As the Daily Reckoning likes to say, “people get the government they deserve, not the one they wish for”. Simply put, if people are not prepared to excise their franchise they will allow politicians to manoeuvre the field to their advantage and their advantage alone.
I am a big advocate of total democratic reform; I am not saying democracy is bad, but as Winston Churchill put it, “democracy is the least bad system of government”. Almost all government is awful but some can be better than others.
In a parliamentary system which has a Prime Minister and a cabinet who are meant to express the wishes of the people and govern for the people, what would make sense to me, is to be able to vote for the political party that most reflects your views on a particular ministry. For example you may like the Lib Dems on Defence, but the Tories on Health. Or, you may want Labour on the Economy but the Greens on the environment. If the ballot paper allowed you to vote for each ministry rather than just the leading party we may end up with a cabinet that is comprised of a better spread of people and one that more fairly represents the views of the people. Bear in mind we have twenty two ministries in Britain. See the complete list at the end of this article of ministries and ministerial attendants.
Modern governments worldwide have drawn an increasing number of functions into their realm which only a few years ago would have seemed totalitarian to most Britons. George Washington left for America precisely because he thought that Britain had too many laws. What he would think of the US and the UK today makes one weep.
Ultimately though, it is prosperity itself which is the undoing of political activism. When people are making money they see little need to involve themselves in the political process. Modern politicians are only too delighted to have comfortable citizens, for that gives them the chance to corrupt the system for personal gain while people see little need for real change. Norway conducted an extensive survey in the late 1990’s to try establish why their voter participation dropped so rapidly from the 80s to the 90’s – the conclusion was that it as soon as any country achieves a middle class of a certain size with certain wealth, apathy steps in. This appears to be true of any country regardless of whether voting is compulsory. Even in Australia, where voting is compulsory, political participation is no more active than it is elsewhere. Voting ultimately does not ensure participation.
The Athenians, who gave us democracy, despised anyone who did not engage in the political issues of the day – in fact to be a citizen meant to be an active member of the community politically. If you did not engage, you did not deserve the right to citizenship of their city-state. In our modern society we are perpetually reminded of our natural “rights of citizenship” but none of the responsibilities. Therein lies the great tragedy of modern Western Democracy: an erosion of responsibility on a rising tide of affluence.
However, as Tolstoy believed, society is circular, we go from Revolution to Representation and back again, or democracy to dictatorship and finally to overthrow and democracy again. That is man’s nature and that is man’s natural order of things. We have epochs of enlightened citizenry followed by darkness, superstition and ignorance. So too in our political frameworks do we flow from participation to lethargy and ultimately ruin.
From the embers of societal decay new ideas on governing society should emerge and people will again participate with enthusiasm.
