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Do You Believe?

Two days before the British general election, and I find myself wondering about democracy. The prospect of a vote has brought to the surface the normal complaints about the unfairness of the system, the apathy of voters, the negative and vindictive nature of the political debate. Perhaps the question that should be asked is does anyone believe in democracy?

On the surface, many seem to believe that democracy is an end in itself. Bush and Blair have gloated over the Iraqi elections - which is, after all, the only positive outcome of their invasion. Yet, if they believe in democracy, why have they imposed on the Iraqi people restrictions on the form of their new constitution? On the ownership of resources? On who will profit from reconstruction? In fact, opposition to the will of the people is common in both governments. Both go to great lengths to control the media and obfuscate their agendas, both at home and abroad. Both rely on fear of the opposition to win re-election. And they are hardly alone - distrust of and attempts to mislead the electorate are normal for all political parties in western democracies.

The system itself is also to blame. Our own first past the post results in elections being decided by a small number of voters in a small number of constituencies - a problem common also to the American presidential elections, as high-lighted in 2000. Yet the alternatives are no better. Single transferable vote is merely a complex variant of first past the post, with the potential disadvantage that it will encourage second and third votes for extremist parties. True proportional representation guarantees that extremist parties will gain seats at both local and national level. Yet the rarely discussed downside of both is the fragmentation of political parties and the resultant coalition governments. How can it be democracy when policy is decided in smoky back-rooms, long after the election?

Clearly our leaders do not trust democracy. Control is for the political elite, with votes little more than a distraction. Yet the media are little more convinced. From tabloid rabble-rousing to broadsheet elitism there is a common thread - popular opinion is to be manipulated or feared, not listened to. You need look no further than that common condemnation of the Tory's racist stand on immigration : "Populist".

As long as voters allow racism, greed, and other base emotions to decide their vote, democracy is little more than the tyranny of the majority. Clearly, a vote in favour of war, homophobia, or xenophobia does not make such policies correct. Democracy cannot be an end in itself. Democracy is only as worthy as the society it produces. In the past, democracies have produced universal health services, social justice, welfare systems, human rights. No other governmental form can claim as much. For this, alone, is democracy valuable - it is better than the alternatives.

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