Democracy and Its Doubles. Democracy

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1 Democracy and Its Doubles Woodruff 1 Democracy Definition: government by and for the people While capturing the idea of democracy, it is not much use What are the components of a democracy? 2

2 What Democracy Is Not Some activities of a political order appear to be democratic or part of a democracy, but are not What activities are thought to be democratic but are not necessarily democratic? Voting Majority Rule Elected Representatives 3 Voting Is Not Necessarily Democratic Case: A powerful family in a church conspire to have two candidates considered for a new minister. Both candidates are voted on by the congregation. But, soon after the voting many members of the congregation decide to leave Why? Because the candidates under consideration were not freely chosen Those voting did not get to choose for whom they were voting 4

3 Voting as an Expression of the Will of the People Voting is democratic if i) it is an expression of the will of the people, and ii) what is being voted on expresses the will of the people If voting is to be democratic, then what or who is being voted for should express the people s will 5 Majority Rule Is Not Necessarily Democratic Case: Analytic philosophers have gained power in the department and have removed Continental philosophers from any influential positions. The Continental philosophers are angry and start to work the system behind the back of the leaders of the department. They talk to the Dean, call powerful alumni, and get their voice heard. The chair of the department wonders why the Continental philosophers are trying to destroy the department, given that there s a democratic process in place--rule by the majority. If this is democracy, asks one of the rebels, Why does it feel so much like a tyranny? 6

4 The Tyranny of Majority Rule Tyranny: Absolute power, especially when exercised unjustly or cruelly I have sworn... eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man Thomas Jefferson. The majority, even if democratically elected, can be just as tyrannical as an evil dictator Any time majority rule keeps a minority voice from being heard, that majority rule can be seen as tyrannical One way to prevent tyrannical rule of the majority is to randomly appoint people who will serve 7 Where Does One Go When One Is In the Minority If a democracy really is government by and for the people, then where does the minority of people go who are not in power? How does the minority get their voice heard? How does the minority change the system so their voice can be heard? 8

5 Majority Attempts to Preserve Their Power Majority exercises their power to keep power Modern example: redrawing congressional districts Majority party can control certain governmental processes Keep minority issues from being discussed Prevent minority legislation from being passed Majority members are more extreme because they do not depend on the whole population but only on those who support the majority 9 Electing Representatives is Not Necessarily Democratic Case: Developer D wants to pave over some Rock River swamp. Developer D is funding the election of several council members who support D s plan. SOARR (Save Our Astounding Rock River) also is funding the election of several council members who do not support D s development plans. Regardless of who is elected or how many from each side, it is not clear that either side represents the interests of the average citizen In fact, given the money necessary to get elected and stay elected, the representative really is interested in supporting the interests of his/her financial backers 10

6 How Does One Make a Representative Democracy Support the Interests of Citizens? Options: direct vs. representative democracy Direct democracy: system in which all citizens take part in the decision making process of the state citizens might pass laws, make civic decisions, or install representatives representatives under a direct democracy act upon the directives of the citizens citizen-sponsored ballot initiatives/referenda are tools of a direct democracy 11 How Does One Make a Representative Democracy Support the Interests of Citizens? (II) Representative democracy: system of democracy in which representatives are elected to make decisions and legislation for the electorate while elected by the citizens, the representative may not act in the interests of the citizen representatives of a representative democracy have the power to act on their own authority irrespective of the wishes of citizens constitutional laws are meant to limit and regulate the powers of representatives 12

7 Variations on a Democracy Liberal democracy: a democracy in which the liberties of the citizens are protected Constitutional republic (democracy): a system of government (democracy) in which a constitution establishes the use, limits, and exchange of powers between citizens and representatives not a monarchy citizens are governed by the rule of law and not necessarily by the decisions of the people constitutional republics are attempts to prevent the tyranny of the majority 13 Who Benefits from Democracy? Who benefits from democracy? Where does power reside in a democracy? Who might not benefit from a democracy? Two dangerous ideas behind democracy: we all have the capacity to govern our collective public life over the long haul, no one is more capable than the collective of individuals to make better decisions regarding the governing of their public lives 14

8 Tools of First Democracy Legal System: there were no professional judges or attorneys. Any citizen could bring charges against another and any citizen could serve on the committees that acted as judge and jury Governing body: Athenian assembly made up of the first 6,000 men to arrive at the Pnyx Checks on majority rule: the Assembly could not vote on anything that had not passed Council. Council membership was by lottery from ten different tribes (a cross section of Athens) 15 Tools of First Democracy, II Lottery: randomly choose members from the ten tribes. Being eligible for the lottery required approval from the respective tribe. Elections: important or specialized positions were filled by election (e.g., military or financial expertise) Accountability: upon leaving office, an official s record was examined. If an offense was found, the official could be brought up on charges. If an official was gaining too much power, the citizens could vote to ostracize him. 16

9 Athenian Failures in Democracy Women, slaves, and other humans were not considered citizens Freedom was reserved for Athens and Athenians and not for other subjects within the empire Athenians failed to carry their democratic ideals to other societies and instead acted the tyrant to subjected colonies 17