Popular democracy

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Popular democracy is a notion of direct democracy based on referendums and other devices of empowerment and concretization of popular will. The concept evolved out of the political philosophy of populism, as a fully democratic version of this popular empowerment ideology, but since it has become independent of it, and some even discuss if they are antagonistic or unrelated now (see Values). Though the expression has been used since the 19th century and may be applied to English Civil War politics, at least the notion (or the notion in its current form) is deemed recent and has only recently been fully developed.

Contents

Early usages of the terms and/or the concept

Some figures, like TV documentary producer, director and writer Colin Thomas, see the Levellers, resistance of groups to both the Stuart monarchy and Oliver Cromwell's English Republic as early popular democracy advocacy groups. Thomas sees the line of this early popular democracy going through the dissenting church, to the American Revolutionaries and later British trade unionism. [1]

Thomas Paine's Common Sense is sometimes considered to defend a form of popular democracy. [2] Andrew Jackson was considered a defender of popular democracy as a politician and president, [3] [4] [5] and his presidency is considered as having made the transition from republic (Jeffersonian democracy) to popular democracy (Jacksonian democracy) in the United States [6]

Walt Whitman uses the word in Democratic Vistas as description of the vague notion of masse democracy with universal suffrage of a more or less direct and participatory type he defended. He admitted that the system had some dangers, but it "practically justifies itself beyond the proudest claims and wildest hopes of its enthusiasts". [7] William Jennings Bryan may be considered a popular democrat for his support of a democracy based on popular sovereignty. [8]

Theodore Roosevelt is considered a defender of a popular democrat insurgency against big business and elitism. [9]

In the end of the first half of the 20th century, the Christian democratic parties preferred the term "popular democrats" to Christian democrats. [10]

Mid-20th century

In post-independence India, popular democracy, together with economic and social liberalism and hindu nationalism, is considered one of the main currents that tried to define Indian politics since 1947. [11]

Iran is sometimes referred as having a history of popular democracy in parallel with the Pahlevi Monarchy before the overthrowing of Mossadeq and reinstating of the Shah. [12]

Eugene McCarthy was seen as a popular democrat presidential campaigner in 1968. [9]

In 1969 Muammar al-Gaddafi overthrew the pro-western monarchy and created a system he claimed to be a popular democracy. [13]

Late 20th century

Similarly to Gaddafi, Hafez al-Assad, officially ended the one party state of Ba'ath Syria created by the 1963 coup d'état in 1970, declaring the creation of a multi-party popular democracy. [14]

In 1975 Al Gaddafi wrote The Green Book, where he defends his political system as a form of "direct and popular democracy" based on the will of the people instead of representative parliaments.

After the fall of Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, a research and advocacy centre called the Institute for Popular Democracy was created who frequently criticizes "elite politics" and defends reformist local social movements.

Some Burkinabé Communists founded a group who supported a Marxist-Leninist People's Democracy (though with a free-market economic plan) in 1989, the Organization for Popular Democracy - Labour Movement. In 1991 they renounced Marxism-Leninism and transformed their Marxism-Leninism into a form of popular democrat philosophy. [15]

Václav Havel's civil-society-centered democratic Czechoslovakia was considered another form of popular democracy by some. [16]

In 1996 the popular democratic Organization for Popular Democracy - Labour Movement created the Congress for Democracy and Progress, being the current ruling party in Burkina Faso.

Today

The internet is sometimes considered as a vital part or an example of modern popular democratic practices. [17]

Some Marxist groups consider that the current Middle East is currently prepared for and wishes popular democracy (which in this context may be referring to Marxist People's Democracy) but that the "neoconservative design upon the region" and American power prevents this. [18]

There are some signs interpreted by analysts as possibilities of popular democracy, in Nigeria, [19] Abkhazia and Georgia. [20]

Former Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez was sometimes considered to either be practicing [21] or simulating [22] popular democracy.

In 2003 it was published one of the main book-length appraisals of popular democracy, Hilary Wainwright's Reclaim the State: Experiments in Popular Democracy, a criticism of both social democracy and big government and neoliberalism and big business.

