Inkwell Institute
Professor’s Classroom
Subject: Political Theory/Democracy
Paper #4
Participatory Democracy
To begin with I would like to thank my friend Quin of Quintessential Havoc (go to blogroll to visit his site….a well written and thoughtful site) for the headache that he gave me in writing this paper (BTW, he does know I am joking)….this was a bitch to write for there are so many facets to this subject that I could never write it all…..I try to be concise and use simple terms so that everyone can understand the subject…..yes, it is simplistic but you will get over it…..
Quin and I have had numerous exchanges on the subject of participatory democracy and I thought that if more people could grasp the concept that it would make for a good post…..and hopefully more participation (yes, I had to work that in somehow)……
First of all, just what is participatory democracy all about….wikipedia can help with that:
Participatory democracy strives to create opportunities for all members of a political group to make meaningful contributions to decision-making, and seeks to broaden the range of people who have access to such opportunities. Because so much information must be gathered for the overall decision-making process to succeed, technology may provide important forces leading to the type of empowerment needed for participatory models, especially those technological tools that enable community narratives and correspond to the accretion of knowledge. Effectively increasing the scale of participation, and translating small but effective participation groups into small world networks, are areas currently being studied.
The concept is nothing new…actually the Greeks, especially Athens, had this type of democracy….well some what……but the more modern concept came in part from Jean-Jacques Rousseau….
According to Rousseau there are 4 themes that need to be considered for a more direct democracy……1) discourage the development of interests groups that come between the people and government, 2) citizens need to distance themselves from private concerns and be more concerned with the common good, 3) eliminate large economic inequalities between citizens, 4) individuals active involvement in public life……Rousseau believed that the people should be more educated in the public sphere, because then they would be more thoughtful, more responsible, more sympathetic, less servile and would feel more free and unoppressed….(for the most part I am in agreement with Rousseau)……
People should be consulted on ALL issues that effect their lives because only active, democratic involvement in all matters will truly make the society a truly democratic one….for only when the people make the laws will they be a fully democratic electorate….
Now that I have hit upon the major points of participatory democracy (at least in my mind) I do see there being a problem with it…..let us say the electorate does get involved more in the governance then other areas will suffer, at least that is the theory,….the people will be less concerned with listening to music, talking with others and even watching the tube….in other words they will not be too busy for minor BS…they are concerned with governing themselves…..
While participatory democracy is very attractive….it will preserve freedom and equality and would be less effective advancing prosperity…..at least that is the common belief of those opposed to a more direct democracy…..on a more personal note…I would forgo a lot of stuff to have a more active say in my government and their actions….I think more Americans would appreciate being in control of their government……and in turn, in control of the direction of the country and their lives……
Good post! It is a VAST subject and even one entire blog alone dedicated to it would not be anywhere near enough. However, that shouldn’t prevent any of us from trying.
I only agree with Rousseau on two points…
1) People should be consulted on ALL issues that effect their lives because only active, democratic involvement in all matters will truly make the society a truly democratic one….for only when the people make the laws will they be a fully democratic electorate….”
2) Discourage the development of interests groups that come between the people and government
Everything else he said and believed on the subject is, in my view, idealistic and “pie in the sky”.
I also disagree with Wikipedia on one small thing and that is that there is a vast amount of data to be gathered to enable the decision making process. In my “hybrid” version of participatory democracy, that simply isn’t a problem because the people are only approving, or NOT, legislation before it can become law. Some people would get informed and involved and a lot wouldn’t, but that doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t be far more than now and that all wouldn’t at least have the opportunity if they wished to exercise it – even on a single issue.
Although it is not an absolute requirement for participatory democracy, ALL our governmental processes would be vastly improved in all democracies if political parties and pressure groups could not only be “discouraged” but done away with altogether. I don’t know how you would achieve that, but making it illegal for ANYONE other than the state (which supposedly represents all the people – and they certainly pay for it) to fund politcal campaigns and not having an openly partisan system in government but rather a “selection” process of some kind probably involving the President or some committee or other – or PERHAPS BETTER just make the whole of parliament in total (or the main house in the US) the government.
If you can do away with the funding issue and the partisan thing, government immediately becomes more effective and subject to the will of the people.
Justification for the current representative form of government is ENTIRELY based on the idea that these assholes we have in power are BETTER than the rest of us and KNOW WHAT’S BEST for all of us…
Well the AREN’T and they DON’T!
Well Rousseau was in the Age of Enlightenment and they seem to be a bit “pie in the sky” types……
I agree that people need to be more concerned with the “common good” as Rousseau said…now the people want solutions as long as it does not involve them in any way….”make the other guy pay” type of thinking and I also agree that people should be more involved….I would even like your plan…and this why this post morphed into a post on E-Democracy…..this thing is morphing quicker than guy caught with another woman……
I would also like to see real politicians, not these assholes with fake tans, that spend more than 3 days a week on the business of the country……
We can only hope that sanity will return to politics….eventually
Hmmm… well… anything’s possible I suppose, though I won’t hold my breath waiting.
However, isn’t his greedy lack of any interest in “the common good” simply the almost inevitable result of a confrontational, partisan administrative system?
Most assuredly…partisan politics has fucked up everything….
Love browsing this site, always learn something new facts.
Emily R. from Husky Tips
Hello Emily…thanx for the visit…..glad I can help…..
Although I would’ve preferred if you went into a little bit more detail, I still got the gist of what you meant. I agree with it. It might not be a popular idea, but it makes sense. Will definitely come back for more of this. Great work
Welcome aboard Eneida and thanx for the good words it always nice to be appreciated…….hopefully you also read the comments and there are others in that series that delves into this subject more in depth….check them out and let me know if you would like to discuss it more….thanx again.