Assumptions of Democracy: May 2003 Archives

One of the most basic assumptions of a democracy is an informed voting public is essential. A democracy by definition is a people who are governed by the majority consent of the people. If a democratic nation is insufficiently informed, government direction will often be ineffectual in solving a nation's problems. However, if the voting public is misinformed by its leaders or a minority, then the government ceases to be a democracy, since, majority consent is not based on informed consent, and government is being directed by those who misinformed the public. All dictators of the 20th century knew the importance of misinforming the public and formally set up propaganda ministries to deliberately misinform the public in such a way as to retain support from the people.