E.J. Dionne: Is Democracy As We Know It Unraveling?

[marmar]

by E.J. Dionne


The world’s democracies, perhaps especially our own, face a peculiar set of contradictions that are undermining faith in public endeavor and unraveling old loyalties.

There is a decline of trust in traditional political parties but also a rise in partisanship. A broad desire for governments to reduce the levels of economic insecurity and expand opportunity is constrained by a loss of confidence in the capacity of government to succeed. Intense demands for change are accompanied by fears that much of the change that is occurring will make life worse for individuals and families.

These crosscurrents are undercutting political leaders and decimating political parties with long histories. In Europe, movements on the far right and left (along with new regional parties) gain traction with disaffected citizens. Concerns about immigration reflect uneasiness among some over the social and cultural tremors in their nations. At the same time, discontent about the economic decline that afflicts regions not sharing in the global economy’s bounty calls forth protest against the privileged and the well-connected. In both cases, anger is the dominant emotion.

The convergence of these forces is especially powerful in Britain, which holds a national election on May 7 and where neither of the long-dominant Conservative and Labour Parties is likely to win a parliamentary majority. In 1951, the two parties together secured 96.8 percent of all the votes cast. This year, they are struggling to reach a combined 70 percent. ................(more)

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/is_democracy_as_we_know_it_unraveling_20150429

[Maedhros]

1. Well, democracy "as we know it" is all smoke and mirrors,

so unraveling it is probably the first step to fixing it.

[marmar]

2. true. even professors at stodgy bastions like Princeton.....

....are saying the u.s. is no longer a democracy but an oligarchy.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. I don't think democracy is unraveling in the British example

Yes, the SNP could take more than 50 out of the 59 Scottish seats (actually, a poll today says they might even win every single one of the 59 - because their share of the vote now appears to be 54%, with Labour second on just 20%). But in a winner-takes-all system, having more than twice the support of the 2nd place party should get you a huge win.

That Labour and the Tories will only get about a third of the vote each isn't in itself a problem; in many countries, that's par for the course. A two party system doesn't have to be what countries hope for. The SNP is not that far left (from 2007 to 2011, they were a minority government in Scotland; sometimes it was the Conservatives voting with them that got a policy through). The Lib Dems are centrist; UKIP is not actually going to win many seats, because, again, of the winner-takes-all system.

That Syriza won in Greece isn't a problem either; a left wing (not extreme left) party gets a chance to sort out a situation the others have failed at. That looks like typical democracy to me.

[Orsino]

4. Unraveling? No.

It is being bought out in a hostile takeover.