Abstract
The above two quotes capture the issue that this chapter addresses: the relationship of democracy to peace. With almost a difference of one hundred years and relatively different economic and political situations, Wilson and Sen seem to agree that democratic politics and practices lead to peace.
A steadfast concert for peace can never be maintained except by a partnership of democratic nations. No autocratic government could be trusted to keep faith within it or observe its covenants. It must be a league of honour, a partnership of opinion. Intrigue would eat its vitals away; the plottings of inner circles who could plan what they would and render account to no one would be a corruption seated at its very heart. Only free peoples can hold their purpose and their honour steady to a common end and prefer the interests of mankind to any narrow interest of their own.
Wilson’s War Message to Congress, 1917.
Democracy is more than a collection of specific institutions, such as balloting and elections – these institutions are important too, but as part of a bigger engagement involving dialogue, freedom of information, and unrestricted discussion. These are also the central features of civil paths to peace.1
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© 2014 Carmel Borg and Michael Grech
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Mercieca, D.P. (2014). Does Democracy Promote Peace? A Rancière Reading of Politics and Democracy. In: Borg, C., Grech, M. (eds) Lorenzo Milani’s Culture of Peace. Palgrave Macmillan’s Postcolonial Studies in Education. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-38212-2_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-38212-2_14
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