Democracy 3 innate socialism3/9/2023 ![]() After gaining independence, the United States set off with a constitution that mirrors the way in which the Founding Fathers understood the importance of the separation of powers, 6 even though equal civil rights for women and African-Americans were only granted much later. The United Kingdom is the most relevant example of the limits put on absolute power, a process that started more than eight hundred years ago 5 and which evolved over centuries toward an advanced democracy. 4 The impact of new technologies and automation (not least in creating the possibility for massive structural unemployment) should be considered in formulating public policies.ĭemocracy relies on a ‘culture of freedom’, which, as history shows, cannot take root within a short time span, nor ‘imported’, or imitated, as one chooses roots are important. ![]() Income distribution plays a paramount part in the metabolism of capitalism and requires an effective answer as far as public policies are concerned – in the sense that markets should not be left to decide everything, whatever the consequences may be. The public sector, via its own policies and productive and financial assets, is asked to provide public goods that are essential for society and it is asked to implement policies that enhance the very functioning of the private sector, to preserve the ‘social cement’ in society, and to mitigate economic disparities (inequalities among people). Modern capitalism implies cohabitation between the public sector and the private sector, ideological/political choices, and management of what economists refer to as ‘externalities’ and market myopia 3 these mould the proportion between the two spheres. 1 National-socialism/fascism demonstrates that private property can underlie a totalitarian regime, provided private property rights do not ‘work’ for the separation of powers or discourage/prevent an abusive concentration of power, but are instead subservient to abusive power. The command (communist) system excludes economic freedom in resource allocation and production this system operates according to the logic of a single enterprise, as a fully centralised, command system. Totalitarian ‘experiences’ teach us about the relationship between society and property rights. But for democracy to survive, its liberal core must be preserved. It may also be true that, although democracy has a ‘liberal core’, it can also be driven by ‘illiberal’ components, and that the magnitude of the latter can vary. The argument that ‘liberal democracy’ is on the wane is wrong to the extent that policies can be corrected, that citizens and elites alike do not lose trust in democratic values. Are these temptations linked with temporary phenomena, in the ‘extraordinary times’ we are living through, or do they have deeper roots? An answer to this question begs an examination of trends in society and economy, of the emergence of new (unconventional) threats, and, not least, of failed public policies. Admittedly, conservative political philosophy contains a liberal component when it assimilates the rules of political competition and a democratic political regime.īut there is evidence of mounting illiberal temptations in the industrialized world, in democratic societies. For there are significant differences in terms of the relationship between the public and the private spheres, the scale and content of state intervention in the economy, regulatory systems, etc. The extent to which liberalism in Europe overlaps with what one meets in the US is subject to debate. In democratic Europe, for instance, Christian democracy and social democracy belong to an enlarged political ‘family’ that relies on deep liberalism at its core. Within this interpretation of democracy, liberalism is a fundamental, organic foundation of democratic parties’ Weltanschauung this foundation is present from the right to the left of the democratic spectrum, in the philosophy and conduct of political parties. Democracy implies an effective separation of powers it also implies respect towards fellow citizens, tolerance, and ethical conduct in social and political life. These values and the related political regime mean, basically, power in the hands of citizens (the people) and decision-making made via institutionalized checks and balances – what John Kenneth Galbraith and others referred to as countervailing power, which prevents absolute power from being ceaselessly accumulated. This is because democracy has liberalism in its genes liberalism in a deep sense embodies spiritual and civic commitment to a host of de facto and de jure values. The distinction made between ‘liberal’ and ‘illiberal’ democracy is both conceptually and operationally meaningful, but can still sow seeds of confusion.
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