Liberal democracy: Difference between revisions

One of the key aspects of democratic culture is the concept of a "[[loyal opposition]]", where political competitors may disagree, but they must tolerate one another and acknowledge the legitimate and important roles that each play. This is an especially difficult cultural shift to achieve in nations where transitions of power have historically taken place through violence. The term means in essence that all sides in a democracy share a common commitment to its basic values. The ground rules of the society must encourage tolerance and civility in public debate. In such a society, the losers accept the judgement of the voters when the election is over and allow for the [[peaceful transition of power|peaceful transfer of power]]. This is tied to another key concept of democratic cultures, the protection of minorities (Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser, 2012)<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Mudde|first1=Cas|last2=Rovira Kaltwasser|last2first2=Cristóbal|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/795125118|title=Populism in Europe and the Americas: threat or corrective for democracy?|date=2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-42423-3|location=Cambridge|oclc=795125118}}</ref>, where the losers are safe in the knowledge that they will neither lose their lives nor their liberty and will continue to participate in public life. They are loyal not to the specific policies of the government, but to the fundamental legitimacy of the state and to the democratic process itself.