The World's Oldest Democracy?

In his response to the report of the UN weapons inspectors on February 14, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell claimed that while the United States may be a relatively young country it is "the world's oldest democracy". However, the basis of his boast remains unclear.

If by "democracy" Mr. Powell is referring to a system in which a class of slave-owners held regular elections to determine which of them would rule over the slaves, then Greece established such a democracy more than 2,500 years before the Americans did so. Furthermore, in ancient Greece all citizens had the right to vote and not just those who owned property.

If by "democracy" Mr. Powell is referring to a system of government elected by universal franchise, then there are numerous countries which adopted this before the United States, including the Soviet Union. Even Canada extended the franchise to its Aboriginal citizens before most Black Americans received the right to vote.

If by "democracy" Mr. Powell is referring to a government elected by a majority of its citizens and which actually respects the opinions of those citizens, then it can be said with certainty that the United States has still not achieved such status. Not only did Al Gore receive more votes than George W. Bush, but a majority of Americans have expressed their opposition to the war which Mr. Bush is determined to execute.

So, even on this issue Mr. Powell had to resort to outright lies.