Supporters at a Donald Trump rally. Photo: Evan Vucci / AP/Press Association Images. All rights reserved.Why democracy?
The UK’s recent referendum on membership of the European Union has brought out an anti-democracy sentiment amongst many people. The People were asked a direct question, and they — we — gave the ‘wrong’ answer. So much for democracy, eh?
Understandable as it is to dismiss democracy when it gives bad answers, it’s not like any other approach is known to give better answers in general. So it’s worth spending some time working out how we could do democracy better. First, we need to consider what democracy is for. Although it’s often taken for granted, it’s not obvious it’s a good thing in and of itself. I see two main reasons for democracy, and though they overlap, it is where they are in tension that most disagreements about democracy arise:
- To ensure people have a say in the decisions that most affect their lives.
- To ensure things are run well, by making those in power accountable, and encouraging them to take decisions for the greater good.
It’s worth breaking down Reason 1 a little further. The single biggest reason for it is wrapped up in the second point — to ensure good decision-making, the people who should be able to hold those in power to account are those affected by their decisions. They know more about the effects, and they have the most reason to care about them.
