SURVIVING DEMOCRACY: Talking Cents
Talking Cents: July 2009
SURVIVING DEMOCRACY
When I was recently in England, TV and the news media in general was dominated by the scandal over MP’s expenses. A June 3 Guardian article by Tom Clark analysed a survey of 5000 readers showing a perception that there were severe faults in the British democratic process. 45% of readers thought that “parliament [the elected representatives of the people] couldn’t control the government”; another 45% thought “the party line strangles independent thought” while 43% deplored “the sway of monied interests”. The general consensus was that an old and revered democracy is losing the ideals of democracy because of dominance by interests representing wealth and power.
I returned home to find a crisis of democracy in my own home setting. As a citizen of ‘the People’s Republic of Waiheke’, I joined most of my community in resisting the demands of the Auckland City Council that we dismantle a well-functioning locally-run waste management system in favour of a multi-national owned and operated enterprise in Auckland City. The case was a good one: the local trust-operated scheme employed local people, reduced the waste sent off the island, recycled an increasing amount of useful material, selling it at reduced costs to ratepayers, and was even turning plastic waste into building material. Users do their own kerbside recycling, reducing street-side hindrance and enabling the usage of smaller collection vehicles. An efficient, locally-driven and ecologically advanced system. It will be replaced by oversize trucks collecting large, partly-filled wheelie-bins along the fringe of narrow roads to be shipped in increasing volumes off the island and subjected to less efficient sorting at an Auckland yard, which seems to be unable to sell much of its salvaged material.
Next, came the news that the Government had severely modified the recommendations of the Auckland Governance Commission by removing, among other items, those referring to the reservation of a number of seats for Maori, including some for Mana Whenua, customary guardians of regional lands. Another action taken in defiance of the will of the public (to say nothing of Maori community submissions) as presented to the commissioners.
Is our democracy then in trouble? Indeed, what is our democracy?
Perhaps the most popular definition is that of Abraham Lincoln, delivered in his 1863 Gettysburg address: “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” The Readers Digest dictionary defines democracy as: “government by the people, exercised directly or through elected representatives”, tracing the origin of the word to its roots in the Greek word ‘demos’, the common people. Democratic government developed in Athens around the time of Pericles (495-429 BC) partly in response to the rule of a series of good and bad tyrants. It firmly centred government in the will of the public assembly. From then on, it has had its avid critics and supporters: Plato and Aristotle considered the Athenian form whimsical, slanted towards the poor and subject to demagoguery. 18th century ‘enlightenment’ philosophers like Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau moved it progressively towards the idea of universal franchise, though not without residual opposition from those who wanted more consideration given to the votes of the richer and better-educated. Latterly, Winston Churchill probably summed up the ongoing controversy attached to the efficacy of modern-day democracy: “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all others that have been tried.” (Hansard 11 November 1947.)
In spite of this affirmation, democracy has increasingly fallen out of favour. Even among its enthusiastic advocates, like the United States, growing numbers feel disenfranchised by prevailing systems and stay away from polls which don’t seem to be able to represent their preference. Cynicism in some cases is related to a perceived ‘tyranny of the majority’ which excludes minorities whether ethnic/cultural (as with Maori in many local body elections) or community (as in the case of Waiheke mentioned above). In others, it arises from situations like that in Palestine/Israel, where one democracy (Hamas-ruled Gaza) is not perceived as equal to another (Likud-ruled Israel) in spite of a perceived fairness in the elections held by both. The apparent rigging of votes in the recent elections in Iran and the ‘hanging chads’ of George W. Bush’s triumph in Florida in 2001 add to the suspicion expressed in my opening comments, that many results of so-called democratic processes don’t represent the will of the common people.
Can democracy survive its own faults?
Can minority communities ‘survive’ democracy?
Transparency International is a civil society organisation leading a global fight against corruption, one method of the wealthy and powerful to overrule the will of the ‘demos’ or common people. Their attention is not only directed to African dictatorships or Asian military juntas; they have also commented on the transparency of elections, consultative processes and business operations in countries like our own which have a top-level grade regarding our freedom from corruption. Such civil society bodies make a major contribution to ensuring a level of openness that maximises the store of social capital, the pool of trust and reciprocity among citizens which enables them to participate actively in the governance of their lives. Similar non-professional civil society groupings have strengthened the capacity of the Waiheke community in the struggle against the tyranny of urban corporate interests.
In moral terms, civil society seeks justice for its members and all in society, specifically through the exercise of commutative justice: the human right to fairness in all social contracts and exchanges, in recognition of the human dignity of all. Civil society affirms the right of people to participate in decisions which affect them, thus claiming a role in the process of democracy.
Needless to say, the Church is called to be part of civil society and to initiate and support action which ensures that all people are treated with dignity and justice. In the 1980s, Pope John Paul II exhorted the Catholic Church to exercise ‘solidarity’, defined as “a firm and persevering commitment to the common good of all and each individual” as a moral counter to the dominance of “a desire for profit and thirst for power”. He saw the latter overcoming the traditional Christian “ commitment to the good of one’s neighbour … instead of exploiting him (sic)… [serving] him instead of oppressing him for one’s own advantage.” (“Pope John Paul II “On Social Concerns” Para 38 1987).
Another moral principle guiding the activities of civil society is the principle of subsidiarity, whereby any activity which can be performed by a more decentralised entity should be. This was included as a principle in human rights law in Article 5 of the Treaty setting up the Council of Europe, seeking to ensure that all elements of society would be able to take part in their governance to avoid takeover by the rich and powerful.
As elements in civil society, our parishes and church communities could find ways to take part in action that opposes centralised decision-making to the exclusion of the will of “demos” or common people. A recent sermon delivered to the Anglican congregation on Waiheke on the waste-management issue did just that, picking up the links between Christian belief and engagement in community issues. It gave a fine example of participation of the people, by the people and for the people.
Democracy is all the more healthy for such interventions by civil society. They reinforce the capacity of ordinary people to engage in the achievement of the common good, the fullness of life for all. They help ‘survive’ democracy, to preserve it in its best forms.
Talking Cents is a group charged by the Anglican Diocesan Council to promote
an alternative to current economic and political thought, and to encourage debate
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This issue is contributed by Kevin McBride, Pax Christi Aotearoa-New Zealand.
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