Is there an alternative to democracy?

Why democracy does not always lead to solidarity, prosperity and liberty but to social conflict, runaway spending and a tyrannical government .. .........................................

Beyond Democracy

Why democracy does not lead to soli darity, (I\\ prosperity and liberty but to social I 'r conflict, runaway spending and ::::. ""I \ a tyrannical government. 1 cultural and ethnic backgrounds. In smaller jurisdictions, politicians can be expected to be c loser to cl1e people and to be hesitant to depart from what a majority wanes, due to the personal nature of their eleccorace (everyone knows e~reryone else). l n larger juri sdictions however, political parties frequently do things cl1ac a majority of peop le do not want. undec ided reader wollld fo1d cl1e book's arguments la cking in detail and sophisticatio n. A closer inspection of contemporary democracies would have. illustrated their points more convincingl y For example, ,vich respect co democracy and crime, a comparison of cases such as Auscralia - where crime i s comparatively lowe r than in other democracies such as South Africa and Americawould have made the arguments stronger.

Accountability is also diminished by cl1e indirect nature of democracy which relies on the election of representatives. Citizens have less say tha n in a d irect system where they are allowed to vote on every legislative proposal : '"Everyo ne knows chat governments regula rly take decisions that most peopJe o ppose. It is not 'the will of cl1e people'; but the will of politicians - prompted by ,groups of profession al lobbyists, interest groups and activists they all kn ow how to work cl1e system to cl1eir advantage" (page 18).

Karsten an d Beckman do a s uperb jo b however, when discussin~ alrerna ti ves co democracy. ln response to the C)llescion 'What would we replace democracy with?', Br;1otJd

Finally, the book says that "today, parties are in newspapers, not in localities, they conduct public meetings, although they are otherwise absent in the mohalla"

Each year, the Un.i red States government releases a Human Rights Repon on China. In tbis report it waxes eloquent abom the lack of democracy in the Commtmist Party co n trolled state, as i f it were beyond question that democracy is an Lmambiguously good thing. So confident is the U S government about the moral infallib ility of democracy, that in the presiden r's ational Security Strategy document, promoting democracy abroad is stated as an exp licit goal.

In B~)'Olld De!llocrtu:y by Frank Karsten and Karel Beckman, cbe auchors dissent from the mainstream perspective on democracy and focus on its negatives. After reading this book it would be difficult to ever again view democrac y in a positive light. Instead of promoting freedom, democrac y cakes i t away.

It is an inhe rently collectivist system that can be likened to rotalitarian ideo logies such as Naz.ism, Fascism and Communism. "In principle, no freedom is sacred in a democracy, every aspect of the individual's Life is potentiallr su b ject to government conrrol...

Ac the end of the day, che minority i s completely at the me rcy of the whims of the majority" (page 27).

Frank Karsten and Karel Beckman point out that while democrac y may work welJ w hen implemented in a small city-state, there is much less accountability when applied to large countries with millio n s of people of varyin g l'v[y only co n cern is cl1ac an

Votes that are cast in large countries are vague preferences by whicb politicians are only loosely bound, since there are no legal conseque n ces for brealung an election promise. For this reason , the authors suggest cl1at "(v)oting is the illusion of influence in exchange for the loss of freedom " , arguing that the probability of one vote making a difference is so small tbat it would undoubtedl y be better to remove many decisions - over healthcare, education and so on - from the democratic a rena, and instead have tbem made by individual citizens cluough the private sector l'v1oving away from voting, Karsten and Beckman also argu e char democracy has broader effects on society, including on crime ("The democratic welfare state e.ncou.rages irresponsibility and antisocial behavior''); educacional and cultural standards ("[D]emocracy may be expe.cced co lead to a dumbing down of cbe population and a lowering of general cultural standards' ); and pover ty ("Democracy doesn't lead ro prosperity, it destroys wealth").

D e111ocracy provides a nice answer: secession should be a liowed, and a conttacmal socie ty s hould be encouraged. " Diversity in governance implies that people can dec ide more easily under what system they wish to live", the authors w r ite "They carr go to another municipality or county if they des ire different governance. Such competition ensures that rulers are he ld accountable, which is hardly the case when a citizen's influence is restricted to elections once every four ye ars"

The aucbors see a positive. future for realising freedom.

Human beings are not opposed to decentralisation per se: it is just cl1at they demand a high thresho ld before seeking to break away. U nless there is some urgent pressing _reason, people prefer to co.lerate their differences

Thus when Pakistan seceded from India irr 1947 and the Indian government decided co accept Pakistan's deparuire, it was probabl y due to an acknowledgement of ir reconcil able culuiral differences (in cl-us case the clear division between Hindu L1diaos and Muslim Pakistanis)

Ali in all, B1!)'011d Democrncy is a refreshi ng b reath of fresh air. The au thors have done a great service in compiling cl1e main arguments against democracy in an access ib le manner

Finally, the book says that "today, parties are in newspapers, not in localities, they co nduct public meetings, although they are otherwise absent in t he mohalla"