Values

As popular democracy is an ideal of direct and participatory democracy based on grassroots, there aren't exactly very defined values beyond support of this kind of democracy over more representative types. But some attempts have been made to define popular democrat ideals based around the idea that this direct democracy is just a step for a full democracy. Some proposals of popular democratic common values have been:

Participatory budget and the policies of the Porto Alegre Forum are also associated with popular democracy by some left-wing authors. [25]

As the ideal of popular democracy came out of prepositions of Populism (ex: popular rule in democracy is fairer than elitist parliaments; decisions by general referendums are fairer than decisions by limited groups like parliaments and governments), and as platforms of certain groups claiming to be popular democratic are very similar to those of various democratic and undemocratic populist movements, there is discussion on the relation between both political philosophies. [26] [27] [28]

Support

This ideal is currently supported by Glenn Smith [29] (who was connected to the Rockridge Institute, [30] a now defunct organization) and many other Progressive, Liberal and Populist Democrats.

Taking advantage of the vagueness of the concept many parties in a wide range of ideologies call themselves Popular Democratic Party, Popular Democrat Party or People's Democratic Party, or even Democratic Popular Party or Democratic People's Party and support or claim to support popular sovereignty in some form of popular democracy.

Alistair McConnachie writes frequent articles supporting popular democracy [23] [24] for the think tank Sovereignty, which he directs.

Self-described Populist Harry C. Boyte adopts some popular democrat themes in his support of grassroots democracy.

The Nepalese Maoists also support a socialist, non-elitist, form of popular democracy, [31] which may be understood as a form of Maoist people's democracy but based more on popular participation and less on Vanguard parties.

Criticism

Whitman wrote Democratic Vistas in answer to criticism of universal suffrage and full democracy of Thomas Carlyle in Latter-Day Pamphlets , who considered the popular democratic system to be too many rights given to uneducated masses of the people, as rule should be kept in the hands of highly educated people and aristocrats. [32] These criticisms have been repeated numerous times as a way of showing popular democracy as just another word for mob rule.

The idea of majoritarian, popular-will based democracy has been accused of facilitating the persecution of Sri Lankan Tamils. [33]

Other limitations of popular democracy have been indicated in its relation to other social movements (as feminism and trade unionism). [34]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Levellers</span> 1640s English political movement

The Levellers were a political movement active during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms who were committed to popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law and religious tolerance. The hallmark of Leveller thought was its populism, as shown by its emphasis on equal natural rights, and their practice of reaching the public through pamphlets, petitions and vocal appeals to the crowd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Populism</span> Political philosophy

Populism is a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group with "the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed in the late 19th century and has been applied to various politicians, parties and movements since that time, often as a pejorative. Within political science and other social sciences, several different definitions of populism have been employed, with some scholars proposing that the term be rejected altogether.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian democracy</span> Christian socioeconomic model

Christian democracy is a political ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacksonian democracy</span> 19th-century American political philosophy

Jacksonian democracy was a 19th-century political philosophy in the United States that expanded suffrage to most white men over the age of 21 and restructured a number of federal institutions. Originating with the seventh U.S. president, Andrew Jackson and his supporters, it became the nation's dominant political worldview for a generation. The term itself was in active use by the 1830s.

Popular sovereignty is the principle that the leaders of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people, who are the source of all political legitimacy. Popular sovereignty, being a principle, does not imply any particular political implementation. Benjamin Franklin expressed the concept when he wrote that "In free governments, the rulers are the servants and the people their superiors and sovereigns".

Popular socialism or people's socialism is a distinct form of socialism in various countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Third International Theory</span> Theory of governance proposed by Muammar Gaddafi

The Third International Theory, also known as Third Universal Theory and Gaddafism, was the style of government proposed by Muammar Gaddafi on 15 April 1973 in his Zuwara speech, on which his government, the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, was officially based. It combined elements of Arab nationalism, Nasserism, Anti-imperialism, Islamic socialism, left-wing populism African nationalism, Pan-Arabism, and it was partly influenced by the principles of direct democracy. The theory also contained elements of Islamic fundamentalism, as Gaddafi argued that Muslims needed to return to God and the Qur'an and rejected formal interpretation of the Qur'an as blasphemy. However, Gaddafi's regime has been described as Islamist, rather than fundamentalist, as Gaddafi opposed Salafism and many Islamic fundamentalists were imprisoned during his rule.

Popolarismo is the term Italian politician Luigi Sturzo used to describe his political doctrine that formed the ideological basis for the Italian Popular Party and later Christian Democracy. In the Papal Encyclical Graves de Communi, (1901) Pope Leo XIII did not want Christian Democracy to enter the political sphere, and restricted it to the social action. Sturzo developed Popularism as an alternative means of political action, which had an ideological focus on the people. As one academic notes:

To put it in a nutshell, Popularism was a political version of its predecessor, the prevalently social Christian Democracy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Party System</span> Phase in U.S. electoral politics (1828–1852)

The Second Party System was the political party system operating in the United States from about 1828 to 1852, after the First Party System ended. The system was characterized by rapidly rising levels of voter interest, beginning in 1828, as demonstrated by Election Day turnouts, rallies, partisan newspapers, and high degrees of personal loyalty to parties.

