DEMOCRACY IS NOT MADE UP OF VOTES

July 8, 2012

Over the last week or so, we have seen elections taking place in some pretty volatile countries: Mexico, East Timor and Libya. Such elections always leave me wondering what sort of democracy we are hoping to achieve. Many democratic systems are inherently flawed because they make the bold assumption that the majority is always right. It has been said that democracy is "two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner". A democracy that does not guarantee the opposition party or parties their rights is as good as a dictatorship.

Ensuring people are given impartial information on what it is they are voting for is also crucial. Too often people do not know or even care and they may simply cast their ballot on a whim. Sometimes the motivation is simply familiarity: "better the devil you know!" Hence the power of dynastic politics. This does not only apply to average sized countries like the Philippines and Bangladesh, but also to some of the largest, such as India (with the Gandhis) and the US (with the Bushes and the Clintons). For obvious reasons, constitutional monarchies have largely escaped this particular sentimental dynamic, but this certainly does not make their voting any more informed.

Perhaps the greatest concern, when it comes to voting, is the self-interested, unscrupulous and power-hungry people we are left to vote for. Occasionally they cannot even be trusted to behave when in front of the cameras. This week alone, for instance, we saw: the Jordanian MP, Mohammed Shawabka, throwing a shoe at a political activist and then pulling a gun out on him, on a live chat show; we saw the far right Greek MP, Ilias Kasidiaris, physically assault two female opponents on a televised debate; and we saw the dishonouring of the British House of Commons, as the Chancellor, John Osborne and the Shadow Chancellor, Ed Balls, hurled insults and accusations at each other over the Libor rate-rigging scandal. Of course, not all politicians are corrupt and everyone is, within reason, entitled to a bad day. The fact is, however, that if politicians were more accountable to their promises and for their actions, we would all feel a good deal safer. The process to becoming a politician should also be more transparent, so that merit can have a more meaningful role.

In a word, a meaningful political system is not made up of votes alone: it is also founded on vision, cooperation and good intentions.