I’ve been thinking a lot about Haiti these days, as, I suppose, most of us have. I have no insight into its present situation, , still less about its future, but reading ad thinking about it have led me to two strands of thought about democracy, both Greek in origin They in turn have led me to some unexpected and perhaps unwelcome inferences, presented here in hope of provoking discussion
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Why is democracy so difficult? Haiti is a good test case for answers to this question. If your goal is to establish a lasting, democratic government there, , you have two ways to proceed, as best I can tell. Both are rooted in ancient Greek patterns of thought but they lead to very different ways of looking at the situation and responding to it.
The first of the two is a familiar one. It’s based on a widely used taxonomy in which government are classified by the extent of franchise within them: monarchy, oligarchy, democracy. Or if you prefer more emotional language: tyranny, plutocracy and ochlocracy. We get all these words from the Greeks and with them a convenient way of classifying governments.
This taxonomy may seem purely academic but it has real world consequences. It focuses attention on eligibility to vote and on free and fair elections. Want a democracy? Make sur everyone can vote and that their votes get properly counted and weighted. Americans know -or most of us do- how important this is for a democracy. If we want it for our country, surely we should want it for others, too. So, focus on elections and whatever it takes to ensure they are free and fair, observers, technical support, equipment, maybe even troops. Then when a duly elected government is in place funnel food, medicine and other aid through it to help the citizenry and build support for the government.
That’s one way of looking at the situation and responding to it. The second approach derives from a long tradition of political theory, going back to an idea in Aristotle’s Politics reformulated in the Enlightenment, and put to work whenever citizens break away from dictatorships and try to create a society run by and for its citizens. Democracies seen from this vantage point derive from and depend on the efforts of citizens to take charge of things and make government respond to them, rather than the other way around.
The building blocks of a well-functioning state, then, are all the organizations and structures through which people act for teir mutual benefit. That’s why Aristotle started not with a candy shop of different forms of government. but with the household, the neighborhood and other forms of sharing or collaboration (koinonia).
If he and political thinkers of a similar cast of mind are right, then a stable democracy begins not with elections but with strengthening civil society, including a wide range of neighborhood and social organizations, business and professional associations, trade unions, religious and philanthropic organizations, even athletic teams and their supporters
People recognize a need, share an objective, band together to do something about it. No central authority tells them what to do or when to do it. They probably argue about the best course of action, take a lot of time to reach a decision, but then roll up their sleeves to do what they can
Slavery, colonialism, foreign interventions, dictatorships all take a continuing toll. Drugs, gangs and corruption do further damage. Haiti has had more than its share of all of these Yet, there are, as the New York Times has reported, hundreds of such organizations in Haiti. They face, to be sure, great difficulties – more than I can imagine. Even in the best of times such organizations, as we all know, run into difficulties Their members probably often disagree, get angry with one another, squabble, get discouraged, because of lack of resources, recognition and support.
But they provide an often unrecognized by-product: Participants in such efforts develops habits of shared decision making and that in turn is the foundation on which democracy can be built.
They deserve support.
This way of looking at democracy does not deny the importance of electoral politics, but its priority is clear: Build Civil Society.
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Why is democracy so difficult? Haiti is a good test case for answers to this question. If your goal is to establish a lasting, democratic government there, , you have two ways to proceed, as best I can tell. Both are rooted in ancient Greek patterns of thought but they lead to very different ways of looking at the situation and responding to it.
The first of the two is a familiar one. It’s based on a widely used taxonomy in which government are classified by the extent of franchise within them: monarchy, oligarchy, democracy. Or if you prefer more emotional language: tyranny, plutocracy and ochlocracy. We get all these words from the Greeks and with them a convenient way of classifying governments.
This taxonomy may seem purely academic but it has real world consequences. It focuses attention on eligibility to vote and on free and fair elections. Want a democracy? Make sur everyone can vote and that their votes get properly counted and weighted. Americans know -or most of us do- how important this is for a democracy. If we want it for our country, surely we should want it for others, too. So, focus on elections and whatever it takes to ensure they are free and fair, observers, technical support, equipment, maybe even troops. Then when a duly elected government is in place funnel food, medicine and other aid through it to help the citizenry and build support for the government.
That’s one way of looking at the situation and responding to it. The second approach derives from a long tradition of political theory, going back to an idea in Aristotle’s Politics reformulated in the Enlightenment, and put to work whenever citizens break away from dictatorships and try to create a society run by and for its citizens. Democracies seen from this vantage point derive from and depend on the efforts of citizens to take charge of things and make government respond to them, rather than the other way around.
The building blocks of a well-functioning state, then, are all the organizations and structures through which people act for teir mutual benefit. That’s why Aristotle started not with a candy shop of different forms of government. but with the household, the neighborhood and other forms of sharing or collaboration (koinonia).
If he and political thinkers of a similar cast of mind are right, then a stable democracy begins not with elections but with strengthening civil society, including a wide range of neighborhood and social organizations, business and professional associations, trade unions, religious and philanthropic organizations, even athletic teams and their supporters
People recognize a need, share an objective, band together to do something about it. No central authority tells them what to do or when to do it. They probably argue about the best course of action, take a lot of time to reach a decision, but then roll up their sleeves to do what they can
Slavery, colonialism, foreign interventions, dictatorships all take a continuing toll. Drugs, gangs and corruption do further damage. Haiti has had more than its share of all of these Yet, there are, as the New York Times has reported, hundreds of such organizations in Haiti. They face, to be sure, great difficulties – more than I can imagine. Even in the best of times such organizations, as we all know, run into difficulties Their members probably often disagree, get angry with one another, squabble, get discouraged, because of lack of resources, recognition and support.
But they provide an often unrecognized by-product: Participants in such efforts develops habits of shared decision making and that in turn is the foundation on which democracy can be built.
They deserve support.
This way of looking at democracy does not deny the importance of electoral politics, but its priority is clear: Build Civil Society.