Democracy n n Tony Benn on democracy http

Democracy

n n Tony Benn on democracy: http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=6 Kb. DNSk. So v. Q Watch the entire film on You. Tube Dissatisfaction with democracy is “at a record high” – Cambridge University study: https: //www. bbc. com/news/education-51281722

Democracy as a Natural Order “Democracy is any form of government in which the rules of society are decided by the people who will be bound by them. ”* PEOPLE GOVERNING THEMSELVES That was the original system of making decisions for society – primitive democracy which exists for tens of thousands of years before the rise of the state When the state appears 5, 000 years ago, it seeks to take the decision-making power away from society Then, democracy becomes a way of trying to restrain state power and put the state under the people’s control *Catherine Kellogg, Democratic Theory, in: Janine Brodie and Sandra Rein, Critical Concepts: An Introduction to Politics, 3 d edition.

3 overlapping epochs in the historical development of democracy John Keane, The Life and Death of Democracy

Phase One Assembly Democracy – starting around 2, 500 BCE, in lands now within the territories of Iran, Iraq and Syria “During the first phase of democracy the seeds of its basic institution – self-government through an assembly of equals – were scattered across many different soils and climes, ranging from the Indian subcontinent and the prosperous Phoenician empire to the western shores of provincial Europe. These popular assemblies took root, accompanied by various ancillary institutional rules and customs, like written constitutions, the payment of jurors and elected officials, the freedom to speak in public, voting machines, voting by lot and trial before elected or selected juries. There were efforts as well to stop bossy leaders in their tracks, using such methods as the mandatory election of kings…” (The Life and Death of Democracy, p. xvi) Best-known example – Athens, 5 th century BCE

Athenian democracy Direct democracy: citizens (about 10% of the population) participated directly in initiating, deliberating, and passing of, the legislation. The Assembly, no less than 6, 000 strong (out of 22, 000 citizens of Athens), convened about every 10 days. Supreme power to decide on every issue of state policy Citizen juries: justice is responsibility of citizens (juries composed of 501 -1001 citizens) Appointment of citizens to political office by lot Citizen-soldiers: every citizen had a duty to serve in the army Ostracism: a bad politician could be kicked out of office by the people *See Patrick Watson and Benjamin Barber, The Struggle for Democracy. Toronto: Lester and Orpen Dennys Ltd. , 1988, p. 12

Phase Two Representative Democracy n n Starts around 10 th-12 th centuries in Western Europe with the invention of parliamentary assemblies Reaches its classic forms in the 18 th century. Officially regarded as normative today. Marquis d’Argenson, Foreign Minister of French King Louis XV, 1765: “False democracy soon collapses into anarchy. It is government of the multitude; such is a people in revolt, insolently scorning law and reason. Its tyrannical despotism is obvious from the violence of its movements and the uncertainty of its deliberations. In true democracy, one acts through deputies, who are authorized by election; the mission of those elected by the people and the authority that such officials carry constitute the public power. ” (Keane, p. xviii)

Phase Three Monitory Democracy (term coined by John Keane) After World War II Invention of about 100 power-monitoring devices which had never existed before Increase citizen ability to control the state which is organized on the basis of representative democracy Public integrity commissions Judicial activism Local courts Workplace tribunals Citizens assemblies Think tanks The Internet Etc. How much power do they have? And whose interests do they serve?

The Classical Theory of Democracy The triple meaning: Democracy as source of state authority – power of the people Democracy as the purpose of government – the common good Democracy as a method of choosing political leaders – by the people Abraham Lincoln: “Government of the people, by the people, and for the people” (1863) Also from Lincoln (1861): “This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it”.

Joseph Schumpeter, 1942: The classical theory is too broad and vague. It is much more practical to narrow the meaning of democracy to the method: “The democratic method is that institutional arrangement for arriving at political decisions in which individuals acquire the power to decide by means of a competitive struggle for the people’s vote”. * *Joseph Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy. New York: Harper, 1947, p. 269

2 major dimensions of the democratic method: * contestation – free and fair competition between candidates participation – all adult citizens have the right to vote The use of this method requires the freedoms of: expression, to speak publicly and publish one’s views assembly, to gather for political purposes association, to form political organizations *Robert A. Dahl, Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1971; Samuel Huntington, The Third Wave. Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century. University of Oklahoma Press, 1991

