*OPINION PIECE*
Definition of democracy
1a: government by the people
especially : rule of the majority
From the greek: dēmokratía, demos (people) and Kratia (power).
There has been a lot of debate regarding the current political state of the UK. With the Brexit deal being ardently negotiated and PM Theresa May withstanding two votes of non-confidence, the effectiveness of the original consensus is being questioned.
So, what went wrong? In theory (at least to myself) the original Brexit poll likely represented the popular opinion. Why is it then, that the Brexit deal has become so unpopular among most Britons? The problem seems to be, that they did not comprehend the full extent of what leaving the EU would entail. Thus, after having decided on something, having only a portion of the knowledge needed to understand Brexit, Britons have kicked the breaks in, and are frantically looking for reverse in their gearbox. Now, there are talks about a second Brexit referendum; but is it really what Britain needs?
Brexit is a big deal. It is not just a domestic policy, but something that will impact Britain's economy and that of her neighbors heavily. It makes sense, at first glance, to take into account the public's opinion on such a pivotal decision. Not consulting with the general population would be rather un-democratic. The catch is that most liberal democracies are not as democratic as we would like to think they are; and that is a good thing.
There are three main types of democracy in political theory. First, Illiberal or managed democracies. This democracies often have corrupt governments, managed elections, and limited freedom of speech, that is, they are not complete democracies. Sometimes the democracy is just a facade for a plutocracy or nepotism. However, illiberal democracies have the potential to transition into other kinds of democracies. The second main type of democracy is an indirect democracy. Indirect democracies work by representation. This is to say that groups of people are represented in a larger body of government. The third type of democracy is a direct democracy. A direct democracy is a system where all citizens have an egalitarian amount of influence in the state's policies.
Currently there are no countries (with the debatable exception of Switzerland) that utilize a direct democracy. This is probably because of two reasons. First, the sheer amount of people in most countries would make it immensely difficult to gather, synthesize, and interpret every single vote. Secondly, not everyone is, or should be a politician. This is really the point I wanted to get to. Having the public decide something as important as Brexit, might not be the best idea. There is a reason why politicians are politicians; they are professionals, like doctors or teachers. Politicians, among economists, advisors, and analysts are equipped with the intellectual and academic tools to run a country. We, as the general public, are strongly liable to misinformation and party bias. We are not experts in politics, and we are prone to make decisions out of impulse or passion. Socrates was a strong critic of democracy, and he called this rule by an uneducated majority a "mob-rule".
Democracy is not be the most efficient model of government, and it definitely has been romanticized as the greatest good humans have acquired since writing. While this may be very well true, democracy is far from being perfect. As Winston Churchill puts it, "democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms", and we should be wary of the almost sacred status that it has gained during the 20th and 21st centuries. Then again, I could not be writing this if I were not in a country that respected and defended the right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
So true. I just wished that politicians were really “professionals” about their carreer choice. It is no always the case that the have prepare themselves to take professional decisions on the countries matters. Good piece of writing!