- 24 Sep 2008 05:13
#1641185
Reasons to not support democracy and/or liberal democracy:
1. Corruption - politicians receive large sums of money from businesses and other special interests (e.g. unions) in exchange for implementing specific policies. Politicians depend on such contributions for campaign funding.
2. Lack of accountability - because any given politician or party has such limited power for such limited periods of time it is difficult to evaluate their impact. Power often oscillates from one party to the next such that outcomes can easily be attributed to the party currently in power or, similarly easily, to the party previously in power. Power is divided between various branches and levels of government and among numerous politicians such that responsibility and accountability are dispersed and confused.
3. Incoherence - the division of power, both between different levels of government and within each level of government, can lead to an assemblage of policies that are inconsistent in terms of there objectives and implementation.
Example: Division of power requires compromise between those who support the complete ban of a substance and those who favor no restrictions. The compromise reached is to criminalize the production of the substance but not its use, thereby allowing unfettered demand to combine with exclusion of legal production to produce a huge market for organized crime.
4. Gridlock/delay - disagreement within government and so-called “checks and balances†delay the implementation of much needed policy changes. Consultation of "the people" takes time.
5. Fuzziness of the concept - the very meaning of democracy is unclear. Whether a given system of government is more democratic than another is frequently disputed among proponents of democracy.
6. Corporate (etc) media influence - much media is delivered by corporations with their own interests that could influence their reporting. Media depends on advertising for much of its funding and could be compelled to report in ways favorable to current and prospective advertisers. Such reporting heavily influences the voting public.
7. Lack of effective/powerful international/supranational government and impracticality of its formation within a democratic framework - practically precludes comprehensive, substantial, global cooperation and coordination to solve problems.
Example: Two states share a border. One of the states implements a strict ban while the other does not. Consequently, the state with the ban has much greater difficulty enforcing its ban.
8. Instability - governments and policies often change frequently resulting in wastage of resources from starting and undoing programs and lack of sustained long-term policies/projects. Incentives become less effective due to uncertainty.
9. Political myopia - campaigning focuses on short-term goals, accomplishments, and results. Politics becomes overly focused on shot-run outcomes.
10. Superficiality/triviality - voters are unwilling and/or unable to dedicate much time or effort to investigate or analyze political issues. Consequently, politics becomes focused on rhetoric, emotions, trivialities and is overly simplistic. Policies and candidates are selected within the context of the aforementioned state of political discourse.
11. Division/partisanship – democracy fosters division along party lines – people are expected to adopt particular ideological identities (opposition vs government etc) - unity is precluded (granted, Russia may be an exception).
12. Democracy allows good governments to be voted out of office.
13. “Human rights†– often promoted as essential components to democracy. Many of these “human rights†interfere with the implementation of good policy.
Some of the above criticisms do not apply to particular versions of democracy (non-liberal ones in particular).
1. Corruption - politicians receive large sums of money from businesses and other special interests (e.g. unions) in exchange for implementing specific policies. Politicians depend on such contributions for campaign funding.
2. Lack of accountability - because any given politician or party has such limited power for such limited periods of time it is difficult to evaluate their impact. Power often oscillates from one party to the next such that outcomes can easily be attributed to the party currently in power or, similarly easily, to the party previously in power. Power is divided between various branches and levels of government and among numerous politicians such that responsibility and accountability are dispersed and confused.
3. Incoherence - the division of power, both between different levels of government and within each level of government, can lead to an assemblage of policies that are inconsistent in terms of there objectives and implementation.
Example: Division of power requires compromise between those who support the complete ban of a substance and those who favor no restrictions. The compromise reached is to criminalize the production of the substance but not its use, thereby allowing unfettered demand to combine with exclusion of legal production to produce a huge market for organized crime.
4. Gridlock/delay - disagreement within government and so-called “checks and balances†delay the implementation of much needed policy changes. Consultation of "the people" takes time.
5. Fuzziness of the concept - the very meaning of democracy is unclear. Whether a given system of government is more democratic than another is frequently disputed among proponents of democracy.
6. Corporate (etc) media influence - much media is delivered by corporations with their own interests that could influence their reporting. Media depends on advertising for much of its funding and could be compelled to report in ways favorable to current and prospective advertisers. Such reporting heavily influences the voting public.
7. Lack of effective/powerful international/supranational government and impracticality of its formation within a democratic framework - practically precludes comprehensive, substantial, global cooperation and coordination to solve problems.
Example: Two states share a border. One of the states implements a strict ban while the other does not. Consequently, the state with the ban has much greater difficulty enforcing its ban.
8. Instability - governments and policies often change frequently resulting in wastage of resources from starting and undoing programs and lack of sustained long-term policies/projects. Incentives become less effective due to uncertainty.
9. Political myopia - campaigning focuses on short-term goals, accomplishments, and results. Politics becomes overly focused on shot-run outcomes.
10. Superficiality/triviality - voters are unwilling and/or unable to dedicate much time or effort to investigate or analyze political issues. Consequently, politics becomes focused on rhetoric, emotions, trivialities and is overly simplistic. Policies and candidates are selected within the context of the aforementioned state of political discourse.
11. Division/partisanship – democracy fosters division along party lines – people are expected to adopt particular ideological identities (opposition vs government etc) - unity is precluded (granted, Russia may be an exception).
12. Democracy allows good governments to be voted out of office.
13. “Human rights†– often promoted as essential components to democracy. Many of these “human rights†interfere with the implementation of good policy.
Some of the above criticisms do not apply to particular versions of democracy (non-liberal ones in particular).
Welcome to the forum, Tup.
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