In contemporary politics, the term “democracy” is used mostly in the Schumpeterian, rather than classical, sense: Representative democracy Electoral democracy Formal democracy “The people” elect a government and keep it accountable Robert Dahl: It is more precise to call it “polyarchy” (“rule by many”, meaning more than 3 persons) rather than “democracy”

How is a democracy established? In most cases, by a revolution It may start as reforms initiated by the ruling class – for the purposes of securing their rule through concessions to society As the process intensifies, the old regime is overthrown Then a democratic regime is established (popular sovereignty, democratic rights and freedoms, accountable government) Then the struggle for power is waged within a democracy Class interests shape the struggle Those who have economic power struggle to keep it But democracy – by its very idea - threatens the rich and the powerful The key conflict – the people vs. the ruling classes If a democratic regime can contain that conflict through various compromises, a democracy becomes stable If not, democracy may evolve toward socialism Or – be replaced by an authoritarian regime protecting the interests of dominant classes

“Democracy promotion”? https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=9 rua. Drxg. BY 8

Democracy’s Century: A Survey of Global Political Change in the 20 th Century. NY: Freedom House, 2001 http: //www. freedomhouse. org/reports/century. html

Democracy’s Century: A Survey of Global Political Change in the 20 th Century. NY: Freedom House, 2001 http: //www. freedomhouse. org/reports/century. html

Since 1900, the number of internationally recognized independent states has grown from 55 to nearly 200 Today, governments in 120 countries are formed by democratic method 62. 5% of the world’s population live in those countries

Key events which led to this expansion: The defeat of fascism in World War 2 (1939 -45) The fall of Western colonial empires (1950 s-70 s) The fall of Western authoritarian regimes in Southern Europe and Latin America (1970 s-1980 s) The fall of Communist regimes in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union (1989 -91)

A 21 st Century Democratic Paradox Democracy is accepted as the normal – and even normative - form of government more widely in the world than ever before And yet, the real scope of democratic practices is very limited. The sea of democracy has never been wider. But it is very shallow And it shows signs of drying out

Democracy in retreat https: //www. economist. com/graphic-detail/2019/01/08/theretreat-of-global-democracy-stopped-in-2018

Global public opinion on democracy: http: //www. pewglobal. org/2016/10/24/even-in-era-ofdisillusionment-many-around-the-world-sayordinary-citizens-can-influence-government/ http: //www. pewglobal. org/2017/10/16/globally-broadsupport-for-representative-and-direct-democracy/

n n Pew Research poll on global disappointment with democracy: https: //www. pewresearch. org/global/201 9/04/29/many-across-the-globe-aredissatisfied-with-how-democracy-isworking/

Pew Research poll, 2008

n Why is citizens’ trust in government declining in the US? https: //www. pewresearch. org/facttank/2019/07/22/key-findings-aboutamericans-declining-trust-in-governmentand-each-other/

In the 21 st century, formal democracy is regarded as a normal method to create a government But governments created by the democratic method show their deficiency in a number of important areas, including: Declining ability to manage economies Growth of social inequality The environmental crisis Continuing ethnic and religious conflicts Continuing practices of mass violence (wars, terrorism, arms races)

Liberal Democracy: Main Principles

Individualism Society is composed of individuals. The individual is sovereign: individual rights are privileged over rights of groups and society

Equality: All individuals have equal rights “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. ” – The American Declaration of Independence

Reason People are capable of making rational decisions about anything They can change the institutions of society they live in

Rights Society must recognize certain individual liberties and claims as givens The list of rights has expanded in the past two centuries, especially since the establishment of the United Nations Organization: http: //www. ohchr. org/EN/Professional. Interest/Pages/Core. In struments. aspx

Protection of private property A key duty of the state, as part of its obligation to protect individual rights and the private sphere

Freedom Individuals’ ability to act without interference by the state or other citizens

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Adopted in 1982 as part of the Constitution Act: http: //laws-lois. justice. gc. ca/eng/const/page-15. html

Liberal democracy is ambivalent about the role of the state: The state as the provider of public goods vs. The state as a source of dangers to private interests Liberal democracy seeks to make the state strong and capable by making it legitimate through the democratic method And – it seeks to limit state authority over society through separation of powers, rule of law, constitutionalism

