Liberal democracy | Wikipedia audio article
Channel: wikipedia tts
Date: 15/12/2018

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Liberal democracy


00:02:51 1 Origins
00:08:34 2 Rights and freedoms
00:12:01 3 Preconditions
00:13:52 4 Liberal democracies around the world
00:15:18 5 Types
00:15:27 5.1 Proportional vs. plurality representation
00:17:01 5.2 Presidential vs. parliamentary systems
00:18:10 6 Issues and criticism
00:18:19 6.1 Dictatorship of the bourgeoisie
00:22:32 6.2 Media
00:24:13 6.3 Limited voter turnout
00:25:44 6.4 Ethnic and religious conflicts
00:27:38 6.5 Bureaucracy
00:28:54 6.6 Short-term focus
00:30:37 6.7 Majoritarianism
00:36:46 6.8 Political stability
00:38:29 6.9 Effective response in wartime
00:40:35 6.10 Better information on and corrections of problems
00:41:17 6.11 Corruption
00:41:59 6.12 Terrorism
00:42:26 6.13 Economic growth and financial crises
00:46:20 6.14 Famines and refugees
00:46:48 6.15 Human development
00:47:46 6.16 Democratic peace theory
00:48:42 6.17 Mass murder by government



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SUMMARY
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Liberal democracy is a liberal political ideology and a form of government in which representative democracy operates under the principles of classical liberalism. Also called Western democracy, it is characterised by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into different branches of government, the rule of law in everyday life as part of an open society, a market economy with private property, and the equal protection of human rights, civil rights, civil liberties and political freedoms for all people. To define the system in practice, liberal democracies often draw upon a constitution, either formally written or uncodified, to delineate the powers of government and enshrine the social contract. After a period of sustained expansion throughout the 20th century, liberal democracy became the predominant political system in the world.
A liberal democracy may take various constitutional forms: it may be a constitutional monarchy (Australia, Belgium, Canada, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, the United Kingdom) or a republic (France, India, Italy, Ireland, the United States). It may have a parliamentary system (Australia, Canada, India, Israel, Ireland, Italy, the United Kingdom), a presidential system (Indonesia, the United States) or a semi-presidential system (France, Romania).
Liberal democracies usually have universal suffrage, granting all adult citizens the right to vote regardless of race, gender or property ownership. However, historically some countries regarded as liberal democracies have had a more limited franchise, and some do not have secret ballots. There may also be qualifications such as voters being required to register before being allowed to vote. The decisions made through elections are made not by all of the citizens but rather by those who are eligible and who choose to participate by voting.
The liberal democratic constitution defines the democratic character of the state. The purpose of a constitution is often seen as a limit on the authority of the government. Liberal democracy emphasises the separation of powers, an independent judiciary and a system of checks and balances between branches of government. Liberal democracies are likely to emphasise the importance of the state being a Rechtsstaat, i.e. a state that follows the principle of rule of law. Governmental authority is legitimately exercised only in accordance with written, publicly disclosed laws adopted and enforced in accordance with established procedure. Many democracies use federalism—also known as vertical separation of powers—in order to prevent abuse and increase public input by dividing governing powers between municipal, provincial and national governments (e.g., Germany, where the federal government assumes the main legislative responsibilities and the federated Länder assume many executive tasks).