No Regrets Journal: Thoughts on Democracy's Dilemma

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Thoughts on Democracy’s ! !

Dilemma

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Clayton Medeiros !

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April 2015

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Thoughts on Democracy’s Dilemma

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I believe democracy is the most effective, most humane solution to ! governing a society. In a democracy, power is derived from the consent of the governed. Democracy encourages us to lead our lives in a mutually agreed upon social and political world that guarantees freedoms and articulates responsibilities. Citizens are free to pursue their individual goals while also being responsible for sustaining a civil society that equitably protects the rights of its free and equal members.

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At the heart of a democratic vision of the state’s power and limitations on that power, are these democratic values: the rule of law, the accountability of government to its citizens, restraints on governmental power, and the freedoms of speech, thought, and religion. These values should be guaranteed by a constitution or a similar document. The democratic vision must be protected through open and fair elections with an unfettered right to vote.

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Freedom from constraints for the individual must be balanced against the needs of society in commonly agreed upon civil and political structures. Inherent in individual rights is a concomitant responsibility to protect society and its political forms. Our democratic values come from a dialogue about how to structure and manage the nation beginning in the United States with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The dialogue continues through our historic and current debates about economic inequality, civil rights, the freedom to !marry, funding political campaigns, and limitations on the right to vote.

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Individual freedoms can only be sustained through social and political frameworks. The nature of these frameworks is at the center of the democratic dilemma. The individual is not self sufficient. The individual exists in a societal and political structure that provides the space and context for freedom and responsibility. The freedom to pursue one’s interests and passions is constrained by the need to have a civil society where we can agree on rules about stop lights and stop signs, protecting our water and food supplies, accessing and utilizing our natural resources, preserving the environment, and protecting public health and well being.

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Democracy is not rule by the majority. Democracy provides a public space in which everyone gets to have their say. Compromises are negotiated with due consideration for the constitutionally protected rights for the majority and for minorities. Public debate takes place in the framework of free speech, a free press, and the right to assemble. Individuals and groups have the right to get

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together anywhere, any time to talk about public issues, express their opinions and hear the opinions of others. They have the right to attend and participate in governmental meetings.

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Accountability in government requires a broad sense of public purposes including among others, transparency in governmental actions, open and fair election processes, freely available education for everyone, commitments to public infrastructure for the transportation of people and goods, national monuments and parks open to all, and the maintenance of public health.

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Democracy requires an educated electorate. Education is our greatest defense against totalitarian and oligarchic rule. Right wing conservatives attack state supported universities as bastions of liberalism leading our youth astray. They wish to turn universities toward a sole focus on the needs of business and industry. On the other hand, left wing extremists try to limit the rights of conservatives to speak on university campuses. Extremist politicians will often try to skew educational requirements to match their beliefs. Government plays a critical role in assuring an educational system that is open and provides students with the opportunity and skills for successful participation in a democracy.

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Democracy is a unique, fragile business. Over time, it has only flowered briefly here and there. It requires constant vigilance. Historically, democracies are a minority presence among monarchies with their aristocracies, and dictatorships with their oligarchies. Democratic foundations and structures are tenuous. They require an endless balancing act among various political shades of left, right and center.

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Democracy is a threat to other forms of government and to those who benefit from those forms. It is always under attack within its borders and from beyond its borders. Inside its borders there are those who wish to limit the rights of others in order to protect their wealth, possessions and prerogatives from those they define as less deserving. Outside democracy’s borders, successful dictators and oligarchs in other countries worry that democratic values could spread and encourage challenges to the legitimacy of their wealth and power.

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Democracy is intrinsically indecisive as people with diverse political, social, religious, and cultural perspectives make their cases in private and public discussions, through the media, and by participation in local and national elections. Disagreement is inevitable. Societal and political structures are required to assure debate and provide opportunities for compromise. It is a messy business.

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The freedoms inherent in a successful democracy are difficult to sustain. They are endlessly subject to debate, clarification, and attack by various shades of liberals and conservatives and by those in between the traditional left and right categories. Democratic freedoms are also challenged by those completely

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outside of traditional categories including monarchists and totalitarians along with libertarians and anarchists.

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Extremes are always the greatest danger to a democratic government. A move too far to the left or a move too far to the right and freedom can soon be curtailed for the public good. Soon rights are impinged upon, freedom of speech and freedom of the press are brought in to question for the good of the country. The judiciary is constrained by executive authority in its decision making or the judiciary oversteps its bounds and makes decisions that harm the democratic process. The power of the state is used to limit debate and the right of assembly.

The free press is constrained and required to hew to governmental edicts.

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As the power and rights of capital Increase, the power and rights of the general public and workers decrease. Unfettered capitalism and free market economic solutions cannot sustain a civil society. Unless there are legislated and regulatory constraints on economic power, it inevitably ignores broad societal needs, degrades the environment and economic returns go to a small capitalist and financial elite. Investment in public goods including health, education and infrastructure are curtailed.

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The turn of the last century epitomized the power of capitalism with out of control trusts that were broken up by Teddy Roosevelt with the support of the Supreme Court. Teddy Roosevelt also created the first national parks to be in held in the public interest and open to all. There were also great disparities in wealth which led to !the imposition of the first income tax. We are facing similar issues today.

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Democracy and its freedoms require constant vigilance. With the Reagan and Bush tax cuts, we have returned to very high levels of income inequality. Our democratic values are under constant attack as corporations and wealthy individuals are protected with an unlimited right to fund political campaigns while many states enact laws to limit the right to vote. Policy and legal challenges must be brought to bear on unlimited political funding by corporations and wealthy individuals. Policy and legal challenges must also be brought against inappropriate laws that limit the right to vote.

In the United States, the patterns that restrict freedom are most apparent when we are at war or under real or imagined existential threats such as the historic threats from communists and the Soviet Union in the 1950s or today’s threats from extremist terrorists hiding behind religion. These enemies are inappropriately used as an excuse to interfere with constitutionally guaranteed rights of free speech, privacy, and assembly. The intrinsically false arguments for limiting freedom are usually hidden behind threats to our national security. Often a courageous politician, a whistle blower, a savvy investigative journalist, or all three, is required to bring to light the secret snooping and other shenanigans so common to the too often self serving security apparatus of the state.

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Democracy is an endless dialogue:

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--What is desirable and required for society and its members to flourish?

--How do we achieve what is desirable?

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These questions will never be fully answered. Ongoing dialogue and debate are required. Listening and compromise are both necessary for democracy to work.

One starting point in that dialogue is that government is the common business of the governed.

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Clayton Medeiros claymedeiros@aol.com http://issuu.com/claymedeiros/docs Facebook No Regrets Journal