Breaking the Impasse in Democracies

Democratic system of government represents the will of the majority, but why then is the all prevalent disillusionment? There is surely a miss between the cup of choices made out of freewill exercised, and the delivery of the system. In fact, there is a desperate outpouring that the common citizen is short-changed and things are going from bad to worse. If the supposed 99% feels played out, surely there is something to worry about the entire future of developed countries that has pitched in for a system that is envied by the rest. People in China are thirsting for the free air enjoyed by those on the other side, and few others are still waiting for a better dawn. The raison d’être behind Arab Spring movement that felled the once invincible is also the thirst for freedom through democratic system of government. They readily paid the price to reach their destination.

The failures of the system are too apparent. The endemic corruption that stretches from poorer countries like India to supposed richer ones like Greece. Then the musical chairs where the minority elite cling to power through the back-door. The elected leaders prove helpless in the end, becoming toothless in no time. Everything is reduced to political grand standing, giving some momentary comic effects, but the reality strikes with a vengeance soon after.

Leave alone the poorer cousins, the nascent democracies, who struggle to find their feet; but even the veterans in the act, like Greece and Italy, are on thin ice with each passing day. We can hardly name the Prime Minister of Japan, or might have lost count of their number in recent years! At each summit, a new face crops up; where can there be continuity and building relationships? In effect, democracies are floundering.

We elect, with great hope, our leaders who walk with a spring in their steps before elections only to lose them soon after, after staring down the barrel of issues, and the bottomless the hole of increasing debts! And some irony, they are mostly owed to communist China; and some expect the latter to come to their rescue like a knight in shining armor! They are lost in endless politicking that makes decision making least of their priorities. Soon it is another election time, and time again to pitch for their political future and that of their parties. The countries’ interests recede from the immediate horizon. The citizens too can sense they are helpless within a self defeating process of politics and decision making.

Can we speed up the whole process without diluting the democratic element in decision making? That is the challenge of the day. We fear of autocratic ways that are still evident in few countries, but the endless festival at play in democracies – the other extreme – is also not delivering the results. Will the citizens in Iraq, Egypt or Libya celebrate their victories after the euphoria dies, or they just fall prey to new tyrants waiting to have their day under their blazing sun?

It is time to speed up democratic decision making process and for that, the developed countries have to show the way. Sadly, they seem to have no clue going by the street protests that cannot solve the issues of the day, but only bring them to the fore and keep them under the spotlight. One way out could be; the impasse on crucial issues to be broken by a process of referendum by the citizens. With modern technology this could be a cinch! Then, the citizens will not only feel a sense of responsibility over crucial issues of the day, but also cannot blame others for the fault lines that may continue to roil societies. Such issues should encompass balancing budgets, pension funding, health, defense, education etc. The leaders should put them up for public voting! Time to get going; our future is otherwise imperiled.


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