Tuesday’s evening newspaper, Het Parool, had an item that even surprised me: 92% of all Dutch people are of the opinion that migrants should leave Holland within a couple of months or years. The newspaper went on by saying that the Dutch are most troubled with the influx of refugees, compared to all Western European nations. The refugee debate in Holland has become a heated one. Even the Dutch King interfered in this debate during his official visit to China.
Politics and Population have never been so far apart before. The Western representative democracies have a serious problem as they are less and less representative. In my view, this explains the (protest) voting on extreme parties or (Presidential) candidates. People are looking more and more for a “strong man” to fix the country’s / nation’s problems. The Turkish President was very open in that: “The biggest advantage would be in abolishing policy-making through multiple channels” (Reuters).
Western representative democracies (e.g., Europe, USA) must reinvent themselves to prevent further inefficiency and ineffectiveness. The political deadlock in the USA between Democrats and Republicans is a perfect example of what should be prevented. The success of non-political US Presidential candidates (e.g., Carson, Trump) and even the success of Bernie Sanders is a plea for “change”. Yet not the “change” that brought Barack Obama into office. A very different kind of change. It may well bring a copy of the Presidential “democracy” of China and Russia.
The increasing “failure” of Western representative democracies and the increasing “success” of Presidential “democracies” is related to the “too big to fail” dilemma and its perceived solutions. The worrying part is that Western elected politicians have no reason to reinvent themselves. In fact, chaos is probably in their benefit. It allows for fear management, blame-games, the occasional shifts in power, and – obviously – an overall status quo of the representative democracy.
To some extent, separation (e.g., Catalonia in Spain, Flanders in Belgium, Scotland in the UK) may be a solution for the “too big to fail dilemma. It would indeed bring Politics closer to the Population. At least for some time. In my view, Europe is unlikely to elect for a Presidential democracy and thus disintegration – or separation – becomes a more logical solution.
I would be in favour of Presidential democracies if I had any trust in the candidates running for that office. Unfortunately, in some professions there is an increased likelihood for psychopaths. In business, it’s the CEO and in politics it’s – eh – the politicians. “Psychopaths are not delusional or psychotic; in fact, two of the hallmarks of psychopathy are a calculating mind and a seemingly easy charm”. (e.g., Atlantic, Forbes, HuffingtonPost, Time, Wiki and my 14 April 2015 blog)
To date, I only see one viable alternative: a non-partisan, direct democracy, similar to ancient Greece.
“The democracy of ancient Athens was a nonpartisan, direct democracy where eligible citizens voted on laws themselves rather than electing representatives”. Excerpt from my 22 October 2015 blog. Also see my blogs of 5 March 2015 (To vote or not to vote?) and 9 February 2015 (Parliamentary democracy in the Age of Wisdom).
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
Abraham Lincoln quote
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