A Level Politics - Participation and Democracy
Winston Churchill famously stated in the House of Commons in 1947 that "democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms." Although his support for democracy may appear qualified, Churchill recognised that democracy is the best form of government accessible because it roots power in the people. This is because citizens hold their government accountable for the actions it takes on their behalf and elect the politicians they wish to represent them. Power is permanently entrenched in one individual or group in autocratic forms of governance, giving them absolute control over their people. The commencement of the United Kingdom's journey toward genuine democracy can be traced all the way back to Magna Carta (1215), and possibly even to the Anglo-Saxon witan, giving the United Kingdom a strong claim to having the world's longest democratic history. In the United States, at the height of the American Civil War in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln (1861–65) articulated the notion of democratic democracy in his Gettysburg Address, stating that "government of the people, by the people, for the people."
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