How Israel's Democracy Works [antikvár]

The Democratic Prerogative On August 15, 1961, the people of Israel throughout the land exercised their democratic prerogative for the fifth time by electing their representatives to their parliament, called the Knesset. Election Day brought to a climax a political campaign that, despite differences of custom and language, conformed closely to the principles to which all democratic nations adhere. Out of a total population of some two and a quarter millions, 1,275,000 Israelis were qualified to go to the polls on that day and elect their one hundred and twenty representatives in the legislature. Advertisements in the newspapers, posters on hoardings, speeches in the open air and in auditoria, animated talk over the dinner taible and in restaurants and cafes— everywhere the wordy warfare that preceded the day riveted the attention and virtually monopolized the interest of the people. In the concluding stages, party spokesmen were given time, in a ratio fixed by agreement, to state their case over the national radio network. Indeed, visitors found only one medium missing: there was no campaigning on television—but only because Israel has no TV yet. Free speech, and lots of it, dominated the scene. The pre-election altercation, the secret ballot, the excitement and the pride that are the mark of free people, were in evidence in Israel as they are everywhere in the democratic world when citizens choose the men to make their laws and control their Government. [5]