Abstract
Liberal democracy is not the only kind of democracy, and it itself has variations. This chapter attempts to look at the broad variety of uses of ‘democracy,’ and tries to make sense of the present state of discussion of democracy and the broad range of topics it encompasses. The approach that best captures the variety, that allows a variant to have continuity over time, and that highlights its function in society is Lévi-Strauss’s sense of a social myth. The approach as developed herein could help scholarship as well as foreign policy and offset cultural imperialism and artificially closed paradigms.
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Notes
- 1.
The speech continued and Wilson enlarged his notion of democracy: “…we shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts, for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own governments, for the rights and liberties of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at last free.” (Wilson 1917).
- 2.
Churchill said famously (in the House of Commons and in Churchill by Himself), referencing some unknown source, “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…” (Langworth 2009).
- 3.
The passage continues, “thus man was not liberated from religion; he received religious liberty. He was not liberated from property; he received the liberty to own property. He was not liberated from the egoism of business; he received the liberty to engage in business.”
- 4.
There are a few exceptions. For instance, Eric Black (1988), while contrasting historical accuracy with commonly held beliefs, sees the importance of the popular beliefs and consensus as giving the Constitution “the power to bind us” (p. xiii); and Jacob Needleman (2002), who, although he does not take the path of Lévi-Strauss, develops what he refers to as the “myth and meaning of America,” which pays attention to the importance of symbols, meanings, feelings and ideals embodied in “the myth of America” (pp. 12–13).
- 5.
The Democracy Index (produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit) attempts to provide information on 165 countries to indicate how democratic the society is, measuring 60 indicators grouped in “five categories: electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture.” Of 25 “full democracies”, the UK ranks 18 and the U.S. 19, below Austria (13), Germany (14), Canada (8) and Norway (1). France (29), Italy (31), Greece (32), and Israel (36) are listed among 53 “flawed democracies.” Then come 37 “hybrid regimes”, and 52 “authoritarian regimes,” which include Russia (117) and China (141) (Economist 2011). Yet the Index acknowledges that there is no consensus on how to define or measure democracy. Freedom House uses a somewhat different set of criteria and comes out with somewhat different ratings and rankings (Freedomhouse 2013). Both lists define and measure democracy according to liberal democratic criteria, although these are not the only standards that can be used or that are used. Neither list makes any claim that what they measure is either necessary or sufficient for democracy. They measure degrees of freedom in various areas, implying that democracy is equivalent to various kinds of free activity in a society.
- 6.
Concerning the Constitution, the popular strand emphasizes the Preamble, which asserts “We, the People of the United States…” as the founders of the government.
- 7.
Kosovo has been recognized by over 90 nations, but Serbia still claims it is part of Serbia (BBC News 2012).
- 8.
In the United States in presidential election years from 1960 to 2010 the turnout of the voting age population ranged from 63.1 % (1969) to 49.1 % (1996) (Infoplease.com). If a close election is within 1 % point, as it frequently is, then at best scarcely more than 30 % of those eligible to vote express their approval of the victor. People tend to translate this into a claim that the majority won.
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De George, R.T. (2014). Democracy as a Social Myth. In: Cudd, A., Scholz, S. (eds) Philosophical Perspectives on Democracy in the 21st Century. AMINTAPHIL: The Philosophical Foundations of Law and Justice, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02312-0_4
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