The Democratic Party of the United States is a big tent party composed of various factions. The liberal faction supports modern liberalism and social liberalism that began with the New Deal in the 1930s and continued with both the New Frontier and Great Society in the 1960s. The moderate faction supports Third Way politics that includes center-left social policies and centrist fiscal policies. The progressive faction supports social democracy and left-wing populism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberal democracy</span> Form of government

Liberal democracy, western-style democracy, or substantive democracy is a form of government that combines the organization of a representative democracy with ideas of liberal political philosophy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Political ideologies in the United States</span> Ideologies and ideological demographics in the United States

American political ideologies conventionally align with the left–right political spectrum, with most Americans identifying as conservative, liberal, or moderate. Contemporary American conservatism includes social conservatism, classical liberalism and economic liberalism. The former ideology developed as a response to communism and the civil rights movement, while the latter two ideologies developed as a response to the New Deal. Contemporary American liberalism includes progressivism, welfare capitalism and social liberalism, developing during the Progressive Era and the Great Depression. Besides modern conservatism and liberalism, the United States has a notable libertarian movement, developing during the mid-20th century as a revival of classical liberalism. Historical political movements in the United States have been shaped by ideologies as varied as republicanism, populism, separatism, fascism, socialism, monarchism, and nationalism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Left-wing populism</span> Political ideology that combines left-wing politics and populist rhetoric and themes

Left-wing populism, also called social populism, is a political ideology that combines left-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric often includes elements of anti-elitism, opposition to the Establishment, and speaking for the "common people". Recurring themes for left-wing populists include economic democracy, social justice, and scepticism of globalization. Socialist theory plays a lesser role than in traditional left-wing ideologies.

Types of democracy refers to the various governance structures that embody the principles of democracy in some way. Democracy is frequently applied to governments, but may also be applied to other constructs like workplaces, families, community associations, and so forth.

Democratic socialism is a left-wing set of political philosophies that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within a market socialist, decentralised planned, or democratic centrally planned socialist economy. Democratic socialists argue that capitalism is inherently incompatible with the values of freedom, equality, and solidarity and that these ideals can only be achieved through the realisation of a socialist society. Although most democratic socialists seek a gradual transition to socialism, democratic socialism can support revolutionary or reformist politics to establish socialism. Democratic socialism was popularised by socialists who opposed the backsliding towards a one-party state in the Soviet Union and other nations during the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Young America movement</span> Political and cultural movement in the U.S. during the mid-nineteenth century

The Young America Movement was an American political, cultural and literary movement in the mid-19th century. Inspired by European reform movements of the 1830s, the American group was formed as a political organization in 1845 by Edwin de Leon and George Henry Evans. It advocated free trade, social reform, expansion westward and southward into the territories, and support for republican, anti-aristocratic movements abroad. The movement also inspired a drive for self-consciously "American" literature in writers such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Walt Whitman. It became a faction in the Democratic Party in the 1850s. Senator Stephen A. Douglas promoted its nationalistic program in an unsuccessful effort to compromise sectional differences. The breakup of the movement left many of its adherents discouraged and disillusioned.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Political eras of the United States</span> Model of American politics

Political eras of the United States refer to a model of American politics used in history and political science to periodize the political party system existing in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Popular Unity (Ecuador)</span> Political party in Ecuador

The Popular Unity Movement (UP) is an Ecuadorian political movement of the revolutionary left close to Marxism-Leninism to be conformed with the electoral wing of the Marxist–Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador. Member of the National Agreement for Change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radicalism in the United States</span> Historical American ideology

"Radicalism" or "radical liberalism" was a political ideology in the 19th century United States aimed at increasing political and economic equality. The ideology was rooted in a belief in the power of the ordinary man, political equality, and the need to protect civil liberties.

