Understanding Liberal Democracy - Essay Example

Liberal democracy entails a government organization in which liberalism rules over representative democracy. Here, the government has elections whereby several parties compete fairly in elections, and the government has power divided between the parties in different ministries. It is a form of government that is more pluralistic than totalitarian, more capitalistic than socialistic, and more democratic than authoritarian. There are different forms of liberal democracy. It can take the limited form or the welfare form. The limited state is where the government advocates for the protection of the citizens, organizing the military in times of war, ensuring that the judicial system is running smoothly, and ascertaining order through the police force. In such a state, the government has no right to deny its citizens the right to do anything. Citizens are free to do anything and at any time. They are allowed to access any material and use any property so long as it does not affect anyone. The government in such a state has no rights to tax its citizens and to restrict its citizens from doing any form of business or activity. Nozick advocates for such a state and says it has respect for a person's moral rights (Wolterstorff & Cuneo 89).

The next stage is the welfare state where citizens are the source of the political will, and they are given the chance to participate in its formation, they are also, the subjects against which the institution will be judged, and they depend upon states free services, programs, and general items for their satisfaction materially. I prefer the welfare state, as it has laws that guarantee persons' safety at all times. It is one in which the heads of the government so selected to rule over the subjects have some responsibility to satisfy their citizens. The form of government in Europe differs from that in the United States in that, in Europe, there is the use of democratic monarchy while, in the United States, they use welfare liberal democracy. The use of the monarchy system does not allow multiple parties to contest in an election. Only one royal family inherits the throne throughout the country’s history (Wolterstorff & Cuneo 78).    

Question # 2

            Nikita is one of my favorite movie shows. It concerns a young girl who was abducted by a secret government body and trained to be an assassin, but she fled from them and started to work against them. In the movie, there are several artistic styles used. These qualify it as art. According to David Humes's theory, every artistic thing is well provided it is appealing to an individual (Ascott & Shanken 34). Individual tastes are acceptable and allowed to be referred to as art. Owing to this, the movie Nikita is good art. Using the object-centered theory, art is classified on the object's qualities and not what it represents or expresses. This also is in line with the movie as the objects used to pass the message are well organized and have good qualities. The progress of the movie is also well structured and this classifies the movie as being good. The next theory that art is judged against is in consideration of the limits of formalism. In this theory, any piece of art is rated against the qualities of the objects as well as the context and content.

Considering Nikita as a piece of art, it actually passes this test as all characters are usually well-groomed in accordance to the occasion and have quality content, which they deliver. I also rated art against expression. A good piece of art is supposed to be expressive. It should explain its meaning and the message in it by itself. It does not need explanations to be clear. According to Leo Tolstoy, art should also be emotional. The objects used should show emotions with every word and body movement used. Everybody's language used should show emotions. John Dewey, an American pragmatist, views art with reference to the writer’s thoughts and feelings. He gathered this from experience. He says that before a poet does any art, then it is from his feelings and thoughts. This is very true in regard to the movie Nikita. It thus fully qualifies to be a good piece of art. The concept of beauty is tied together with philosophy as everything in philosophy is described as being true and good. Art can exist in both ugly and sad things. This is because art tries to show every aspect of life, which is full of good and bad things (Ascott & Shanken 45).

This is nearer to socialism, a state that he describes to be as clear as crystal. He says that practicing the above things in real life show a high sense of spirituality; it is a good weapon for self-purification

This is because, in any society, there must be evil existing side by side with good. They both must exist to have a balanced society. Both good and bad bring balance to nature (Ghosh 16).