The mechanism of democracy

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Vinod Anand

26 April, 2010

IN A nation where the few who really rule must get some show of popular consent, a special class arises whose function it is, not to govern, but to secure the approval of the people for whatever policy may have been decided upon by the inevitable oligarchy which hides in the heart of every democratic state. This class of men is termed as politicians (and even political entrepreneurs in the terminology of the “ New Political Economy” , an offshoot of the conventional economics).

The politicians divide into parties, and align the people into hostile camps. The natural -party spirit of mankind makes such organizations easy; they are a survival of warlike tribal loyalties. Party organization is expensive, and requires angles- realistic idealists who pay all the costs of campaign etc. , and are satisfied, as their reward, to select the candidates, secure certain contracts and appointments, obtain protection from the enforcement of absurd and irksome laws, and play a quiet role in the arduous tasks of legislation. The people cannot nominate any one.

For they are unorganized and uninformed; they may be trusted to divide their favours with approximate equality; and a small but well-organized minority, by casting its votes entirely on one side, can usually decide convention, a primary, or an election. The machine triumphs because it is a united minority acting against a divided majority. According to Carlyle “Democracy is by the nature of it a self-cancelling business, and gives in the long-run a net result of zero.” In fact, a true democracy has never existed, and never will exist, because it is against the natural order of things that the majority should govern the minority. All politics is, thus, the rivalry of organized minorities; the voters are bleacher athletes who cheer the victors and jeer the defeated, but do not otherwise contribute to the result.

Under such circumstances voting is superfluous, and is carried on largely to grease the grooves of social control by establishing in the minds of the people the notion that the laws are made by themselves. About the only advantage which an election has is the educational opportunity offered by the aroused attention of the people. But in most cases this is nullified by the clever concealment of the actual issues at stake.

A politician is worth nothing if he cannot invent some interesting and unimportant issues to divert the eyes of the populace from the problems actually involved. Elections, in fact, are a contest in fraud and noise, and as sound arguments make the least sound, truth is lost in confusion. The professional politicians are more than ever our masters, but they do nothing for us. In fact, they are motivated by their own self- interests, and they just look ahead for the next election, and they also do everything to enhance their voting power. There are no statesmen now like Winston Churchill and Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru who looked ahead not for the next election, but for the next generation.

The half- redeeming virtues of democracy have been lauded too long. It is true that the opposition of minorities by majorities is preferable to the oppression of majorities by minorities. Democracy has raised the spirit and pride of the common man as much as it has broken the spirit and sterilized the genius of the exceptional individual. The omnipotent voter has now a sense of liberated personality which makes in some degree for courage and character. There are no conscious serfs among us any more, and every man may know that he is a potential prime minister. But there are some forms of government (like dictatorships) that are worse than democracy.

But dictatorship may claim one superiority- it is more honest. “Absolute power,” said Napoleon, “has no need to lie; it acts and says nothing.” Democracy without education means hypocrisy without limitation. It means the degradation of statesmanship into politics; it means the expensive maintenance, in addition to the real ruling class, of a large parasitic class of politicians and bureaucrats whose function is to serve the rulers and deceive the ruled.

There is another drawback of democracy and that is the emergence of the crime-related activities, especially in big cities. Criminals flourish happily because they are guaranteed full protection and cooperation of the law. They have full assurance that if they commit a crime, they will not be arrested, that if arrested they will not be convicted, that if convicted, they will not be imprisoned, that if imprisoned they will be pardoned, that if unpardoned they will be permitted to escape.

Hence, we as citizens must be careful, and if we cannot find some amendment to democracy that shall cleanse it of its villainy and rid of it of its ignorance, we may well present our constitution to some stripling nation, and import a king.