References

  1. Off With Their Heads – Bristol Radical History Week 2008, Bristol Radical History Group, section The Levellers Are Dead – Long Live The Levellers! – Colin Thomas
  2. Common Sense: The Rhetoric of Popular Democracy Archived 11 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine , A We The People Resource, EDSITEment!.neh.org
  3. Jacksonian Era Archived 6 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine , American History.About.com
  4. JACKSON COMES TO POWER: THE ELECTION OF 1828
  5. The Reader's Companion to American History, ed. Eric Foner, John Arthur Garraty, Society of American Historians, Houghton-Mifflin, 1991, section "JACKSONIAN DEMOCRACY"
  6. American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, by Jon Meacham, Powell's.com
  7. What Whitman Knew, David Brooks, fourteenth paragraph
  8. Where Did the Party Go?: William Jennings Bryan, Hubert Humphrey, and the Jeffersonian Legacy, Jeff Taylor, University of Missouri Press, 2006
  9. 1 2 Insurgency campaigns and the quest for popular democracy: Theodore Roosevelt, Eugene McCarthy, and party monopolies
  10. The Christian Democrat International, Roberto Papini, page 32
  11. Reinventing India: Liberalization, Hindu Nationalism and Popular Democracy, eu.Wiley.com
  12. Obama, Hillary and full circle on Iowa, Sidney Morning Herald, Sidney Morning Herald Blog, third comment
  13. Libya: Popular Democracy Or Police State?, Youtube.com
  14. President Hafez Assad Archived 1 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine , official Bashar al-Assad website
  15. Political Parties of the World (6th edition, 2005), ed. Bogdan Szajkowski, page 96.
  16. Popular Democracy in Prague after the Velvet Revolution, Metta Spencer, Peace Magazine, Aug-Sep 1990
  17. The Impact of the Internet on Popular Democracy in the United States Archived 14 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine , Gabriel J. Gubash, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, May, 1997
  18. Marxism mailing list archive, re: The growing striving for popular democracy in the MiddleEast – striving where? Archived 15 December 2012 at archive.today , Marxism mailing list, 16 May 2005
  19. Good Governance, A Desiderata For Popular Democracy In Nigeria, Prince Charles Dickson, Nigeria Village Square, 22 March 2008
  20. Abkhazie-Géorgie : essai de démocratie populaire, Mathilde Damoisel, Caucaz Europenews, 1 June 2003, (in French)
  21. Monthly Review, Nepal and Venezuela: For Popular Democracy, against Ceremonial Democracy, Pratyush Chandra Monthly Review magazine, 23 April 2006
  22. Travel to Venezuela: Popular Democracy Archived 17 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  23. 1 2 3 4 5 6 McConnachie, Alistair (March 2005). "The five principles of democracy (blog)". sovereignty.org.uk. Sovereignty (online magazine by Alistair McConnachie). Archived from the original on 24 May 2015.
  24. 1 2 3 McConnachie, Alistair (February 2002). "The sovereignty strategy to regain control of our government (blog)". sovereignty.org.uk. Sovereignty (online magazine by Alistair McConnachie). Archived from the original on 17 June 2012.
  25. Menser, Mike; Robinson, Juscha. "Participatory Budgeting: from Porto Alegre, Brazil to the U.S." populareconomics.org. Popular Economics. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  26. Howarth, David (2005). "Populism or Popular Democracy? The UDF, Workerism and the Struggle for Radical Democracy in South Africa". In Panizza, Francisco (ed.). Populism and the Mirror of Democracy . Verso. pp.  202–223. ISBN   9781859844892. Preview.
  27. Hall, Stuart (May–June 1985). "Authoritarian Populism: A Reply to Jessop et al". New Left Review . I (151). New Left Review.
  28. Simons, Jon (30 August 2007). "Democratically Aestheticized Politics". American Political Science Association. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2012. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Hyatt Regency Chicago and the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers, Chicago, Illinois.
  29. The Promise of Popular Democracy, Part II: Solidarity of the Shaken Archived 5 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine , Glenn W. Smith, Rockridge Institute, Sun 27 Apr 2008
  30. The support of the Rockridge Institute to popular democracy can be seen in their website's The Promise of Popular Democracy series Archived 19 September 2008 at the Library of Congress Web Archives
  31. Nepal and Venezuela: For Popular Democracy, against Ceremonial Democracy, by Pratyush Chandra
  32. What Whitman Knew, David Brooks, ninth paragraph.
  33. The Specter of Popular Democracy: How Majoritarianism is Facilitating Genocide in Sri Lanka Archived 17 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine , Moggy on 8 March, Zimbio, 2009
  34. The limits of popular Democracy: women's organisations, feminism and the UDF [ permanent dead link ], Shireen Hassim, in Transformation 51, 2003