Is democracy the perfect system of governance?

I recently attended a discussion forum with the Iranian-American Hooman Majd, the author of “Ayatollah begs to differ – the path to an Islamic Democracy”. Hooman discussed the leadership of Iran and its changing political make-up. Hooman is a supporter of reformism in Iran but also spoke of the democratic nature of Iran though being critical of its human rights policies. Though he did highlight that it was during the Islamic revolutionary premiership that non-Muslims have been able to demand fairer rights e.g. the bloody money paid on the death a non-Muslim was half that of a Muslim during the period of the Shah but due to the activism of non-Muslims it is now equal to that of a Muslim.

Generally, however, there was a condescending tone towards the rule of the clergy with an attitude that the conservative bloc is the ‘old way’ and an obstacle to development. This is in spite of the fact that the ‘conservative’ bloc has overwhelming support Iran. He also acknowledged that whether it is the conservatives or the reformist government it would make no difference to the uranium enrichment debate as all political parties are united on that issue, but rather an internal one on social policy.

Hooman described Iran as democratic country within its own framework around an Islamic paradigm. He also highlighted the difference between the Iranian government and a dictatorship such as North Korea, where Iran has allowed for strong dissenting voices within the country but in North Korea this would unheard of.

His somewhat positive comment about Iran was latched up by a member of the audience who condemned Iran for its human rights violation and support for Hamas and other political groups. He contended that Iran had strong dictatorial aspects but it was not necessarily in the league of North Korea.

This got me thinking, why do people continue to believe democratic governments are saintly, considering that no-one trusts politicians?

How many democratic governments are guilty of numerous human rights violation against foreign subjects?

Does it matter whether the rights of a human you violate are your citizens or not?