This is a independent blog written from the UK, aimed at strengthening our belief in democracy and its power to achieve peace, freedom and prosperity.
This blog concerns free thinkers. It favours rationality and logic, and is sympathetic to the majority. It aims always to view the broader picture and the long term outcome and will be called populist, conservative, libertarian and techno-progressive.
This blog believes that social issues are inextricably linked to economic issues, and that a free and prospering country cannot exist without a united and principled nation.
We believe that a nation requires a bond between man and his neighbour, and that when this is so, people want help one another instinctively and need not be forced into doing so.
We believe that society is family, and that people care more for the lives of their children than they do their own. If people are to make friendships, share, build and progress, then everyone must feel like they belong to a common family, and no-one must feel like their voice does not matter.
We believe that in order for everyone to have a voice, we must encourage freedom of information, freedom of speech and freedom of opinion. And in order for that voice to be listened to, those that make the rules by which we abide, must be those that genuinely have our interests at heart.
This blog believes that the United Kingdom should be an independent country, because the only people that can be trusted to rule over the British people are the British people themselves.
Principally, Mighty Democracy is about the merits, functionality and threats to this system of governance that we all hold dear. It advocates the shift of power from the unelected bureaucrat to the elected representative, from the distant oligarch to the local councillor, from the state to the citizen, and seeks to expose all who bribe and deceive to relieve people of responsibility in exchange for power.
Within western civilisation, democracy was conjured in the minds of the philosophers of ancient Greece, it comes from the words Demos, meaning people, and Kratos, meaning power. As an alternative to an Autocracy - rule by one individual (a monarch), or an Oligarchy - rule by an elite class (an aristocracy), Democracy is - rule by the governed (the people).
It was first tried in Athens at around 500 B.C.E. Ordinary citizens were taken to speak and vote in the assembly, where the laws of the city state were made. It was only for men, aged 20 and above. All women, slaves and foreigners were excluded.
Who did you vote for in the last general election? Ask yourself why you voted for who you did. Perhaps you didn’t vote at all.
In fact only 65% of registered voters turned up to vote in the last election of May 2010. Voter turnout increases with age, unsurprisingly, and in the 18-24 and 25-34 age brackets these figures were only 44% and 55% respectively.
This blog believes that liberty is not freedom from the law, but the ability to change the law. Our culture of obedience and following the rules, our common law, is what sets us above other democracies in which leaders often chose to elevate themselves above the law on an arbitrary basis.
We believe that the law emanates from the people, and that even the law makers must abide by it. To give an example: Britain’s frustration in not being able to deport a convicted terrorist can be compared to France’s action to deport such offenders in disregard of EU law, albeit in line with public opinion. The end result in France is clearly more popular, but allowing the government to subvert the law when it suits them, is a slippery slope towards the loss of civilisation.
We should be proud of the fact that the law comes from us, and that the police are on our side. For one to say to another “you can’t smoke here,” or “you shouldn’t drive like that,” is not an order from on high or a warning that the authorities may be watching, but a reminder that the rules have been made by the majority and that most people would prefer if you respected them.
This blog believes that our democracy is by no means perfect and it could be significantly improved by taking bold actions to connect the voter with the ruler, namely - accountability.
This can be done through the devolution of decision making to smaller local jurisdictions, thereby giving more meaning to each citizen’s vote as they will be voting for someone with real ability to change the rules that affect their day to day lives, and someone who lives locally and therefore genuinely cares about her local population.
It can be done with American style ‘commercial’ open democracy in the form of open primaries, recall mechanisms, local elections for public officials, and making full use of all media to reach a wider public audience. Thankfully, we are beginning to see the beginning of this kind of transformation in the UK – with police commissioners and televised debates etc.
The most radical changes to our democracy will come about by embracing new technologies to facilitate the efficient dissemination of information and an open debate for all the important issues, eventually giving rise to a structured direct democracy model to force politicians to act in our interests.
Most importantly, this blog is aimed at inspiring the young 'internet' generation, those who are free to chose the source of their learning, free to make up their own minds, and free to believe that anything is possible.
London, UK
This blog believes that social issues are inextricably linked to economic issues, and that a free and prospering country cannot exist without a united and principled nation.
We believe that a nation requires a bond between man and his neighbour, and that when this is so, people want help one another instinctively and need not be forced into doing so.
We believe that society is family, and that people care more for the lives of their children than they do their own. If people are to make friendships, share, build and progress, then everyone must feel like they belong to a common family, and no-one must feel like their voice does not matter.
We believe that in order for everyone to have a voice, we must encourage freedom of information, freedom of speech and freedom of opinion. And in order for that voice to be listened to, those that make the rules by which we abide, must be those that genuinely have our interests at heart.
This blog believes that the United Kingdom should be an independent country, because the only people that can be trusted to rule over the British people are the British people themselves.
Principally, Mighty Democracy is about the merits, functionality and threats to this system of governance that we all hold dear. It advocates the shift of power from the unelected bureaucrat to the elected representative, from the distant oligarch to the local councillor, from the state to the citizen, and seeks to expose all who bribe and deceive to relieve people of responsibility in exchange for power.
