"Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."
Some writers don't believe
Democracy Is Bad per se. They see it as the best system we've got. That said they don't think it is perfect, and they've written something to get this viewpoint across.
Writers who are utilising this trope will lay bare the flaws of democracy but not
demonise it. They will point out the safeguard against tyranny it provides while pointing out that the influence of narrow interest groups, an unaware populace and a biased media can still lead to the people being manipulated into voting against their interests or even simply not having a candidate that represents their interests to choose. They will note that it allows the checking of unwise usage of power while at the same time leading to polarisation and paralysis. The overall use of this trope is one that is in favour of democratic procedures (in fact, one of their main criticisms may be that the system isn't democratic
enough) but that said procedures are still full of holes.
More philosophical works may speak of
the human element as reason for why democracy is flawed.
For now,
Real Life examples are permitted, as this is a politically motivated trope and they are helpful. Try to keep it to famous opinions on the matter rather than analysis of the actual systems. Failure to be civil will result in the
Real Life section being nuked. Real Life examples are a privilege, not a right.
Examples:
Anime and Manga
- Legend of Galactic Heroes spends a lot of time showing that democracy at is best is nowhere near as good as the best that can be done with an iron fist, but it also is unlikely to sink quite as low. The Free Planets Alliance is corrupt to the core, but people still can basically talk about it without being sent to GULAG. The Empire is becoming a great place to live, but this follows a period of despotism.
Comic Books
- When Papa Smurf is away, The Smurfs argue who should be the new leader. In the first round of voting, everyone votes for himself. The second round ends with a smurf elected (by making empty promises) who installs a monarchy with himself as the king.
Film
- Then-Senator Palpatine uses the political mire of the Galactic Senate to ignite his scheme of overthrowing the Jedi and Senate to establish a Sith Empire.
Live-Action TV
- Luka Kovac expresses a belief similar to this to John Carter in the first episode of the "Doctors Without Borders" arc of ER.
- It's not clear if this was an intentional Aesop, but a great many of the Rag-Tag Fleet's problems could have been avoided if President Roslin would favour expert advice over public opinion.
- Yes Minister played with this one, as neither idealistic front-bench rookie Jim Hacker nor his much more experienced and rather jaded Permanent Under-Secretary Sir Humphrey were ever consistently in the wrong.
Literature
Theatre
- And, as always, Shakespeare did it ages ago in his famous To Be Or Not To Be speech:
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office...
- The musical Knickerbocker Holiday has as its primary moral that a government run by a council of fat and stupid men is better than one run by a dictator.
Video Games
- The New California Republic in Fallout: New Vegas is a democracy styled after pre-War America, and most characters in the game say it's flawed but a hell of a lot better than suffering under a military dictatorship like some other areas.
Western Animation
- In Justice League episode "A Better World", when Batman Prime fights and argues with Batman the Justice Lord, they briefly touch on the topic of democracy, which BtJL quickly dismisses, because "it has other virtues, but it doesn't keep you very safe". He eventually defeats BP by pointing out that in his totalitarian world, no eight year-old boy would lose his parents because of some punk with a gun. Batman Prime has to admit that he has a point.*
Though Prime!Batman gets him back later when pointing out how their parents would have hated living in a totalitarian dictatorship.
Real Life
- The alternative summed up by Harry S Truman:
- Inefficiency seems to have been formally incorporated into the American system of government in many places. For example, the process of advancing bills to legislation in Congress can be quite cumbersome, and it seems to have been deliberately made difficult for the Constitution to be amended. Perhaps this is what Harry S Truman was talking about in his quote above?
- Trope originating quote:
"Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." -
Winston Churchill
- The New Russia. To what extent is a matter for debate and should be the subject of more scholarly articles than Tv Tropes. However, it is generally accepted that the new Russian system is an improvement over the old Soviet one.
- A common joke when someone is moving slowly is to say he's moving at the speed of government.
- In Fascist Italy, Mussolini is said to have made the trains run on time. He didn't, but the belief reflects this trope.
- After World War II, the new German state simply kept most of the existing laws but made significant changes in regard to elections and the power of major offices in the new constitution, to prevent the rise of populists in the future. While many aspects of national and state election and lawmaking are now frequently described as undemocratic, it was regarded as a necessary move.
- In late 2011, the Pirate Party unexpectedly came in fifth in the Berlin state election and fourth in the Saarland, winning seats in both states and are expected to get similar results in North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein. While rightfully described as a populist movement, the Pirate Party of Germany differs from other such parties in Europe by having the increase of democratic participation in Germany as their primary (and some even say only) aim, instead of handing all power to strong leaders who know "what's best" for the country.
