Democracy and Political Legitimacy

Training Session 06.05.2015

But first... Political culture and socialisation

It’s about political behaviour, setting out the rules of what is/what is not accepted in politics

Ex-communist states

Continuously changing, it is not something you are born with, but into

Pre-requisite for democracy

Is there such a thing as national political culture?

This is why, even if you remove an undemocratic regime, it is hard to institute democracy

Why do we like democracy?

Formal political equality

Self-ownership-it is the only form of political organisation that provides this

Popular control

Public Deliberation

Separation of power in the state

Rule of law

Equality before the law

It provides us with:

A means of selecting governments

A decision-making mechanism(aggregate of preference)

Aggregate of preferences There are competing interests and needs in society.

As long as a majority of people express their preference, then the action of the government will mimic this. But do they?

1. Political parties often govern with an agenda

2. Interest groups(especially those with insider status)

3. Unseen lobbying power of companies

4. Disproportionate representation of those with more resources

5. Media manipulation (media usually has a political agenda and is backed by people with money)

But, givent that direct representation is

1. Impractical(decisions would take ages)

2. Inefficient(you elect representatives who are competent)

This is the best form of representation we have

Public Deliberation

Policies to be discussed in the public eye

This means that people have a fair input to highlight the strenghts and failings of a policy

Removal of bad policy and implementation of policies that win the debate

But...

Policy often manifests ideological starting points

Agreeing with a party on the opposite side of the ideological spectre might be seen as ‘giving in’

This means that sometimes the ideological dispute comes before the actual pros/cons of the measure

Formal political equality Who is the ‘we’ that government needs to represent

Is it the nation/citizens?

Is it all the people that are affected by a policy?

What is the best method for our wishes to be incorporated in the decision-making process

Representative systems of elections tend to favourize the

What are the criteria on which we should let people participate in voting

Ability(level of information and ability to understand it influence decision)

Social inclusion(should we allow people in prisons to vote, residents)

Median-voter theorem problem

Political parties ultimately want to be elected

They will focus on attracting the median voter rather than minoritary interests

Just because ‘it’s democratic’ doesn’t mean it’s good

Often in debates people stop their analysis when they reach the level of ‘it’s democratic’

We take democracy generally as a good system of governing, since it’s a cumulus of good values/principles

You need to link the argument to the principle and show it’s important

Also, sometimes the principles need auxiliary conditions in order to mean anything (e.g. it doesn’t matter if all people can vote if there is heavy propaganda, threats and only one candidate)

Legitimacy

“LEGITIMACY INVOLVES THE CAPACITY OF THE SYSTEM TO ENGENDER AND MAINTAIN THE BELIEF THAT THE EXISTING POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS ARE THE MOST APPROPRIATE ONES FOR THE SOCIETY”- SEYMOUR LIPSET

It’s a lot about people’s beliefs

If people consider something to be true, they will act as if it were true

Legitimacy does not equal legality. An action can be legal, but not legitimate.

Why do we need legitimacy in society For ensuring compliance to the system

You need some level of buy-in of the public to the policies/the way the system operates

You need this for example for the rule of law to operate

So conferring legitimacy is an every-day process

Loss of legitimacy is hard to measure, but it’s consequences are usually the loss of power(see Arab spring)

Pursuit of individual interests in general

Social cohesion, social trust

Note: The more ‘democratic’ a policy seems to the people, the more buy-in you’re likely to get as a policy-maker

Sources of legitimacy

Traditional

This links back to political culture

You are born in a system of institutions and values that you tend, at least at first, to regard as natural and take them for granted

Are you then acually ‘conferring’ legitimacy to a regime, or you just think that is the normal way things should be?

Charismatic

Rational

Does it respect a certain system of rules/values? (note that this is influenced by the traditional version)

This is what we normally refer to when we talk about legitimacy in debates

However, the above two are worth remembering

Problems with legitimacy

We elect leaders to sometimes do the policies that we don’t like. So what is the difference between illegitimate policies and necessary but not liked policies? (except from flagrant cases)

Can an undemocratic regime be legitimate?

What happens if only 20% of the eligible people turn up for elections?

Is the candidate that wins a legitimate ruler?

All throughout we assume that people are rational actors that are (almost) perfectly informed. What happens when they are not informed or can be easily manipulated?

See the rise of far-right parties in Europe using a lot of rhetoric

Next time...

Applied Ethics