# Two Distinct Democracies **"A political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them,"** [^1] is how democracy is defined by an online dictionary published by Princeton University. But **how does this definition relate to the common understanding of what democracy is?** [^1]: http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=democracy Coming from Serbia, I need not go any further than my own recent history to find **a perceived democracy, such as the one of late Slobodan Milosevic, that completely abides by the aforementioned definition, but still fails to measure up to other democratic countries** such as Finland, Norway or Sweden. In then Yugoslavia, Milosevic was considered a savior and a hero, and most celebrated when he came to power. And then **the bloodshed happened, and still people believed him to be the said savior and hero. And they still voted for him.** And it was still a democracy. And everybody would have lived happily ever after, except for maybe Kosovo Albanians, had the “NATO aggressors” not interfered. In 2000, the people finally came to their senses. The **common knowledge is that the so-called revolution did not happen because of the lack of freedom of speech, but because the people were poor**, which again was not perceived as due to Milosevic, but to the evil Western powers who imposed harsh sanctions for no particularly good reason. And when **they voted for the opposition ==they were primarily looking forward to democracy, to them a popular concept in effect in all those countries that were not poor and hungry.==[^2] But ==they were voting, and so despite the laws their legally elected representatives enacted, they were already in a democracy==, admittedly a very peculiar one.** [^2]: This is an example of how extreme class segregation can lead to a revolution. **It was the lack of freedom of speech that allowed Milosevic to paint over reality, and in doing so stay in power long enough to execute his own personal agenda. The people were still voting, they still had that supreme power which is a prerequisite for a democracy, but they were also as good as brainwashed by Milosevic’s propaganda.** In a properly executed democracy, **the government** not only needs to allow its citizens to elect its representatives, it **must also safeguard the ability of the people to make informed decisions. Keeping the people informed is the primary duty of the free press, which is why it is known as another pillar of democracy.** And just as the courts should be free of influence, so should the press. Otherwise, we risk making that supreme power, powerless.