I was wondering why so many communist states throughout history have got Democratic in their titles? Two that come to mind are the German Democratic Republic and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Is it one big joke or do they actually believe that their authoritarian system is more democratic than that of other “proper” democratic nations?
Cheers.
I’m not sure there is a factual answer here… but IMO it’s not considered a joke in those countires.
When on business in West Germany a while back I asked them the same question and they said that the East Germans believed, at least on some level, that their form of government was somehow “democratic”. Not sure how they came up with that, but that’s what they claimed.
North Korea certainly isn’t democratic is the same sense as Western Europe and North America… but they can pretend it is I suppose and call themselves whatever they want.
If you read news reports from the North Korean news agency, you’ll definately fine a theme that Western democracies are basically just covers for oligarchic systems. In this view, socialist/communist systems actually represent the collective will of The People through the organs of the local Communist Party apparatus. In this way, it is argued, their system is more “democratic” because it reflects the will of the proletariat without the corrupting influence of wealthy capitalists.
Yes, they are serious about it, to the extent that this view is dictated by their ideology. YMMV on the worth of their ideology, of course.
Some commentators view this inclination to coopt the term “democracy” as an indication that the West won the ideological battle in the Cold War at a very early stage. That’s just one view, of course.