Democracy: Its Origin and Purpose |
by Bernard P. Hagan |
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Democracy: The Democratic World Movement The democratic world movement, which is defined as the gradual progress of the human race toward freedom on a country-by-country basis, is composed of all the democratic movements that have come to power in the democratic countries, as well as all the democratic movements in countries not yet democratic. They are all, all of them, part of the one movement. This is how both Jefferson and Lincoln looked at human history. Lincoln said our revolution would "grow and expand into the universal liberty of mankind." Jefferson said the French Revolution had to be successful so that humanity could continue to move toward that future phase of history he described as "the liberty of the whole earth." The democratic world movement in their view has always been a single worldwide ongoing and continuing phenomenon and that same view of our movement is also a basic doctrine of the democratic political philosophy. Next: Democracy: Two Basic Kinds of Political Philosophy » |
© Copyright 2004 Bernard P. Hagan, all rights reserved even though these essays may be reprinted. |