Democracy is not working

Democracy is not working. It is not working in the United States, it is not working in Europe and it is not working in Australia.

America is suffering from legislative gridlock. The Congress was intended to work on consensus. What the American's call "partisanship" has taken over. In other words, the ill feeling between the Democrats and Republicans has reached the point where legislation vital to the functioning of the United  States is not passed. America is crawling out of its economic black hole, slowly, but the process of governing is going from bad to worse.

European economies are ceasing to function, hamstrung by "cradle to the grave" welfare states. Germany is prospering because its manufacturers dominate the European Union due to an effectively devalued European currency. Pathetic minnows like Cyprus are simply crushed to suit the dominant European powers and the "European project."

Australia has had the best terms of trade in a hundred years, yet the Federal Government, led by Labor Prime Ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, has run budget deficits for the last six years that collectively amount to $100 billion or more. Liberal Prime Minister John "The Rodent" Howard bought off the electorate with with bucket loads of middle class welfare, effectively squandering the early returns from the China boom. The Liberals are no better, and are some ways worse, than the ALP.

We must therefore ask Lenin's question: "What is to be done?" When I say democracy is not working, I mean democracy is not working in its present form. I do not believe there an alternative to some form of elective democracy to running a sophisticated state. China, for example, works after a fashion, but it is still far poorer than the Western powers in every way. Thus, the question is should we have less democracy or more democracy?

I can still remember my parents proudly marching off to vote for their preferred candidate in the Western Australian Legislative Council. They had become owners of a property of sufficient value for them to meet the property franchaise. Thus, within living memory, property qualifications have been imposed on voting in Australia.

Similarly, Mitt Romney, Republican candidate in the 2012 US presidential election',was described as "scary" and "narrow minded" because he told a private meeting that America could be divided into "producers" and "consumers".  Romney never overcame the "weird" factor and lost to Barak Obama
         
It is my belief that Australia and Europe are beyond saving because parties compete to buy off electors and interest groups. Much as conservatives lament America's plunge towards a welfare state, the US has gone nowhere near as far in this direction as other Western democracies. Indeed, I think Obama's health plan is good, in theory at least. What makes Obamacare bad are peculiarly American characteristics such as wanting the best, immediately, forever, no matter what the cost.

Bearing in mind Mitt Romney's experience, I do not believe it is possible to restrict the franchise to only producers or property owners. The non-producers would simply revolt, and they can vote. Ideally, anyone in receipt of a payment from the Crown should be denied a vote. But this is, politically, a "bridge too far."

So, we come to the alternative, more democracy. This is both feasible and desirable. What we have now is not a democracy, but a ballotocracy. We elect a parliament and the parliament can doing anything it likes for the term of the parliament. The only way to get rid of a parliament is for it to be defeated on the floor of the parliament or for the prime minister to seek an early dissolution of the House from the Governor General. It is not a democracy, it is an elective dictatorship. Once a Bill passes both Houses and approved by the Governor General, it can only be overturned  by the High Court.

The alternative is for the people -- us -- to be able to recall parliament. We could kick out failed regimes like the Gillard Government. Critics say the government would be unable to to implement its policies. Great! That's what 75% of Australians want to do. We should also be able conduct referendums to overturn legislation we don't like.

We can't have less democracy but we can have more democracy. It could save us from ruin. Let's do it!