我並無不斷混淆概念,或者你試下明白民主概念,先話人混淆概念,好冇?民主並唔係單單只有普及而平等選舉咁簡單,重要有其他重要原素。根據統計民主指數 (Democracy Index)o既《經濟學人期刋》 (The Economist) 指出,量度民主指數,要睇選舉程序、多元化、公民自由、政府運作、政治參與、政治文化呢幾個重要原素。而呢幾個重要原素當中o既公民自由,係指世界人權公約入面o既基本人權。當中包括言論及出版自由、宗教自由、結社及集會自由、公平審訊權呢幾個重要自由及權利。
所以,言論自由係民主基石一說,並非混淆概念或者詭辯,而係先進民主國家認同o既概念。
引用:
The Economist Intelligence Unit’s democracy index is based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture. The five categories are interrelated and form a coherent conceptual whole. The condition of having free and fair competitive elections, and satisfying related aspects of political freedom, is clearly the basic equirement of all definitions.
All modern definitions, except the most minimalist, also consider civil liberties to be a vital component of what is often called “liberal democracy”. The principle of the protection of basic human rights is widely accepted. It is embodied in constitutions throughout the world as well as in the UN Charter and international agreements such as the Helsinki Final Act. Basic human rights include freedom of speech, expression and the press; freedom of religion; freedom of assembly and association; and the right to due judicial process. All democracies are systems in which citizens freely make political decisions by majority rule. But rule by the majority is not necessarily democratic. In a democracy majority rule must be combined with guarantees of individual human rights and the rights of minorities.