An Outline of the Current Crisis in Democracy

Western democracy currently finds itself in a serious and deepening crisis. Widespread election scandals, corrupt regimes, increasing levels of political apathy, and voter absenteeism are the surface indicators of this crisis. More and more people around the world are now calling on governments to create systems and institutions that are more inclusive, accountable, transparent, and responsive to citizens’ needs. They are asking for more active involvement and participation on behalf of a democratized civil society making decisions that shape the destinies of their own communities. Despite increasing concerns about the effectiveness of liberal democracy and for all the talk about increased participation in the political process, it is generally accepted that liberal democracy is the only way to do politics and that capitalism (and the market) is the only way to organize the economy.

Many critics of liberal democracy assume rather naïvely that increased participation in local politics will automatically create a more equitable social system by allowing the possibility to place limits on capital without questioning the fundamental logic of capitalism and the hegemony of the market. They tell us to go out and vote and get involved in our communities. However, this does not represent a viable, long-term solution to the crisis we're now facing. In fact, it is the compulsion of the market (and endless drive for profit) that undermines the functioning of democratic institutions in the first place! One exception to the general absence of an alternative to capitalism within the steady current of alternatives to liberal democracy is the concept of participatory economics (parecon), which requires continuous learning for successful deliberation, dialogue, and decision-making. Parecon is also an alternative way to organize the economy that profoundly differs from both corporate capitalism and the now defunct form of centrally-controlled state capitalism popular during the Cold War era. In upcoming posts, we'll probe this alternative (as well as others) in greater depth. But first, we need to understand the roots of the crisis of democracy.

Erich Fromm argued that in order to resist authoritarianism and the problems that plague it, liberal democracy needs to be transformed from a passive ‘spectator democracy’ into an active ‘participatory democracy’ in which the well-being of the community becomes each citizen’s private concern. For this to happen, all people must actively participate in their political as well as their economic functions as citizens and companies and enterprises must become more than just economic units – they must become social institutions embedded in communities where each citizen becomes active and interested in his or her society. Obviously, active citizenship cannot emerge automatically. It has to be learned. In our case, with our ailing democratic frameworks, there is a lot to re-learn as well as a great deal to unlearn. The first step is to question our automatic responses and also engage in some serious self-reflection to discover the sources of the habitual, unquestioned ideas about the political system that exists within each of us.