Democracy: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Overview

The workshop will cover subjects including looking at the tensions within a democracy (populism, protecting the interests of minorities, intolerance etc.), the mechanisms needed for moving from dictatorship to democracy (e g Poland, Spain, Iraq and The Gambia) and the safeguards needed to minimize the risk of democracies sliding into dictatorships. 

Using ideas from Conflict Resolution theory and practice, conflict remediation at the international level, nation reconciliation (e g Rwanda and South Africa) and the role of outside intervention such as UN, NATO and ‘coalitions of the willing’ will be examined.

A Few Suggestions for Your Presentation

The Academy states “Discussion time trumps presentation time in Academy Workshops.” A successful presentation is one which not only informs but also encourages a lively exchange of comments and ideas in the discussion period. 

There are a few important points to think about:

(1) The presenter ‘leads off’ the discussion and this should take no longer than 20- 25 minutes. This will leave more time for the discussion.

(2) It may be a good idea to distribute information and video links or suggest some things to think about in advance. This will help you to stay focused and within your 20- 25 minutes and it will manage the need to spend your presentation time setting context or developing a common platform before you begin.

(3)  Some people may want to hand out written material, use the whiteboard and some may prefer to use a power point presentation depending on what works best. If you do use a power presentation there are some important things to bear in mind:

(a) Do not use your slides as speaker’s notes; keep text to a minimum (labels for images, reinforcement for essential discussion points etc.). 

(b) A smaller number of effective slides (10 or so is the recommended maximum) will keep participants engaged in what you have to say rather than distracted by a stream of images

List of Possible Sessions

The sessions can be classified into addressing:

1. Democracy- defined and how to maintain and enhance it.
2. Dictatorship to Democracy- how to make it happen.
3. Democracy to Dictatorship- how to prevent it happening.
4. Outside Intervention- what, if anything, should be done.

• • Democracy- a Definition and How to Maintain and Enhance it.
    • A Definition of Democracy

There may be over 2,000 definitions of ‘Democracy’ and it may be difficult, if not impossible, to reach a consensus. Hopefully, these different views can be explored.

• • • Asian- Style Democracy

Is western- style democracy over- rated? Singapore is viewed as a model for Asian- Style democracy and very different from the West.

• • • Reconciliation

Rwanda, South Africa and other countries have had reconciliation processes to address past crimes. Columbia also has a process with FARC.

• • • Does the US Need a Reconciliation Process?

Politics in the US has been polarized for many decades. What can be done to alleviate this antagonism?

• • • Institutions

Which institutions are necessary in a functioning democracy? What can be done to strengthen them?

• • • Free Press

How can a free press survive in the internet age?

• • • Free Speech

The majority supports the idea of Free Speech. Some of them do, provided the views expressed are those they are happy with and many are comfortable with laws oppressing views they don’t support. Are hate speech laws the way to go? The laws in Germany against Holocaust Denial have been in effect since 1985. Have they been effective?

• • • Proportional Representation (PR) Versus First Past the Post (FPP)

What are the pros and cons for PR and FPP? Look at PR in Germany and Italy and FPP in Canada.

• • • Referendums

The Swiss are big on referendums. Which other countries and states (California for example) use them? Are there general principles here to provide productive referendums? What about Brexit?

• • • Populism

Is it a major threat to democracy or just a term used by some people as a pejorative against groups that hold views which they do not like?

• • • Protection of Minorities

What safeguards need to be in place?

• • • Independence

Some regions in Europe and Canada seek independence and separation from the nation they are in. What conditions should dictate this process?

• • • Belgium and its German- speaking Citizens

The Economist of October 5, 2019 has an article ‘Tiny Democracy- A Belgian experiment that Aristotle would have approved of’. The German- speaking part of Belgium has set up a citizens’ council to run in parallel to the existing parliament.

• • • Opposition to Incumbent Government

Former congressional staffers (Democrats) published ‘Indivisible- A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda’ (January 5, 2017). Many of the ideas were taken from the Tea Party and Gene Sharp’s handbook (see below).

• • • Paradox of Tolerance

Karl Popper wrote ‘In order to maintain a tolerant society, the society must be intolerant of intolerance.’ How does one put this into practice? Is there a line to be drawn here?

• • • Plato

Was he the first fascist?

• • • Is Democracy Needed?

Many North Americans, particularly the young, are not convinced.

