Is democracy the best form of government?

to be completely honest, i am inclined to agree. but how can i not, if that is how i have been raised, how all Americans have been raised? we live in a democracy. to not say it is the best, well, that is almost like treason.

Its not the best... its not the worst... its not the best because the majority of people can be uneducated workers who dont think. "I don't want a nation of thinkers, I want a nation of workers." john D. Rockefeller. if majority cant make a good decision than democracy is fail. its not the worst system either its better than complete anarchy. the best system is small grouped village like they had in olden times when we were hunter gatherers than atleast you feel a closeness to your brotherhood

What if someone was in power who cared about the people, stood for the people, was in touch with the people and was not corrupted by the power that Dictatorship brought him. Yes, it seems unlikely but what if? We could have the ability to do more, faster with less red tape, paperwork, and continual discussion (as with a dictatorship) coupled with the freedoms of democracy.

The problem is the people always believe the mob (majority) to be right. The truth is people are easily manipulated when in a crowd or together as a majority on an issue. It takes but one person to convince 10 000 that his conviction is the right one. Nevermind what the minority of free thinkers, academics, intellectuals, or revolutionaries have to say or have warned against.

Political Ideology is not the problem. Humans are. We are self-righteous, greedy, self-serving, destructive, and worst of all manipulative. People always point me to the selfless acts of others they have witnessed in order to prove me wrong on my previous statement. But the fact is these selfless people are in the tiny minority, or as with Maslow's hierarchy of needs, already have 10 houses, 4 cars, 2 security guards and a 10 mil bank account. "Giving" to the poor doesn't detract from their riches as they resupply their wealth with shares bought and sold or actually working. Thus, they aren't losing wealth. They simply aren't gaining more.

We need the minority just as much as we need the majority. That minority of free thinkers, academics, intellectuals, and revolutionaries are the ones that changed the world. They brought us medicine, computers, a better understanding of science and space, but most important of all a curiosity for knowledge.

Democracy should protect the rights of the minority more often than it does. We rely too much on what the mob thinks, when in actual fact they don't think. They just regurgitate the drivel fed to them by some sob who knows how to manipulate the mob for his own profit. And that is the biggest problem facing democracy. How do you overcome the this human condition where if we are in large groups, emotion replaces logical thought?

A democracy is a good type of government only if it is regulated by constitutional laws and rights to ensure that the majority doesn't abuse their privileged power. In other words, let's say that we were to establish a secular government which encourages and guarantees religious freedom and equality. If the majority of the nation are fundamentalist Christians, and if they desire to teach creationism in school, we should create a constitutional law to create a separation of church and state to further protect the majority from abusing their large influence on public policy, automatically abolishing them from granting their wishes because of their large political influence to legalize creationism in school.

Of course, we all know intelligent design and creationism can't be taught in public schools because public schools are part of the public sector which is controlled by the government. And if schools were allowed to teach intelligent design, the government would be promoting religious ideas which violates the concept of the separation of church and state and secularism.

I think there are better forms of government other than democracy.Dictatorship is not completely bad neither is democracy completely good.Consider this form of government-- Instead of having bulky political parties why not have leaders of parties etc stand as candidates for the post of President/Prime Minister.The people can directly vote for them.Better still we could invite applications for this post from the citizens.Based on screening them for leadership track record,no criminal cases etc. we could select the top 5 or 10 most eligible candidates.People can select the candidate who is most popular/likable for 5 years.He could then select experts from different sectors as ministers.He could hand pick distinguished people from different sectors as expert advisory group who could debate/discuss proposed laws.He can hand pick worthy local people for mayor position in cities/villages who should interact directly with people and pass immediate orders to solve their problems.He should have a citizens forum where people directly give ideas to the Prime Minister/President.The judiciary to oversee the constitutional validity of laws passed,Election Commission,Constitution and an ombudsman to check corruption etc all of them will be there.

This form of government will cut flab,be efficient and agile.It will eliminate unworthy but popular people from getting elected.Also the people debating will be experts in their field.There is greater likelihood of better decisions.As it is today the party leaders only call the shots.Then why not have worthy leaders directly elected by the people.These leaders will keep a balance between expert opinion,constitutional provisions and public opinion.

Here's a question:
Should we of should we not intervene in another nation's struggle for democracy? Can you guys find evidence and quotes for that one?

Yes, provided that it isn't an absolute democracy with tyranny of the majority. Despite its heavy flaws, democracy with protections for individual rights is the best of all possible systems.

It's the best we have for now. It's not necessarily the best that can exist. I'm not sure about things like futarchy (it would be interesting to try it on a relatively small scale and see how well it works), but there's a vast unexplored space of possibilities.

I'm in favour of whatever political system is most likely to keep the world from being destroyed until politics doesn't matter anymore. If the Singularity happens, and it goes well, conventional politics and economics will immediately become obsolete. (Political theory itself is somewhat analogous to the problem of Friendliness on a much slower, smaller, stupider scale, and it won't be necessary once we have the real thing. If Friendly AI works, it will be the best form of government, because it will be the only thing that can figure out what everyone collectively means by "best".) They'll also be obsolete if the Singularity happens and it doesn't go well, because we'll all have been converted into paperclips or smiling mannequins.