Originally posted by midnight Target
Germany was a democracy in 1945?
So when Hitler gutted the constitution of the Weimar Republic, he was still just running a "democracy"? [SNIP]
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As I said, what happened in Germany was a democracy that chose to disband itself.
At what point does that democracy cease to be a democracy? If the German Reichstag (who were elected representatives of the German people) decides to adopt a law transferring all legislative power to one man, is that illegal? "What about the constitution" I hear you ask? Well today, most nations have a safeguard against what took place in Germany 1933-34, but what if the transfer of legislative power was according to German law at the time? If we have a lawfully elected parliament, adopting a new law according to the rules set in the constitution what is the problem?
Well, the problem, of course, is that the new law transfers all power from the elected representatives to one man. But is that illegal? Well, no. Is the country still a democracy? Democracy is based on the idea that elected representatives should rule the country. The man was elected. The representatives who gave him power was elected. One might argue that as long as that man, who had been elected, remains in office, and as long as he does not try to transfer his powers to someone else, then he is still an elected representative of the people. And therefore the country is still a democracy.
Ok, so suppose the one man with all the legislative power now adopts a law declaring all political parties except his own illegal. Is that law legal? Why shouldnt it be? Who decides whether a law is illegal or not? Can a law be illegal? Here we stumble upon a philosophical aspect of this problem that has no answer.
At least the issue is far more complicated than you might want it to be. At least acknowledge that. Quotes like "Germany was a totalitarian dictatorship from 1933 on" without any real backing or any real argumentation might sound right to you, but as always, there are more sides to the story than you might want to realize.
Midnight, the quote you have posted on Hitler's raise to power might sound interesting and correct. But please check your sources. There are several factual errors in it.
How can I correlate the nazi party to the democrats? Both were political parties (albeit with somewhat different agendas), both were elected into office by a popular vote in a public election held in a democracy, both remained in power for the duration of wwii.
Democracy is a wonderful thing dont you agree? The price of democracy however, is that sometimes people will vote for someone or something that you disagree with. At some time, the majority of the people might want abandon the democracy, and chose a supreme ruler, a despot if you will, what do you do then? If you forbid them, do you really live in a democracy? If you allow them, do you really live in a democracy?
And please remember that the safety of a constitution is only an illusion. The only thing it does is provide a safeguard against someone coming into power and changing all laws overnight. Just about every country on the earth can legally and lawfully be transferred from a democracy into a de facto dictatorship within 4-8 years depending on what country you are talking about.
