from one culture to another. A dictionary definition, then, can only ever
be a single snapshot taken in a constantly moving reel of images.^1
If you take concepts like ‘aunt’ and ‘democracy’, you can see that in
some societies and at some times they have a fairly unambiguous,
unchanging meaning. The concept of ‘aunt’, for example, in some soci-
eties, has a narrow definition exclusively grounded in relations by blood
and marriage. But in other societies it is more open, encompassing not
just relatives in the strict sense, but also older, long-standing friends
of the family. This is likely to be a reflection of the social practices
prevalent in different societies and at different stages in their develop-
ment. A predominantly rural society with limited social mobility might
use ‘aunt’ in the narrow sense. In contrast, in a society undergoing
rapid industrialisation, with greater social mobility and less permanent
communities, the concept is likely to be applied more loosely to close
friends of the parents of a child. A young couple, having recently moved
to a city some distance from their parents’ homes, may seek to recon-
struct the security of an extended family by including close friends as
aunts and uncles to their children.
Much the same can be said for a concept like ‘democracy’. We might
all agree that it implies government in accordance with the popular
will, but beyond this principle everything is open. Western liberal
democracies, believing that democracy implies one-man-one-vote,
regular elections, secret ballots, multi-party politics and freedom of
expression, are just one adaptation of the principle, serving the needs
of a particular type of society: a liberal society with its emphasis on
the importance of individualism, competition, free trade and consumer
sovereignty.
In other societies, under different cultural influences, democracy has
taken on different forms where accountability, participation, multi-party
politics, even regular elections and voter sovereignty, are much less
important. More significant is the progress that is being made towards
achieving democratic goals, like the eradication of epidemic diseases,
alleviation of poverty, improvement in literacy, even industrialisation.
The achievement of these goals, rather than voter approval at elections,
is seen as evidence of the democratic nature of government.
Start with the way we use them
As you can see from this, if any of the concepts in essay questions are
up for grabs in this way, if there is any doubt about the way we use
16 Interpretation of the Question
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