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Showing posts from November 25, 2005

Democracy at Work in America Part 1

Democracy at Work in America Part 1 Democracy in its ideal sense is the notion that "the people" should have the right to rule themselves. that is so taking for granted in the US. I begun to understand what democracy is as a teenager when I heard that attempt on President Reagan’s life had taken place and the alleged assassin was captured immediately. The most striking thing to me was the fact that the shooter John Hinckley had his day in court and found not guilty by reason of insanity: that is when I knew that democracy included the rule of law; the accused is innocent before found guilty. I am Ethiopian and I was living in Ethiopia at that time, there wasn’t democracy in Ethiopia nor was it a rule of law. I asked my self then why Ethiopia has no system of a government that is adhere to democratic system, it was that notion the most bothersome to me than how poor Ethiopia was (still is). The only connection I had with democratic countries was through Voice of America (VOA)