• • • Epistocracy

Epistocracy is the rule by those with political knowledge. Jason Brennan, an American political scientist, in his book, Against Democracy (2016- note the year), suggested voters should be restricted to those who pass exams in social science and political philosophy. It is doubtful that he was joking because there is no humour elsewhere in his book.

• • • Meritocracy

We would like competent people running the country. Michael Young coined the term ‘Meritocracy’ in his book, The Rise of the Meritocracy (1958) and wrote about its potential risks to society.

• • • Limits to Government Involvement

Friedrich Hayek thought that the growth of government would infringe upon civil liberties and people’s lives and endanger democracy. Is there an optimal size of government? Can it be determined by a measurement like Government Spending as a percentage of GDP?

• • • Argentina

Javier Milei, who calls himself an ‘anarcho- capitalist’, is determined to fix Argentina’s serious problems. Argentina is a democracy but has been through 100 years of mis- management. Milei is taking a chainsaw to pensions, government wages, red tape and waste. Will he be successful or is this too much of a jolt to society and vested interests and is a danger to democracy?

• • Dictatorship to Democracy- how to make it happen.
    • Passive Resistance in a Dictatorship

Gene Sharp wrote a handbook of more than 90 suggestions for passive resistance in dictatorships in his book From Dictatorship to Democracy (2012).

• • • Uzbekistan

The Economist’s choice of country of 2019 (December 21, 2019). Where is it and what has it done to merit such praise? Is it still praiseworthy?

• • • The Gambia

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) provides an annual Democracy Index. The Gambia has been climbing the index in recent years.

• • • Iran

Are the elements in place for a peaceful transition to a democracy?

• • • Republic of Somalia

Most of Somalia is lawless but, in the north, the Somali diaspora has helped in building a democracy without international recognition. How is that possible?

• • • No Democracy Without Free Markets?

Milton Freidman delivered a famous lecture in 1974 entitled ‘Free Markets, Free Men’.

• • • Czechoslovakia 1993

A few years after the fall of the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia split peacefully into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Is this a case study?

• • • Iraq

Now Saddam is gone, is it possible for democracy to prosper in Iraq?

• • • Uruguay

Democracy seems to be flourishing in this small country with a checkered past.

• • Democracy to Dictatorship- how to prevent it from happening
    • Venezuela

Can anything be done without outside intervention?

• • • European Union

CThe EU is viewed as having a democracy deficit but is it a power for good with say, Hungary, Poland and Austria?

• • • Turkey

Has Turkey crossed into dictatorship? Turkey is a member of NATO and wanted
to become a member of the EU.

• • • Hong Kong

What is the best way for Hong Kong to try to maintain some degree of democracy?

• • • Who’s a Dictator?

CTV News on July 27, 2018 wrote that NDP leader, Andrea Horwath, and others have compared Ontario Premier, Doug Ford, to a dictator. Others have said that Justin Trudeau also acted like a dictator. Is there any merit in these accusations?

• • • Colonialism

India is viewed as an unlikely democracy. Was colonialism a factor in bringing this about?

• • Democracy to Dictatorship- how to prevent it from happening
    • Liberia

Liberia has a long connection with the US as it began as a settlement of the American Colonization Society in 1816 for unpleasant reasons. Since then, the US has provided assistance in building a democracy in this fragile country.

• • • International Law

Does it exist? If it does, is it effective?

• • • UN- Responsibility to Protect (R2P)

The International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect was established in 2005 and first used in 2011.

• • • Is Outside Intervention a Good Thing?

The three co- authors of Contemporary Conflict Resolution (4th edition 2016) are Oliver Ramsbotham, Tom Woodhouse and Hugh Miall. They could not reach agreement amongst themselves as to whether intervention is a good thing.

• • • Hindsight is Wonderful but are There any Principles?

Doug Saunders article in the Globe & Mail (December 17, 2016) wrote that interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq were bad decisions but intervention in Libya was a good decision and intervention in Syria (by the US and not by Russia) should have happened. He provided no reasoning.

• • • Coalitions of the Willing

As it is often impossible to get all the permanent members of the UN to agree on intervention, coalitions of the willing are formed. Good idea?

• • • Unofficial Channels

Iran and the US have used the Swiss embassy as an unofficial channel for communication for years. There are also some non- government agencies such as InterMediate, a British charity, which assisted in talks between the Colombian government and the FARC rebels.

• • • The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)

The MCC was approved by the US Congress in 2004. It is an independent US government agency which identifies qualifying countries and awards them significant sums of conditional aid in agreements called compacts. Malawi and Lesotho have been recipients.