*
“..democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”
Winston Churchill
Within western civilisation, democracy was conjured in the minds of the philosophers of ancient Greece, it comes from the words Demos, meaning people, and Kratos, meaning power. As an alternative to an Autocracy - rule by one individual (a monarch), or an Oligarchy - rule by an elite class (an aristocracy), Democracy is - rule by the governed (the people).
It was first tried in Athens at around 500 B.C.E. Ordinary citizens were taken to speak and vote in the assembly, where the laws of the city state were made. It was only for men, aged 20 and above. All women, slaves and foreigners were excluded.
Since then the idea has evolved and spread across Europe and the rest of the world where it has been adopted in many civilizations in many different forms. The Romans used some of the earliest forms of representative democracy, limited to only a small number of nobles. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the peoples of Europe were mostly ruled by Oligarchies – remote elites that ran most aspects of people’s lives.
It was the British parliament that first imposed legislation upon the Monarchy in the 13th century, to safeguard the rights of individual citizens and protect them from unlawful imprisonment, known as Magna Carta.
Little is known about the systems of government of the native civilisations of the Americas, Africa and India before they were replaced by European Christian rule during the period of colonization when their governments were substituted.
It was the British parliament that first imposed legislation upon the Monarchy in the 13th century, to safeguard the rights of individual citizens and protect them from unlawful imprisonment, known as Magna Carta.
Little is known about the systems of government of the native civilisations of the Americas, Africa and India before they were replaced by European Christian rule during the period of colonization when their governments were substituted.
In the late 18th century, democracy reached its highest incarnation to date, where the rights to life, liberty and property of all citizens were embodied in the constitution of the United States. It sought to protect all people from state control and give all citizens the freedom to live their own lives and have a say in how they are governed. However the United States would still need to get through a civil war, the abolition of slavery and the civil rights movement to achieve a reality closer to the noble assertion that ‘all men are created equal.’
Democracy would still be a hard fought struggle in Europe as the diversity of peoples, orders, and migratory flows led to the suspension of democracy on many occasions. Either in a deliberate move in order to mobilise for war, or in slow incremental shifts towards totalitarianism, giving rise to conflict and revolution. In the last century nevertheless, democracy emerged victorious in World War I, World War II, and the Cold War.
Despite the long journey that democracy has taken since its inception, there is still a great deal of evolution to take place in the future to really empower the individual citizen with a greater ability to effect change.
With our current form of representative democracy, the equality of each citizen is embodied in the right to vote. This has the basic function of ensuring that if a leader does a bad job, the people can remove them, and replace them with someone who better represents their interests. In recent times however, many in the west feel as if their ability to vote is losing its novelty, as mainstream politics does little to address the issues that really matter to them.
Democracy would still be a hard fought struggle in Europe as the diversity of peoples, orders, and migratory flows led to the suspension of democracy on many occasions. Either in a deliberate move in order to mobilise for war, or in slow incremental shifts towards totalitarianism, giving rise to conflict and revolution. In the last century nevertheless, democracy emerged victorious in World War I, World War II, and the Cold War.
Despite the long journey that democracy has taken since its inception, there is still a great deal of evolution to take place in the future to really empower the individual citizen with a greater ability to effect change.
With our current form of representative democracy, the equality of each citizen is embodied in the right to vote. This has the basic function of ensuring that if a leader does a bad job, the people can remove them, and replace them with someone who better represents their interests. In recent times however, many in the west feel as if their ability to vote is losing its novelty, as mainstream politics does little to address the issues that really matter to them.
*
Who did you vote for in the last general election? Ask yourself why you voted for who you did. Perhaps you didn’t vote at all.
In fact only 65% of registered voters turned up to vote in the last election of May 2010. Voter turnout increases with age, unsurprisingly, and in the 18-24 and 25-34 age brackets these figures were only 44% and 55% respectively.
So why do people choose not to vote? Some people have little or no interest in political issues and therefore have no real basis to distinguish between candidates. This is likely true for most of the younger abstainers. Some do not see how their single vote can make a difference. This is perhaps due to flaws in the First Past The Post system used in the UK which tends to favour a two party system, meaning that any vote cast for any party other than the two most popular in each constituency, can seem wasted.
The reality is that many have simply lost faith in the system. Many people don’t see that it matters who wins the election in their constituency. Many do not believe that the MP that represents them actually has much power in transferring the wishes of the constituents into change for the better. In other words, they no longer believe in the effectiveness of democracy, the same democracy that has long been a central virtue of UK government, the same democracy that our grandparents fought and died to protect from nationalist and socialist tyranny in the 20thcentury.
Democracy defined - government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.
To what extent, therefore, do you think that our system of government in the UK is a democracy? Do you feel like ‘the people’ can exercise power through their elected agents? Is the popular opinion of the people justly reflected in public policy? Or are decisions often made contrary to the wishes of the public? Imagine if a nationwide referendum was the norm for all significant decisions that would affect the lives of all citizens. Imagine if we had had our say in the decision to invade Iraq in 2003 or the UK’s participation in the ongoing European political union.
