Culture, Theory and SocietyLecture 8: Democracy and its opponents

Democracy

Central idea of Enlightenment thought

Particularly in the form of Liberal Democracy

The history of democracy

• Possibly began in ancient Iraq or India

• Definite beginnings in ancient Greece:

• Athens

www.sikyon.com/athens/Monuments/athens_view1.jpg

Athenian democracy 1

All citizens were freeAll citizens could vote in the

assembly(Direct democracy)Treasurers and generals

chosen by electionOther officials, like juries,

chosen by lot (sortition)

Athenian democracy 2

Begun by Solon in 594 BCE

Strengthened by Pericles (495-429 BCE)

Finally ended by the Romans in 146 BCE

http://images.google.co.uk/

www.poetryfoundation.org

Obvious problems with Athenian democracy

It did not include women or slaves

The Athenians ruled over other city states “the Delian league”, which were not free

Democratic elements were also present in:

• Ancient Rome• The ancient Christian church• Ancient Germany• Medieval city states (Florence

and Venice)• Medieval Poland• The althing of Iceland: the

world’s oldest parliament (930 CE)

Important dates for liberal democracy

• The Bill of Rights (1689) England

• The Bill of Rights (1791) the U.S.A.

• France (1792) universal male suffrage

• New Zealand (1893) first major nation to enfranchise women

Two types of democracy:

Liberal

Illiberal• Singapore• Zimbabwe

Liberal autocracies are also possible

• Hong Kong

Liberal democracies in 2008

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Freedom_House_electoral_democracies_2008.gif

Liberal democracies must have …• Elections – free and fair• Secret ballots• Universal suffrage• Political pluralism• The rule of law• An independent judiciary• Civilian control of the military• Freedom of expression• Freedom of assembly• Freedom of religion

JUSTIFICATIONS OF DEMOCRACY - 1 (intrinsic)

• Every individual gets a say in how the country is run:

each person in a political community should be entitled to have his/her interests given equal consideration

JUSTIFICATIONS OF DEMOCRACY – 2 (instrumental)

• Liberal democracies never (or rarely) fight wars with one another

• Poor liberal democracies (compared to poor dictatorships) have:

Better education Better access to drinking water Better health care Better life expectancy Lower infant mortality

JUSTIFICATIONS OF DEMOCRACY – 3 (instrumental)• No functioning democracy has

suffered a large-scale famine (Sen)

• Compared to non-democracies, democracies have

less genocide fewer refugee crises higher levels of happiness lower levels of corruption

Karl Popper 1902-1994

• The Open Society and its Enemies (1945):

• Democracy is the only system that allows for a peaceable change of government

http://www.nndb.com

The liberal critique of democracy

• Racists and other unpleasant people can win power

• Constitutional protections are easily overthrown

• Voters can be irrational• Democracy has failed to overcome

widespread inequality• It is not clear what the definition of a

“people” is: when is it acceptable for states to secede?

Which is better …?

A massively unequal democracy or a dictatorship where everyone is equal?

An anti-racist dictatorship or a racist democracy?

Alternatives to democracy• Absolute monarchy

• Theocracy

• Dictatorship

• One-party state

• Military junta

Authoritarianism

• Centralised power structures• Political power is used to

mobilise the people around the aims of the government

• Rule of men, not the rule of law• Elections are rigged• Leadership cannot be displaced• No guaranteed civil liberties• No/restricted freedoms of

speech, assembly or religion

Totalitarianism

Characteristic of Fascist and Communist states

Controls all aspects of life – public and private

Usually under a charismatic leader Lenin Hitler Pol PotLast totalitarian state – North

Korea

http://images.google.co.uk

www.doukhobor.org

www.holocaust-history.org

www.psywarrior.com

Hannah Arendt 1906-1979The Origins of Totalitarianism

(1951)Totalitarianism relies on ideology:• History is racial struggle (Nazism)• History class struggle (Marxism)This provides a comforting answer

to all problems, past and presentHoweverTotalitarianism relies on terrorUnlike authoritarianism, it seeks to

control every aspect of everyone’s life

http://images.google.co.uk/

Authoritarianism in general

For

More stable

Cheaper

Less crime

Against

People have limited freedomGovernments are harder to

removeAuthoritarian states have

more• Genocide• Famine • Refugees • Corruption• Illiteracy• etc etc

“Democracy is preferable to any other kind of government”This statement is supported

by majorities all over the world

“www.worldpublicopinion.org”

In general,

Authoritarian states lack a legitimising theory

So …They pretend to be

democratic

Four theorists of authoritarian societies

Plato 427-347 (?) BCEThe RepublicIn a democracy, people will choose a

demagogueThe demagogue will become a tyrant-------------------------------------------------Humans are corrupted by powerOnly philosophers can resist corruptionTherefore, the philosophers should rule

http://images.google.co.uk

Plato also proposed …

The rulers are not allowed to have property

The destruction of family units

The censorship of most music and poetry

Control of what all classes are allowed to read

Problem’s with Plato’s Republic

• Democracies exist where the people do not choose demagogues

• Totalitarian• Unnatural• Unfeasible

Marxism

Liberal Democracy is a tool used by the state

It controls the massesIt gives them the illusion of

choicePower is still controlled by

private capital

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Karl_Marx.jpg

Problems with Marxism

Post-revolutionary societies provide no democracy at all

If human rights are a bourgeois illusion, then terror becomes a legitimate tool

“the ends justify the means”“the dictatorship of the

proletariat” is deliberately left vague

The Islamist critique of democracy

Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966)Milestones (1964)Sovereignty belongs to AllahDemocracy is the sovereignty of

manTherefore the authority that

belongs to Allah should be returned to him

The West (democracies) are “evil and corrupt”

http://fursans.wordpress.com/sayyid-qutb/

Problems with the Islamist critique of democracy

Not all Muslims would accept this interpretation of the Quran

It is of limited applicability to non-Muslims

The solutions given assert the law of Allah but do not address the elimination of corruption and so on

“Asian Values”

• Associated with such figures as Mahathir Mohamed (b 1925)

• Combines elements of Islam and Confucianism

www.intellectualconservative.com

Asian Values

Strong leadership

Respect for harmony and collective well-being

Loyalty towards authority (parents, government)

Guided democracy

Not

Political pluralism

Individualism and human rights

Respect for freedom

Liberal democracy

Critics of “Asian Values”

Amartya SenKim Dae JungLong Ying Tai (b 1952):“Asian Values” are just

another way of suppressing freedom of speech

thechinadesk.wordpress.com

Noam Chomsky (b 1928)

Enlightenment thinker

Power is always illegitimateWage slavery is slaveryModern democracies (e.g. the

U.S.A.) preach democracy, but suppress it

The Western mass media is all propaganda

www.nndb.com

Noam Chomsky

He is a libertarian socialist with anarchist leanings

However he thinks:“the United Stares is the

freest country in the world”

Conclusion 1 – Liberal Democracy

It has its problemsIt generally provides a better

society over a wide range of measures

It is the system that most people in the world would prefer

Conclusion 2 – critiques of liberal democracy

Totalitarian (Plato/Marx))Too ready to use terror/violence

(Marx)Utopian (Plato/Marx/Chomsky)Refer to values that many people

do not share (Qutb/Asian Values)

Do not really address the problem of corruption (all of them!)

Conclusion 3

Winston Churchill

“Democracy is the worst system

… except for all the others”

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