The Best of the Worst Form...

'Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…'

        -Winston Churchill

It is hard to disagree with the statement as the underlying premise of the democratic form of government includes:

  1. 'Elected'/'Chosen' by the people
  2.  Held accountable by the people as the government can be gotten rid of
  3.  Media, the fourth pillar, actively works for the people to enable monitoring and accountability.

The first rule of anatomy is 'form follows function'. The reason for the wrist bone to be of the shape it is to allow for the wrist's movement as it does.  Functionality defines the form in which nature practices its evolution and adaptation to the environment.  Failure of functionality results in it being replaced by something that can perform.

In the presentation of democracy, as practised, a few questions can and must be asked of it.

  1. Given the state of the media, how it is used to manipulate and how it panders to the most biases and animus instincts, how can we be sure that what is presented to us to make a choice can be relied upon, even to a limited extent?
  2. In most cases, the electoral competition is between two parties. Even that, it is hard to see a clear and/or substantive difference in the policy framework, principles or direction they would take.  Is this a real choice that is on the offer for the people to make?
  3. Why do the candidates we are expected to choose from come from a very narrow section of society?  A classic example would be the 'Bush family': Bush senior, Bush junior (twice). Is it plausible to consider that in a country like the US, with a population of over 300 mn, two from the same family are the most qualified to lead the country for twelve years?  Is this how accountability in democracy functions?
  4. With the involvement of money - sponsorships and high-value stakes, the campaigns are costly, directly or otherwise. The issue becomes problematic as there is almost always an expectation of a return. How can the people be sure that those they select are wholly or substantially accountable to them?
The point is not to diss democracy as not being the best of the worst; the point is to highlight that the prevalent form of democracy is not what it is stated to be. The conditions precedent that would allow the form of governance, that is, democracy, to follow its function, working for the benefit of the people, are not executable. 

It seems that the practice of governance under the guise of democracy is something other than that.




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