A key principle of liberal democracy: distinction between --the private sphere (personal life of individuals, the family, civil society autonomous from the state, religion, the market economy) and --the public sphere (political society, the state, government policies) Liberal democracy insists that activities of the state should be confined to the public sphere The public sphere should not be too large The private sphere should be autonomous from the state and protected from the state’s encroachments

A major liberal concern: democracy, understood in the broad, classical sense, may lead to the violations of individual rights and society’s autonomy. Majority rule always contains the danger of suppression of minorities – in the name of democracy. “Tyranny of the majority” – Alexis de Tocqueville Democracy may undermine and even destroy liberty Liberty is enhanced by democracy – but it must be protected from democracy “Illiberal democracy” vs liberal democracy

This ambivalence is a source of liberal democracy’s strength The concern about individual rights, the demand of the autonomy of society from the state, the emphasis on pluralism are very important political values

But the compromise at the core of liberal democracy also makes it vulnerable to challenges, both from the Right and from the Left From the Right: liberal democracy undermines social unity, leads to disorder, weakens the state. From the Left: liberal democracy protects privileges of the elites and weakens the ability of citizens to redistribute wealth and power in the interests of the many

In the history of liberal democracy, liberalism precedes democracy When liberal principles become accepted in the practice of more and more Western states (18 th-19 th centuries), the exercise of political rights and freedoms is limited Classical, laissez-faire liberalism is concerned primarily about limiting state power and protecting the private sphere – the market economy in the first place

In the 20 th century, the extension of political rights to all adults was accompanied by the expansion of the activities of the state The balance between the private and public spheres shifted in favour of the public sphere, as the liberal-democratic state, under the pressure of majorities, widens the scope of its activities, recognizes a wider range of rights, including labour’s right of collective bargaining Welfare-state liberalism emphasized the role of the state as the provider of public goods

In the last 40 years – movement in the opposite direction Conservative, or neoliberal, forces gained political dominance in the West (led by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in UK, President Ronald Reagan in the US)

n n The need for such a shift was advocated in 1975 by Trilateral Commission’s report “The Crisis of Democracy”: u u There is too much democracy in the West Democracy is becoming “ungovernable”

“Recent years in the Trilateral countries have seen the expansion of the demands on government from individuals and groups. The expansion takes the form of: ( I ) the involvement of an increasing proportion of the population in political activity; (2) the development of new groups and of new consciousness on the part of old groups, including youth, regional groups, and ethnic minorities; (3) the diversification of the political means and tactics which groups use to secure their ends; (4) an increasing expectation on the part of groups that government has the responsibility to meet their needs; and (5) an escalation in what they conceive those needs to be. ” (Continued on next page)

“The result is an "overload" on government and the expansion of the role of government in the economy and society. During the 1960 s governmental expenditures, as a proportion of GNP, increased significantly in all the principal Trilateral countries, except for Japan. This expansion of governmental activity was attributed not so much to the strength of government as to its weakness and the inability and unwillingness of central political leaders to reject the demands made upon them by numerically and functionally important groups in their society. (Continued on the next page)

The impetus to respond to the demands which groups made on government is deeply rooted in both the attitudinal and structural features of a democratic society. The democratic idea that government should be responsive to the people creates the expectation that government should meet the needs and correct the evils affecting particular groups in society. Confronted with the structural imperative of competitive elections every few years, political leaders can hardly do anything else. ”* *Michel Crozier, Samuel Huntington, Joji Watanuki. The Crisis of Democracy. Report on the Governability of Democracies to the Trilateral Commission. New York: New York University Press, 1975, pp. 163 -164

The “conservative revolution”, launched by Thatcher and Reagan in the late 1970 s-early 1980 s, began to dismantle the welfare state in the name of individual freedom and market autonomy. As electoral democracy marched forward, expanding territorially around the globe, the ability and willingness of democratic states to satisfy social demands declined.

Liberal democracy is tailored to the needs of capitalism But at the same time, there is a conflict between the logic of democracy and the logic of capitalism In the market economy, people are formally equal free agents, each pursuing their own interests But in reality, they have vastly different amounts of social power The market system, in and by itself, does not reduce those differences. On the contrary, it increases existing inequalities – both within societies and between societies.

