democracy

According to a recent article by Allan Stam in Online Opinion democracy is currently being questioned on all fronts. However, Stam argues that empirical evidence by political scientists prove that well functioning democracies embark in safe foreign policy. 

The reason is that people do not want to be part of expensive and long-lasting wars. This is becuase this is not in the majorities self-interest. Meanwhile, politicians do not want to be leaders of unpopular wars.

Therefore, democratic institutions such as voting, free press and separation of powers help politicians engage in an efficient foreign policy that wins wars. 

Stam says that recent studies show that:

"Aristocrats do not bring out the best in the people. Rather, it is
the so-called mob that brings out the best in the government elite."

Environmentalists warn that current government policies on rivers are destroying fragile water ecology. Damns and cannals heat up water, kills the fish and creates serious environmental and social havoc, says The Times of India.

River projects are commonly build with government funds. It is argued that river developoments benefit the common good. However, in light of several repports that have come out over the last few years; river developments usually causes more damage than they do good, benefiting mainly big coorperations and urban areas. Environmentalists argue that government policies on rivers need to be 'democratized' to benefit the common good.

Recently Nigeria's Senate President David Mark announced that the 2007 Presidential elections were legitimate.

Mark said that the elections mark a milestone in Nigerian Democracy as it is the first time one Nigerian government has been democratically replaced with another.

According to allAfrica.com Mark

"urged politicians to learn to accept election results in good faith,
saying that there would always be a loser and a winner in any contest."

This weekend the Pacific Island Forum Leaders Meeting is taking place. It is believed that the Leaders of the Pacific Islands will encourage Fiji's self appointed Leader Commodore Frank Bainimarama to reinstall democracy to the islands.

Bainimarama seised power in December, 2006.

New Zealand's newly elected Prime Minister Helen Clark said:

"All of us, no matter who we are or what we are, want to see a
return to democracy in Fiji, and do want to see a definitive
timeline to get back to democracy."

We asked an activist living in Harare to start our day of blogging by writing a piece on the day in a life of someone living in our capital city. We wanted to highlight typical day to day experiences of living in our country, a place where democracy is something we fight for, and wish for, daily battle.

Our activist works in a middle management position in a large organisation, and in this blog he assumes the viewpoint of a church mouse, comparing the lives of two people he works with, and knows well. The disparity in income and position in our country is wide, and it is very obviously so in Harare where government officials, foreign diplomats and big business live alongside the unemployed struggling to survive in an informal sector. The disparity in this item is nothing compared to the vast gulf between them and government elite.

Had our blogger taken on the task of comparing the Zanu PF elite to the director, it would be the director who looked impoverished.

Living in the capital city of any African town is supposed to be fun and superior to that of the provincials. Londoners, Parisians and Hararians normally look down upon their "poorer" cousins from the provinces. Whether it is true or not, Hararians no longer have a reason to look down upon their fellow countrymen.

For God, Tsar and Fatherland

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In an age of multinational corporations and billionaires that control global markets, our traditional understanding of the state as a central figure in world politics has drastically changed. Globalization, in its current form, has rearranged the way global commerce functions. With many countries economically susceptible to the fluctuations of capitalist markets, our understanding of who rules the world has to consider the tremendous influence multinational corporations have.

Today's feature film, God, Tsar and Fatherland, is set in Russia and provides the perfect setting to witness the achievements and disastrous flaws of capitalism. Emulating his idol, Vladimir Putin, the central figure of the movie Mikhail Morozov owns a village where he attempts to instil Russian patriotism through a hierarchical system of authority.

In a recent interview Hong Kong's Chief Executive had said to local radio that

"If you go to the extreme (of democracy) you have the cultural
revolution for instance in China. Then people take everything into
their hands, then you cannot govern the place."

He later apologized for the statement, saying that it was inappropriate and that the Hong Kong people cherish democracy. He added that he hopes that universal suffrage is introduced as soon as possible the AFP reported.

According to John Keane, a professor of politics at the University of Westminster, Italy and Australia are turning back the clock on Democracy.

Keane tells ABC NEWS that voters are becoming disillusioned with democracy and politicians, and for the first time in a generation we are seeing an organized opposition to democracy.

Professor Keane believes that after 1945 democracy took on a new role, defined by three developments. First of all, democracy was implemented globally, amongst others in India. Secondly, America became the first global power that acted in the name of democracy. Thirdly, a hoard of institutions were set up to keep checks and balances on the people in power.

In recent years, the world has become disillusioned with the American crusade for democracy and critics have pointed to the short-commings of democracy in many parts of the world. Opposition to democracy still act in the name of the people. However, they use this disillusionment to revoke democratic institutions in their own countries.

Keane points to Italy and Australia as troubling examples of this trend. He argues that in these societies, the basic rules of democracy have changed. The political systems supports winning as many elections as possible. They discourage public debate and opposition and enforce the idea that parliament makes laws for people to follow.

Keane says that "This is not democracy, this is a bowdlerisation and degradation of democracy."

BBC News, with the help of Professor Dennis Kavanagh of Liverpool University, and Professor John Keane, of Westminster University, has compiled an animated historical timeline detailing the history of democracy. From early forms in ancient Mesopotamia through Lech Walesa's election victory in Poland in 1990 until today, it's all there. Or most of it, anyway.