The breakdown of struggling ‘democracy’ in East Timor (and Iraq) prompts the question whether ‘European’ democracy is actually suitable for less developed countries.
The object of government, and the measure of its success, is the combined achievement of the community through popular cooperation.
The cooperation of the people may be achieved in:
1. Dictatorship, by leadership, propaganda and coercion – clearly a no-no.
2. A two-or-more-party state by leadership, propaganda and by appeal to the acquisitive instincts of the people. However, the problems engendered by the escalating consumption of (and competition for) global resources and the resulting environmental problems must soon force a revision of this basis of government.
3. A non-party state (e.g. Britain in wartime) by leadership and the willing sacrifices of the people – clearly the ideal in view of the damage to our environment by our self-centred consumerism. However, we willing need to use our intelligence to find the secret of non-party government without waiting for crisis, which might indeed be international chaos.
In A.A.Milne’s classic tale of Winnie-The-Pooh, ‘Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs … bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head … It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it.’
Party politics to a T. There is another way for us – ballots in our parliaments.
We need better democracy, but few are listening. Especially do we need to be aware that a future crisis, quite on the ‘cards’, is more likely to produce a to dictatorship than a better democracy. Machiavelli mentioned the need for concentration of power in government in time of war. Britain’s monarchy enabled the smooth wartime transition from party government to Grand Coalition. This cannot be regarded as a normal to democracies generally.
We need to stop ‘bumping down the stairs and think’. This is not an option.
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