The government must have a fairly good idea what the outcome of a referendum will be before it is carried out. It is also plausible that the issue at hand requires a deeper level of understanding and political/historical knowledge to make a wise decision, and that perhaps those in power choose to involve fewer people in the decision making process for our own best interests. However, should it not be up to these very people to make us understand why a decision is being made, especially if it contrary to popular opinion?
A better democracy includes a more equal and more direct participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law by those that must abide by it.
Direct Democracy means that we, ordinary citizens, would have much more involvement in the law making process, people would have real power to elect and depose representatives and our elected representatives would hold real power to realise our desires for change.
In a better democracy, power is devolved to the lowest practicable level, or the most feasible local level, with a higher focus on communities and local responsibility.
This all sounds wonderful, but in reality it is not as easy as it seems. Power is never yielded so easily. Those with executive power may voice their support for more localism but many find it difficult to resist intervention when it suits their personal interests.
The practicalities and effects of giving power to the people, the differences between the UK government and other democracies in the world, and real examples of power devolution in the past, will all be future topics of Mighty Democracy.
The reality is that many have simply lost faith in the system. Many people don’t see that it matters who wins the election in their constituency. Many do not believe that the MP that represents them actually has much power in transferring the wishes of the constituents into change for the better. In other words, they no longer believe in the effectiveness of democracy, the same democracy that has long been a central virtue of UK government, the same democracy that our grandparents fought and died to protect from nationalist and socialist tyranny in the 20thcentury.
Democracy defined - government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.
To what extent, therefore, do you think that our system of government in the UK is a democracy? Do you feel like ‘the people’ can exercise power through their elected agents? Is the popular opinion of the people justly reflected in public policy? Or are decisions often made contrary to the wishes of the public? Imagine if a nationwide referendum was the norm for all significant decisions that would affect the lives of all citizens. Imagine if we had had our say in the decision to invade Iraq in 2003 or the UK’s participation in the ongoing European political union.
The government must have a fairly good idea what the outcome of a referendum will be before it is carried out. It is also plausible that the issue at hand requires a deeper level of understanding and political/historical knowledge to make a wise decision, and that perhaps those in power choose to involve fewer people in the decision making process for our own best interests. However, should it not be up to these very people to make us understand why a decision is being made, especially if it contrary to popular opinion?
A better democracy includes a more equal and more direct participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law by those that must abide by it.
Direct Democracy means that we, ordinary citizens, would have much more involvement in the law making process, people would have real power to elect and depose representatives and our elected representatives would hold real power to realise our desires for change.
In a better democracy, power is devolved to the lowest practicable level, or the most feasible local level, with a higher focus on communities and local responsibility.
This all sounds wonderful, but in reality it is not as easy as it seems. Power is never yielded so easily. Those with executive power may voice their support for more localism but many find it difficult to resist intervention when it suits their personal interests.
The practicalities and effects of giving power to the people, the differences between the UK government and other democracies in the world, and real examples of power devolution in the past, will all be future topics of Mighty Democracy.
*
"When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty."
Thomas Jefferson
This blog believes that liberty is not freedom from the law, but the ability to change the law. Our culture of obedience and following the rules, our common law, is what sets us above other democracies in which leaders often chose to elevate themselves above the law on an arbitrary basis.
We believe that the law emanates from the people, and that even the law makers must abide by it. To give an example: Britain’s frustration in not being able to deport a convicted terrorist can be compared to France’s action to deport such offenders in disregard of EU law, albeit in line with public opinion. The end result in France is clearly more popular, but allowing the government to subvert the law when it suits them, is a slippery slope towards the loss of civilisation.
We should be proud of the fact that the law comes from us, and that the police are on our side. For one to say to another “you can’t smoke here,” or “you shouldn’t drive like that,” is not an order from on high or a warning that the authorities may be watching, but a reminder that the rules have been made by the majority and that most people would prefer if you respected them.
This blog believes that our democracy is by no means perfect and it could be significantly improved by taking bold actions to connect the voter with the ruler, namely - accountability.
This can be done through the devolution of decision making to smaller local jurisdictions, thereby giving more meaning to each citizen’s vote as they will be voting for someone with real ability to change the rules that affect their day to day lives, and someone who lives locally and therefore genuinely cares about her local population.
It can be done with American style ‘commercial’ open democracy in the form of open primaries, recall mechanisms, local elections for public officials, and making full use of all media to reach a wider public audience. Thankfully, we are beginning to see the beginning of this kind of transformation in the UK – with police commissioners and televised debates etc.
The most radical changes to our democracy will come about by embracing new technologies to facilitate the efficient dissemination of information and an open debate for all the important issues, eventually giving rise to a structured direct democracy model to force politicians to act in our interests.
When the digital revolution really takes off, we shall see the democratisation of corporations and whole public institutions to ensure that the risks they assume, the costs they bare, and indeed the benefits that they gain, are shared fairly between all stakeholders.
Most importantly, this blog is aimed at inspiring the young 'internet' generation, those who are free to chose the source of their learning, free to make up their own minds, and free to believe that anything is possible.
London, UK
mightydemocracy@gmail.com
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