non-democratic, new democracies, and old democracies, and all have a different challenge to overcome: either to become democratic, to "consolidate"

In addition to Mill’s concept of liberty, Philio Gabriel (2010) stated that the authoritative of society need to be limited towards the right of individuals. Individuals are involved in the society have to maintain and guard the society. Voicing non-harmful opinions somehow use no-coercive.