THE IMPERFECTIONS OF DEMOCRACY

Of all the forms of government, democracy is deemed the best, even if it is only by default, when all other forms attempted had been much worse. In contrast to dictatorships, fascism, communism or other forms of totalitarianism, democracy provides citizens an avenue to express disagreements with the government, campaign for change in government policies, and if all else fails, vote to change the government at the next election. Yet, as eloquently as this idea was put forward famously by Winston Churchill in 1947, democracy does have serious problems:

1. Democracy is rule by the people.  Operationally, since democratic outcomes are determined by voting, rule by the people actually means rule by the majority.  The trouble is: the majority are often uninformed, ignorant, impressionable, sentimental or irrational. It is only the highly intelligent or technically competent few who are able to make objective judgments about a country's affairs. So, accordingly, democratic outcomes and their resultant policies may not serve the interests of all citizens or the future of the country. When the rightness of political judgement is not dependent on the number of people subscribing to it but the inherent merits of each case, the sacredness of 'the will of the people' becomes questionable.

2. If the majority are driven by their whims and self-interest, the security and economic prospects of the country may be neglected and the national reserve may be squandered.

3. Politicians often compete by using public relations and personal appeals, playing on the emotions or feelings of voters and may win not by their competence and suitability, but by mere tactics and charisma.

4. In seeking popularity and votes, politicians in a democracy have a tendency to give in to the pressure, lobby or advocacy groups. Such heightened political activism often leads to excessive public spending and the multiplication of laws and regulations.

5. Depending on the mood of the majority, their voting decisions can result in frequent changes in the government and their policies leading to political instability and unpredictability.  In fact, mere threats from noisy protesters can pressurize Governments into reversing policies such that economic growth may be hindered.

6. Rule by the majority often means the persecution, deprivation or discrimination of some social, racial, religious or economic groups.

7. Though, in theory, we can vote for whoever we want in an election, in reality, our choices are necessarily limited.  The field of candidates or political parties is often small as only a few political players are rich, strong or experienced enough to organize viable political campaigns.

8. Often, political over-competitiveness in democracies can lead to violence, turbulence, national paralysis and disunity, damage to property and loss of lives; result in suspension of the democratic process itself, and ending up as rule of the mob or in a military dictatorship. Presently, Thailand is a case in point.

9. The concept of open political competition is premised on a form of moral relativism, whereby the rightness or wrongness of any policy has no concrete basis, but becomes a matter of majority opinion. In such a society, trust and respect become scarce commodities; and political disputes can become endless and irresolvable.

10. Because political power cannot be guaranteed beyond the next election, political players can become susceptible to opportunistic measures and short-term thinking.

11. As elections are the sole determinants of power in a democracy, there is a temptation for politicians to become prone to corruption, favoritism, partisanism, unfair policies or even outright election fraud.

So, before we continue to hold democracy to be the holy grail in the political organization of human societies, we should have a less reverential re-evaluation of it.