Sunday Times 2
Democracy trumps reason
View(s):For the past month I have been musing about this idea of democracy.
Coming from the Greek words ‘demos’ (meaning ‘the common people’) and ‘kratia’ (meaning ‘strength’ or ‘power’), democracy denotes government by the people – where the people being governed are provided the opportunity of electing those who will govern them.
I recall the words to us young reporters (when we were covering one of our own parliamentary elections in the seventies) of the late Mr. W. J. Fernando who was then the chairman of the editorial board of Independent Newspapers Ltd. “All forms of government” he would say with a chuckle “are forms of exploitation of those being ruled by those ruing them. The only difference in a democracy is that the people being ruled hold on to the illusory belief that they have been given the right to select the rulers – who after being elected will go on to exploit them”.
And however much we think that voters in a democracy carefully weigh the merits and demerits of those seeking their vote before they make their selection, the results of most elections serve to remind us that most voters vote with their emotions. Those who are better educated and are wiser in their understanding may, perhaps appreciate the matters and issues a bit better than those who are not so educated and not so wise – but deep down when it comes to putting our penciled cross in that voting box, it is our emotions at the time (read “gut feelings”) that govern how we vote.
And it is the politician – whether it was Mark Antony in the time of ancient Rome or Donald Trump in contemporary USA – who knows how to appeal to the raw emotions and baser gut feelings of those who have the opportunity to decide, who succeeds in rousing the proletariat and getting his way.
Ever since the US presidential election that delivered the leadership of this powerful nation into the hands of a tweeting businessman and real estate developer with absolutely no previous experience of holding public office and an inability to communicate in complete sentences, I have been musing on the wisdom of the US allowing its President to be elected by every Tom, Dick and Harry who wants to cast a vote. Because democracy does not result in the electorate making a reasonable choice of leader but in an emotional decision as to who one would like to be the winner.
In contrast to the US where anybody can turn up and get elected, where leaders do not have to serve a period of apprenticeship in public service and come up through the ranks (remember those famous line “I’m Jimmy Carter and I’m running for president”?) in China the president gets to the top only by a process of careful selection. Nobody gets to be President without first being selected to the Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee, and nobody gets to the Politburo without proving their mettle in more junior public office.
The contrast between the US (where voting is not compulsory) and Australia (where voting is compulsory for everybody on the electoral roll) is eye opening. Non-compulsory voting in the US allows the election to be decided by only those who take the trouble to come out and cast their vote on the day – in this case just 57% of those eligible to vote. In other words, just 27 per cent of America’s voting-eligible population at this 2016 election voted in favour of Donald Trump – which is the same percentage (27%) of the electorate that voted for his opponent!
One of current US president Barack Obama’s fundamental traits is that he believes that reason governs how people act. Sadly, Mr. Obama, the man of calm and reason is being replaced by Mr. Trump, the man of bluff and bluster.
I have been reading with interest the views of observers – much more au fait with the American situation than I am – trying to explain how the American people ended up with the phenomenon of President Donald Trump. Columnist Edward Luce in the Financial Times writes, “Much like one of his property deals, Mr. Trump will cajole, bully, flatter and bribe whomever he is dealing with. The more Mr. Trump tweets from the gut, the more Americans will appreciate the calm weighing of pros and cons that was the hallmark of “No Drama Obama”.
Mr. Trump has just proved that he can exploit the flawed American electoral system and win an election.
It remains to be seen with what success he will govern the nation.