What do you understand by the concept of Democracy?
Discussion
Just wondering...in-between dips in my pool to get some relief from the heat here in Portugal...the Brexit Threads seem to have highlighted certain splits in the understanding of what ‘Democracy’ means to different people.
A famous (infamous?
) Referendum concerning ongoing participation in the EU Project was held and a result was announced; those that wanted to Leave (Brexiteers) won by a narrow majority. Yay for them! 
Those that wanted to Remain (Remainers) lost. However, many wanted to continue campaigning for a different result. “Foul!” cried the Brexiteers, who claimed Democracy had won the day and no Second Referendum should be even considered.
Lately, the Brexiteers have added to their Democracy claim that Remainers should ‘accept the result and get behind Brexit and support it wholeheartedly; make a go of it!’
Now, it is perfectly natural for those who win something to want to keep it; that’s normal.
But are those cries of “Foul!” not trying to push aside the Democratic rights of those that lost?
Keeping with the Brexit Vote, some Brexiteers have been campaigning from the very beginning of EU Membership to bring an end to continued membership; for 40 years even. Finally, they can crow about a sensational, if largely unexpected Victory.
But how is that celebrated by Brexiteers as being different to those who chose to Remain now wanting to get back into the EU and are starting to campaign for that now? How is the Brexiteers campaigning previously democratic but Remainers wanting to do the same undemocratic now?
The question of Remainers ‘getting behind Brexit’ is very much a personal one. Surely any Remainer who feels strongly about getting the UK back in the EU has a Democratic right to campaign for such and NOT get behind something that they do not want and do not believe is in the best interests of the Country in the long term?***
How is this any different from more usual Politics? Now that the Conservatives are in power should all other Parties resign and everyone ‘get behind’ the Conservatives because ‘they won’? Or are Campaigns already being discussed to unseat the Tories at the next election? Who says we cannot campaign to get back into the EU - or try not to leave at all - already? Is there a legal time limit on this?
Membership of the EU is no less emotional and personal as any decision that affects a Country as a whole economically and politically and living in a Democracy provides for the right of each individual to desire and try to effect a change in the direction that they want the majority to go in.
That is my understanding of Democracy in its simplest form.
What is yours? 
Remainers will also say that if Brexiteers have relied upon their support for Brexit to work then they shouldn’t have voted to Leave and the sooner we are back in the EU the better.
A famous (infamous?
) Referendum concerning ongoing participation in the EU Project was held and a result was announced; those that wanted to Leave (Brexiteers) won by a narrow majority. Yay for them! Those that wanted to Remain (Remainers) lost. However, many wanted to continue campaigning for a different result. “Foul!” cried the Brexiteers, who claimed Democracy had won the day and no Second Referendum should be even considered.
Lately, the Brexiteers have added to their Democracy claim that Remainers should ‘accept the result and get behind Brexit and support it wholeheartedly; make a go of it!’
Now, it is perfectly natural for those who win something to want to keep it; that’s normal.
But are those cries of “Foul!” not trying to push aside the Democratic rights of those that lost?
Keeping with the Brexit Vote, some Brexiteers have been campaigning from the very beginning of EU Membership to bring an end to continued membership; for 40 years even. Finally, they can crow about a sensational, if largely unexpected Victory.
But how is that celebrated by Brexiteers as being different to those who chose to Remain now wanting to get back into the EU and are starting to campaign for that now? How is the Brexiteers campaigning previously democratic but Remainers wanting to do the same undemocratic now?
The question of Remainers ‘getting behind Brexit’ is very much a personal one. Surely any Remainer who feels strongly about getting the UK back in the EU has a Democratic right to campaign for such and NOT get behind something that they do not want and do not believe is in the best interests of the Country in the long term?***
How is this any different from more usual Politics? Now that the Conservatives are in power should all other Parties resign and everyone ‘get behind’ the Conservatives because ‘they won’? Or are Campaigns already being discussed to unseat the Tories at the next election? Who says we cannot campaign to get back into the EU - or try not to leave at all - already? Is there a legal time limit on this?
Membership of the EU is no less emotional and personal as any decision that affects a Country as a whole economically and politically and living in a Democracy provides for the right of each individual to desire and try to effect a change in the direction that they want the majority to go in.
That is my understanding of Democracy in its simplest form.
What is yours? 
- *I appreciate that some Brexiteers will feel that no less than a 100% effort from all may undermine the end result and that it is in ‘the best interests of the Country to now concede and support’ but that is hypocritical and only serves to attempt to enforce a position against the Will of another by coercion.
Remainers will also say that if Brexiteers have relied upon their support for Brexit to work then they shouldn’t have voted to Leave and the sooner we are back in the EU the better.
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