Category talk:Liberal democracies
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[edit] Very Incomplete
This currently only lists a tiny amount of countries. It needs allot of Expansion.—Preceding unsigned comment added by Hibernian (talk • contribs)
- I know, I was hoping that other users, like yourself, would add some more countries to the list. YankeeDoodle14 03:22, 2 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Any need for this category?
Is there any point in this category at all? The term liberal democracy is so wishy-washy anyway, and bears so little actual _meaning_, considering that the political and societal realities within liberal democracies vary hugely, that I think this category shouldn't actually exist. Look at Russia - constitutionally it is as liberal democratic as you get, protection of basic freedoms, property rights, separation of powers, etcetera, etcetera, but it is easily possible to make a very strong case that it is not, in fact, a liberal democracy. And people do. This category is far too controversial. 158.143.165.225 15:16, 1 March 2007 (UTC)
- Agreed. Josh 18:08, 15 May 2007 (UTC)
- I also agree. This category is loaded with so many POV problems that I suggest we could be better off without it. PatGallacher (talk) 01:21, 9 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] The End of History
Right, liberal democracy is not an easy concept to define. But it is more or less clear that which countries could be catagorized under this model and which ones cannot. As Francis Fukuyama has argued, the majority of the world's states in one way or another are now liberal democracies. So I think there is not a point in listing these countries not because of the vagueness of the catagory, but since we have to list virtually all countries in the world except a few countries like China, North Korea, Cuba and most of the Middle Eastern states. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Nyeditor (talk • contribs) 15:05, 7 March 2007 (UTC).
[edit] USA
since when does a biparty dictatorship count as a liberal democracy?· Lygophile has spoken 16:16, 4 April 2007 (UTC)
Though not as liberal as I would like on drug laws and the ability of an adult to do with his or her body what he or she chooses, the US is certainly a liberal society. In protecting expression its hard to find a country with more freedom. What kind of a dictatorship has a 28% approval rating, an opposition party which controls both houses of government, and finds that he is assaulted by the reality of his awful policies on newspapers in his country every day?
Oh, but you weren't actually serious were you...? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Penser (talk • contribs) 23:23, 6 May 2007 (UTC).
[edit] Which countries are not lib dem's ...
Hey guys, Can we agree on which countries are not liberal democracies first? That should make our task easier. Here's a shot, please modify as you see fit:
- (People's republic of) China
- Saudi Arabia
- Pakistan
- North Korea
- Iran
- Myanmar
- Cuba
... Uh, that's all can think of for now.. --Amit 16:08, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Bad definition
Right now this seems to be 'allies of the United States'. Japan is not a particularly liberal democratic country, for example. They have a vast surveillance culture and overreaching police powers. Also, Israel may be a liberal democracy, but the undecided gray-area status of the Golan, the territories and the settlements will cause a lot of debate.
Under the current definition I'm going to proceed adding all EU member states, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland, since they seem to comply with this sort of consensus-by-silence definition. I suggest coming up with a table that includes countries' position on rankings like privacy international, freedom house, press freedom, etc etc. --Joffeloff 09:11, 6 October 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Clear criteria
This category needs some clear criteria. How about using one of the academic databases trying to "measure" democracy in various countries? I would suggest Polity data series because it is a standard data source for quantitative studies of democracy. You can download the data for free and choose countries exceeding a threshold Polity score (say >7) for this category. An alternative source is the Freedom House. This category has no meaning if random people just pick up the countries they like. Tankred 14:52, 6 October 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Youth Choir of Scotland?
How did that end up in this category??? Sunil060902 17:05, 29 October 2007 (UTC)
[edit] African countries?
Wouldn't some African countries - notably Botswana, South Africa, Ghana, Mali, and Benin - qualify as liberal democracies? Josh 08:54, 6 November 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Why is Russia categorized as a liberal democracy?
Granted, it's not North Korea, but calling it a liberal democracy, IMO, is quite a stretch. Also, why are User:Einstein41389/sandbox and User:Superluser/United States copy in there? Josh (talk) 01:07, 8 March 2008 (UTC)
