Democratic Principles

My house has what estate agents call “all the usual offices”; a strange expression as it has everything except an office. This drawing was done by Mike Stiff, of Stiff + Trevillion, in 1984. It’s a late Victorian terraced house with some original features, including a functioning coal hole in the path leading up to the door and some attractive tiling on the path.

This was useful in the days when coal was delivered in sacks that could be emptied into the cellar. However, I lack one feature of Victorian architecture, namely a boot scraper. Walking into central London I noticed that they are especially prolific in Cornwall Gardens. You may recall that Mr Pooter, in Diary of a Nobody, had a troublesome one over which visitors were apt to trip. All the ones I saw were safely positioned to the side so that would be impossible. I suppose any that were awkwardly placed have been removed, like some ministers in the shadow cabinet.

Staying with politics, my grandfather had an inquiring mind and obtained (how, is another story) Mao’s Little Red Book. I have Gaddafi’s Green Book and it may surprise you that I agree with his opening salvo. I will let you judge for yourself.

“The Instrument of Governing is the prime political problem which faces human communities.”

Even the conflict within the family is, often, the result of this problem.

“This problem has become serious since the emergence of modern societies.”

Peoples, nowadays, face this persistent problem and communities suffer from various risks and grave consequences to which it leads. They have not yet succeeded in solving it finally and democratically.

The GREEN BOOK presents the final solution to the problem of the instrument of governing.

All political systems in the world today are the product of the struggle for power between instruments of governing. The struggle may be peaceful or armed, such as the conflict of classes, sects, tribes, parties or individuals. The result is always the victory of an instrument of governing – be it an individual, group, party or class and the defeat of the people, i.e. the defeat of genuine democracy.

Political struggle that results in the victory of a candidate with 51 per cent of the votes leads to a dictatorial governing body disguised as a false democracy, since 49 per cent of the electorate is ruled by an instrument of governing they did not vote for, but had imposed upon them. This is dictatorship. Besides, this political conflict may produce a governing body that represents only a minority , for when votes are distributed among several candidates, one of them polls more than any other candidate. But if the votes polled by those who received less are added up, they can constitute an overwhelming majority. However, the candidate with fewer votes wins and his success is regarded as legitimate and democratic! In actual fact, dictatorship is established under the cover of false democracy. This is the reality of the political systems prevailing in the world today. They are dictatorial systems and it seems clear that they falsify genuine democracy.

In the UK General Election last year, only 66.1% of the electorate voted but that was the highest turnout for 18 years. The UK, such a big hitter in terms of soft power, ranks 76th in the world for electoral participation. The Conservative Party got 36.9% of the votes and won 330 seats. Labour with 30.4% got 232 seats. UKIP came third with 12.6% but won only a single seat. The Green Party also won a single seat but with just 3.8% of the votes cast. First Past The Post is a very blunt political instrument.

Gaddafi would say that last year 63.1% of votes cast were not for the Conservative Party and condemn the Conservative government as a dictatorship with no democratic mandate.

Churchill wrote, in  Churchill by Himself; many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…

This year or next a referendum will be held to decide whether the UK remains in the EU or leaves. I expect turnout will be lower than for a General Election. The outcome will be decided by a simple majority, meaning that if the turnout were to be 60%, the result would be determined by 31% of the whole electorate. This seems a most unsatisfactory way of settling such an important matter and it’s hard not to agree with Gaddafi’s view that our system falsifies genuine democracy.

Such an important change should require more than a simple majority. The SNP say that they won’t seek another independence referendum unless opinion polls show that at least 60% are in favour and I believe that there should be at least a 60% majority for the UK to leave the EU. After all, a 60% majority with a 60% turnout still means that the outcome is determined by only 36% of the whole electorate.