Democracy, on the other hand, is rooted in the idea of equality. Vigorous practice of democracy in society does lead to lessening of social inequalities. Another contradiction: in a democracy, citizens work together to achieve common goals In a market economy, people compete, trying to gain advantage over each other – “survival of the fittest” (Herbert Spencer) Can the contradictions between: socioeconomic inequality and political equality, and between cooperation and competition – be kept under control?

n Explosive growth of income inequality in America: http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=QPKK Qnijns. M

n n n Record levels of inequality in America may lead to a revolution https: //www. inverse. com/article/38457 inequality-study-nature-revolution

Population Wealth Global distribution of wealth: Credit Suisse

Growth of pay gap between top managers and workers, USA: http: //www. theatlantic. com/business/archive/2013/04/whats-behind-the-huge-and-growing-ceo-worker-pay-gap/275435/

Income inequality has grown in Canada, too: https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=z. Bk. Biv 5 ZD 7 s&featur e=youtu. be

And – worldwide: http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=u. WSxzjy. MNp. U

n n Corporations are more powerful than states – new study: https: //www. nationofchange. org/2018/10/ 18/the-majority-of-the-worlds-richestentities-are-corporations-notgovernments/

We feel instinctively that societies with huge income gaps are somehow going wrong. Richard Wilkinson charts the hard data on economic inequality, and shows what gets worse when rich and poor are too far apart: real effects on health, lifespan, even such basic values as trust. https: //www. ted. com/talks/richard_wilkinson_how_eco nomic_inequality_harms_societies

UN Human Development Report 2002: “Economically, politically and technologically, the world has never seemed more free – or more unjust” “Advancing human development requires governance that is democratic both in form and in substance”

Why democracy is key to development: 1/ Participating in decision-making is a fundamental human right 2/ Democracy protects people from political and economic catastrophes – famines, wars (governments are more circumspect, attentive to public needs) -Since 1995, 10% of population of North Korea died of famine -In 1958 -61, 30 mln. died of famine in China -In India, there has not been a single famine since 1947, despite crop failures 3/”Democratic governance can trigger a virtuous cycle of development – as political freedom empowers people to press for policies that expand social and economic opportunities, and as open debates help communities shape their priorities”

BUT: “The links between democracy and human development are not automatic: when a small elite dominates economic and political decisions, the link between democracy and equity can be broken” (p. 4) At issue: WHO CONTROLS THE STATE? WHOSE INTERESTS DOES THE STATE SERVE? Can an egalitarian political system coexist long with massive and growing socioeconomic inequality? Can concentration of economic power in the hands of a few be reconciled with political pluralism?

Globalization vs. democracy Eberhard Kienle, research professor at CNRS in Paris and Grenoble: “Today one of the major challenges to liberal democracy arises out of the turn taken by liberal economies since the late 1970 s. Defined as a form of government that combines the election of the rulers by the ruled with effective guarantees for the liberties of all, liberal democracy is eroded by transformations changing the very type of economy that is frequently considered its natural counterpart or historic birthplace. ” http: //www. opendemocracy. net/global-competitivenesserosion-of-checks-and-balances-and-demise-of-liberaldemocracy

Communist dictatorship in our midst – Elizabeth Anderson https: //www. counterpunch. org/2019/10/16/communistdictatorship-in-our-midst/

Democracy Report 2020, Cambridge U. https: //www. bennettinstitute. cam. ac. uk/media/uploads/ files/Democracy. Report 2020. pdf

Yanis Varoufakis, former Finance Minister of Greece: capitalism vs. democracy https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=g. Geevtdp 1 WQ

What is the main purpose of liberal democracy? Can it be reduced to serving the interests of capital? Can it be made to serve the public interest? Can it combine both of these and thus survive?

How these contradictions can be resolved: - - 1. At democracy’s expense: --limit democracy by manipulating its workings --limit democracy by strengthening coercive powers of the state --mobilize the nation to unite, despite the inequalities – to defend itself against an external enemy, or to conquer other nations --foster racial and ethnic divisions, mobilize majorities against minorities --opt for full-fledged fascism

2. In favour of democracy: --Widen the channels through which citizens can effectively participate in politics --Use new information technologies, network-type forms of political organizing --Extend democracy into the workplace (employee ownership) --Reduce the influence of big money on political systems --Increase the state’s ability to control economic elites --Create new forms of regulation of market economies both at the national and the global scale --Develop effective social policies