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The Observer newspaper in London will publish at the end of September, as part of the international project "Why Democracy?",
the answers provided by 10 "distinguished thinkers" from around the world to a number of questions about democracy.
Bryan Gould's answers are set out below.
Who Rules the World?
How comforting it would be to answer this question by celebrating democracy and identifying elected governments as rulers
of the world. The truth is less congenial. The advent of the global economy has - in a large (and economically advanced)
part of the world - meant that power has shifted away from governments, elected or otherwise, and now lies in the hands of
the huge transnational corporations that dominate the world economy.
We know, because the statistics tell us, that a large proportion of the world's trade and production is now in the hands
of these major international investors. What is perhaps less understood is the degree of political dominance, as well as
economic power, that they have now acquired.
The single global market is, by definition, one in which government intervention is precluded or at least kept to a minimum.
If a government were to intervene in its part of that market, so as to change significantly the way it operates, it would
cease to be part of a single global market. And that would not please those who make the major investment decisions.
How did the transnationals gain the power to insist that the market must be left largely unfettered and that governments
must step aside? The answer lies in the steps taken nearly thirty years ago to remove exchange controls in the major economies
so that capital was free to roam the world, looking for the best investment opportunities. There is a lively debate to be
had as to whether this has proved to deliver economic benefits or not, but there can be little doubt about the political consequences.
The most important investors found that they suddenly had a trump card in their hands. Either they got what they wanted
from governments, or they would take their investment to more accommodating locations. Without a shot being fired or a vote
being cast, the balance of power had shifted decisively. Politicians might posture and voters might go through the democratic
motions, but the rules were now being made by an unaccountable, immensely powerful and politically extreme minority who could
simply ignore or override governments as they chose.
The new rulers are clear about what they want. They want accommodating economic policies delivered by bankers and officials
who will be immune to the pressures exerted on politicians - what we used to call democracy. They want lower taxes for business
and the rich. They want huge salaries, bonuses, share issues, golden handshakes and other perks as demanded by the global
market. They want quiescent trade unions, relaxed rules about the repatriation of profits, and nothing too onerous by way
of community and environmental responsibilities.
Democracy was too messy and unreliable to deliver these benefits to them. Luckily for them, they have found a different
path to nirvana without ever having to put it to the vote.
Why Bother To Vote?
I know from painful experience that the odds against an election result turning on a single vote are so apparent that
trying to persuade a reluctant (even if sympathetic) voter to go to the polls on election day is an almost impossible task.
In the end, the appeal must be to a sense of duty to one's fellow-citizens (not easy if "there is no such thing as society"),
to a commitment to the ideal of democracy and the efforts made by our forbears, and to a sense of self-respect - that this
is what it means to be a whole person.
Can Terrorism Destroy Democracy?
Of course it can; either directly, by doing such physical, economic and human damage that our institutions, whether democratic
or not, cannot function, or indirectly, by prompting democratic governments to respond with such repressive measures that
they destroy the very values they seek to protect. This twin threat is a special problem for democracies; it makes them peculiarly
vulnerable to terrorism and requires their leaders to exercise almost superhuman judgment and restraint.
Can Politicians Solve Climate Change?
If they can't or don't, no one else will. The whole point of democracy is that it diffuses political power throughout
society in a deliberate effort to offset the other kinds of power accumulated by often self-interested and short-sighted minorities.
If climate change and other environmental risks are to be dealt with, the wider and longer-term community interest - not
the short-term drive for profit - must prevail. The democratic process is our best, last hope.
Is Democracy Good For Everyone?
Yes. Even those who are scornful of democracy and who would fancy their chances if allowed to grab what they could would
lose something of real value in a non-democratic society. They might regret the loss of some differential privileges, but
they would be less at ease in a society that was more divided against itself, more threatened from within. Few of us value
properly the benefits of living in a coherent, integrated society where everyone has a value because everyone has a vote.
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