Democracy Kills

In his book "Democracy Kills - What's good about having the vote?", Humphrey Hawksley comments on what is required to get a functioning democracy:

"Firstly, leadership..."
"Second... The really tough part is building the institutions. There needs to be a free and responsible press; uncorrupt and efficient public services; an independent judiciary that closes cases and makes decisions; a disciplined police and military; a strong election commission; a banking authority; and education, health and transport organisations, all of which can be held to account."

Humphrey, a respected BBC foreign correspondent, writes of his experiences abroad and of the struggle to bring democracy to the less developed regions of the world. However, the above quote is a reminder of what we have and the foundations that Interactive Democracy can build upon.