Have we got Democracy?

“The English people believes itself to be free, it is gravely mistaken; it is free only during election of members of parliament; as soon as the members are elected, the people are enslaved; it is nothing…”

Jean-Jacques Roussea ‘Social Contract’

It appears that we the people of Northern Ireland have (had?) our own parliament, and our own executive, but do (did?) we have democracy? and even if our devolved government is restored will we have democracy?

If you believe that democracy is simply placing the proverbial ‘X’ or a preference on a ballot paper at the General, Assembly, European and Local elections then ‘yes’ we do indeed have a democracy of a kind. But if when you speak of democracy you mean something more: “Will I actually get social-democracy?” then the answer is a resounding – NO! Social democracy as the author understands the concept refers to the democratizing of more than simply the periodic selection of those who would rule us but bringing true democracy to every public-political sphere of our social existence.

Our democracy, the democracy of parliaments, is perhaps not what some believe democracy should entail and resembles more of an elected dictatorship between varying power blocs built around particular political parties espousing the next new vision of society. In Britain there are at present only two political parties (perhaps only one?) with any realistic chance of election, and they are both parties that over the years have converged in terms of policy orientation and ideology. These are political parties who mirror each other in policy if not quite yet in their media spin and personality.

It could be said that even if we had a real choice when it came to what political party we could cast our vote for we would still not have democracy in the true political sense, as we live in a society of ever growing socio-economic inequality with all the political ramifications this creates.

For example, we have little or no input into the process of productive labour, or capital expansion and commerce. Industry is still owned by a very small elite within our society, and it is these people who appear to make all the most important decisions with regard to the process of economic activity. They decide when to invest, when to expand, what to make, and when to make it. If there is no “genuine” need or desire for a product then there is a whole specialised mechanism (advertising) that will create the artificial need for the products.

It would be fair to assume that because such people control scarce resources, capital, that this gives them an unequal ability to influence the policy orientation of the state system. How could any government ignore the wishes of these powerful elites when they have it within their grasp to stop the very expansion of capital and thereby effect a slowdown in economic growth with all the resulting negative results for the labour market and economy.

If the economic elite believes that its interests are under threat they can simply stop investing capital and in the age of increasing globalisation sections of the business community can seek other outlets for capital expansion and as a result the state system must accommodate indigenous and transnational capital depending upon the situation of the economy within the global division of labour. No government if they wish to fulfill their own vision and be re-elected will wish to see capital shifting to other centres of investment and expansion.

Such a situation of course rarely arises as those who occupy the positions of the political elite are “in touch” with the needs and wishes of the economic elites.

Only when economic activity is democratised will the political process become truly democratic as this is the foundation upon which rests other societal structures.