Why we don't want true democracy
How would true democracy work? First and foremost there would need to be an end to the party political system. The system that has become entrenched in so many nations as a symbol of democracy. A system where we vote for one of two main parties with historically well defined policies and views. It is these old policies and views that need to be discarded so that a true democracy can start afresh.
Is any government the best?
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To have true democracy there would be local elections encompassing 500 to 1000 people. Anyone could stand for election and the person chosen would have direct contact with those 500 to 1000 people who elected them. One hundred of these elected officials would then vote and form another tier. Officials from tier 2 would vote again and so forth until finally governmental positions are voted upon. To maintain true democracy no policies could be enacted unless there was a majority vote within the government.
This method does away with the whole party system and effectively makes the government truly democratic. However the advantage of it being truly democratic is also its major weakness. If the government had to have a majority vote to enact policies how could the less popular ones be enacted? Policies such as tax rises and military spending would be difficult to push through if the officials were personally responsible to their electorates. The government would stagnant by having to do what was popular rather than what was necessary.
It all boils down to the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) attitude. We want prisons but not in our neighborhood. We want motorways but not if they are going to affect the value of our homes. It is the modern day attitude of wanting something done but not wanting to take responsibility for it ourselves.
So if we shouldn't have true democracy what else is there? Shown below are some of the different types of governments that exist today.
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Country
United States
Italy
Saudi Arabia
Cuba
Libya
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Government type
Full presidential system
Parliamentary republic
Absolute monarchy
One-party state
Military junta state
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From that list you could argue that a full presidential system is one of the best government types. However take a look at the following table.
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Country
United States
Rwanda
Colombia
Sierra Leone
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Government type
Full presidential system
Full presidential system
Full presidential system
Full presidential system
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As you can see even though the type of governments may be very similar there is a significant difference between the economic and internal stability of some of those countries. You could also argue that it is not the election process of the government type that defines a country. There are a myriad of political, economic and social factors that makeup a nation.
So would we want a true democracy? At the moment in the majority of countries elections are held every 3-5 years and the population typically vote for one of two well established political parties. Can we ever hope to understand the subtleties of domestic and foreign policy? Or are we just as happy to leave it to those who seem to know what they are doing? Ultimately we neither need or want true democracy.
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